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It’s no secret that Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan is one of our favourite frequent flyer programmes here at InsideFlyer UK. I received an offer from Alaska via e-mail, and decided to “travel hack” it for our readers.
Mileage Plan members have been receiving emails offering the following “Dash for Miles” challenge:
You must register first by visiting this website and entering your Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan details.
Mileage Plan Dining will be tricky without being based in the United States. The Opinion Terminal will likewise require an American presence, if only via a Virtual Private Network. I’ll eventually get around to trying it, and will share my findings with readers…
As for Mileage Plan shopping, I’ve done it before, and it works fine – no matter where you are based. You can reach the Mileage Plan shopping portal by logging into your Mileage Plan account or simply by clicking here. So I looked around for something that would be cheap and not require shipping. Groupon seemed a likely candidate…
By clicking on Entertainment and sorting the Groupon options based on price, I came up with this:
This is pretty close to ideal – cheap, delivered electronically, no U.S. address required. I simply paid via Paypal…
Even though I probably cannot activate my Hulu trial from outside of the United States, I really don’t care as long as my Groupon transaction tracks correctly to the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan shopping portal. If it does, I should earn 3 miles for the $1 spend and a 1,000 mile bonus thanks to Dash for Miles…
You have until 30 September, 2017 to participate in Dash for Miles. So you might want to wait until I confirm that my “1,003 miles for $1 works”, or you might want to jump straight in to ensure that your transaction tracks well in advance of the deadline. Don’t forget to register first though!
UPDATE! I love it when a plan comes together…
I received an invitation in the week to join a new survey company with a welcome bonus of 400 alaska miles, check your alaska account inboxes.
Looks like the same thing. Make sure to register for Dash for Miles and you should get an added 1,000 miles on top.
I tried earning Virgin America points on E-Rewards with VPN Hola to no success., so have been put off trying any others survey sites in the US.
What was your problem with the VPN? I have no problems with US E-Rewards, although with some servers I get “no surveys available” and others work great.
Whenever I clicked the ‘find survey’ button on the main page, I’d get an error message. It was a while ago so I can’t recall what the message was. I kept trying every day but with the same result. Eventually gave up.
From the TCs I understand you need one activity for each of the three partners, I am not sure one standalone purchase would qualify for the 1000 miles. At least I don’t take it for granted.
But 80p are probably worth the risk..
You’ve got me thinking… I can see how you can interpret the T&Cs your way. Except wouldn’t they just say “earn 3,000 miles after using all three” instead of “earn 1,000 miles for each partner” in bold?
I’m hoping that “each” in the T&Cs is aimed at ensuring that only 1,000 bonus per partner applies.
* Dash for Miles Challenge Offer Terms & Conditions:
Limited time offer valid August 7, 2017 through September 30, 2017: Mileage Plan™ members who register for this offer and complete at least one transaction with each of Mileage Plan Dining, Mileage Plan Shopping, and Miles for Surveys during the promotional period will receive 1,000 bonus Miles for each partner they earn with. Registration is required prior to the first qualifying transaction. Bonus Miles do not count towards Mileage Plan Elite Status. Bonus Miles will be awarded within six weeks of the last qualifying transaction posting to a member’s account. All terms and conditions of the Mileage Plan program apply. Offer subject to change without notice.
For the dining option, try looking on the web pages of the different establishments, and try to buy either a gift card / certificate to resell on ebay. Or look for non – perishable goods like cookies and make that purchase. Then conveniently forget to ship them.
In my experience you simply can’t sign up for Dining if you aren’t an American resident, but I could be wrong as I haven’t tried in awhile.
In the “The Opinion Terminal” FAQ’s it says the following:
Can I join The Opinion Terminal if I live outside the United States?
No, unfortunately membership of this online panel is open only to residents of the United States.
When signing up for The Opinion Terminal though, it doesn’t really ask for your location. Are you saying it’s probably best to use a vpn when doing the survey just in case that’s how they’re making the check?
I tried with a VPN. When confirming the T.O.T. account you are asked for a postal address. I used an actual, real address in the States that Opinion Terminal either doesn’t recognise or refuses. So possibly it is cross-referencing against your Mileage Plan address, and thus non-Americans may not be able to sign up.
Does not work for me either. I have been able to create a password but I can’t log in and also cannot reset the password. Giving up.
Dang it. Well hopefully the challenge pans out such that you don’t have to do all three to get the bonus points and doing just one will get you the 1,000!
Just received email confirmation that my 3-mile transaction has tracked. 🙂
I assume you have to remember to cancel the free Hulu trial, or they start taking money from your account?
I haven’t even signed up with Hulu. Just purchased a voucher code from Groupon…
Hasn’t tracked for me…anyone other than Craig had any success?