Jailer

With point deflation a reality of FF life, I’ve developed a use it or lose it mentality. Besides, who wants to die with a bunch of miles, after all, how many free trips to Acapulco with the pool boy does Mrs. Jailer need after I’m gone anyway?

So, Jailer’s gone on a year long award binge. And, in my usual spirit of full disclosure of more than you want to know (plus OMNI’s closed, I’m bored), I’ve counted ‘em up:

AA: 425,000
HH: 192,000
Goldpoints: 115,000
Starwood: 180,000


And, dear Moderator, this is in Community because what was once a lifetime of miles accumulation Before FlyerTalk (B.F.T.) is now, thanks to Randy and you other FT studs, a six month cash out After FlyerTalk (A.F.T.). Is it even possible to brag with gratitude?

Randy Petersen

Ah come on Jalier, you know the fine print states: "He Who Dies With The Most Miles Wins."

Where are you at in your binge? Is the binge a calendar year? Is it "Redeem Until You Are Empty?"

I'm curious of how youspent the hotel points and GoldPoints. Surely not on magazines like Money, Smart Money or Investor's business Daily which teach you to save.... HA!

Looks like you've had one of those wonderful years to travel as you like. I'm going the other direction - I won't be happy until I have at least one million points in four hotel programs at the same time (almost there) and one million miles in four airlines at the same time (and yes, sadly, almost there).

SanDiego1K

And then comes the honeymoon. Can we plan your dream honeymoon, using all those lovely points???

geo1005

<strumming cheap guitar>

Jaaaiiiiiler Jealousy,
it'll get you every time.

Jaaaiiiiiler Jealousy,
wishing those points were mine...

Spendin' long hours,
sippin' bubbly at the front of the line...

Jaaaiiiiiler Jealousy,
it'll cost you narry a dime.

</strumming cheap guitar>

Nanook

Jailer, stop this insanity right now! What happens if you don't die and in two or three years you don't have the security of high mileage balances? Take Mrs. Jailer to Acapulco now and then start earning miles again.

auh2o

In the last 9 months I have redemmed and used...

United: 500,000
Hilton: 200,000
Hyatt: 120,000
Starwood: 38,000

Wow...I did not even realize it....

Cool topic....

Randy Petersen

SanDiego1K:
Speaking of honeymoon, there sure seems to be a bunch of pressure on me. We finally had our engagement party this last Saturday (over 150 people came by the house) and it seems that every last guest wanted to know our "date" and where we were going on our honeymoon. So, i guess i may be using those points afterall.

Actually one of the other FlyerTalkers last year used miles and points for his wedding and subsequent honeymoon and i think blew well over one million miles and points just for that event alone.

But while I can appreciate the concept of award binges - I just don't think i have the guts to cash out. Must be a character fault.

But auh2o, that's a mighty move on your miles and points. Here's an interesting question for both you and Jailer: given your award binge, what amount of time do you think the binge represents in earning? Basically, how long did it take you as a guess to earn the number of miles and points you have just burned. Probably not your lifetime earnings, but 2 years, 3 years? Just curious if that ever crossed your mind.

SanDiego1K

Between family medical problems, tickets as wedding gifts, and 2 first class international trips for my husband and me, in the past 12 months we have used:

United: 500K miles
American: 380K miles

And somewhere under 100K of Hilton points

My husband is top tier in one program and I am top tier in two programs. That means we earn a minimum of 600K airline miles per year. Thus, we have a burn rate for the past 12 months of about 1 1/2 time the earn rate.

korea71

I have 350 MyPoints. I don't believe in status.

thelostshark

Cool topic. I've been on a min-binge, having used: 110K miles on US to go from WAS to San Fran, Phoenix, and first class to Puerto Rico. Have 100k Hhonors points on the SF Hilton and a Hampton in Phoenix. Ah, but the trips are always sweeter when you're not paying ... tls

KathyWdrf

NOT counting my transfers BETWEEN programs (UA to HHonors and SPG to AA), here are my numbers for redemptions between June 1, 2002 and September 30, 2003:

UA 290,000 (1 biz class to Asia, 1 FC to Europe, and 4 econ domestic)

AA 17,500 (1 econ to Toronto; special rate for AA Citibank M/C holders)

HHonors 700,000 (6 GLON/P awards to Shanghai, London, NYC, Paris, Tokyo, Osaka)

SPG 55,000 (2 3-night cash & points in NYC, 1 5-night stay in Beijing, 1 2-night stay in Montreal)

Total 1,062,500. This is all for ONE person, over a 16-month period. Not too shabby.

