(a la Beavis and Butthead):
Ummm.....er......uhhhh....what??


If the cruise thing is what you want to do, but are staying in overpriced Holiday Inns collecting points for vacations you don't want to take I agree you are wasting your time and money.

But that doesn't mean you shouldn't collect miles to get you to your ports-of-call.

Or have a good rebate card to pay for your cruises.

Just don't overpay for your miles on that side of the equation. No one should ever overpay for a hotel room just to get points in one program, unless work is paying, or maybe there is some tangible benefit to come later (like a Hyatt FFN).

The OP does point out some major differences in how people approach this game.

Point Slut: Does anything to get miles/points, including overpaying for airline tickets, hotel rooms or merchandise. Forgets to look at the cost of acquiring said points/miles.

Point Whore: Will do almost anything to get miles/points as long as the economic equation breaks even, even if it wastes personal time and energy.

Point Commando: Will analyze point earning opportunities and optimize travel patterns to attain the maximum value for said person's spending/working/travel habits.

BTW- Aren't there different cruise reward programs as well? Cruise CCs? Couldn't the OP be getting rewarded that way?