83,000 American Airlines Miles for $5?

by Gary Leff

The AAdvantage shopping mall currently shows 83,871 American Airlines miles for buying a $59.99 MOTOROKR S305 Bluetooth Stereo Headphones from the Verizon Wireless store.

It’s the fourth item in this list.

I think the offer is supposed to be 2 miles per dollar spent, and I don’t have an interest in these headphones at $60, but I’ve gone ahead and purchased one anyway. If they’re offering almost 84,000 American Airlines miles at $60, I’m certainly in.

I’ve made screen shots and .pdfs of the offer for myself. I’ve made the purchase via American Express, which I’ve had good luck in purchase disputes when needed in the past. I recognize that the Verizon Wireless store has a tough return policy (14 day, I believe there’s also a $35 re-stocking fee).

In the end, I’m not being greedy on this one, I’ll go for it once and hope it gets honored but my guess is that the chance is less than 20%. Your mileage may vary.

(HT: >Rick)

Update: I’ve changed the title to be ‘83,000 American Airlines Miles for $5?’ because Nabeel in the comments points to this item with the same mileage offer, free shipping, but that costs only $4.97. (They do make you select your phone device to make sure this item is compatible, I picked a PalmOS device and that worked.) Of course given the $35 re-stocking charge, I wouldn’t plan on returning it…

Update: And… gone. Update: Back…???? Seems to be working again indeed, at least for the charger/paper weight at 5:30pm Eastern.

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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Comments

  1. I can’t resist not going for it. I ended up getting an item for a little over $3. I can’t wait to see how it plays out.

  2. Update – order of 3 x chargers cancelled without reason.

    Just ordered a single one. Order confirmed, screenshotted again, and I shall wait and see.

  4. I ordered about 15 of the earphones and 9 of the chargers. I highly doubt even Verizon has enough to fulfill all orders and if so there little chance of 84K miles. But I can return them through AmEx and will not allow any re-stocking fee.

    I suspect Verizon has a disgruntled employee who put this bonus up and also neglected to stop orders when out. The AA portal is not American Airlines but a private company who also won’t absorb the loss. I’d say chances are 1 in 100 at best but it’s worth playing to me as a game of chance.

  5. I ordered the desktop charger. I tried to use two different AMEX cards but neither would go through. Then tried a Visa and it worked. What that means I don’t know.

  6. I’ve got news for ALL 105 posters.
    You will NOT get any miles. Nothing.

    Sorry, Gary….but you’re a loser this time.

  7. I’m late to the party (as always) but bought my $5 AA miles lottery ticket! Used my AA M/C and got the confirmation, but I’m not confident that it will work out any better than my weekly lottery purchases here in LA!

    I also think a zillion of these are going to pop up on eBay in about a 4 days!

  8. I fully expect that we won’t get the miles. See my original post, 80% likelihood of nothing. But it’s a fun ride, there’s some chance we get SOMETHING by way of an apology, and I don’t think playing along makes anyone here a loser. 🙂

  10. Anyone who places this order solely relying on the promise of 83,000+ miles is suffering financial detriment if the contract is not honored. As such, if you can prove that you placed the order *because your were relying upon the miles* and this was to your financial detriment when (if) they don’t honor it, you have a claim against them. They could refund your money and let you keep the item and claim that makes you whole, but one way or another, they’ll need to address the issue of “detrimental reliance”. Perhaps the smartest PR move would be to remove and fix this offer immediately (if it is a mistake), then honor it for those who purchased while it was live.

  11. I checked my order status through the link given in the Verizon email confirmation and it says my order has shipped. That should make it harder for them to cancel, no?

  12. @Jphripjah (fabulous name, btw) – I think you can answer your own question… if the item has indeed been shipped, of course it’s harder to cancel.

    From a legal standpoint, there’s no question that they will be in a position to make people whole. I spent $5 solely because of the mile promise, so if I don’t get the miles, I better get *either* the promised miles *or* my $5 back with no further obligations. That’s the real risk here for everyone… not that you’ll lose your $5 (or $60 if you jumped in early, like Gary), but that they’ll decide to just refund your money instead of giving you the miles, which I think would be a fair argument that you’ve been made whole. In any case, worth the minute it takes to place the order.

  13. Did any one catch this on the RETAILER DETAILS on the HOE TO EARN page? Reward eligible for reward plans only (new service, family share, add a line, upgrade and prepay) reward is not eligible on accessories.
    That last sentence makes me think they may NOT honor because these are considered ACCESSORIES. However, this info is not mentioned anywhere near the 83,000 plus miles

  14. @worldtrveller2 – Those terms are printed next to and logically apply to the “1258 miles” offer for new plans/accounts. It isn’t related to the 83K+ offer for the accessory in question. After all, how can you have a “plan” for an accessory?

