One of the recent offers that has been talked about recently is a partnership between American Airlines and Cadillac. From an article in Forbes
At four major airports, American will identify members of its exclusive ConciergeKey program who face tight transfer times and escort them to their next departure gate in a Cadillac CTS, SRX or Escalade. Already underway at Los Angeles International Airport, this program also will be rolled out to New York’s LaGuardia and John F. Kennedy International airports and to the airline’s hometown Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.
(who cares). But also:
In another key aspect of the partnership, American’s AAdvantage frequent-flier-program members can earn 7,500 AAdvantage miles in exchange for test-driving a new Cadillac at a U.S. Cadillac dealership.
NOW we’re talkin!
Hesitation to test-driving?
I’ve seen some reports of people that are hesitant to do this test-drive, given the less-than-stellar reputation car dealerships have in most people’s eyes. Here’s a tweet from Shawn at Miles to Memories:
@PointsWithACrew @mileswhip I hate car dealerships. This promo is like torture. I want the miles, but hate what I have to do to get them.
— Shawn Coomer (@milestomemories) October 8, 2014
While I obviously don’t have any experience with THIS particular test-drive promotion, I’ve actually done quite a few similar test-drives, so I thought I’d share my experience, which is completely opposite of Shawn’s.
Test driving for dollars
There is a thread over at Fat Wallet that I used to subscribe to. That was a good source of deals, but also I’d sometimes get postcards in the mail talking about test drives. Usually the reward is something like a $50 Visa gift card, or sometimes it would be a check received by mail. There are also sometimes offers for non-cash items, but those (generally) don’t interest me as much.
Generally speaking, I’d go into the dealer (no appointment needed), and show the salesman my postcard. They usually would ask a few questions, like if I was in the market for a new car. I’d say “not really”, and then they go in the back and come back after 5-10 minutes with my validated postcard.
I never felt any kind of sales pressure, and only once (out of 7-8 times I’ve done this) did I even have to drive a car. I think most of the salesmen appreciated my not wasting their time, so they could focus on people that were actually interested in cars.
Details on the AAdvantage offer
Unfortunately the details on how this AAdvantage offer will work are not really out yet. My main concern is that it is something that won’t be adequately communicated down to the dealership. It’s SO helpful to have a postcard or other tangible piece of information to show the salespeople, because most of the time they really have NO idea what you’re talking about.
We’ll see once the details come out, but you can bet I’ll be hitting this deal as hard as I can (multiple dealerships, multiple accounts, whatever might work 😀 )
What about you? Planning on doing some test-drives?
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Dan Miller travels with his wife and 6 (SIX!) children. He loves to help families travel for free / cheap, especially larger families. If you are looking for help, drop him an email at 
“Not really.” Love your brutal honesty.
LOL. I guess I’ve done done this long enough that I’m not worried that u won’t get the bonus unless I feign interest 🙂
I would gladly do this as I drive by, and sometimes through, a huge auto mall on my way home from work everyday. As someone that drives an Audi, I would think I would get targeted, but I did not get a post card from GM for doing this.
I actually got an email from AA in December offering me the 7500 AA miles for a Cadillac test drive. I printed the offer, with dealer instructions, gave the dealer my license to copy to prove I was there, and he came back a few minutes later and said, “You drive a car, right? and smiled.” I went on my way (after nice Cappuccino and cookies in their lounge) and the points deposited the next week into my AA account. No idea why I was targeted (I drive a BMW), but I always fill out surveys that I am interested in everything, and make sure I leave my Spam email address!
That is about how my “test drive” went too 🙂
Why do you continue to post old outdated posts?
Makes followers not want to follow you.