Earlier tonight I wrote about a ridiculous deal offering up to 150,000 miles in the Gol Smiles program for even a one night hotel stay that cost $600 or so.
The deal was in Portuguese, and the terms mentioned being restricted to residents of Brazil, which scared some folks off. Others took the plunge because this sort of mileage-earning offer doesn’t come along very often.
I’ve confirmed (and it’s been shared by Rocketmiles in the comments to the earlier post) that:
- There was a glitch in the algorithm that created these amazing offers.
- Existing bookings will be honored as long as customers complete their stays.
- Customers do not need to be from Brazil to earn with this promo.
I’m still seeing excellent deals, though it appears they’ve been dialed back somewhat. For instance,
Is that in US$ or in Brazilian reais?
Gary, appreciate your blog for being the first place I saw this deal, but how do we know the anonymous comment on your post is really from someone who has the power to honor this? I’d be much more comfortable with a statement from Rocketmiles PR or something.
Gary, Please call +55 300 115 7001 (Brazil Smiles Customer Care )and get this confirmed rather than believe RocketFart
This is a BAD deal! you have to reside in Brazil. They aren’t just going to give out 150,000 miles if you create an account same day you book hotel then make up or use a fake address.
VERY bad idea… anyone who books this is flat out dumb.
subscribed
Gary, this is irresponsible journalism. As one of the other bloggers pointed out, GOL has a horribly inflated award chart as compared to most other programs. 250K on Etihad is not an amazing/ridiculous deal though still maybe an OK deal.
Either you weren’t aware of the award chart or you didn’t think its non-competitive levels were worth pointing out. Either way, it’s bad form on your part to hype a deal without mentioning that.
One last thought, even if the commenter is from Rocketmiles, how do we know he has the authority to force GOL to honor miles accrued by those specifically excluded by the terms and conditions of the promo?
Gary: CPF in Brazil is the equivalent to US social security number. It says very clear that you need one to qualify. Good luck with GOL honoring this deal if you don’t have a CPF.
@jon – The commenter isn’t just ‘from’ Rocketmiles but a top executive whose staff consulted with Gol Smiles.
So you’re saying if I book 9 days at a (completely overpriced) Sheraton for $6.5k, Rocketmiles will happily give me the 1,632,000 smiles the site advertises?
I suppose you haven’t done much research on this deal — the pricing is whacky (5 days cost less than 3, but earn a lot more miles).
Whoever you spoke to probably had no idea what’s going on. No way this will be honored.
@Josh – “Whoever you spoke to probably had no idea what’s going on. No way this will be honored” you are seriously mistaken.
If the deal is too good to be true – it usually is. Buyer beware.
The link to the deal is an affiliate link. Gary doesn’t care if it’s honored or not as long as he gets his payola.
@afterbang – the link to the deal is NOT my affiliate link, I get NOTHING out of this. Stop spreading false information.
Gary,
Not to be flippant, but will your miles redemption service be available (at ordinary fees, of course) to redeem Gol miles? For me, this would be a one and done, and I do not especially care to navigate a miles redemption where speaking Portuguese may be needed.
And thank you for letting me be a grown up and decide what risks I should run.
@Gary – So then what is that code with a bunch of numbers on the end of the link? You should remove it, the site loads fine if it is manually removed. And it would make it so much easier to share the link, which is totally safe and will definitely be honored according to you.
@RocketBart – what is the point of the code at the end of the link? If you are who you say you are, you should be able to provide some light on the subject.
@jfhscott — No Portuguese required. Gol Smiles from the US in English is 800-468-2744 then press 2 for Spanish or English then 2 for English.
And sure, you’ve been reading for years, we or I will book for you at no extra charge.
@afterbang — I initially removed it, the site loaded fine for me, but a few readers initially said they had a problem with the link so I put it back in.
If you want to use a link without it, copy the link and paste it into a web browser. Or copy into a browser in incognito mode.
But 100% this is not ‘my’ link. And I do not receive any commission or credit of any kind for it. So maybe back off the hostility (“according to you” meh).
@Gary Leff – You seem to be going to a lot of sites to defend this. Is this based on anything other than the one poster Rocketbart, who is a consultant and not from Rocketmiles or Gol? Even if he is speaking from his best information is there no chance that can change? I really do hope you’re right, as you are putting it out there so definitively.
Gary – The question is not whether RocketFart will honor deposit of miles, we users are more worried that GOL will cancel the account or create some sort of mental agony by the time we can redeem it. Sorry, but the risk is too high and uncertain. I ll take my peace of mind.
Besides the rates now are too high anyways
@Gary – Well, at this point it really is only “according to you”, even if that includes you vouching for a commenter who claims to work for Rocketmiles. Because the terms very clearly state otherwise. I will be happy to apologize if/when the terms are officially updated. I somehow doubt that will happen.
@Carl P – Rocketbart is not a consultant.
