Using Miles For Sports Experiences

Never Miss Another Deal - Follow DansDeals on Facebook

Update, A reader won the Dodger’s auction I wrote about below with their United miles and gave the experience to their son as a Bar Mitzvah present that he’ll never forget!  Miles aren’t just for flying first class and staying in luxury hotels for free, they’re great for experiences that you (or your kids!) will never forget.

You’ve gotta’ love the tzitzis flying around 😀

Topping off the experience by having A-Gon autograph it.

————————————————————–

Originally posted on 08/17:

Generally speaking airline miles are great for flights and hotel points are great for hotel stays.  Rarely is it smart to use them for other redemptions where the value you get isn’t nearly the same.

However back in May I burned miles for non-travel for the first time and I posted then,

I’ve used my miles for some pretty cool things.  Flying to Paris with my wife in a couples suite for 53K AMEX MR last December is up there.  Flying 19 hours nonstop from Newark to Singapore with just a couple other people in the cabin  and then continuing on to the Maldives for just 60K United was great.  Being able to escape it all with a couple of month-long trips in our pre-baby days flying around the world in first class and staying in awesome 5 star hotels that were financed nearly entirely with miles is something I’ll never forget.

For me, my miles help me attain aspirational things that I could otherwise never afford or be able to attain.  And I’m addicted to getting as many as I can for as close to free as possible.

I had won a mileage auction with 25,000 United miles (less than half the United miles you can earn opening a single credit card) for 4 box seats to an Indians-Yankees game and the right to run onto the field in the 7th inning and literally steal 2nd base from the infield. In the end it turned into 4 box seats to 4 baseball games, but that was just a nice fluke 🙂

Running onto the field in the top of the 7th…

…and stealing second base!

Making off with my loot.

It was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience that as a die-hard Indians fan I’ll never forget.  Everyone I passed inside and outside the ballpark wanted to just touch the base and couldn’t believe I actually got to take it home with me. And I still have the 2nd base in my office (covered in dirt and signed by Tribe Ace (that day’s winning pitcher) Justin Masterson to prove it. You can read more about it in that post.
————————————————————
Here are links to auctions sites where you too can bid on a once-in-a-lifetime experience:

-Starwood auctions

-United auctions

-Delta auctions

Here are some current auctions that caught my eye:

-United: Honorary Bat Kid Experience during pre-game batting practice at an Indians Vs Mets game in Cleveland plus 4 field box seats (09/07).

-United: Steal 2nd base at an Indians Vs Mets game in Cleveland plus 4 field box seats (09/08).
The base even is nicely embossed with the date and both teams who played that day, so if you’re an Indians or Mets fan this will be an incredible experience.
-You can get a flight from LGA to Cleveland at 8:10am Sunday morning and returning back to LGA at 7:55am Monday morning for just 9,000 BA Avios round-trip.
-There is a train inside the Cleveland airport that can easily take you downtown to the game for just a couple bucks.
-You can stay the night at the Sheraton hotel that is 30 seconds away from Hopkins airport for just 4,000 Starpoints! The paid rate is $224 with tax, so that’s a value of 5.6 cents per point! It will be even fewer points if you have Starwood Gold or Platinum status.

-United: Throw out the first pitch at a Dodgers Vs Diamondbacks game in LA plus 4 dugout club seats (09/10).

-Delta: Pre-Game Sideline Passes to be on the field during warm ups, Two Club level tickets to the Patriots vs. Bengals football game in Cincinnati (10/06), and post-game photos and autographs with Quarterback Andy Dalton.

-Delta: Pre-Game Sideline Passes to be on the field during warm ups, Two Club level tickets to the Titans vs. Seahawks football game in Seattle (10/13), and post-game photos and autographs with Cornerback Richard Sherman .

-Delta: Pre-game field access to watch batting practice and meet & greet with Cincinnati right fielder Jay Bruce for photos and autographs and Two Champions Club tickets for Reds vs. Cubs baseball game in Cincinnati (09/09).

-Starwood: Fifteen luxury suite tickets to a Chicago Cubs Vs Braves game with food and beverages at Wrigley Field on Sunday, September 22, 2013 (09/22).

-Delta: Pre-Game Sideline Passes to be on the field during warm ups and Two lower level tickets to the Vikings vs. Browns football game in Minneapolis (09/22).

See any other interesting auctions? Have you ever bid on or won a mileage auction? Hit the comments!

P.S. If you do win the stealing second auction beware that 2nd base is stuck in the ground good and tight and that you’ll have tens of thousands of people watching you struggle on the massive jumbotron…Not for the faint of heart!