Costco vs Coke

I'm impartial when it comes to which cola to drink. I have friends that are die-hard Coke fans and die-hard Pepsi fans. Personally I'll drink whatever is on sale at the time that I'm at the store. At one time I did have a Coke Rewards addiction, but that's a topic from a previous blog entry.

I shop at Costco and I notice they have more Coke products (Sprite, Dasani, etc) than Pepsi products. So because of that I do tend to drink more Coke than Pepsi...until now. Costco and Coke are in a dispute about the price Coke charges versus the value Costco promises to it's members.

A few questions comes to mind:
- Will Costco now sell Pepsi products only?
- Is Coke really charging more money or just as much as if I bought it at the grocery store?
- Do Costco members care what brand of cola they sell or do they just want whatever is on sale?
- Will the loss of Costco as a retailer really hurt Coke?

All this talk of cola is making me thirsty. I think I'll go and grab me a Pepsi ;)

Kicking the Coke Habit

Several times I have blogged about My Coke Rewards habit. I'm down to my last caps and I think I can kick the habit for good.

I knew my addiction was a problem when I would see a coke cap in a garbage can. I would look around, look around if no one would see me, I would take the cap and get to the nearest sink to wash the cap (and of course my hands). It used to actually bother me to think about all the coke caps that get wasted every day.

But I can actually thank Delta for me finally deciding that it's just not worth it to collect and enter codes anymore. I initially joined to get Skymiles to feed another one of my addictions, travel. But Delta stopped offering miles about a year ago. And I kept collecting in the hopes they would come back but they haven't. So I'm entering my last codes. I have 2 accounts so if I enter 20 codes a day I can be done with this by the new year.

Even after I finish entering I'm not sure what I'll spend my points on because the rewards aren't quite as rewarding as travel miles. My top options are:
- $20 Omaha Steaks Gift Card (I LOVE Food)
- 30 free 4X6 prints from Snapfish (I always take and upload photos but prints are becoming a lost art.)
- Donation to the USO (100 coke points can equal a $5 donation to support our troops)
- Rent one blockbuster movie and get one for free (help to supplement my dvd watching between Netflixs shipments)
- One month membership to Rhapsody Unlimited (normally you only get about 30 listens free a month and I can go through that in a day)

Coke may have extended the program for another year but I'm hoping after 12/31 I won't be collecting and entering points to the level that I do now. To all those who supported my addiction, it was appreciated. And if you still save points for me, I won't be mad at you :)

My Coke Addiction

My name is...well you know my name...and I'm addicted to Coke...Coke Reward Points.

As I have previously blogged (click on the My Coke Rewards label) I developed an early addiction to My Coke Rewards points back in early 2006. I was working nights and weekends at the New York Times on the Web and I would drink a bottle or more of Coke a night to get through my shifts. And I decided to capitalize on my addiction/spending.

By July 2006 I was in full blown, almost out of control addiction. But I just couldn't resist the rewards....free Blockbuster movie rentals, Delta SkyMiles...I even got a Carolina basketball that proudly sits on my desk.

By September 2006 I thought I had kicked the habit...but really I hadn't. The craving for Coke Reward Points was always there but I resisted...never gave in to it. I still collected the points but not as aggressively as I once had.

And then last night...I fell off the wagon.

I had a little time to spare between production so I decided to add some points to my account. I always have Coke caps sitting on my desk. Now every time I would accumulate 335 points I would redeem them for 850 Delta Sky Miles. But last night to my chagrin they no longer offer the 850 mile prize. The only Delta Sky Miles prize now is 1180 points for 3000 miles. 1180 points?!?!?!? Do you know how long it will take me to accumulate that. And then it hit me....I just had to go on Ebay and buy points...and oh did I buy. I spent enough money to reward myself with 9,000 miles. I'm even closer to that free plane ticket.

The craving for points and for Delta Miles has now subsided. I think I have my addiction back under control. Pray for me...or better yet, email me your Coke Rewards codes

Kicked the habit

After months of collecting Coke Rewards I have finally kicked the habit...so to speak. I got enough points to get 10,000 Delta Sky Miles and 20 free rentals at Blockbuster so I am more than satisfied with the results. I know y'all were thinking who really saves all these caps and enters in the codes. And now you can proudly say you knew someone who was crazy enough to do it and that person was me :)

Coke Rewards Update

About a month ago I blogged about how I was collecting Coke Rewards so I can get airline miles with Delta. Here's the blog if you don't remember. Well I am proud to say I am halfway to my goal of 1600 coke points equaling 10,000 Delta Sky Miles. I redeemed 800 points today to get 5,000 miles.

This endeavor has turned me in to an ebay-aholic. I'm on Ebay every day looking for bargains on the sale of coke points and you wouldn't believe how many auctions there are. So to everyone who has sent me codes, thank you...I'm still soliciting.

And I'm sure the question on everyone's mind is what am I going to use my miles for. Sadly, I don't have an exotic trip or anything planned. I will probably use the miles to fly to Atlanta one weekend or possibly Vegas. I'm still holding on to my Air Tran points so that I can finally take that vacation to the Bahamas.

My Coke Rewards

I have this thing about collecting stuff to get free or low cost air travel.

Like last November/December I would buy Wendy's Cups to get free travel on Air Tran. And it worked. If you did the math it was cheaper to buy medium sized drinks from Wendy's than to buy actual one-way tickets from Air Tran. So I bought cups from Wendy's and from E-bay and from Craig's List and I scored the maximum amount of airline tickets you could get. But when you combined that with the points I already had with Air Tran it came out to about 6 one-way tickets or 3 round trips. Unfortunately because of the issues with my tenant and my house I had to use some of those airline tickets for business rather than the intended pleasure trips (Las Vegas, Grand Bahamas). But I still have some flight credits left and hopefully I won't have to fly back to Atlanta any time soon.

So now on to my new addiction. Coke is the official drink of Atlanta. Well it is the official drink of all my jobs as well. Everyone has Coke vending machines. Well I average 3-5 bottles of Coke a week at work. And one day it hit me, I was throwing away valuable points every time I threw away one of my Coke bottle caps. So I started saving them and then I started looking on E-bay and Craig's List for people selling them. And now I'm hooked. My goal is to get 1600 points which is the equivalent of 10,000 Delta sky miles. I have a little over 15,000 Delta Skymiles so 10K would be just enough for me to get a plane ticket. The cost calculation hasn't been as clear as with Wendy's. I knew with Wendy's I was getting a deal.

But let's do some math. I need 10,000 miles or 1600 points. So far I have been averaging about $10 for every 120 points. If I keep with this average those 10,000 miles will cost me about $130. If I was to straight up buy 10K miles from Delta it would cost me $320.63. So that's a savings of $190. I'll keep y'all posted on if I hit my goal or not. I'm considering flying Delta or American Airlines to the NABJ convention so that may help me to reach my goal faster as well.

P.s. - If you are not using your coke bottle caps...give them to me, you can email me the codes...or at least think of me each time you drink a Coke ;)