Through December 18, 2011, Club Carlson is offering 4,500 points for new members through what must be one of the weirdest partnerships ever.

You first have to sign up for TGI Friday’s “Give Me More Stripes” program.

On the confirmation page be sure to note down your member number.

Then go to this page to join Club Carlson, where you’ll be offered 4,500 points after signing up after entering your Stripes Number.

The bonus points post 6-8 weeks after enrollment, and the offer is only good for new accounts (though who knows, maybe you’ll be able to merge it with an existing account).

I’m truly starting to believe I’m from a different planet. Can anyone explain the logic behind this partnership/promotion? Not that I’m complaining…

(Tip of the hat to Deals We Like)

I hate shopping. Hate shopping. That’s probably why my wardrobe is as varied as that of a cartoon character. As I get ready to move over the next couple of weeks I’m basically having to start from scratch as far as furniture goes. I asked y’all for suggestions as far as travel related items you can’t live without at home, and I really appreciate all the helpful responses.

But I was still kind of dreading the thought of shopping… until I realized how many miles I can potentially rack up with the purchases I need to make anyway.

For example, I’m in the market for an iMac, given that I’ll have a more normal “9-5 schedule” with my new “gig,” working from home. Right now I primarily use a Macbook Air (which I love), though I need a desktop as well.

Originally my plan was to purchase an iMac through MacMall.com, which would have earned me three AAdvantage miles per dollar through the American AAdvantage eShopping Toolbar. Apple directly charges $1,199 for the iMac and MacMall charges $1,120. But Mommy Points just posted about the holiday bonuses that the Ultimate Rewards shopping mall is having over the coming weeks.

Specifically, Best Buy is offering 10 Ultimate Rewards points per dollar spent on November 25 and Apple  is offering 10 Ultimate Rewards points per dollar spent on November 28.

That’s in addition to the one point per dollar you earn anyway, for a total of 11 points per dollar. I value Ultimate Rewards points at two cents each, so that’s essentially a 22% return on brands that are rarely discounted, which is amazing.

Best Buy charges $1,133 for the iMac, so I’ll earn 11,330 points for my purchase. Unreal! I’ll also need some accesories (wired mouse with numerical keypad, Airport, etc.), so I’ll probably earn close to 15,000 points for that purchase, points that would have otherwise been left on the table.

Then I’m in the market for a new bed, and Rue La La supposedly has a sale on the W Bed this Thursday.

If the deal is half decent I’ll buy a W bed, and I’ll be sure to go through the AAdvantage eShopping toolbar which will earn me an additional three points per dollar (in addition to the point per dollar I earn on my credit card). That’s probably another “easy” 4,000 American miles.

Anyway, color me mildly excited, not at the prospect of spending money or going shopping, but at the prospect of earning lots of miles for purchases I have to make anyway.

I’ll report back not only on how many miles I earn, but how my travel related purchases go. I might even post a few pictures, or if y’all keep being so helpful I might be forced to invite all of you over for a house warming party (serving nothing but the finest Diet Coke with lime and hot nuts, of course).

As I purchase furniture (desk, couch, etc.), are there any mileage mall related offers you can think of that are worth keeping in mind?

And along the same lines, this proves yet again that not all mileage malls are created equal. The Ultimate Rewards Mall really is by far the best online shopping mall/portal, not just because it has some of the best offers, but because the points usually post within a few days.

All the more reason to get the Chase Sapphire Preferred card, of course!

Per this Milepoint thread, the Hilton Garden Inn Toronto Airport is offering 250 Hilton HHonors points for “liking” them on Facebook. Earlier today they posted the following on their wall:

Hello from Toronto, Ontario CANADA to Hilton Garden Inn fans! The team at the HGI Toronto Airport would like you to become our Fan as well…so much so we are offering a 24 HOUR FAN BLITZ…all you have to do is LIKE us on our Facebook page in the next 24 hours and we will reward you with 250 Bonus Hilton HHonors points! Email us at yyzta-salesadm@hilton.com with your Hilton Hhonors info so we can get your points posted!

They posted this at 2:30PM CT, so I suspect it will be valid till the same time tomorrow (Thursday).

Oddly I don’t actually see the above post there anymore, though I’m not sure if that’s a function of me being stupid (fairly likely), or them having removed it. Either way, they’re interacting with people posting on the wall, so I assume it’s still live.

Now while “liking” the Hilton Garden Inn might sound like fun, if you “like” my blog on Facebook I’ll give you 250 Lucky’s coins points (the redemption chart hasn’t been published yet). Don’t all “like” at once now, or I might not be able to honor this special promotion.

(Tip of the hat to bne99)

This is definitely a case of “your mileage may vary,” but American Express is apparently offering Premier Rewards Gold cardholders and Platinum cardholders 10,000 Membership Rewards points per authorized user added, up to five. The offer code for this promotion is 5721.

You’ll want to call up Membership Rewards at 800-AXP-EARN, reference the promotion code above, and  mention you heard that was a promotion to earn 10,000 Membership Rewards points for each new authorized user.

This offer should apply even to authorized users added in the past, as I was able to have them credit me the points for users added in the past.

Again, there’s no guarantee this will work, though it’s definitely worth a shot. It might take several phone calls and at the end of the day it might be targeted, so don’t get angry if it doesn’t work. But it is working for a lot of people on FlyerTalk, as reported in this thread. 50,000 points is easily worth $1,000, so well worth the effort.

Good luck!

A few weeks ago I had written about the fact that My Coke Rewards (Coke’s loyalty program) had temporarily lifted the “one lifetime” redemption restriction on Priority Club points, so I nearly cashed out.

Well, today they have a crazy good deal on Priority Club points, offering 2,000 Priority Club points for 250 My Coke Rewards points. Usually 500 Priority Club points cost 160 My Coke Rewards points, so this is an amazing deal.

If you have no clue what I’m talking about, continue your day as normal. If you participate in My Coke Rewards, it’s time to burn some points.

(Tip of the hat to Nate)