It’s been a tough 18 months in the frequent flyer world. It’s easier than ever to earn points, but the cost of awards has gone up, up, up.
Miles and points have been very good to me, and I do my best to give back where I can. I don’t make a public show of my charity, but I do my best to give the best advice I can and to offer giveaways when things are offered to me. And when I have gift cards, I can either turn them into money orders or do various frequent flyer experiments, or I can give them away.
So here, I thought I would give away $400. And what better way to give them away than to my readers who comment on this post?
Goodness knows it’s been a tough 15 months or so for frequent flyers.
- United devalued its award chart, especially premium cabin awards and especially partner awards in first class.
- Delta devalued its award chart, and then decided they didn’t want to wait for changes to go into effect so they imposed an interim devaluation. Then they finally decided to go revenue-based.
- Southwest devalued its points, underscoring just how arbitrary such changes can be — there’s no fundamental reason to devalue a revenue-based frequent flyer program, higher ticket prices automatically make an award cost more already. Here they just decided to make their points worth less.
- American eliminated international gateway stopovers and distance-based awards and US Airways eliminated the 90,000 mile business class award.
- Hilton devalued the most among hotels, such that I am no longer inclined to stay with them when I can avoid it. I didn’t re-up my Diamond status (or accept free Gold status).
- Others devalued as well – Marriott with big award category shifts, Hyatt with a new more expensive award category 7 and other changes.
And that’s just a small sampling.
So I would like to focus on something positive for a change, and I’m looking to you for help to do so!
Here are the prizes:
- (4) $100 gift cards
So here’s how you enter.
- Leave a comment on this blog post. Say something positive above miles and points, blogs, forums, or your fellow travelers.
- Enter by Noon Eastern, Friday May 30. That’s 4 days from this writing, and there are four prizes.
- Enter no more than 4 times. Four prizes, four days to enter, you can enter by commenting up to four times. (It doesn’t have to be one per day, the only limitation is that you cannot enter twice in a row you have to at least wait for someone else to enter before you enter again each time.)
- Four prize winners will be drawn at random. As in past, I will use random.org for the drawing.
- Fine print. Void where prohibited by law. All of my decisions are final and unappealable, I want to make giveaways as easy as possible and with the fewest headaches possible.
So, what do you like about miles and points, blogs, forums, or your fellow travelers?
- You can join the 40,000+ people who see these deals and analysis every day — sign up to receive posts by email (just one e-mail per day) or subscribe to the RSS feed. It’s free. You can also follow me on Twitter for the latest deals. Don’t miss out!
Its so easy to manufacture spend cheaply. You can earn all the miles you need for any trip, even after devaluations
Collecting miles (/etc) is a way of accruing value that would be otherwise left on the table. Even if recent changes mean there is less available value today than there was a year ago (other things equal), we’re still getting (significant) value we wouldn’t otherwise have had. Seems crazy to ignore an available upside simply because there used to be but no longer is an upside that was even larger. No?
I am incredibly grateful that I am in a position to enjoy enough disposable income that I have always been able to travel. I’m also very grateful to this blog for helping me top lean about maximizing my points & miles to make those experiences even more amazing.
Even with the Southwest devaluation we are getting great use of our companion passes and traveling as a family during Thanksgiving to Puerto Rico!
I’m in the middle of a two week, 18,000 mile, 6 country, FREE trip, thanks to making the most of business travel and credit card spend to maximize mile and point accumulation. Better yet, it’s all business class air travel and stays at mostly 4- and 5-star hotels. As I write this, I’m looking out over Manila Bay from my 30th floor room at the Hyatt Regency Manila. I owe it all to the points, and to bloggers like you!
I learnt about miles and points things from these blogs. I already have applied and approved for many cards and also learnt to meet min spending on these cards. I got to learn about value of these miles when i had to travel to India on an emergency. Thanks a lot for all the help.
In Bangkok I used Club Carlson points to stay at the brand new Radisson Blu Plaza Bangkok. It’s absolutely gorgeous! They did a phenomenal job, and I was able to use my Club Carlson Visa points to stay there for free.
Even with the recent changes, there are still great deals and free and cheap travel to take with miles and points.
I have friends who moved to Singapore in 2010. Singapore’s a very expensive destination, so it would have been tough to visit them without spending a fortune on airfare and lodging. Miles and points to the rescue!
No matter how much points get devalued, I still feel fortunate to be able to use them to have incredible experiences that might not otherwise have been possible.
I love how willing the miles and points community is at sharing (in detail) how to earn and burn for maximum advantage and enjoyment!
Trying to find those vanilla reloads was the thrill of the chase what a drug free high!!
