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2,300 Delta Miles for $5 Verizon Charger

by on August 14, 2011 · 91 comments

in Delta, Shopping

Update: Deal is dead!

Shopping malls are lucrative business for the airlines. They don’t run these sites, but instead sell miles to these third party companies who then offer special amounts to incentivize frequent-flyer mile obsessed people to shop through their portals. Every time you click through their portal, they get a certain kickback from the retailer that more than covers the cost of the miles they gives you. Everybody wins, right?

Lately there have been some snafus. The American shopping website had a glitch showing 83,000 miles for some small ticket items and Gary is covering the drama on his site.  (Some people have gotten 2,500 mile offers for the mix-up, which I think is a nice consolation- especially if they allow free returns).

Today I read on Flyertalk that the Delta shopping mall is offering 2,300 Delta Skymiles for a $5 Verizon phone charger. I do not think this is a mistake, though it takes a couple weeks for these miles to post to your Delta account so we will have to wait and see. There’s nothing that I can see that prohibits multiple orders, though I wouldn’t recommend going out of control. If you are near a Verizon store, since these come with free shipping, I see little risk in this promo if you are willing to invest the time- worst case scenario is you return them for a full refund.

To get this, just first go to the Delta Shopping homepage and enter your Skymiles number on the left side of the page as highlighted below

Shopping portal login

Then click to this link and you’ll see the option to buy the charger.

You’ll then get directed to the Verizon home page and see the confirmation that you’ll get 2,300 miles for your purchase.

Confirmation while en route to Verizon

Once you see the item, it won’t let you add to your cart unless you verify the compatibility with your phone. So verify that you have a Palm phone and it was a little tricky for me- a bunch of compatible accessories pulled up, but I narrowed it down to chargers and the $4.97 charger showed up and I added it to my cart and checked out. I even got free shopping!

Checkout

2,300 miles for $4.97 and 5 minutes of my time is a good deal to me!

Disclaimer: This content is not provided or commissioned by the credit card issuer. Opinions expressed here are author.s alone, not those of the credit card issuer, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card issuer. This site may be compensated through the credit card issuer Affiliate Program.

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  • Steve

    Can you get 2300 miles for multiple orders?

  • Danny

    Hi TPG. I don’t blame you for not following the FT thread on the AA snafu (though it is hilarious to read!) but the company that does the IT for the shopping malls (Cartera) has made it VERY clear in their e-mails to FT readers and in various T&Cs that you WILL NOT get miles for Verizon accessory purchases, only for new service plans.

    So if people purchase these for the Delta SkyMiles they should be aware that they are going to enter the exact same lottery/crapshoot that people who bought the stuff from the AA mall are in. This is as much a mistake – according to Cartera’s T&C – as the AA stuff.

  • Anonymous

    I don’t see why not

  • Anonymous

    I think its unreasonable for this company to require people to read through the crazy Flyertalk thread to find out that accessories are not eligible. It clearly states in multiple places you will earn 2,300 miles for the purchase. Even if they did have that rule after the AA debacle, its inexcusable that they are still advertising false bonuses on different shopping malls. I’m willing to fight for these miles, because as I said- 2,3000 miles does not seem like a mistake to me.

  • Danny

    Which, I ought to add, isn’t a reason to not do it. As you note, early indications for some is that Cartera is trying to offer some smaller amount of miles for the purchase, so it could still be worth buying one. People should just recognize going in that it’s not a slam dunk.

  • Alan Fowler

    So, here’s the question everyone is going to ask: how long until the Skymiles post?

  • Danny

    I completely agree with you. Their defense is that it is in their T&C and has been since before this all started (and, in fact, it has been). The FT response – and the response that I assume a reasonable person would make – is that they shouldn’t be listing things on their site as giving you miles for purchases if they know that it violates their own T&C. Should be very interesting to see how this plays out.

  • Anonymous

    usually a couple weeks- i added that to the main post

  • Glen

    Three hockey pucks for me! Fingers crossed.

  • Parag

    When I click on it, I see this, “Eligible only on new service contracts. Accessory purchases and contract upgrades are not eligible. Purchases of gift cards and of phones outside of new contracts and upgrades are not eligible.”

  • Parag

    When I click on it, I see this, “Eligible only on new service contracts. Accessory purchases and contract upgrades are not eligible. Purchases of gift cards and of phones outside of new contracts and upgrades are not eligible.”

  • Anonymous

    Where do you see that?

  • Anonymous

    Where do you see that?

  • Rb

    Do you really believe that its not a mistake? 460 miles per dollar with no limit? That’s wildly out of the realm of other offers.

