Internet Service Providers | Services for Webmasters



   

Internet Service Providers

Several Internet Service Providers offer miles for using their service. But be sure to compare quality of service and price.

Here are the offers I know about. Please let me know of any others you find.

 

PeoplePC Online

  

    PeoplePC(TM) Online no longer offers miles, so far as I can tell. But they do offer incredibly low rates, which may make higher rate miles offers unattractive. So I mention them here for comparison.

 

Earthlink and various airlines and points programs     Note: If you sign up with Earthlink, please first ask me to refer you. I need your first and last names, and your email address. Or just visit www.earthlink.net or call (866) 234-9002 and mention that pgary@earthlink.net referred you. I get a free month's service at no cost to you. Thanks.

Be sure to read Note 4 below the table for discount information.

Lesser miles offers usually get you those miles in fewer months. But watch out for an obligation to stay with the company for a period of time to avoid an early termination fee.

If the offer says it is expired, call them anyway. If it is on line, it is probably still valid. Readers have had success getting offers after the on line description says they have expired.

On February 10, 2006, a reader wrote

"...when I cancelled the Earthlink account that I had opened to get 10K miles today, they tried two further bonus offers to keep me around. First they offered 4000 miles, then 7000, to continue for six more months ... When the agent asked why I was cancelling, I told him I'd only signed up for the miles in the first place, and perhaps that keyed him to make those offers."

And then on March 10, 2006, a reader wrote

I read on your site that someone had gotten Earthlink to give them miles for retaining an existing account, so I decided to try it. I called them up and said I was planning to cancel my account and sign up for a new one to get the 10,000 Aadvantage miles. At first, they said they couldn't do much, but when I pointed out that I had been a customer since 1999, they offered me 3,000 miles. I said I'd go ahead and cancel it, so they gave me 6,000 miles if I agree to stay for 3 months, which I agreed to.

Of course, after 3 months, I may go for the 10,000 miles, anyway

Caution: On August 13, 2008, a reader told me that an Earthlink rep told him that all miles deals have been cancelled. But the ones below were still online on September 25 2008. Be sure to make a copy of each page of the offer that interests you, along with the URLs of those pages.

 

      
Airline Reward Contact Note
American 10,000 miles click or click (4)
American 7,000 miles click (4)
American 10,000 miles click For upgrade to cable or DSL
Northwest 10,000 miles click For upgrade to cable or DSL. (2)
Northwest 7,000 miles click, then click on DIAL-UP to see this offer. (2)(4)

 

Note 1: Mileage-wise, this is a terrible offer. But I mention it anyway in case you need the points for something else.

Note 3: EarthLink High Speed or Wireless service only. This offer translates to fewer miles than the airline offers, but it is the only way I know of to get Continental or Midwest Airlines miles from Earthlink. Amtrak points convert to the miles of those airlines 1:1 in 5,000 point chunks, with certain restrictions. See my writeup on Amtrak in the Points for Miles section of my Other Programs I Like page.

Note 4: Earthlink offers large discounts, but maybe instead of miles:

  • On May 16, 2006, a reader wrote:
    Buyers need to be very careful with the Earthlink miles offers. For my home address, I priced identical service (6Mbps DSL) with and without the 10K Delta miles, and got these offers:

    Without miles:
    First 3 mos 19.95
    Thereafter 39.95/mo

    With 10K Delta miles:
    First 3 mos. 19.95
    Thereafter 54.95/mo

    Since there’s a 1-year commitment with early out fee of $149.95, those 10,000 miles cost an extra $135 (9 mos x $15) at minimum – more, if you keep the service past the first year.

  • In February, 2004,I received a snail mail offer from Earthlink for dial-up service for $10.97 per month for the first six months. The difference what you would pay on a mileage deal (see Note 2) and this price, times 6, is the cost of the miles you would get. For 10,000 miles and $21.95 a month, for example, this works out to a cheap 0.6588 cents a mile. Call (866) 240-3892, and mention code 1018753.
  • On December 18, 2003, a reader wrote that he got "an Earthlink Experience account 10 hrs/month & $1/hr afterwards for $9.95/month (a backup to my Cable Modem), but still gets 10,000 NW miles. The rep said that I could get 10,000 NW miles for any Earthlink account. So you might be able to get miles for a $5.95 e-mail only account."
  • Another reader wrote on February 23, 2004, that he was able to obtain Earthlink cable service for only $21.95 a month, with a 6 month commitment, plus the 10,000 Delta Airlines miles mentioned above. He called the number for that offer.
  • Still another reader wrote on January 04, 2005, "I received both the 10,000 Delta Miles and the $19.95 for the first three months offer on cable internet with Earthlink. Signed up on 01/04/05."
  • AARP members can receive a $2 per month discount on dialup accounts. The offer code is 12790, but you probably won't need it. A $25 Visa Gift Card is offered for other types of service. Not sure if you have to forgo the miles or points to obtain this discount. Ask. I got my miles first, then switched to the discount rate. An AARP brochure I received in May, 2006, says that members can get this discount plus the first 6 months for $9.95/month. It says to call (888)829-8413 and refer to offer code 1023320. Paying $21.95/month to get the standard 10,000 miles and then telling them that you are an AARP member after the miles post in 6 months will cost you $72, or 0.72 cent per mile. I would take the miles.
  • AAA members who are new dial-up EarthLink customers can have their first 60 days of service for free, a $2 per month discount, and the activation fee waived. Call (888) 829-8412 and mention code 12528. Current EarthLink dial-up customers can also save $2 on monthly service. The California State Automobile magazine says for current Earthlink subscribers to get the discount, they should visit support.earthlink.net/email and submit their name, earthlink email address, and AAA Membership number and mention promo code 05024. If that doesn't work, try calling customer service with the same information. Not sure if you have to forgo the miles or points to receive this discount. Ask. Maybe after your miles post, you can switch to this program.
I find it hard to believe that you can get both the discounts and the miles (wouldn't be the first time a customer service rep is wrong), but hopefully I am wrong. Please call the number for the deal you want to see what kind of discount you can get, and do you have to give up the miles to get it, and let me know the results.