I am currently planning a trip to BKK, and this site has given me all sorts of thoughts about how to go about it. Thanks.
earning points on everyday purcahses, turning into luxury holidays
In the end the discovery of the points world 3+ years ago has changed my family’s life. I never would have dreamed of doing what we have done in the last couple of years and what we have planned in the coming year. Despite the devaluations, it still provides amazing opportunities!
I love the game of collecting points & miles.
Miles have allowed us to travel the world for a fraction of the cost that we could have otherwise
One of my favorite things is the blogs! I know there’s been so much hate towards bloggers, they are blamed for everything and I think people are just plain jealous. Its so funny though because people claim to hate all these bloggers but yet they just cant stop reading them because they always seem to know what they are posting. Anyways I appreciate the blogs like Gary’s, keep up the great work.
I love being able to stay in hotels that are way out of my pocketbook range
Traveling on points is very inexpensive yet so very rewarding!
Delta remains the best domestic airline for using credit card spend to reach elite status.
Gary, I for one, appreciate the depth to which you often go in explaining you points of view. I’ve never felt you wrote too long a post.
I still take amazing vacations with miles and points which is valuable time with family and friends.
I stayed at the beautiful Conrad Koh Samui earlier this month, using rewards accumulated with the HHonors credit card. The hotel and its surroundings were beautiful, although the hotel was a little over-the-top for me. I first read about Koh Samui (and the Conrad) from your blog; I’m thankful that I was able to visit just a couple years later.
I actually think that Hyatt points & cash is an enhancement of the program. I made sure to book some great accommodations in Japan before the devaluation. I am looking at you, Park Hyatt Tokyo suite. But shortly after the change I found some great values with points & cash. My favorite so far is the Grand Hyatt Taipei and I cannot wait for my stay at the Andaz Papagayo in Costa Rica too!
I love that points give you the opportunity to travel aspirationally in a way that you otherwise may not be able to afford.
I’ve learned a lot from reading your blog, and that’s translated to many amazing experiences; thank you.
Without points and miles, I would never have flown Singapore Airlines First Class (due to the error in July 2012) from London to Singapore with the cabin all to myself! What a great true international first class experience! I would also have never stayed at the Park Hyatt Tokyo, Park Hyatt Paris, or the Grosvemor House in Dubai- so many memories thanks to points, miles, and best rate guarantees 🙂
Definitely the community aspect. To know that there are people that share the same passion, means quite a bit.
I love that I just had a $25,000 vacation and only spent $2000 thanks to miles and points
Like Gary’s ‘View from the Wing’ blog – quality of trip reports, variety of topics, useful tips, etc.
[Note: Posted again as first post from a different computer seemed to get stuck in ‘Awaiting Moderation’]
Thanks to this, and other blogs, I’m about to take my first First Class flight; can’t wait!
I love reading the various blogs on boardingarea every day, so much help in the miles world
I still get to take multiple trips per year with my family. Without points, this wouldnt be possible.
I have been able to travel so many more places due to airmiles than I could have without
Because of points and miles I have been able to show my family the world. My children are now eager to travel everywhere. In fact, all four children also now have started the world of points and miles! The youngest (21)now has enough miles to book a round trip business class flight to Dublin where she will be in school for her master’s degree. I’m so grateful for the blogs/forums.
Some of the hotels that I have stayed at ,due to collecting points, have been more for 1 night than I pay for 1 month living expenses
Before getting hooked on points & miles, I didn’t know the Maldives existed. Now I know it as one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been!
I am able to travel the world, but this would not be possible without points and miles to help defray the costs
Regardless of the devaluations you mention, the miles and points game is still on and we’re still getting travel that we couldn’t otherwise afford.
There are still deals out there, as long as we have the passion for miles/points and the patience to read the blogs everyday!
First class travel is attainable with miles and points!
I read alot on FT and the blogs and it seems like a learn something new every day
A *huge* positive for me is that the devaluations caused me to take a second look and get into more activities that actually earn cash, even though I was retired for quite a long while. I feel very fortunate and a little bit amazed at just how well that project turned out.
I am able to visit places with my wife we normally wouldn’t be able to afford if paying cash.
I have been to Thailand 5x, Cambodia, Singapore, Indonesia, Guatemala, Belize, and Colorado all in less than 1.5 years
I saved skymiles for two plus years. Finally, I have enough for atl-lhr in BE. Currently, DL lists that as a $6,000 plus ticket. Also, we use Southwest periodically and have used points for flights. Not too bad when you consider that you are going anyway, you’re just getting a little something in return. Now, saving my Alaska points for something big. It may take time since we don’t fly a lot, but still fun to daydream.
I really appreciate the help I’ve received, from all channels, educating me on the miles & points game!
they let me plan family trips that wouldn’t be possible otherwise.
Resorts that cost upwards of $1000 dollars per night would be out of reach for us, we are able to stay at these pricey resorts with miles and points,