Didn’t want to creep another thread hence this new thread. We frequently read about miles devaluation yet we rarely read about more lucrative earning opportunities. I can recall churning NCNB Piedmont credit cards 20-25 years ago for 2000 and 2500 mile intro bonuses. Prior to 2010 bonuses of 20000 or 25000 were the standard. In the past couple of years we’ve seen bonuses of 50000 and 75000 and even 100000. Now some people claim a card offering less than 40000 “isn’t worth it”.

Certainly a mile traveled is still a mile earned and that hasn’t changed for 25 years. If anything BIS miles earning opportunities have decreased as 500 and 1000 minimum miles per segment have disappeared and double and triple RDM promotions (for everyone) are mostly a thing of the past. (I did love those Norfolk-Atlantic City flights on USAir connecting in Philly or BWI with a 1000 mile minimum and triple miles thus 12000 miles for a 400 mile inexpensive roundtrip that was sometimes reimbursed by a casino. Wish I knew then what I know now!)

But since many agree that credit card bonuses are the most lucrative way of earning miles today it could be argued that devaluation is not occurring. 20 years ago it took 10 credit card intro bonuses to get an award ticket, today it might only take 1 or 0.5 similar bonuses.

Just wondering how others look at it.