Originally Posted by
jsguyrus
At some point this gets exhausting and I want to just throw in the towel and book whoever has the best price/schedule. Normally I would also say if I want first I would just pay for it, but with the recent price increases even first is generally too expensive for me to consider.
Yeah, I realized sometime earlier this year that with some WN funny money after a VDB, WN and DL miles I don't mind blowing on domestic redemptions, DL gift cards and flight credits, and credit cards I want to retain that will cover $450 in DL/WN cheap flights or split tenders with gift cards/vouchers/credits, I don't have to spend any more money in 2023 to do the travel I legitimately expect to take. I'll lose AS status for 2024, but I also anticipate enough credit card signups that I won't really go backwards on the stash of miles I have. Very reasonable signups should net me positive (and able to take future J/F trips across oceans).
Even if I want upgraded experiences from WN/DL basic Y, I can pay for it out of that pool of miles/credit card reimbursement/funny money.
So why exactly would I chase AS status in 2023 for 2024 when I can basically fly a reasonable amount (~20k or so BIS domestic miles) without spending any more cash than $450 in credit card renewal fees? Yeah, I know, the RDM earn and AS sweet spots. I can literally buy AS RDM for ~2 cents a mile (and I've never had the BofA card, so there's that too).
"Best price" seems to be "it's not you, it's me, AS". I won't be actively avoiding them, just... the status hamster wheel makes less and less sense for a leisure traveler who struggles to make MVPG in a
good year, and now has credit card earning as an alternate way of getting those juicy longhaul premium trips.