Why the Vinesse Wine Offer of 9,000 US Airways Miles Isn’t Worth It
I got a sudden adrenalin rush from an email I just received from US Airways (almost as much as I did from Hack My Trip’s tweet about $1 United fares to Europe. Note: tax adds another $600).
“Get 9,000 miles & 12 wines to savor” all for only $79.
That works out to less than a penny a mile!! Wow!
But having recently been asked by friends about similar, less lucrative offers that wound up not to be good deals, I was cautious. I scoured the website to make sure that it would actually be 9,000 miles with the first purchase and not 9,000 miles for staying enrolled in the club for a certain amount of time and additional expense.
Unlike the previous offers there was not a breakout of the points earnings — 2,000 for first shipment, 2,ooo for the second shipment, etc. So I was feeling hopeful. I even ran it by Jeanne for her lawyerly opinion. Then I found the page: How it works. It still wasn’t terribly clear, but the 1,500 miles per shipment had been bolded. And 1,500 miles multiplied by 6 shipments equals 9,000 miles.
Just to make sure, I called and asked. The agent quoted me different mileage breakouts, but the point was the same. There was no deal for 9,000 miles for the first shipment.
And at 1500 miles, not a terribly great deal.
Now there are some that would argue you’re getting free wine, so 1,500 miles for $79 + 12 bottles is a good deal. Well, I’ve tried Vinesse before. A few of the bottles tasted ok, and many did not, but boy did I have some of the worst hangovers the morning after sharing a bottle. It might just be that I’m extra sensitive to certain chemicals in the wine, but it was rough enough that I wouldn’t recommend them.
So if you’re still interested, wait for a better offer like the 4,000 miles for 2 shipments and drink at your own risk.
Disclaimer: We do not receive affiliate credit if you purchase anything from Vinesse. And in fact, I had such a bad experience with the actual wine that I would refuse any payment on principle alone, since I wouldn’t recommend the offer for anything other than earning miles. If you like their wine and don’t get hangovers, know that I’m jealous!
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Disclaimer: My advice was not legal advice!
I clicked into the page to see terms like you did because I knew there has to be sth wrong. They could have phrased it like “Up” to 9000 like they usually do but they didnt. I think they are trying to mislead the recipients intentionally. Not a smart move!
I agree. When I saw it, I said my guess is, since the shipments were every other month, it was 1,500 X 6 months = 9,000 miles, but I could not find anything that stated that, even in legalese terms (though this is not legal advice! 😉 )
Thank you! glad I checked here before jump on that. Got 2000 aa for less from them.
I would not recommend their wine at all. The wine was what I would call jug quality. Most of the wine appeared to have come from the same location (Santa Rosa, CA), and many of the labels for different wineries appeared to have been printed on the same printing press.
Not a good deal. Too much trouble and you end up with a whole room for of Thunderbird quality wine. Although I have enjoyed a few bottles from them in the past. The problem is that you can’t hardly order more if you find a brand you like.
I would do it if was a Grandslam hit 🙂
RIP Grandslam 😉
I did Vinesse once and thought the wines were fine. But then, I’m not very choosy about wines.
Hi!
I realize this thread is a couple of months old.
Just wondering how many US Airways miles you received
after the 1st $79.99 shipment? Was it 1500 miles
or 9000 miles?
Thank you for your help! 🙂
I first tried Vinesse years ago and got 2,500 miles. For this offer and the current email going around you’ll only get 1500 miles per shipment, up to 6 shipments.
Absolute 100% rip off. they withdrew $117.49 twice, no notice, no receipt, one never delivered! Be careful to all out there! Had to cancel my debit card to get rid of them. Nasty pieces of work! Shame on you Vinesse…..rotate………
I used vinesse for the American cellars club and they automatically shipped a second batch of wines after 2 weeks before the initial miles could post. The shipping fees are not worth it living in Northern California where there are tons of places to get affordable and great tasting local wines. The quality of vinesse was adequate for most wines (for the novice tongue) but I had some that were only barely giftable.
I’m so glad I found this website and read all your comments. I enjoy wine but am not a connioisseur, but know that for $6.99 you are not going to get a high quality product. So glad I didn’t waste my money!
Vinesse wine club is a total ripoff. Overpriced wine sucks. Three buck Chuck’s from Trader Joes is better than theirs. You cannot cancel an order even if it hasn’t shipped yet. Even if you cancel and they haven’t shipped their last set of crappy wines, you have to receive the wine, send it back, pay for shipping, pay for restocking and then they will let you out of your membership. It is easy to sign up and become a member but hell to terminate membership. Customer service might as well be a robot because they repeat the same stupid answers over and over. Nobody there can think, make decisions or escalate an issue. They thrive on suckers joining the membership and not paying attention to the cost or quality of wine. If companies were smart, they would make it as easy to terminate a membership as it is to join. Why? Because it reduces the risk in joining back up if the member starts to miss the product later on. But, if they are hell to cancel then you can guarantee that people won’t come back. Not only that, if you make it hell to cancel then you leave a bad taste in customer’s mouths and they will talk badly about your product until they feel vindicated.