# "Locking" points for shopping



## The Journalist (Feb 15, 2011)

I've been browsing AGR's Points-for-Shopping deals, which seems to have grown hugely lately. Some of them are breaktakingly random (eHarmony?! Buh? GameStop?! Weird! RiffTrax?! Awesome!) and I know I would have a hard time remembering to visit AGR to get linked. Is it necessary to follow that link every time I'm going to visit those sites or is it possible to "lock" the sites into giving AGR points without going via AGR every time? Having just bought almost $200 worth of eBay stuff, I missed those 200 points by not even knowing it was an option.

Also, if a site leaves me logged in (such as say iTunes) do I have to still click though AGR if i've closed the window but not been logged out?

Thanks!


----------



## Devil's Advocate (Feb 15, 2011)

There is no way, and indeed no incentive, to offer a "lock-in" for your points earning ability. To the contrary, there is every reason and incentive to make it as time consuming and tedious as possible to actually collect your points, which is exactly what AGR have created in my view. To date I have had a nearly 50% failure rate with Amtrak points, but they're generally such tiny amounts that I don't even worry about it. I mean, what's a few hundred AGR points worth to someone far beyond the services of the NEC or CA? I'd only fight for them if it was a huge amount, like with the purchase of a car or financing of a house, but even in those cases I'd probably take the lower cost option instead of worrying about how I could get a few thousand points out of it.


----------



## The Journalist (Feb 15, 2011)

daxomni said:


> There is no way, and indeed no incentive, to offer a "lock-in" for your points earning ability. To the contrary, there is every reason and incentive to make it as time consuming and tedious as possible to actually collect your points, which is exactly what AGR have created in my view.


Indeed...quite irritating to have all these ways of earning points but have it be massively tedious to actually do so.


----------



## jb64 (Feb 15, 2011)

I should knock on wood, I guess, but I have had very good success in getting all my points for shopping through AGR. I know the program had problems early on, but perhaps they fixed some of those. It would be nice to be able to Lock in to those sites you visit frequently without all the steps, but worth the extra effort for the points, I suppose.


----------



## roomette (Feb 15, 2011)

jb64 said:


> I should knock on wood, I guess, but I have had very good success in getting all my points for shopping through AGR.



Me too. Takes long than I'd like for the point to post but they always do with no hassle.


----------



## the_traveler (Feb 16, 2011)

daxomni said:


> There is no way, and indeed no incentive, to offer a "lock-in" for your points earning ability. To the contrary, there is every reason and incentive to make it as time consuming and tedious as possible to actually collect your points, which is exactly what AGR have created in my view.


I have to disagree with you on this point.






Why is there no incentive to make it "as time consuming and tedious as possible" for AGR, but to earn miles or cash back or points from


American Airlines
Delta Airlines
United Airlines
ebates
HHonors
Starwood Guest Rewards
etc...

you *MUST* enter via their shopping portals also!



So why is going thru AGR's portal any different?


----------



## Devil's Advocate (Feb 16, 2011)

the_traveler said:


> So why is going thru AGR's portal any different?


Whoever said it was? :huh:

All of those monkey point sites are equally patronizing in my view. Asking us to change retailers and services just so we can jump through hoops and beg for corrections in exchange for a few hundred points worth almost nothing on their own. I'd rather shop on price or selection than waste my time with monkey points.


----------



## the_traveler (Feb 16, 2011)

daxomni said:


> the_traveler said:
> 
> 
> > So why is going thru AGR's portal any different?
> ...


To each his or her own! But over the years, I have received tens of thousands of points and or miles by "jumping thru these hoops"! If I'm going to buy something from "XYZ" anyway, I first see if I can earn points or miles for the money I plan to spend anyway!





HERE is a site where you can check if they give points, cashback or miles for purchases. (In the search box, type "bw:[store name]" Use a lower case "bw"!)


----------



## The Journalist (Feb 16, 2011)

Wow, good site, Traveler. I guess I shouldn't be surprised in the slightest that you know how to find all those...

It's true that it's no less annoying than say, going through Chase, WF or AmEx's portals. It's just that I've never remembered to go through those either, so my track record (no pun intended) with this sort of thing is terrible. WIth all the other homegrown tools you all have for managing your travels (AmSnag FTW) i thought someone had maybe made a script or something.

I'm certainly not changing retailers over these points, but, hey, I use eBay and iTunes anyway. Extra points are just gravy.


----------



## Devil's Advocate (Feb 16, 2011)

the_traveler said:


> I have received tens of thousands of points and or miles by "jumping thru these hoops"!


If you add up all of the points I've ever earned across all the various programs and promotions I guess they'd total in the hundreds of thousands. But over time the programs have become less and less generous, to the point that I no longer have the desire to spend much time on them anymore. If I'm going to buy something through an AGR-linked retailer or service I'll go through the AGR site if I happen to think of it, but I don't put much effort into it and I rarely contest my lost points anymore. It's just not worth all the hassle and paperwork for a _couple dollars_ worth of points I could simply purchase myself if I really wanted them.



the_traveler said:


> To each his or her own!


Maybe we can just agree to disagree?


----------



## boxcar479 (Feb 16, 2011)

daxomni said:


> the_traveler said:
> 
> 
> > I have received tens of thousands of points and or miles by "jumping thru these hoops"!
> ...


Or we can all agree that you are just dis-agreeable :lol:


----------



## Devil's Advocate (Feb 16, 2011)

boxcar817 said:


> Or we can all agree that you are just dis-agreeable :lol:


Every forum needs at least one. :hi:

Preferably two or more in case one of us gets hit by a train or something when we're not looking.


----------

