My dad can be a difficult person to buy gifts for – not because he has everything but because he never wants anything! There used to be some standard gifts we knew we could get him every year when we were kids but they started lasting longer and longer and we even lost those as gifts we could depend on!
My Mistake Cost Me a Great Father’s Day Package
When it comes to travel-related gifts, he is as in to the miles and points world as I am and most of the things I learned about getting great deals with things like travel came from him so not any great ways to surprise him there! I mean, he negotiated a big-city Marriott for just $30 when we were kids – and rates were almost $300 for those night! 🙂
SPG MLB All-Star Packages to the Rescue!
The package I chose – and lost!
So, I always like to come up with something special that he might not normally think about and try to surprise him with that. This year, I decided I would grab one of the SPG Moments packages for the All-Star game since he had never been and is a lifelong baseball fan.
With several packages available, I figured I would have a good shot at getting something. The way the packages were labeled was that each one had some headline feature but all of them included 2 tickets to all the All-Star week events – the Futures game, Legends & Celebrity game, Home Run Derby, All-Star game and a single day access ticket to FanFest.
Tickets on the resale market were going for just about $1,000 for 2 tickets (with the fees). I figured I could grab one of the SPG packages for around 50,000 or so Starpoints. I picked the one that I though would have the fewest people going for it and set my reminder to come back for the bidding.
SPG Moments Auctions
With SPG Moments auctions, if there is a bid in the last 5 minutes, the bidding will continue for another 5 minutes. So, it doesn’t really matter what the price is with 45 seconds left – one bid will extend the bidding and I have seen auctions climb over 100,000 points after the bidding would have really been over. Also, each All-star package had multiple packages available so I picked one I thought would have the fewest people attacking it. I also picked one that I thought might close first from the bidding. My reasoning there was that people would get more desperate as fewer packages were still bidding and the bidding would go way up.
As you can see, I had it all thought out! I really didn’t care about the headline feature – it was all about the actual tickets for me. But, somehow or another, I thought that all of the All-star packages ended at the same time! I have no idea where I got that idea! I thought for sure I saw the ending times as being the same! My big mistake was not looking closer.
Wrong Time!!!
The package I had selected was being on the field for batting practice for the Home Run Derby. There was another package for being in the dugout so, thinking all ended at the same time, I thought more people would opt for that one. I jumped on the computer 5 minutes before bidding was scheduled to end and was surprised to see that one package had already ended – the one for participating in the Legends & Celebrity game (plus all the tickets). Not only had it already ended but it had only sold for 42,000 Starpoints! I had a terrible feeling in my gut and checked to see – yep, all the auctions had different ending times.
In the end, all of the packages went for more than I was able to pay so I lost out on my dream gift for Father’s Day. I mean, 42,000 points for 2 tickets to all the festivities and my dad would have been able to play a bit during the softball game (he is still a great ballplayer even in his 60s)?! That would have been the best!
It certainly taught me to be more careful about checking ending times on items that are grouped like this and not take anything for granted! To all of those who won the various packages, enjoy and congrats! I just wish I could have gotten one of them. But, I was able to get a different gift for him and I think he may like this one almost as much… 🙂
Have you ever missed out on some package because you messed up ending times? Or am I the only one that feels so dumb? 🙂
While it went for 42K, if you had been bidding against the other guy the price may well have been driven up. Small consolation, I realize.
That is a good way to look at it – thanks for the consolation! 🙂
Charlie just have your own home run derby before the game. Buy your pops a wiffle ball bat and a bucket of wiffle balls. Then kick back with a some beers and burgers and watch the game on TV. I would think any dad would love that and you still have 42k starpoints in your pocket