Thursday, December 17, 2009

US Mint deal might be over as well... :(

There have been numerous reports on flyertalk.com that the US Mint deal may be over. The US Mint, upset about people buying the coins for airline miles and then promptly depositing them, thus making the point of selling these coins to get them into circulation mute, has now changed their policy and are treating the purchases as a cash advance or cash equivalent. Some cards might still treat it as a purchase (like the British Airways Visa)..but it's not assured.

Cash advances on credit cards are bad news obviously. You accrue high interest as soon as you buy them. There has been some talk that some credit cards might still work while others don't. We will update you if we have a definite list. In the meantime, please use your card on regular purchases only.

It was a nice run while it lasted. Personally, Patrick got around 15000 miles from it all. A very moderate amount compared to the guy featured in last week's Wall Street Journal article about the US Mint deal (see here: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB126014168569179245.html) that got 800000 worth of coins. He's called Mr. Pickles and he's a legend in the mile-hunter community.

Another guy, called Pudding guy, who figured out how to make 250000 miles for only $62.50. He's quite the legend as well. Here's his story: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,996450,00.html

We'll never be a Mr. Pickles or Pudding guy but we'll try our best to always fly for practically free! :)