Originally Posted by slocouple

DH and I both got to 36 hits last year, entirely on our own dime(s). We spent about $600 each, but also got to consume or gift hotel stays, car rentals, wine, cookies, flowers, USA Today subscriptions, Netflix, car cellphone chargers, hiking poles, etc. There are things we'd do differently this year, but we had a great couple of weeks traveling the Southwest maximizing Grand Slam and Priority Club's Crack the Case at the same time. Then, this March, we redeemed 110,000 miles each and spent 3 weeks in New Zealand and 10 days in Thailand. (LAX-AKL NZ business class; AKL-BKK and BKK-LAX TG business.)