@afterbang you don’t have to believe me but i have it on 100% rock solid authority that the boilerplate language about brazil residency is a non-issue and not something that can or will be enforced. you have no basis on which to say you think I’m wrong of course. and you don’t have to act on my advice.
the terms of this promotion which ends in a couple of days are not going to be updated, however there is a live discussion about updating for future promos.
My apologies. I missed the “just” in your post “The commenter isn’t just ‘from’ Rocketmiles but a top executive whose staff consulted with Gol Smiles.”
Hopefully nobody reneges, if you could call it that since the practice seems to be different than the T&C.
I didn’t notice. Did you take advantage of the offer?
It ain’t a referral link, just something that seems like a great deal.
Even without the special mistake bonus, the 3x bonus can still be pretty sweet. I see points near 150k/night on the east coast later this year. Yes, the price of the rooms is higher than you could probably find elsewhere, but 100-150k miles PER NIGHT is worth it for an extra $200-300 more/nt on the best price I could find for the same hotels (I looked in Virginia, DC, NYC in Nov and Dec, FWIW).
May not be worth the risk to some of you. I gotta stay in a hotel then anyway, an extra $850 for 400k+ miles is a risk I’ll take.
Also, some people mentioned that the miles will expire, with responses saying expiration is between 6 to 12 months. I do not definitively know what the correct time is. On the Smiles Program page, though, there is a link for reactivating expired miles. There is a cost to it. Follow the link, sign into the site with your Smiles info and you can check the price for yourself. As others have mentioned, this offer is probably best for people who have or can take a trip in the not-too-distant future.
In my estimation, I will get 400k+ points for an extra $850 over the best price I could find for the hotels I want to stay in, which means my points will be costing me .2 cents. yes, that is .2, as in 2/10 of 1 cent.
Now here’s the thing, you gotta figure out if the miles are worth anything to you. For the flights I want to take, it will cost me 500k miles roundtrip on business class/emirates. The same flight would cost less than 400k with alaska miles. So you gotta do your math and assess your risk to see if this deal is worthwhile. There also aren’t a whole slew of choices for each flight like you’d get using United MP, either, and since I have never used GOL for anything, no idea on the details.
I’m essentially getting 90% of an emirates biz class flight, rt, for $850.
Just my .2 cents
When I clicked the link on the original post, it took me to the rules page, but there was no link to a booking page. I have a Smiles account, so I logged into that and tried to book a hotel. Initially, I seemed to see double miles, not triple miles, but then I saw only single miles. Smiles has had a different triple miles promo that runs through August 31, not July 31, but that says that it gives the triple miles at checkout rather than displaying them, which makes me somewhat nervous. Gary, is there a good link that still displays triple miles?
(BTW, my take on the CPF issue is that people who book through this promo will have to get a CPF, but it probably will not be limited to US citizens. You can get a CPF through an application to the Brazilian Embassy in DC. They will make you dot every i and cross every t, but they will give you one in the end.)
What a bunch of whiners! If you are adverse to the risk, don’t play this time and wait for a less risky play. Better yet, don’t trust Gary at all and move on to other information sources that you do trust. Why waste your valuable time?
I do trust Gary, but that’s my choice. I’ve met him and talked with him. Blogging is his avocation creating a nice side hustle income, but it’s not job. He LOVES this stuff.
I won’t be taking advantage of this offer because I don’t have any uses for Gol miles in the next year. Yet, I distinctly remember telling people about the millions of USAirways miles I would earn by investing in a few thousand dollars worth of “Track It Back” stickers. Those who were risk averse lost out on a MONSTROUS opportunity then. Find your own comfort level, but don’t shoot the messenger simply because you can’t handle risk.
@craig, can you share some dates? im having trouble replicating. thanks in advance!
I went ahead to book one night. Thanks for the info. Will see if it works.
Well as the airline e says, they are honouring it and say there’s no need to be Brazilian.
Amazing news for those who had the balls to go for it 🙂
Was a big gamble $600 for one night in a hotel you’re not hat bothered about is a lot to pay if it went wrong – looks like it hasn’t though.
Congrats you lucky b*ggers !!
So what is the offer worth now after the correction ???????
Hi Gary,
I am a brazilian resident, longtime GOL subscriber but never booked a hotel night through this but thinking of trying this time.
But I see that they have no deals at around 150,000 miles anymore?
All I see is at around 50,000 or even less.. What happened? Did the deal die?
Yes Lindsay, it died.
They realised they were accidentally offering crazy amounts of points so have changed it now.
Existing bookings honoured.