  17. Hi Mooper,
    I see you are engaged on this one
    I am in for 14$ total just for fun.
    This blog post is getting several times as much new comments compared with the rest in the blog.
    The same goes with the thread on FT. Even more than the TIB thread.

  20. 9.45 ET in for a paper weight, $5 low risk but possibility of high reward! Fingers crossed.

  21. well, for $35 and no free shipping I will restock the paper weight if the offer is not valid!

  22. 10 pm East Coast time. Just bought a navigation mount for $3. 83,871 miles were there before and after the purchase. If it hasn’t been removed by now, it would seem hard to argue it was an error, since so many have been able to order for hours and hours and hours.

    Anyone know a good small claims lawyer – or better yet – a class action suit lawyer ? 🙂

  23. Screen shot saved, printed screen page and will scan in, so $5 risk for huge reward is awesome!!!! Thanks Gary!!

  26. Has anyone clicked “Product Details” on each item listing? It says approximate miles earned will be 13 miles.

  28. That these deals keep appearing, with pricing dropping to ridiculous lows: $2.97 for 83,000 miles?!?, makes me wonder if this isn’t something targeted at Verizon by a striking unionized worker with hacker skills or “Anonymous” friends.

  33. Gary bet $60. But I agree, whatever is going on here, I’d happily follow Gary over many a cliff for miles – this was no exception

  34. I can’t help to think this has to have something to do with the strike or at least will be blamed on it. Either way if I don’t get my miles I plan on tying up the customer dis-service line for as many hours as it takes until I feel vindicated

  36. I noticed that part of the address contains”= false&salechannelid” Is it just me or does that look a little fishy? I’m probably being paranoid but, that just looks suspicious to me. Are we sure we are working with a legitimate Verizon site?

  37. I too invested $5.37 at 12:45 AM and received an email confirmation. Rechecked and offer is now gone —-

  38. My paperweight shipped also – now I sit tight for my 83,871 miles to appear in my AA account 🙂

    And pigs will fly too! But what great entertainment value or $5.44!

  39. @ffi – Yup. Hi there. Let’s see what happens.
    @steve – Why would you need a lawyer? See what happens first, and if they don’t handle appropriately, then worry about that. It’s not likely that the payoff here would justify paying for legal assistance.
    @jcmitchell21 – You don’t need to click on “product details” to order. I ordered by clicking through the main page promising 83K+ miles, and I made my purchase relying upon that offer.
    @James – Those are just variables. As long as the root domain is correct (e.g., verizonwireless.com), you need not worry.

    By the way, as of 1130PM MDT, the linked inductive charger is now gone. Not sure if the other items with large amounts are, too, but it seems this might finally be dead.

  40. Ordered 8 screen protectors for me, wife, sis, mom, and dad. EACH.

    all are cancelled. Fun while it lasted.

  41. Got an email at 9:21pmET that my order was complete and no further changes were possible…let the waiting entertainment game begin!

  42. got the cancellation email. no sruprise. funny people talking about lawyers!!!! it was a slim shot and doesnt look like will work. that said i has planned on getting iphone verizon that may have better shot as would require new subscription.

  44. I got email this morning with fedex tracking number, my $5 paper weight is already half way to my address, at the Newark, NJ Fedex Facility at 2am. No word on the order I placed after that on my wife and daughters accounts.

  45. Ordered chargers at around 6:00pm and headset (that I actually will use) around 9:00pm. Received email confirmations on both but no shipping notification email and clicking the check status link does not work……anyone else having this happen? Any other way to “track” your order?

  46. It was fun, but I can’t help but think some evil genius at Verizon just played all of us. Sales of junk accessories must have been through the roof yesterday. How else are you going to move Pink Glitter whatever those things were. UGH!

  48. In for a bluetooth headset, hoping for the miles to come through. haven’t received any cancellation notice yet, so fingers crossed.

  49. Wait a second Gary,

    You want an apology “for fun” that might costs people’s jobs and income, right? Simply because you’re granted to push buttons faster than others.

    Okay, well…..if that’s the case, I hope you get all your miles.

    What happened was the site was hacked by a 13 year old that’s going to get 12 of the best soon.

  50. The charger just arrived here in VA with a price tag of $49.99. The entire office just laughed and asked why on earth I bought a Palm charger. Hopefully I’ll get the last laugh on this one, but either way, cute little paperweight.

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