Originally Posted by
Thunderroad
Welcome to FT, Gina!
And pardon my LOL (laugh out loud) reaction to your question, but YES your DH's (dear husband's?) first class international flight miles do matter!!
In fact, your scatted miles and points are all pretty low, so the most important thing could well be those job-related flights and where your DH goes.
To get the best advice from the collected wisdom (?) here, you might want to:
1. Say where your DH will most likely be flying for work, and how often. (And is it really in first class? If so, nice job!) Does his job lock him into a particular airline? And any other destinations either of you might be going to that could build up miles?
2. And what kinds of hotels for these work trips? Modest? Luxury? Any particular hotel chain that he must or would like to stay in for these trips?
3. How you might most want to use the miles and points you'll collect? For free flights? And if so, in economy or business or first class?
4. Or for free hotel stays? And if so, what kind of destinations you see yourselves going to? International or domestic? Beaches? Cities? Europe? Asia?
As a first piece of advice, I'd suggest you consider the Starwood American Express card, which is the consensus choice for most purposes in terms of converting the points into miles or having access to the best vacation properties of the major chains. But even that could hinge on your specific travel patterns and preferences.
LOL. DH is dear husband, I picked that up on another forum that is just as intense as this forum except it is centered on kids clothing brands. LOL.
DH will probably be doing a one leg flight every 4 weeks, maybe more. (He is a pilot & they often send him to where his trip will begin.) He bids for his schedule & intentionally bids for these trips so he can get miles.
He rarely gets to collect rewards for his hotels ... which is a bummer because he staying in a Sheraton or Marriot for 50 days for training. I think those are voided as the result of some contract between DH employer and the hotel. Not sure why.
As previously mentioned, I think the miles would be best put to use for travel - especially international. I'm fine flying economy to Europe if it is free!
But, we have talked about using them for class upgrades too.
Oh, and in regards to hotels ... I am not a snob, but I am picky. I rely on Tripadvisor (some might argue against that) and the places have to have an excellent rating ... and unfortunately for our bank account, unless it is one of the high end hotels, they usually do not make the list.
I actually have a Starwood Preferred Guest invite for AE with RSVP # expiring at the end of the month for 20,000 pts after spending $500 w/in 3 months - that would not be a prob. Is that a decent offer? We seem to get offers all.the.time. LOL.
Thanks again for your help!