Free Flight with Rite Aid!

I just got an email from Rite Aid that they are back offering a free vacation after spending $250 on participating products at their store. This is their “Fabuary” deal and very similar in nature to last months “Happy New Year” offer. While I didn’t take part of last months offer, I know many people were able to get their 2-free Hyatt nights pretty seamlessly. It also seems like once those nights were book they were fully transferable to another hotel or date assuming availability (and that it fit the same award type). While I initially had hesitations with these deals in general, last month proved that that company behind the Rite Aid offers could fulfill the required giveaway.

The deal… Spend $250 at RiteAid on specific items and get 1 free round-trip domestic flight. You also have the option of a free 7-night timeshare room at an RCI property, or a two-nights stay at a camping/cabin rental, or a 2-3 night cruise. You can also spend less (thus redeeming less reward codes), for another offer.

• For every $50 you spend on participating products (by using your wellness+ card) you’ll receive 1 reward code. Earn 5 reward code and you can receive one of those mentioned travel rewards. You can read more about it here.
• Once you spend $50 you will receive a Unique Reward Code on your receipt. The $50 does NOT need to be in the same transaction. Go to riteaid.com/fabuary to enter your Reward Code and ultimately select your reward.
• There are 6,390 participating products! You can view on the products here. They seem to be similar as last months participating products. On the weekly Rite Aid circular and in-store items listed with a “Buy & Earn” sticker should qualify. Just double check that the item is on the long list of participating products and not mis-marked in the store.
• You must make your purchase by February 28, 2015.

Redeeming your free flight… Once you enter your Unique Reward Code on the Rite Aid website, you will have until March 28, 2015 to confirm your reward selection. You will need to download and mail the registration form along with a copy of your photo ID or passport. Within 10 days, you will receive a booking code and link via email to the online booking form. In that form you must include three preferred dates and three preferred departure locations and three preferred destinations. Your free flight is valid within 4 months from the date the booking form is complete but you cannot book until four weeks out. So you essentially have a three month window to travel. However, from the reports I read on the Hyatt offer last month, many people included the same date and destination as their three options. And during the booking process when a representative called them they were able to check availability at that point. Although, the terms of this offer say that you will receive an email and not a phone call, but I assume you can go back and forth with the agent that emails you to find a date and flight route that works. Based on the terms the will not just go ahead and book your flight without confirming the route with you. It states that within 8 days of submitting the booking form you’ll receive an email with flight availability. You then must confirm the reservation within two business days.

Participating destinations include: Little Rock, AR; Phoenix, AZ; Los Angeles, CA; Oakland, CA; Sacramento, CA; San Diego, CA; Denver, CO; Hartford, CT; Fort Lauderdale, FL; Fort Myers, FL; Jacksonville, FL; Miami, FL; Orlando, FL; Tampa/St. Petersburg, FL; Sarasota, FL; West Palm Beach, FL; Atlanta, GA; Honolulu, HI; Des Moines, IA; Chicago, IL; Cincinnati, KY; Detroit, MI; Minneapolis, MN; Branson, MO; St. Louis, MO; Charlotte, NC; Atlantic City, NJ; Las Vegas, NV; Buffalo, NY; New York, NY; Islip, Long Island, NY; Plattsburgh, NY; Cleveland, OH; Oklahoma City, OK; Puerto Rico, PR; Charleston, SC; Greenville, SC; Myrtle Beach, SC; Memphis, TN; Nashville, TN; Dallas, TX; Houston, TX; Salt Lake City, UT; Virginia Beach, VA; Seattle, WA; Spokane, WA; Milwaukee, WI; Huntington, WV; Washington DC/Baltimore.

Maximizing on the deal… Most likely you will be overpaying for your items since drugstores are typically more expensive than Amazon.com or Costco, for example. However, using manufacturer coupons can be a great way to reduce your cost! Based on the FAQs, one of the questions asks: “Will the dollar amount for manufacturer and Rite Aid coupons that I use to pay for my qualifying items be deducted from my total purchase amount?” and the answer is: “No. Any coupon you use will not be deducted from your total purchase amount. Your coupons are simply your form of payment.” So let’s say you purchase 9 tubs of baby formula at $29 each. If you have a coupon for $5 off 1 and have enough for all 9 items, then that will save you $40. As long as you spend $250 pre-coupons it will print you out the required rewards code even though you actually spent less.

There are a bunch of websites where you can find manufacturer coupons aside from the Sunday paper. They include: coupons.com, iheartriteaid.com, refundcents.com,riteaid.com savings. You can also save coupons directly to your Rite Aid Wellness card here. I also just suggest Googling the product you are looking to buy and including “coupon” in the search. For example, “gerber good start coupon”.

Experience based on last months deal… If you took advantage of the Hyatt (or RCI or 2-night cabin rental) last month, I’d love to hear about your success and the process. While the Hyatt certificates could be changed easily, that won’t be the case with the flights. I am not sure if they are being booked as a normal ticket or free flight vouchers. Being booked as a normal ticket would be best as that will give you the flexibility to change your flight if desired, but depending on the airline you might be hit with a change fee of around $150. Of course if they book with Southwest that would be best for those looking for the flexibility.

Also, this question came about last month about returning the items if you ultimately decided not to participate in the deal. Rite Aid has a 30 day return policy so you can absolutely return, although I am not sure if you can still return if the codes have been redeemed and still take advantage of the deal – anyone want to chime in here who took part in this offer last month?

Overall… This deal has the possibility to be extremely lucrative if: 1) You find good coupons to use, 2) You have purchases you’d be making anyways; and 3) You have the desire/need to fly to one of the participating destinations. I most likely will be participating in this deal. There is a Rite Aid only three blocks away from me. I also love couponing, so I am sure I can get the $250 down to about half and will purchase items I actually needs. A 20-month old does go through lots of diapers!

What about you? Will you be taking part in this promotion?