Best way to get Honors points OUT
Mar 26, 2002, 2:37 am
#16
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Encinitas, CA USA
Programs: Ex-Continental Platinum Elite, HHonors Diamond Preferential VIP, Former Continental Platinum Elite
Posts: 391
If you have 125k points and hold VIP status I would encourage you to book a stay at either the Honolulu property or at a property somewhere else (Europe?). Either one of those stays could be worth well in excess of $400 per night.
6 nights x $400 per night = $2400.
If you are going to redeem those points for airline tickets - you are really blowing it.
Further - using points at a Hampton Inn is a disgrace to the American tradition of getting something for nothing. Why would you even dream of redeeming 20,000 points for a stay worth no more than $89 when you could save those points and enjoy them with your family in Europe or Hawaii? That just doesn't make any sense to me at all.
What about booking a 6 night stay for a friend or a family member? Wouldn't it be better to GIVE AWAY the award (and help them enjoy it at its full value of about 400 dollars per night) to someone who is really important in your life than to SQUANDER it by redeeming it for airline tickets? It would be a trip that they would never forget. You might even consider giving the trip away to a charity (a charitable silent auction wouldn't violate the HHonors rules) and would be tax deductible.
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"When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been,and there you will forever long to return." Leonardo da Vinci
[This message has been edited by hotlancer (edited 03-26-2002).]
[This message has been edited by hotlancer (edited 03-26-2002).]
[This message has been edited by hotlancer (edited 03-26-2002).]
6 nights x $400 per night = $2400.
If you are going to redeem those points for airline tickets - you are really blowing it.
Further - using points at a Hampton Inn is a disgrace to the American tradition of getting something for nothing. Why would you even dream of redeeming 20,000 points for a stay worth no more than $89 when you could save those points and enjoy them with your family in Europe or Hawaii? That just doesn't make any sense to me at all.
What about booking a 6 night stay for a friend or a family member? Wouldn't it be better to GIVE AWAY the award (and help them enjoy it at its full value of about 400 dollars per night) to someone who is really important in your life than to SQUANDER it by redeeming it for airline tickets? It would be a trip that they would never forget. You might even consider giving the trip away to a charity (a charitable silent auction wouldn't violate the HHonors rules) and would be tax deductible.
------------------
"When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been,and there you will forever long to return." Leonardo da Vinci
[This message has been edited by hotlancer (edited 03-26-2002).]
[This message has been edited by hotlancer (edited 03-26-2002).]
[This message has been edited by hotlancer (edited 03-26-2002).]
Mar 26, 2002, 6:46 am
#17
Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: BOS, SEA
Programs: AA Lifetime Gold, DL Gold, LP ex-Millionaire!
Posts: 565
hotlancer,
Thanks for sharing your views on the subject. But let me share my situation and maybe you will see what I'm about.
I did the Million Mile Latin Pass challenge a couple of years ago so have a million miles in that program. These points are notoriously difficult to use so I have slowly been transferring them to the HHonors program at a rate of 1 LP mile to 2 HHonors points. So I'm gaining quite a balance in my HHonors account.
In the past I have done a fair amount of business travel, staying in some of the nicest hotels wherever I go. While I appreciated the services offered by first class hotels when travelling on business, when I travel for my own pleasure I personally find the same services somewhat oppressive and isolating. This is because I travel mostly to developing countries and am more interested in the cultural experience than in a traditional vacation, being pampered at a resort in Hawaii, for example. And I can always find comfortable hotels at a very reasonable price. In places where this is not possible (such as Japan) I'm more than happy to use an HHonors award.
So I do appreciate what you are saying about the relative value of the hotel vs. airline awards. And I do plan to give members of my family, who are less adventurous travellers than I am, the treat of staying in one of Hilton's nicest hotels. But for my own purposes, I plan to use some of the points to travel long distances (such as to South Africa or Asia) and to gain as many miles as possible in either my AAdvantage or Skymiles accounts (and on the flipside, not deplete these accounts for these expensive awards).
I realize I could just transfer HHonors points into my airline programs with similar results--but when you factor in the ability to earn status (and bonus) miles on the HHonors award tickets--I think it suits my purposes more to use an award. Plus it just kills me to see the dramatic loss of points when transferring between HHonors and airline programs!
Thoughts anyone?
Thanks for sharing your views on the subject. But let me share my situation and maybe you will see what I'm about.
I did the Million Mile Latin Pass challenge a couple of years ago so have a million miles in that program. These points are notoriously difficult to use so I have slowly been transferring them to the HHonors program at a rate of 1 LP mile to 2 HHonors points. So I'm gaining quite a balance in my HHonors account.
In the past I have done a fair amount of business travel, staying in some of the nicest hotels wherever I go. While I appreciated the services offered by first class hotels when travelling on business, when I travel for my own pleasure I personally find the same services somewhat oppressive and isolating. This is because I travel mostly to developing countries and am more interested in the cultural experience than in a traditional vacation, being pampered at a resort in Hawaii, for example. And I can always find comfortable hotels at a very reasonable price. In places where this is not possible (such as Japan) I'm more than happy to use an HHonors award.
So I do appreciate what you are saying about the relative value of the hotel vs. airline awards. And I do plan to give members of my family, who are less adventurous travellers than I am, the treat of staying in one of Hilton's nicest hotels. But for my own purposes, I plan to use some of the points to travel long distances (such as to South Africa or Asia) and to gain as many miles as possible in either my AAdvantage or Skymiles accounts (and on the flipside, not deplete these accounts for these expensive awards).
I realize I could just transfer HHonors points into my airline programs with similar results--but when you factor in the ability to earn status (and bonus) miles on the HHonors award tickets--I think it suits my purposes more to use an award. Plus it just kills me to see the dramatic loss of points when transferring between HHonors and airline programs!
Thoughts anyone?