How do you spend your VIP Points?

[talos]

I am curious how everyone uses their VIP Points when they collect enough to use them on new purchases. For me, I have been saving them up, not using them on every purchase. Lately, I use enough at one time to pay for the tax on what I am ordering. I want to save some for later, in case there is something else I want to buy. For me, I have to pay tax of 9%, and that can be a big chunk of change if I get something pricey.

Do most people blow all of the points at once, or do you just use part of them at one time? Curious!

[Tariq j]

For me, I always tend to save up so I can get a fair amount of money of the big sets like Slave I or the Sandcrawler. I remember when I brought the Palace Cinema I managed to get quite alot of money off it. At least around £20.00.

[TheLegGodt]

I save them for a year and then treat myself to a free set or heavily discounted set. I had a lot this year, about 115 euros so I got the Slave I for less than half price.

[TheLegoDr]

I try to save them up, but sometimes I'll just use them on large purchases to bring down the cost. I picked up the Tower Bridge a few years ago for 60% off that way. It made me feel better about the purchase, even though it was still a lot of money.

Lately, I've used it on smaller sets for my daughter. And then some PAB orders. Yes, it is more expensive than bricklink, but it was "free." It seemed reasonable at the time.

I considered buying Mos Eisley Cantina since I have enough to get it free, but I really only want the dewback and Greedo, so seems pointless...who knows.

[Jody Meyer]

i usually wait until i have about 45.00 to 65.00 worth to get a good set or to put towards pick a brick, or wait until brick tober...double points

[KringlesBricks]

I tend to wait until I get above $20 worth to start thinking about what to use it for. I mainly use my points towards PaB orders, baseplates, or Mini-fig Series. I rarely use VIP points on big sets because I want to earn more points on the bigger items versus the smaller priced items - if that makes sense...

There was one time I earned up to like $150 in VIP points, and that's when I picked up a FREE Horizon Express - which was awesome...but,took ALOT of buying and saving VIP Points for that one.

Edited January 13, 2015 by KringlesBricks

[welfycat]

I have $165 in VIP points saved up right now (which has taken around a year).

I'm currently waiting to see what the new Marvel Helicarrier set looks like since it has been rumored to be pretty expensive. If I like it, I'll probably put my VIP points towards it. If not, I might get the Detective's Office or the Parisian Restaurant. If not those, I might get a few of the more expensive Marvel Age of Ultron sets with the points, or get the Elves series with the points.

[Galaxy Explorer]

I generally save up points for a very long time- I redeemed $60 worth back in 2012 towards the Death Star. After that I redeemed points in May of 2014 for a UCS SSD, which I only had to pay $30 in cash! My goal now is the Sandcrawler. I've got about $65 in points now, so I'm coming along.

[pugmom]

well, I did bank a bunch and bought Parisian rest. for $20. However, it was a double points day, so I think I should have not used them since I only got double points on $20 instead of the entire set. Now I just use them as I get them on whatever.

[deraven]

I also go the "discount" route. I usually have $50-$75 worth of points in my VIP account at any given time, and if there's a set that I think is just a bit overpriced for whatever reason (may just be that I'm not /that/ into it but don't want to skip it altogether) and if it's something that either won't go on sale (an Exclusive) or I haven't been able to find discounted for long enough that I'm sick of waiting, I generally knock off 10-20% using VIP points.

I think I knocked quite a bit off of a modular price once and depleted my VIP account, but usually when i'm making a bigger purchase I try to wait until a double- or triple-points event and then pay full price to take advantage of that (as VIP points used for a purchase don't accrue additional points themselves).

[Boettner Builds]

I try to save them until I can get a "free" modular :)

[dr_spock]

Redeem them for Power Function motors.

[Master_Data]

I try to save mine, but I never rack up enough to really take a huge chunk out of anything, so I just spend them whenever I feel it is necessary. I bought a Batgirl keychain recently to get the Jor-El promo and used points to cover that, so I got it for free. I will often do little things like that to cut costs in the long run.

