Maybe the topic shouldn't be so harsh...clueless is such a demeaning term. I just think there are different degrees of travel savviness. Those of us that enjoy "gaming the system" are truly the most savvy. Knowing how to use BTF to beat PL and using the 5% cash back cards from Citi and Chase (my wife and I have 3 of these cards) are all examples of our savviness, but to what degree is one savvy? Copping a free stay at the Paris Hilton, been there, done that, I think is truly a feat of savviness, and those of us here at FT can appreciate it, but I was able to score another 30,000 HH points from my free Paris Hilton stay. Does that mean the rest of you are clueless?

99% of my coworkers, friends and relatives could care less about my travel exploits. To even discuss it with a non-traveler can make one sound like a pretentious snob unless we run across the individual like ourselves, who may have been searching for something like FT, so I now limit my discussions to FT forums or maybe my seatmate in flight. My wife is tired of hearing it. We all know people that don't use ff #s or hotel loyalty programs, the right credit cards or cash in for the right rewards, even among FT regulars. We should not try to educate them. If everyone were all equally knowledgeable, the loyalty programs and credit cards would cut back their benefits, because we are currently the minority and these programs exist only because other less knowledgeable folks (the ignorant masses?) out there who subsidize our ability to game the system. At the extreme end of gaming the system, one may have to think whether one's time could be put to better use (e.g. SPAM, mileage runs) or if there is an ethical issue in doing some of the things we do. I use FT to judge where I may cross the ethical line. As an example, I just used hotel points to get a new pair of Bose Quiet Comfort II headphones from the hotel points catalog. At this point you might think I'm clueless for wasting my hotel points this way. However, the points came from two hotel stays (total 7 days) with a total outlay of $240, paid by my employer. Now I've gone from clueless to savvy, but since gaming the system this way most FT'rs probably are not aware of, or even if aware, would not attempt, did I just go from clueless to savvy to unethical?