Are frequent flyer points really worth it?
Nov 22, 2014, 11:38 am
#17
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Bangkok or San Francisco
Programs: United 1k, Marriott Lifetime PE, Former DL Gold, Former SQ Solitaire, HH Gold
Posts: 11,886
I am new to posting messages in forums so bear with me. I fly all over the US (no international) and I managed, just barely, to make 1K status. In order to earn that status I have to fly 10 legs per month, or 3-5 round trips, which is a lot of travel by anyone's standards. That is the background and context, but here is what I want to say. I am trying to get my family to Hawaii on points in 2015. At this point United has not opened up any super saver award seats in July, the month we want to travel, so I can only book seats using standard awards. That will be a total of 360,000 points round trip in coach for all four of us. In order to get a sense of how much I have to fly in order to get that many points, I went back six months and determined the average number of miles I earned for each leg I fly. It was a total of 57 legs so the average should be fairly meaningful. The number came out to 1463 miles per leg (includes any bonus miles I earned). Which mean that, in order to fly my family to Hawaii one time, I have to fly 246 legs. In other words, I have to make 1K status for two years in a row in order to fly my family to Hawaii just one time. Thats an awful lot of pain and suffering for just one trip. My questions is, what am I doing wrong?
Nov 22, 2014, 11:54 am
#18
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: London & Sonoma CA
Programs: UA 1K, MM *G for life, BAEC Gold
Posts: 10,225
If the choice is either to earn miles or to forego miles, then clearly earning them is sensible when they are given gratis. However, it's a fallacy to think that they will have real value at any particular time (they only have value to the extent that you can substitute miles for something you would pay for, or would like to pay for) and it's also a fallacy to think that they are a stable currency - they're not, and will continue to depreciate.
That said, I'd rather have my current balance of 300,000 miles than not.
That said, I'd rather have my current balance of 300,000 miles than not.
Nov 22, 2014, 12:50 pm
#19
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: N Charleston South Carolina
Programs: UA PM (by 2MM), DL GM (by 3.5MM), Marriott Lifetime Plat
Posts: 1,655
Also, remember that you can have a stopover on the way to or from Hawaii. We often fly {east coast} - ORD/IAD - LAX/SFO - LIH/Hawaii, then LIH/Hawaii (day) - spend night in SFO/LAX - then SFO/LAX - IAD/ORD - {east coast}.
This might be easier than trying to find more direct flights.
If you can find a good agent, you might also be able to use the "last in/first out" trick at either Denver or one of the other airports, giving you two nights to break the trip up.
Since you're 1K, you can look for better flights all the time, change for free and within 24 hours you can look to do SDC.
Just make sure you are all on the same record as after April next year the inherited 1K benefits go away.
Billy
This might be easier than trying to find more direct flights.
If you can find a good agent, you might also be able to use the "last in/first out" trick at either Denver or one of the other airports, giving you two nights to break the trip up.
Since you're 1K, you can look for better flights all the time, change for free and within 24 hours you can look to do SDC.
Just make sure you are all on the same record as after April next year the inherited 1K benefits go away.
Billy
Nov 22, 2014, 1:05 pm
#20
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: CO
Programs: UA OG-1K, Marriott Plat, Hertz PC
Posts: 1,360
I admire you for getting to 1k the hard way.
I'm taking my family to HNL over Christmas with miles. There weren't any savers available and our dates are fixed, but the tickets were almost $2500 each when I was looking to book them. I thought saving $10k was a pretty good use of miles.
I take the same attitude towards FF programs and my golf game. I have given up expecting it to work out and have decided to just be amazed when it all comes together.
I'm taking my family to HNL over Christmas with miles. There weren't any savers available and our dates are fixed, but the tickets were almost $2500 each when I was looking to book them. I thought saving $10k was a pretty good use of miles.
I take the same attitude towards FF programs and my golf game. I have given up expecting it to work out and have decided to just be amazed when it all comes together.
Nov 22, 2014, 3:54 pm
#21
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: PSM
Posts: 69,232
I cannot help but wonder if the OP is a customer who will benefit from the new revenue-based earning rules which take effect next year. Lots of relatively short domestic hops seems like a good candidate for potentially earning a lot more points if spend is factored in.
Nov 23, 2014, 4:13 am
#22
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: IAD
Programs: UA 1K, Marriott Rewards - LTPP
Posts: 4,240
Nov 23, 2014, 4:43 am
#23
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: NYC
Programs: AADULtArer
Posts: 5,683
Banking on saver awards being available for vacation itineraries in the new world order isn't a good bet, especially if you aren't 1K.
Go back and look at your revenue spend in the new RDM program ( post below) because segment heavy fliers
10 segments a month is a moderate FF btw. I have three in my office who do 10 per week.
