Originally Posted by
some dude
Having 1.7M in AA is pretty pointless -- but I will say that it's not a bad idea to keep a bankroll of points in a number of different programs -- eg: 500K in AA, 500K in Hyatt, 1M in Marriott, 1M in Amex, 1M in Chase, 500k Citi, 500K Cap1.
If you have points spread across many different programs, including ones which have good transfer options, it means that you have far more flexibility in using the miles in the most efficient ways possible, to travel where you want, when you want. If it's all in AA, you are at AA's mercy.
How is 1.7M points in an account, pointless? Nothing could be further from the truth, both literally and figuratively. Redeemed properly, this can fund a huge amount of travel, even with possible devaluations. If you polled every person on flyertalk if they could find value in 1.7M points, approx 100% would say yes.
And spreading the wealth is nice, but not everyone can do that (i.e. for many people, it's hard to have 500k Hyatt/1M Marriott if your employer contract is with one or the other, or if you can earn points on a corporate card).