[UPDATE: Promo now underway, see this blog post for more tips and info] Shop The Block, the biggest Air Miles promotion of the year, is set to begin soon and the website has now revealed the participating partners in each province. And, in other news, although not as exciting as STB, if you check the current Sobeys flyer you’ll notice a new promo called “Aisles of Miles”.
Shop The Block (November 19 – December 28, 2020)
On the Shop The Block website, you can now select your province and see what partners will be participating in this year’s promotion. It’s possible that more will be added but it’s probably safe to assume that this list is largely complete.
It seems that for every such promo, there are at least a couple of conspicuous absences and when you need to use offers at up to seven different partners, it’s annoying when one of the regulars is missing.
Participating Partners in Nova Scotia
The following Air Miles partners are the most promising, in my opinion, although we’ll have to see what the offers actually entail:
Sobeys
Sobeys Express/Needs
Pharmasave
Irving
Foodland
Lawtons Drugs
NSLC
Staples
Kent
Global Pet Foods
airmilesshops.ca
Rona
Timber Mart
An interesting addition is IHG Hotels & Resorts. I believe that’s the first time I’ve seen a hotel chain included aside from bookings made through Air Miles Hotels.
Amex is listed as a credit card partner in addition to BMO.
Missing is Shell. Hopefully it will be added shortly as it’s usually a reliable and easy offer and I see that it’s on the list for Ontario.
Sobeys Aisles of Miles
In this week’s Sobeys flyer, there is a promotion I’ve never seen before. I guess you could say it follows the theme of the major Air Miles promos but on a smaller scale: get 50 bonus miles if you complete 5 different product offers with the “Aisles of Miles” logo.
If five of the eligible products happen to be on your grocery list, this would be an easy way to earn some extra miles. It would be nice if the bonus were a bit higher, but when you stack all the individual bonuses it’s not too bad. Also don’t forget to check your loadable offers in case you have another stacking opportunity.
We’ve seen Blue Friday, Max-A-Miles and now Aisles of Miles so the marketing minds at Sobeys seem keen to try various ways of dangling bonuses in front of avid Air Miles collectors.
Bottom Line
Other than the glaring omission of Shell in Nova Scotia, the list of Shop The Block partners looks pretty good. We’ll have to see how doable the offers are when they’re released on November 19th. Meanwhile, the Sobeys’ new Aisles of Miles flyer promo is worth a look if you’re headed to the store.
Holding both the BMO & AMEX cards, I’m at an advantage here, it seems. Hopefully I get to “make a spend” before getting Amexiled !
With companies clamping down on churning, this type of promo is more important than ever.
If I purchase $75.00 sobeys gift cards does it count as a partner purchase with the shop to block promo?
No, a purchase of gift cards won’t count. The $75 must be spent on merchandise that qualifies to earn Air Miles. Check the terms of the Sobeys Shop The Block offer to see the full list of exclusions. Also, this week’s flyer has a 100 mile bonus when you buy $200 in Sobeys gift cards so if you then make a qualifying grocery purchase of $75 before tax with your newly purchased gift card, that would do it.
A very poor time to have a Shop the Block, when we are in lock down and asked to stay home except for necessities, to help control the spread of Covid 19.
No chance of getting the bonus miles. 🙁