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!
Free travel is great.
I’m really excited about a quick trip to NYC and some one on one time with my duaghter thanks to points (hilton) and miles (avios)
Something that has happened recently, a schedule change has made my non-swuable itin swuable and a forum friend has very generously given me the swu. Like, luck and love.
Thanks for all the great tips and trips Gary.
Miles keep me dreaming for the next trip!
I’m planning a driving tour of California and Arizona next month and will be using my points for **FREE** hotel stays.
Learning mini rtw has been great
Two awesome back to back glitch fares, a rare bonanza
Flew to see my family on AA using Avios!
free travel and upgrades
Blogger-on-blogger disputes can be mildly amusing.
The HHonors deval, while dishonorable, did nudge me into considering different chains. Now I’m top tier with multiple programs instead of just one…so many more free hotel rooms from which to choose!
Without award miles and points, I would never have seen so much of the world (and from the front of the plane)!
Your daily blog gives us the insight and tools needed to make the most of those often-times devalued points and miles. Thank you!
I miss the days of churning vanilla reloads and bluebird. Without those I could never ever the points and miles I did. Your blog is a wonderful way to learn about helpful tips and deals!!
learning from the efforts and travel of others
Something positive about the blogs: Most bloggers are hard workers and strive to produce interesting helpful content. Except for TPG and MMS of course.
Credit card bonuses seem to go up, not down
learning about Marriott’s Megabonus (before it got devalued into oblivion)
The BoardingArea community’s tips have allowed me to see the world with my girlfriend
My favorite redemption so far was being able to fly my friend somewhere. She deserved it, she needed it, and my flying her where she needed/wanted to go brought me more joy than any 1st or Biz Class longhaul ever could have.
I get to travel frequently for work, but miles and points have allowed me to travel with my wife and kids as well. We get to take amazing vacations that we could never in a million years afford!
I enjoy blogs because I learn about all sorts of new and exciting cabins and routes.
SQ partnering with Chase
Every couple of years I go back to Europe to see my family. I haven’t paid for a ticket in years!
Yes; a lot of devaluations & that hurts, but that is a part of the game. The flip side of it is that the programs are getting more complex. More complex means more opportunities for mistakes and loopholes. So let’s move forward and look for those loopholes!
Thanks to Gary, I’ve been Turkish Gold for a year or so now – free access to UA club lounges!
Earning points and miles has kept me always thinking about where in the world I want to go next
Positive: That man invented the flying machine and we’re able to travel the world.
see trip reports of places that I may never see
Points allowed me to take an amazing vacation this month to Paris and London with my girlfriend where I propsed to her and she said YES!
Despite the devaluations, miles inspire me to travel to places I would not consider with $$$
Points and miles have been a silver lining to having to travel for work
Thank you so much for your posts on your travel forays. I quite enjoy reading about the places you go to that I have not been.
You can still apply for multiple Citi AA executive cards. 🙂
I’m looking forward to completing a Hyatt Diamond Challenge this summer. It will fit nicely with my Hilton Diamond (earned) and Marriott Gold (thanks to my UA 1K)!
Even with the devaluations, I am still traveling far more than I could if I had to pay cash.
You always provide great tips!
Miles and points made it possible to see my family abroad more frequently!
Trips provide great memories.
Chasing miles and points through CC sign-ups has increased my credit score
There is NO way I could ever dream of afford to sit in business class or first class. With bloggers like you I can! Thanks!!
With points and miles I am going to be able to have an amazing honeymoon next spring!!
staying at Hyatt hotels for free by getting the Hyatt card is excellent
Your daily blog gives me the tools and insight to earn and spend my miles and points wisely. The only way to travel – use those point and miles and GO, GO, GO! Thanks!
I’m grateful that I’ve gotten to see so much more of the world than I would have if it weren’t for points, miles, and blogs/forums.
I’m planning an awesome first-class around-the-world trip with my wife next year for our anniversary using all miles and points.
Love the Chase ink Office supply store 5X bonus
I would positively love to win $400!
It is still pretty fun getting to travel to amazing places, practically free! I love this hobby!