I must say that UA's Great Offer reversed my burning of UA miles and made me a UA mileage earner again!


Kathy

Edited to add: In spite of this orgy of award redemptions, I still have healthy balances:

UA 105,500
AA 187,000
HH 99,600
SPG 88,000

(And more to come soon.) That's over 480,000 total, plus some other odds and ends like 11,000 Gold Points. (I know, that's only 1,375 airline miles. Which brings up the other important fact that these "currencies" do not all have the same value per point/mile. But never mind!)

Edited yet another time because I had forgotten that my GLON award in Paris was actually a GLONP!

[This message has been edited by KathyWdrf (edited 10-01-2003).]

RichardMannion

I checked through my spreadsheet of my Virgin Atlantic account, and quickly realised that I'm close to the 1m mark,. Well would have been if it hadn't have been for sheer generosity of giving family members points for gifts (flights), they've spent far more than I have. My middle sibling seems to have done well out of it:-

50k Hilton points for a hotel stay for him
125k QANTAS for Concorde/First Award on BA for Xmas Shopping
62500 Virgin miles for Weekend in Orlando
Over 150,000 Virgin miles to take family to Orlando for my 21st Birthday
A number of 2000 Virgin Miles for friends in the office to buy MilesPlusMoney tickets

My earn rate has grown exponenetially since I first started flying regularly, and FlyerTalk helps out where it can with certain offers

Oh well - as Jailer said - you can't take them with you.

Thanks,
Richard

Jailer

Well:

Randy, this binge is basically from July last year to date, so really a little over a year (I exaggerate some to make a point). Although I binge away, I’ve also been an earning ****, so each of these balances are fatter than they were 12 months ago, and there are a couple of million left for a rainy day...and for the pool boy. So, roughly, redemptions might be 75% of what I earned in each program in the same period, with the exception of Starwood, where if you count the double point’s bonus, I earned over 400,000 Starpoints.


After Goldpoints changed the 4 to 1 mileage redemption ratio to 8 to 1, I decided to use Goldies for the purpose that they were intended: hotel stays. The Goldpoints were redeemed at the Cleveland Radisson (on a FT outing and to see the Dodgers at the Jake) and at the St. Petersburg (Russia) SAS Royal. It was like the siege of Stalingrad to get the SAS to accept the certificate, but at 30,000 points per night, it was one heck of a deal. I find that Goldpoints are easier to earn, via the shopping portal, than to burn, particularly as the product redemptions seem pretty sucky.

Geo, can I get the CD?


And, Kathy, I too have transferred points/miles, but I didn’t count any of the transfers. Seems like you had quite the binge, yourself, as has Goldwater, Richard and Carole. Theshark may have his/her binge spending slightly under control for the moment, but I see a future bingeoholic.


FWIW, the only program that I belonged to B.F.T. was AlaskaAir, so I merely stand on the shoulders of giants, have hitched my little wagon to this star, and a cliché to be named later.

gleff

I've gone through about half a million miles this year so far, but it's not a concerted effort to burn -- a couple int'l F awards for family and a bunch of mileage upgrade giveaways and there ya go. Still have a 7 figure balance, but I'm nowhere near Randy.

Actually, I think there's one Flyertalker who has burned about 10 million miles over the past 4 years.

Jailer

I always forget that s*l*u*t is banned, but whore is not, so to be P.C., I'll call myself an earning whore instead of the s-word.