For some time now we’ve been following the challenges that the popular ClickRewards program is facing and have paid close attention to the program’s fate in the face of a faltering Internet economy.
After much deliberation, we have decided that it is time to issue an alert – redeem your ClickMiles asap! The stock of parent company Netcentives, which once approached $100/share, was recently de-listed from trading on NASDAQ and has fallen into the realm of “pink sheets.” The stock is now trading in the penny to penny and a half range and Netcentives has entered a protected form of bankruptcy.
Given these circumstances, we advise all readers of InsideFlyer to immediately convert their points into miles or merchandise. At the current level of operation, it is virtually inevitable that Netcentives will enter a pre-packaged deal and, based on past track records of other currency companies, we expect the points to be viewed as a liability or the award choices to be reduced to not much more than airline miles and points.
We do have some strategic advice for those of you who would like to cash in your ClickMiles for frequent flyer miles. Namely, do not transfer your ClickMiles directly into airline miles. You can get more value out of your miles if you transfer all of your ClickMiles into the Starwood Preferred Guest program. Here’s why: ClickMiles transfer on a one-to-one basis with Starwood and Starwood Starpoints transfer to airlines at a one-to-one basis. So why take the extra step through Starwood? Because when you move 20,000 ClickMiles through Starwood and into an airline program, you’ll earn a 5,000-mile bonus, meaning that you’ll end up with 25,000 frequent flyer miles, rather than just 20,000 if you were to move directly from ClickMiles to your preferred airline program.
Not only that, but Starwood also has far more airline partners than ClickMiles, so you’ll open up a wide array of choices. Finally, Starwood can act as a bank, allowing you to move just what you need into an airline program — giving you more flexibility with your miles.
Again, we feel a responsibility to our readers to issue this advice right now, though we still believe in the future of the ClickRewards program. In fact, we suggest you still continue to use the program to earn miles from online and other merchants, just keep the “redemption” button within reach and follow our advice when redeeming.