[AncientDayz]

I was using them as I got them, but the end of last year I decided to save them up for a few months - I knocked out the detective's office and a Star Wars micro fighter for free recently. In the end, money is money so I guess it really doesn't matter how I use them, but it did feel good to get a large package in the mail - especially when I didn't spend a cent on it.

[rollermonkey]

I usually save them quite a while... This past summer, I got the AT-AT and the Construction Crew (42023) for free on August 1 and had some left over.

Just before xmas I took $60 off the price of the big Technic Volvo loader.

I mostly buy all of the largest sets, always on double point days, and they add up really fast when you get $250 and $300 sets during those windows.

I'll probably go back to hoarding them a while now.

Edited January 13, 2015 by rollermonkey

[Speedboat]

I don't tend to buy very much at the stores apart from the occasional PAB cup. If I have accumulated enough points to redeem them I usually do so with the next purchase.

[tafkatb]

I used to spend them pretty much as soon as I got them, but about a year and a half ago I started making a conscious effort to save them up. Last year I got the Parisian Restaurant for $50. I currently have enough saved up that if I buy the Helicarrier during double points, I can get the Detective's Office for free.

[kibosh]

I save them for purchases that are no longer discounted anywhere like the modulars. I wait until I can get a good 25%-30% off. That's usually my threshold for making a LEGO purchase anywhere.

[HawkLord]

I used to save them for my birthday, but lately have been spending them just to bring down costs on MOCs or promos.

[ShaydDeGrai]

I usually save them up for my birthday (which was just the other day actually). This year I picked up the UCS Batman Tumbler effectively free (just paid taxes) and I have enough left over for either a free Detective Agency Modular or the UCS Slave I for ten bucks (I'll get them both eventually, I just haven't decided which I want as my 'birthday freebie').

Spending them down $5 here, $10 there, just doesn't seem as gratifying as walking up to the cash register with one of the biggest sets in the store and paying less than then the guy in front of you who just bought a couple CMFs. ( The look on the clerk's face when they do a double take at your current point balance is just icing on the cake ).

[Thomas_w]

My girlfriend bought me the Death Star as a present in December, so I currently for the first time have enough VIP points to actually get something. Next weekend I plan to head out to Milton Keynes and spend them, I think I will probably use them to get one of the smaller Ultra Agents sets. I am very jealous of all who acquire enough points to get the Tumbler or a Modular House for free. If it isn't too rude to ask a question, is everyone spending thousands of pounds/dollars/euros to get so many points, or, as I suspect are there bonus points or ways to get more than 1 pt per £ ?

Edited January 13, 2015 by Thomas_w

[mostlytechnic]

There are double point times, but otherwise there's no way to get VIP points other than buying lots of Lego.

Myself, I have a Bricklink store where I part out sets and figs. So I buy a good amount for there, especially during the double point months. Enough that I bought the detective office last week for free, plus the Ideas Birds set for free, and still have $50ish left :)

[TheOneVeyronian]

Like many, I tend to accumulate my points and save them for a large purchase (I recently used £25 of points on a £160 purchase), though I've never really accumulated more than about £50 of them. Otherwise, I might use 100 points here and there to get "free" shipping on a small S@H order that I needed to place, for example for some PaB. Right now, I have £10 sitting in my VIP account. A few more purchases and then I'll probably redeem them on my next big spend. Utterly envious of those who can accumulate enough to get a "free" modular or UCS set though and still have spare points afterwards though. I wish I could spend that much on LEGO to do that!

Though, if I could get VIP points on all my Bricks and Pieces orders, I'd have a few more to spend!

[paul_delahaye]

I always save up and then spend them on an exclusive set, I just cashed in £50 on detective agency. The last time I cashed in was probably a year or more ago on Horizon express

There is something amusing when you go into a LEGO shop and the cashier suprising says "oh my that's a lot of reward points"

I suspect with most children with reward points, they probably get £5 and cash them in straight away :-)

[talos]

I am wondering how often has there been a triple VIP point offer? I have only been back into Lego for the past year, and have not ever seen a 3x offer. When was the last time that happened? Anyone remember?