Note 5: AirTran credits expire one year after their posting date as indicated in your online account rewards summary. So be sure you can earn enough credits within that time to earn a ticket and can spend them within that time before you accept AirTran offers.

 

GCI and Alaska Airlines for Alaskans     For residents of Alaska GCI has several offers for internet access, cable TV, and local, long distance, and cellular telephone service, all of which produce Alaska Airlines miles. Read about them here. Click on "Product Details" to see the miles offers. They have a combination offer that gets you 10,000 miles.

 

AOL and Phone Hog     AOL regularly posts good offers on Phone Hog. Wait (a long time) for your front page to download, then search on AOL. You may read what Phone Hog has to do with miles on my Miles or Money for Clicking page.

AARP members are offered a 10% discount on AOL service. You should be able to first accept another up front bonus offer, then switch to the 10% discount.

 

NetZero and Phone Hog     NetZero regularly posts good offers on Phone Hog. Wait (a long time) for your front page to download, then search on NetZero . You may read what Phone Hog has to do with miles on my Miles or Money for Clicking page.

 

Primus and Air Miles     Canadian readers may click here to read about the standard mileage offers of Primus. Last I looked they were offering Air Miles for telephone, wireless, and internet services.

 

AeroMexico and Aventel     AeroMexico lists internet services offers from Aventel for Mexico.

 

All Nippon Airways     All Nippon Airways lists its internet services offers for the U.S. and Japan here.

 

Netvigator and Cathay-Pacific     Enroll as a No. 1 Club Gold member and earn No. 1 Points when you spend on NETVIGATOR Access Service. 12 No. 1 Points = 1 Asia Mile. Conversion must be in blocks of 3,600 No. 1 Points. I found this info here. Sorry, I have no info or link to Netvigator. I assume it is an Asian internet access provider.

 

IT&E (Guam and CNMI) and Continental Airlines   IT&E (Guam and CNMI) offers 5 Continental Airlines/$1 spent on its wireless broadband, Talaya DSL, Talaya-Internet accounts, residential long distance, wireless PCS, and Press2Talk advanced walkie-talkie. Continental Airline's partner offer section also describes the offer.

 

GuamCell and SiapanCell (Guam) and Continental Airlines   GuamCell and SiapanCell (Guam) offer a 2,500 Continental Airlines miles sign-up bonus and 3 Continental Airlines/$1 spent on its residential internet accounts. Continental Airline's partner offer section also describes the offer.

 

Blackberry     Mileage offers for Blackberry are in the Cell Phone and Wireless Offers - Domestic section of the Telephone page of this web site. (I know, it does both.)

 

Trustive WiFi and Hilton HHonors     Up to 2,000 Hilton HHonors points and 1 point/minute for signing up for Trustive WiFi.

 

NetWorkSolutions Personalized Email Address     NetworkSolutions offers 1,000 miles from United, American, Northwest, or Delta Airlines, or U.S. Airways for purchasing a personalized email address from them.

 

   

Services for Webmasters

Several companies offer miles for buying services for webmasters. But be sure to compare quality of service and price. Here are the offers I know about. Please let me know of any others you find.

 

NetworkSolutions and American, Delta, United, or Northwest Airlines, or US Airways NetworkSolutions offers 1,000 miles on American, Delta, United, or Northwest Airlines, or US Airways for purchase of domain name registration, transfer, or renewal, orpurchase of an email address or web site space. It offers 10,000 miles for a Pro E-Commerce Web Site. It is not clear whether or not you may accept more than one offer for miles.

NetworkSolutions offers up to 15,000 miles when you buy a Do-It-For-Me Web Site.

Prices seem expensive to me. Also, you may want to consider this discussion on FlyerTalk before doing business with this company.

 

2CLONES.COM and American Airlines     For webmasters who want to really control their internet service, 2CLONES.COM offers 10,000 American Airlines miles for several of its dedicated server packages. Search on "miles" on the main page.

 

Skyhound and Alaska Airlines     Skyhound offers 1 Alaska Airlines mile per dollar spent on web design, database programming, or e-commerce services, or on web hosting services if you pre-pay with its annual plan.

 

Thanks to SmarterTravel for donating both the web space and the domain name for this web site.