    Plus, when you click your link, at the bottom — in red — it says “Specific terms and conditions may apply for each merchant. To check individual policies move the mouse over a merchant name then click on “merchant details”.”

    When you click the merchant details pop-up, the page tells you “Eligible only on new service contracts. Accessory purchases and contract upgrades are not eligible. Purchases of gift cards and of phones outside of new contracts and upgrades are not eligible. “

  • http://twitter.com/SizzleMel mel harjono

    Hm. I think I’m a little too late… They took the deal down, when I clicked on the buy option the page is scrubbed clean…

  • http://twitter.com/trentswanson Trent Swanson

    $35 re-stocking fee for merchandise returns. For $5, still worth the gamble

  • Pingback: Another E-Shopping Mistake Offer from Verizon, 2300 Miles for a $4.96 Charger - View from the Wing

  • Nyyanks9191

    When you click through from the portal to the Verizon store, it very clearly says that the purchaser will earn miles for the purchase. It is not very disputable.

  • BruceW

    They offer 2300 miles if you purchase now, and then give you the option to purchase 1,2, or 3. I wonder if they would regard the purchase of 3 units a single purchase of if they would issue 6900 miles for the three units? That part isn’t clear.

  • Zhanna

    I also came across some phone covers for $4.97 that I may just gift to a friend.

    http://www.skymilesshopping.com/sr____.htm?keywords=htc+incredible&rows=50&fields=merchant_id-1029&mnpos=549|2806|3|2|Verizon%20Wireless|m|1029|32|30

  • Ben

    The Delta Mall has added lots of new language when you search by vendor. These are new restrictions for Target.com:

    Not eligible on service invoice adjustments, reorders, gift cards, pharmacy products, Personal Care & Household Products, including: Groomers, Trimmers, Toothbrushes, Shavers, Mouthguards, Oral Care & Household Products, Baby Care Products, including: Baby Toiletries, Diapers, Wipes, Formula & Food, Amazon.com products, and third party websites where checkout does not occur on target.com. Using coupons from other sites or forums are not eligible. Not eligible on bulk purchases; particularly purchases made for the purpose of resale or return.

  • http://twitter.com/gster78 gster78

    I see a wall charger for $4.96 as well, also offering 2300 miles. Will sit this one out because of my AA experience, but good luck to everyone!

  • Shady11

    When you hover over the “Verizon” button/icon you’ll see “Quick View – Merchant Details”. If you click that you’ll get “Eligible only on new service contracts. Accessory purchases and contract upgrades are not eligible. Purchases of gift cards and of phones outside of new contracts and upgrades are not eligible. ”

    I agree it is very misleading. On the AAdvantage email that a number of us received, they acknowledge that “While the offer featured on the AAdvantage eShopping mall website gave a visual indication that online purchases of certain Verizon Wireless accessories would award 83,871 AAdvantage miles, Verizon’s Terms & Conditions for the offer clearly state that miles can be earned on new wireless service plans only, not accessories.”

    Yet on these other portals (Delta, Priority Club) they continue to give a visual indication that accessories will earn miles/points. Again, very misleading.

  • Vimaury

    TPG: Do you have to register a credit card first? Thanks

  • Vimaury

    TPG: Do you have to register a credit card first? Thanks

  • Amrx03

    Wireless Device/Accessory Return Policy

    You may return or exchange wireless devices and accessories purchased from Verizon Wireless within 14 days of purchase. A restocking fee of $35 ($70 for netbooks and tablets) applies to any return or exchange of a wireless device (excluding Hawaii).

    This return and exchange policy does not apply to customers who have purchased a Prepaid Plan.

    —Reads as wireless devices incur the restocking fee, not accessories, though not confident with all the flaky information—

  • Amrx03

    Mine was blank first too, then I registered my DL # with their shopping portal and reloaded. Everything then came up as shown here.

  • Amrx03

    This is clearly just as much a mistake as the AA deal only with a different mileage amount. An inadvertant mistake that is essentially deceptive advertising. This company Cartera just doesn’t have their stuff together.

    The difference here, and why I’m in this time and not with the larger AA mistake, is we saw how they handled their mistake once, and these 2300 miles are below the “apology handout” from the AA deal. It’s most likely going to happen again if they want to continue saving face. Not guaranteed but feel good that my $5 will be well spent.

  • Dedixon

    When I search “verizon” on the site, it responds with:

    ******************************************
    We found 1 merchant matching “verizon”

    2300 miles – Verizon Wireless offer only eligible on new service contracts.

