frequent flyer miles Archives

Why your goal is to not care about frequent flyer miles

What the impact on wealth accumulation has on playing the frequent flyer mile game.

I’ve been collecting frequent flyer miles for years now. I started collecting US Airways miles almost 20 years ago, but the idea that I would somehow collect enough miles for a free flight seemed laughable to me.

Fast forward to today, and while my stash of miles isn’t infinite, I could very easily take a trip around the world right now if I wanted to, and have plenty left over.

And yet, as my personal balance shifts from debt toward wealth, I had a vision of the future, one that shocked me.

Eventually, we won’t care about frequent flyer miles at all.

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I let my United miles expire. Should I buy them back?

Decisions

Somewhere, someone at United Airlines is smiling.

Frequent flyer mile expiration is an easy way for an airline to make more money. It’s a “currency” that the airline owns. They control how you use it, and if you don’t keep track of it, it can expire.

But you can often reinstate those miles. For a fee, of course.

I’m embarrassed to say that this is exactly what happened to me recently. I had about 23,000 miles that I had been holding on to for a long time, and I just let them expire.

What a minute! Haven’t I talked about AwardWallet on numerous occasions? Doesn’t that service send out reminders to prevent just this sort of thing from happening?

Of course it does. But United decided not to be compatible with AwardWallet. You need to effectively manage your own expiration date, or forward your mileage balance emails to AwardWallet. Which I didn’t do.

Like I said, someone from United is smiling.

Why frequent flyer miles but not grocery stores? A study in contrasting loyalty programs

Awareness

I’m a big fan of collecting frequent flyer miles and points. While the airlines and hotels have done their best to devalue the extreme opportunities that there once were, I believe that there still are some great deals to be had.

(Not so good that I’ll put my every day spending on my credit card though.)

I just recently redeemed some miles for two international coach tickets for myself and my partner, which I’ve long thought is the best redemption for most people. I saved hundreds of dollars, and gained a ton of flexibility in the process.

At the same time that I am working to amass and spend frequent flyer miles, I’m going to the grocery store. There, I often see deals like “2 for 1” listed for “Club Members Only”.

“Do you have a membership with us?” the cashier asks.

“No,” I reply.

He will then ring up all of my purchases without any of those discounts. On my receipt will be a note saying how much I could have saved if I had been a member.

This might feel like an incongruity. Why would I work so hard to earn frequent flyer miles, which some might say have questionable utility and savings, while simultaneously avoiding free programs which have actual, tangible cost savings attached to them?

Why signing up for promotions you don’t think you’ll use is a good idea

Decisions

I’m not into extreme couponing. I find that I don’t need 27 cans of tomato sauce or 40 boxes of cereal. I live in a relatively small place, and I barely can rationalize a Costco membership, much less having a second refrigerator.

But don’t get me wrong, I love deals. I was quite taken by Jet‘s ability to get Amazon Prime-level service without paying for Amazon Prime. I love using Costco’s rental car portal to save hundreds of dollars, pretty much every time I rent anything.

And, as I’m sure you know, I love love love frequent flyer miles.

Every once in a while you can find these excellent frequent flyer mile deals, like the time I mailed 94 index cards to get about $500 worth of hotel stays. That was pretty cool.

But you know what’s even cooler? Getting miles and points for things you didn’t even know you did.

Getting my mom and I to London and back: a study in trip planning

Movement

In my last post I talked about how my mom and I were going to Europe together. Specifically London, although we threw in Paris at the last moment. It’s a really exciting time.

For me, one of the best parts of travel is the planning of it. Flights, trains, hotels, etc. I know that some people would rather stand on broken glass than plan travel, and that’s okay by me. But even if you’re that way, perhaps you might enjoy hearing about the plan that we made. It might even give you some ideas about how to plan some trips of your own.

A tale of two mileage expirations

Decisions, Movement

I’ve talked before about the importance of keeping track of your frequent flyer miles. “But it’s too complicated!” is only a valid complaint if you desire to travel less and have it cost more money. Is that you? Didn’t think so.

I’ve also mentioned that there are some cases where it makes sense to let miles expire. And so here are two case studies of two different situations. Apply these to your own experiences to know what action to take in your own case.

Conferring with the enemy (Part 3): The waiting (for miles to post) game

Decisions, Movement

All posts in this series:

Conferring with the enemy (Part 1): A credit card for a travel plan
Conferring with the enemy (Part 2): Fulfilling minimum spend requirements on a credit card
Conferring with the enemy (Part 3): The waiting (for miles to post) game
Conferring with the enemy (Part 4): Redeeming British Airways miles from Boston to Dublin
Conferring with the enemy (Part 5): Finishing the deal

Let’s recap:

I don’t like debt. I don’t like credit cards. While having both may seem like a normal way of life, they will keep you from becoming wealthy, and in some cases can totally wreck your life.

But:

I love travel, and especially the game of travel hacking. And these days, the most lucrative way of earning frequent flyer miles is by the use of credit cards. (It’s much more lucrative than flying, ironically.)

So because of this, I routinely give up the opportunity to earn thousands (if not tens of thousands) of frequent flyer miles. And this is due to one rule I follow: don’t put ordinary spending on a credit card.

Some credit cards offer sign up bonuses. And if you have a plan for what to do with those frequent flyer miles, and have budgeted for how to achieve the “minimum spend”, and then put the card away, then I won’t yell at you. (Though if you’re carrying debt in other places, you may want to ask yourself now is the right time for this kind of game.)

This year I decided to do just this. Apply for a single credit card, get the minimum spend, use the miles for a specific trip, and then put the card away (for good, most likely).

Travel hacking to get to Buenos Aires (for cheap)

Movement

I’ve talked about how to buy frequent flyer miles for immediate use in travel, and why it could potentially be a good deal to do so.

But why stop at theory?

Here is the story of how I helped a friend of mine save hundreds of dollars using this method.

How to save money on airfare by purchasing frequent flyer miles

Movement

Frequent flier miles can be a really amazing tool for seeing the world. I used miles to travel in international business class when I came home from Europe earlier this year, and while it was a bit of an extravagance, I was in a position to do it, so I went for it.

Acquiring frequent flier miles is a hobby that can border on obsession with people. (Um, not me, of course.) And yet, even if your mileage balance is effectively nil, and even if you have no interest in collecting and holding onto miles, you may be able to use them to save money on airfare.

What I (re)learned from flying Business Class internationally

Abundance, Awareness, Movement

I was in the fortunate position of flying international Business Class using frequent flyer miles recently. Yes, it’s hard to complain.

And while it was a great experience, a lot of what made it great is that it gave me a chance to remember some interesting lessons about perspective and envy.