Go back and look at your revenue spend in the new RDM program ( post below) because segment heavy fliers
10 segments a month is a moderate FF btw. I have three in my office who do 10 per week.
Nov 23, 2014, 5:41 am
#24
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: SFO
Programs: United 1K 2MM / Marriott LTP
Posts: 5,071
Welcome to Flyertalk.
As others have mentioned before there has been an increased difficulty in booking awards. From when I started earning status in 2001 until today things have changed many many times. Here are some examples...
- SQ F/J long haul used to be bookable with miles...now practically non-existent as SQ has blocked the space on most of their aircraft with new seats for partner bookings.
- Starnet blocking when UA said no seats were available but other star partners showed the space...Now Starnet blocking is gone.
- Mileage runs were really cheap and the routing rules were extremely relaxed....Now mileage runs aren't nearly as cheap and UA has cracked down on the routing rules.
- Credit Card signup bonuses were quite small...Now credit card signup bonuses can be quite lucrative.
The above are just a few of the examples of how things have changed in this game. As a 1K you have a lot of flexibility since you are allowed free changes/cancellations. I have redeemed over 1 million miles, and I can't tell you how many times the award I initially booked wasn't what I wanted. After making many many changes eventually I got a more ideal routing. I am sure others will echo the same sentiments about booking awards.
Anyhow back to your case. I am not sure where in the US you are starting from or your dates you are looking for other than July 2015 and Hawaii. I just checked one date on united.com and I see at least 4 saver economy seats on July 1 for the following routing SFO-OGG-HNL.
7/1 UA 1581 SFO-OGG 1900 - 2125
7/1 HA 515 OGG-HNL 2254 - 2327
28.5K miles each.
For return I arbitrarily selected 7/8 and there are at least 4 saver economy seats showing up on multiple flights for 22.5K miles each.
7/8 UA 1195 HNL-LAX 1330 - 2200
7/8 UA 263 LAX-SFO 2230 - 2349
7/8 UA 534 HNL - LAX 2045 - 0500 (+1)
7/9 UA 414 LAX - SFO 0630 - 0750
7/8 UA 1231 HNL - LAX 0630 - 1457
7/8 UA 746 LAX - SFO 1730 - 1843
7/8 UA 1229 HNL - LAX 2220 - 0654 (+1)
7/9 UA 239 LAX - SFO 1000 - 1134
These may or may not work for you. I've never really searched for award space to Hawaii so I am not sure what the trends are, but I am pretty sure Hawaii is a popular destination in the summer for awards as is Europe in the summer. If you are looking for premium cabin space I would say the chances are exponentially harder.
As others have mentioned before there has been an increased difficulty in booking awards. From when I started earning status in 2001 until today things have changed many many times. Here are some examples...
- SQ F/J long haul used to be bookable with miles...now practically non-existent as SQ has blocked the space on most of their aircraft with new seats for partner bookings.
- Starnet blocking when UA said no seats were available but other star partners showed the space...Now Starnet blocking is gone.
- Mileage runs were really cheap and the routing rules were extremely relaxed....Now mileage runs aren't nearly as cheap and UA has cracked down on the routing rules.
- Credit Card signup bonuses were quite small...Now credit card signup bonuses can be quite lucrative.
The above are just a few of the examples of how things have changed in this game. As a 1K you have a lot of flexibility since you are allowed free changes/cancellations. I have redeemed over 1 million miles, and I can't tell you how many times the award I initially booked wasn't what I wanted. After making many many changes eventually I got a more ideal routing. I am sure others will echo the same sentiments about booking awards.
Anyhow back to your case. I am not sure where in the US you are starting from or your dates you are looking for other than July 2015 and Hawaii. I just checked one date on united.com and I see at least 4 saver economy seats on July 1 for the following routing SFO-OGG-HNL.
7/1 UA 1581 SFO-OGG 1900 - 2125
7/1 HA 515 OGG-HNL 2254 - 2327
28.5K miles each.
For return I arbitrarily selected 7/8 and there are at least 4 saver economy seats showing up on multiple flights for 22.5K miles each.
7/8 UA 1195 HNL-LAX 1330 - 2200
7/8 UA 263 LAX-SFO 2230 - 2349
7/8 UA 534 HNL - LAX 2045 - 0500 (+1)
7/9 UA 414 LAX - SFO 0630 - 0750
7/8 UA 1231 HNL - LAX 0630 - 1457
7/8 UA 746 LAX - SFO 1730 - 1843
7/8 UA 1229 HNL - LAX 2220 - 0654 (+1)
7/9 UA 239 LAX - SFO 1000 - 1134
These may or may not work for you. I've never really searched for award space to Hawaii so I am not sure what the trends are, but I am pretty sure Hawaii is a popular destination in the summer for awards as is Europe in the summer. If you are looking for premium cabin space I would say the chances are exponentially harder.