    Eligible only on new service contracts. Accessory purchases and contract upgrades are not eligible. Purchases of gift cards and of phones outside of new contracts and upgrades are not eligible.
    *******************************************

    When I clicked through with the link you provided, I get no such message.

  • Dedixon

    BTW, I ordered before I did the search I mentioned above (I did the search instead of clicking through on your link because I was curious and I was going to order another with my wife’s info). I guess when it arrives, I will put it on Ebay. Definitely, this will not result in 2300 miles.

  • Dewhit6959

    Nope……I don’t need to do it like this. Thanks , but no thanks. $330 for 60k miles is still easier for me.

  • ZH

    Unfortunately, this offer is only good if you have a USA address and US Credit cards. Doesn’t help us Canadians :-(

  • YahooRocks

    TPG,

    First and foremost, I enjoy your blog and appreciate what you have to offer. But I believe you should use more caution before blogging about this on your site. Many people take your word without thinking twice, and as per all the Cartera debacles these last few weeks, I believe this is yet another “mistake”. For you to advise your readers that it isn’t, is a little careless. I urge you to reevaluate your opinion on this.

  • Avi4

    Sorry, the Skymiles site could not have been any more specific. It says in very bright red letters:

    Eligible only on new service contracts. Accessory purchases and contract upgrades are not eligible. Purchases of gift cards and of phones outside of new contracts and upgrades are not eligible.

    There is no ambiguity

    They added this language to avoid a repeat of the AAdvantage shopping Mall fiasco.

    I know “it never hurts to ask” is one of TPGs greatest pieces of advice, but come on guys, do you really think Verizon would make the same mistake twice?

    I am so sure of this that I will personally gift 2000 skymiles of my own (at a cost to me of $40) to the first person who sends me a screenshot of a credit of 2300 skymiles for buying a $4.97 charger. Good luck everyone.

    Avi4

  • Verizon Spouse

    Verizon workers are currently striking to avoid giving back 20K per worker in salary and benefits even though the company has posted record profits, paid no taxes and received $1billion in subsidies from the government. Maybe instead of a few miles, you people should think of people’s jobs and avoid patronizing Verizon until they agree to bargain with their workers in good faith.

    http://www.cwa-union.org/

  • Anonymous

    Where do you see that information in the screen shots i posted? Maybe they’ve updated it but there was morning of that nature when I purchased and it clearly stated 2,300 miles for the purchase. It couldn’t have been any clearer to me

  • Dewhit6959

    That’s bold talk Avi !!!

    I agree with your reasoning. I like deals. I relish a good deal. I like getting double miles and triple miles and bonuses on things I would be buying anyway. I’ll even stay at a different hotel or eat a meal somewhere new or use a different rental agency for an exceptional deal. I’ll do all this for a good legitimate deal. This thing reeks of desperation and lack of respect for your money. When it blows up, the usual calls for emails to management and the usual cries of foul will follow. I will follow Avi’s lead and assume half his cost of $40 under his terms of proof.
    I’m going back to the ballgame now. Later, I may walk the roads and pick up aluminum cans for cash to buy miles. These aren’t the type of deals I subscribed to read and consider.

  • Dewhit6959

    Brian…..there were way more products than the charger listed. Many, many, more. I read the fine print on the Verizon site and it was clear to me that accessories were not part of the deal and I quit reading the rest.

  • Anonymous

    Why would it list 2,300 miles for the product if they didn’t want to give out 2,300 miles?

  • Richard

    I ordered one this morning and one this afternoon. Screen shots of the initial screen displaying 2300 points and screen shoots of the transfering to Verizon screen displaying 2300 points. Safe to say an order of 1-5 will result in points but orders of 5+ will result in cancellation. Eventually the points will be posted to the account automatically or as the result of an email.

  • Anonymous

    83,000 was a mistake. I’ve been buying stuff off mileage malls for years and 2,300 for an item is not a mistake. In fact thousands of us got wireless wipes for the us airways grand slam promotion from the wireless stores and we all got credit, miles and bonus miles.

    While many of you may think it’s too good to be true, I respect your decision to not get in on it. To me, it’s worth the $4.97 risk. If it doesn’t work out, my life will go on. I will not sue, but I hope these companies all become a little bit more responsible with respect to how they advertise their mileage promotions

  • Anonymous

    FYI it’s $330 for 30,000 miles.

  • Kris

    TPG saying he doesn’t THINK this is a mistake is different from saying it’s definitely not a mistake. I’m pretty sure we’re all reading this blog for his opinion and expertise on all things points/miles related, and this post is no different. Either way, it’s 5 dollars… no one is going to lose their house after risking that kind of cash. It’s like buying a lotto ticket. Maybe we’ll get nothing, maybe we’ll get 5 miles, maybe we’ll get 2300.

