Hacker News Reader

What a blast from the past. I am actually Canadian but have been living in the Bay Area for over 10 years so I've already forgotten that you can collect Air Miles through Safeway (which was why I clicked on this article in the first place thinking of the .ca)

I don't think Air Miles are completely useless. I do remember redeeming air miles at least once in the past for a one-way trip somewhere...

View on HN

They're not completely useless, but I do find that I don't seem to get much benefit from them.

For example, I needed to rent two cars on a trip last year. The first car I was able to rent through Air Miles, but I had to pay the taxes and any fees beyond the base price myself so it didn't feel like much of a deal. The second car required more Air Miles than I had, so I had to pay for the whole thing myself, I couldn't do part on Air Miles and part cash.

I ended up renting the second car through Costco and felt like I got a better deal overall than I did with the first car.

Maybe rental cars aren't the best way to use them.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com