For those who did this offer, here is a selective Smiles award chart:
Smiles One-Way Business-Class (and Etihad First-Class) Flights
JFK-LHR Miles
DL 85000
Alitalia 85000
Air Canada 100000
TAP 105000
Air France 150000
KLM 150000
JFK-DXB
Qatar 100000
Em-connect 170000
Air Canada 200000
Etihad 250000
Emirates 250000
F:
Etihad 310000
SFO-NRT
Korean 100000
Delta 100000
Air Canada 200000
Em-lax/sin 260000
Emirates 330000
As you can see, some of these, like Delta, Alitalia, Qatar and Korean, are reasonable, but others, like KLM and Emirates, are not.
When I returned to the linked website tonight, it was working for me; it looks like I had an internet connection earlier that was too slow to communicate properly with the site. Post-“glitch,” I’m not seeing an offer like the Radisson offer above, which amounts to 0.65 cents per mile, much less the original values, which were maybe 0.45 cents per mile. The best offers I’m seeing are in the neighborhood of 0.9 cents per mile.
Since Smiles are clearly worth less than Delta miles, in part because of the mileage chart and in part because of the six-month expiration, I wouldn’t pay 0.9 miles for the Smiles alone. (It’s also worth noting that if you have a Smiles account with a CPF, then from time to time you can buy Smiles for less than that, and “miles and money” tickets also cost less than that.) However, if you actually need the hotel room, then there may be real value in this offer. I need a hotel room in DC in two weeks, and it looks like I’ll get around 80,000 miles for $800 — plus a room I need. That makes sense to me.
Here are the requirements in plain English right from their website. You must be a Brazilian resident with a valid CPF. No go for us Americans.
PROMOTION REGULATION – 200% BONUS WITH ROCKETMILES
This promotional action is sponsored by SMILES SA, a publicly-held corporation, registered with the CNPJ / MF under No. 15.912.764 / 0001-20, headquartered in the city of Barueri, State of São Paulo, at Alameda Rio Negro, nº 585, Building Padauiri, Block B, 2nd floor, sets 21 and 22, Alphaville, CEP 06454-000, hereinafter referred to as “Smiles”.
I – PROMOTION
1. The participant duly enrolled Smiles Program, resident and domiciled in Brazil, with a valid CPF that between 10:00 AM (Brasilia time) on July 21, 2017 and 23:59 (Brasília time) on 07/31/2017 (“Period Of Vigillance “) to purchase a hotel daily in the Smiles area with the partner RockeMiles whose CheckOut is given until September 15, 2017, using only money (credit card) can accumulate 200% (two hundred percent) in Miles Smiles Bonus On the amount of Smiles Miles presented at the time of booking that will be accumulated with the reservation and overnight at the chosen hotel (“Bonus Miles”).
3. The Participant will be eligible for the Bonus Miles as well as the Miles arising from the after-night accumulation (check-out) at the hotel booked under this Promotion.
4. Miles accrued from the accumulation as well as Bonus Miles will be made available in the Participant’s Smiles account which has re-booked daily rates on the Smiles website with partner RocketMiles within 30 (thirty) business days after CheckOuts dates made up to 15 Of September 2017; And for non-refundable nightly rates on the Smiles website with partner RocketMiles within 10 (ten) business days after the date of reservation. The Miles arising from the accumulation will be valid according to the category of the Participant in the Smiles Program, under the terms of the regulation, and the Bonus Miles will be valid for 06 (six) months from the time they become available in the Participant’s Smiles account.
Did anyone receive their miles yet? I want to see if its worth keeping my refundable booking..
Thanks!
You have to actually stay at the hotel before miles are awarded.
What I mean to say is..did any stay at their booked hotel and get confirmation of their points? I’m sure it will take some time for them to deposit the points.
Just called Smiles customer care and they said that they are NOT honoring the promo for non-CPF members.
Base miles of 58000 were credited to my account. But the bonus of 116000 miles never did…
I guess a failed opportunity
@Nfd Is it possible to contact Jeff Leff or Bart from Rocketmiles to make this valid since we were told that it was a valid promo?
Just called rocketmiles, they said they did transfer them..
Another blogger mentioned that there were some issues with Gol’s systems and they are posting miles manually hence causing further delays
@Nfd So you will be getting all the miles including the bonus. Please let us know when you receive the bonus as well!
Fingers crossed here.. I believe Rocketmiles will send them over but Smiles won’t credit them
@Nfd which blogger said there was a delay in crediting the miles? I see that since you received the initial miles you would get the rest soon. Let’s hope!
@Ad The blogger publishes his blog in Portuguese here on boardingarea so used google translate
http://mestredasmilhas.com/posicionamento-do-smiles-sobre-promocao-de-hoteis-com-bonus-em-triplo/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+mestredasmilhas+%28Mestre+das+Milhas%29
@Ad, got an email from Smiles team that the bonus miles were credited however the account still shows the base miles
@Nfd that’s great news..hopefully the bonus miles will show up soon! Please let me know when it does..appreciate the help!
@Ad… miles posted 🙂
@Nfd that’s great news!!! Can’t wait to get my miles!!