  • Dave

    I figured it was worth the gamble. I look forward to following this and hopefully the credit of 2300 miles to my account. I’m sure thepointsguy will keep us update on the status of this wonderful deal.

  • Anonymous

    I called Verizon customer service…there’s no restocking fee for accessories. That only applies to phones and tablets.

  • Dewhit6959

    No Brian ….It is $330 for 30k miles with a verified 100% bonus of 30k miles.
    You seem to have a chip on your shoulder over this thread. Hell, you posted it !

  • Anonymous

    Seriously, no chip. I was just correcting you so people wouldn’t think you could get 60,000 miles for $330. What you are referring to is the Delta transfer bonus. You need to start with 30,000 of your own miles and when you transfer them for $330, you get 30,000 new miles.
    In the end, you end up with 30,000 new miles for $330, which is a great deal.

  • Dewhit6959

    The reasoning behind the offer is to get new customers to buy a phone and a plan and some accessories. Granted, someone made a mistake, but if something looks like a duck, walks like a duck. They made a mistake. It happens. The fine print is what it is. I didn’t do it. The point is, this could very well be a mistake like the AA promotion.
    Some car dealer here listed new Corvettes for $17, 800. The 1 should have been a 3.
    They did not deliver any product at the mistake price. Life goes on.

  • Anonymous

    If that Chevy dealer sold the car to the customer and gave the title of the car for $17,800, should the customer still have to give it back in the future if they decided later on it was a mistake?

  • Anonymous

    I got 1,000 Skymiles this month for simply checking in for a flight. 1,000 miles for $0 seemed a little too good to be true, but they posted like clockwork. I also recently got 3,000 Starwood points for “liking” a random hotel on Facebook. That seemed too good to be true as well.

    Why would I think that 2,300 miles for a purchase via Delta’s shopping mall wouldn’t post??

  • Dewhit6959

    IF you were lucky enough to find a salesman and a sales manager stupid enough to proceed with an obvious mistake, and inked a contract and drove off, you got a whale of a deal. If you didn’t find all these persons, or called in checking the ad as a reasonable person would, you were told it was a mistake.

  • Anonymous

    Right.. so in my opinion, if Delta and Verizon advertise a bonus and are “stupid enough” to sell products with that bonus showing, then I think the customer is entitled to the advertised bonus. If they didn’t want to give out 2,300 miles, they could easily pull it down or not honor any orders via the shopping mall.

  • Avi4

    Check out my screen shot. I took it as soon as I saw the deal the breaking news this morning.It’s very clear that the 2300 miles was for a new contract and accessories not being eligible.

    Screen shot 2011-08-14 at 10.29.44 AM.png – https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B2TuEBNgFzAKODg5OWMxNjEtMTI0Zi00Yzc1LWExNmYtZDRmMmQxODM4ZDVi&hl=en_US

    Points Guy, you are the Man, but I really think you are wrong here.

    And I would like to challenge you to a Gentleman’s Wager. If you are right, I’ll gift you 1000 Membership Rewards Points. If I am right, you’ll do the same for me.

  • Anonymous

    What do you mean “I’m wrong” here? Your screenshot is great- I understand it showed you that you cant earn miles. But nowhere during my purchase (and most other peoples) did it have that red type. So we are comparing apples to oranges here.

    I’m happy for you that you didn’t get in on this promo, but I don’t see the need to “compete” on who is wrong or right.

  • Heather ✈

    I think you do an awesome job. I enjoy reading your posts and have learned a lot about points and such. I have travelled for business all over the world, but your website is the only place I have gained so much knowledge! So, if people don’t like your suggestion, then they shouldn’t do it and move on. Keep up with the good work! ✈

  • Avi4

    As I said you are the Man.

    In all humility I apologize for giving you the impression I want to compete with you in anything. And I’m probably in the wrong. When you grabbed the deal I believe you that the red writing was not there

    I really hope you get the 2300 Miles and that many of your readers cash in too and that you keep the great deals coming every day.

    Best wishes

    Avi4

  • Min

    Brian, I agree with you, I didn’ t jump on the AA deal, that is what we called mistake, I don’t think this 2300 miles deal is a mistake, even it is, Delta will honor it since it is not going to bankrupt because of this. If they would not honor the miles and ship the charger, it is okay too, for a cost of $5, our life goes on…

  • hobo13

    Don’t worry, if this deals goes like all of us here hope, Verizon won’t be making any money off these purchases!

  • RH

    wow. what’s with all the negativity and “challenges” being thrown out at Brian? Everyone needs to calm down and let TPG do his thing!

    Thank you for making it rain, my friend.

  • Benthelefty

    Thanks for the heads up! Put my first order in and thinking about a second one later tonight…make it a nice 4600 miles for $10 :)

  • http://twitter.com/skyvan Andrew Fielding

    I ordered 3, maybe i get 6900? If I get none I call AMEX or just return them…would love to get the miles so I can give one of the induction chargers to a friend who has a Pre though.

  • MJLouise

    I do believe the 2,300 is a mistake, but not a huge and obvious one. I think the 2,300 is the standard reward for activating a long-term plan, not buying a $5 gizmo.

    Having said that, I have no problem with purchasing one just for the miles; in fact I just did so. Perhaps episodes like this will make the airlines more careful about the online retailers they contract with, and the online retailers to do more data checking / quality control before posting new items to their “stores”

  • MJLouise

    Amen.

  • SBC

    “We’re sorry, but our server is experiencing a problem with your request. Our support team has been notified. Please check the URL and try again. We are sorry for the inconvenience.” Apparently the item is no longer available as when I click to purchase, this message is shown.

  • Benthelefty

    It appears to be fixed. After clicking your link it says there are 4 results but only shows 3. Even after filtering to $20 and less it only shows one item (but says 2 results haha). Good snag while it was here but it appears to have been finished. Maybe because they changed it it is more legitimate than the 83k AA offer?

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  • Supon

    What’s with all these negative comments? If you think it was worth the gamble,then go ahead and buy it. If Verizon would not honor the miles–then you just brought a $5 charger. I am sure that $5 wont make any different in your life.

  • http://www.facebook.com/jkeithdotnet J. Keith Van Straaten

    I just clicked the link and searched for Verizon, and there seems to be nothing in the store related to Verizon at all. I’m guessing the folks who put up the promotion have thrown in the towel! If you see different, please reply saying so? thanks.

    Also, just wanna say that I’ve been following this blog for less than 3 months and have already added over 200,000 miles to my various accounts (and won a $25 gift card!). Brian offers a great service (for free!) and I for one am quite grateful.

  • PJ

    i dont see any incentive for Brian : “For you to advise your readers that it isn’t, is a little careless.” Points Hunt goes on. I can not add up how many good deals me, my family and friends have been tipped off here.

  • http://twitter.com/trentswanson Trent Swanson

    gr8 news lucky1212. Thanks for the post

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  • Hephastion

    I applied, got conf. from Verizon Sunday night. Monday a.m. got another mail from Verizon stating they had cancelled my Delta order and that my cc would not be charged. Also ordered from AAdvantage the 83,000 mile headset which was never shipped but cc was charged.

  • Paul

    Hey TPG,
    I tried the link last night and unfortunately it didn’t take me to Verizon. I am guessing if it was a mistake, they caught on and removed it. Unless I did it wrong it looks like it is gone. Thanks for the information though!

  • Michelle

    Interesting. I also got confirmation email last night. This afternoon I received another email stating that the charger was in the process of being shipped to me.

  • Jeff

    This looks over? Don’t see the deal on the link posted.

  • Lockdown70

    Tried it this morning, the like to the charger/verizon does not appear to work.

  • Lockdown70

    tried it this morning. The link to the charger/verizon does not work.

  • CJ

    Can not get this to work. Does anyone have a different link or one that is working.

  • Erik

    I am not seeing the charger. Can anyone confirm that this deal is still active?

  • Anonymous

    Not active

  • James

    TPG, is there any update on this? I tried to contact the customer service of Skymile Shopping and they refused to honor the 2300 miles. What is the next step shall we take?

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  • Fjr44

    Dont know if Im getting the miles but I sold the charger on ebay for 10 bucks.

  • Valerie M.

    there is no verizon link and they are not listed as a “vendor”. =( this may have expired.

  • Hugh Harding

    Any news on this? I haven’t received points for my three.

  • Brad

    When i log in and click the link to see the charger- it is not showing up… is this promo still available?

  • Jayneril

    Delta did not credit me 2300 miles :-( . I may get in touch with delta and see if they any kind of offer. Does anyone have a screenshot of the page?

  • update

    Well, the offer is — officially — a mistake, and isn’t being honored. See the FlyerTalk thread on this for update.

  • AF

    I haven’t received my miles. Has anyone received their’s?

  • Azkyker

    I haven’t received any single mile on my purchased, does anyone got one already?
    Points Guy any update on this?

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