ehallison

We might be in a financial situation that will require bootstrap tightening for...not sure how long.

We are sitting on about 1.3 million points/miles, spread between:
Hotels: Starwood, Hilton, Marriott
Airlines: BA, AA, USAirways
other: CHASE UR, Amex MR

Most of these points were going to be redeemed for 2 international 2014 trips which now may not happen.

My immediate thoughts are:
1. Don't do anything rash like trying to cash out point balances, for say, gift cards.
2. Instead of accumulating more points, put spend on cash-back cards (2% Amex and 1.5% Visa).
3. Keep track of expiration dates so that accounts unused for travel or cc spend during this time won't expire.
4. Spend points & miles if needed, even if the redemption value isn't quite what I want (e.g., redeem an Aanytime award for a $450 ticket).
5. Do a last-ditch app-o-rama?

What else would you do? My goal is not to hoard points indefinitely, but try to preserve as much as I can during a time of financial & travel cutback, until things improve. Hopefully quickly.

lakers6902

Just use shopping portals to extend expiration dates. I don't mind sitting on points but there's always the risk of them devaluing, which seems to be more often than not

onthego15

As a retired person, my finances have been modest all along. In fact I got into this game so that I could travel for free/cheap.
Most of my spend goes to cash back cards, plus a little on hotel/airline cards every few months.
It's nice to have a stash of points and miles when you do need to travel to family events, etc.
Why do a last ditch app-o-rama if you already have more points/miles than you can use?

ehallison

Yes, I make my college student kids use shopping portals for their Apple Store purchases to keep accounts active.

I, too, am worried about devaluation.

ehallison

Yes, I'm glad I have the stash so if we need to visit family (funerals, weddings, etc) we can, for "free."

Hmm, about the app-o-rama...I guess I don't have an answer to that except that I really want a Hilton 2 night cert. I obviously don't want to get anything right now that would require a big minimum spend.

wise2u

Scale back your grand travel plans from international to domestic to conserve points and stretch them while still taking much needed vacation time. Even when times are tough you deserve to take a break, go ahead and take either one of the big trips you have planned as long as you can cover the incidentals and other costs or cut both and plan more economical trips here in the states.

If my wife were ever to lose her job it would allow her time for us to use some points on grand trips, of course our emergency fund would allow this.
If our finances took a big hit I would still use the points, but plan trips that are covered mostly by points and stretch them out, hoping things get better before they're gone. Really you have stockpiled too many points, they will all eventually devaluate, so the idea is to use them if possible.

ehallison

We do have an emergency fund and we'll weather this setback.

I've actually thought of still trying to book one of the big trips since air & hotel will be covered. Food and local transportation can be so expensive though.

TravelerMSY

Ignore it. Only take trips that are necessary for business or family emergencies. Put all of your energy into improving your career and financial situation. Put Flyertalk on hold until you're in better shape.

CMK10

Well said. Back in 2010 I was laid off and my savings were close to nil. I tried to maintain my elite status and balances and went into debt to do so. It was the wrong decision AND I was single with no kids and only myself to worry about. You have a family right now. You can earn back any miles or status you lose, just focus on what's really important and frankly, this website and the points game is second tier compared to that.

ehallison

Thank you both for the feedback. I know we need to focus on what's important; I just don't want to lose an asset that's worth so much in future travel (I value it at more than $10k). I'm already over the fact that I blew $200 on an AA Platinum Challenge which now I probably won't make.

5khours

I would hang out to the asset, and spend your time trying to make money not take trips.

rtraveler

We're saving for a house so we're putting off the annual 2.5 week trips to Asia/Europe because even though we only pay about 20% or less of the actual cost, we still end up paying around $2k-$3k out of pocket on food, shopping, museum/attraction fees, etc. As an alternative, we decided to use our points/miles on shorter trips which are closer to home and we anticipate out of pocket expenses less than $1k which I am ok with since we both are employed.

Bottom line: focus on your priorities and keep the points until you are financially stable and can use them.

Tiki

Maybe you can team up with a friend who isn't in the miles and points game but is cashed up. You buy the tickets & chain hotels, he buys the food and incidentals?

StartinSanDiego

If you are honestly strapped for cash, then unessential travel should be put on the back burner. This is a fun hobby, but like any hobby, there are both hard costs and opportunity costs. Hard costs include any and all travel and/or credit card expenses (such as fees). Opportunity costs include the use of a cash back card instead of a miles card, the distraction of chasing miles instead of earning money.

I don't know about you, but I spend HOURS every week on this, my new hobby. Chasing down points, going to Walmart, reading flyertalk... I realize that if I spent the same amount of time marketing my business or selling on ebay or other money earning activities, I could most likely buy my tickets and still come out ahead. For me, points chasing allows more affordable travel-- earning more money would most likely just cost me more in taxes, plus miss out on the fun of making the system work for me.

In your case, really, your ideas 1,2 and 3 are right on target. You might also consider selling your points ( I know that's a big no no). The international trips will have to wait. Don't worry, your points hunting skills are not going away-- there will still be opportunities for you when can spend time points chasing and traveling again.

CaptRobPhD

Er, well, with that many points/miles it doesn't seem like your travel plans should be adversely affected, depending on where you planned on going. The two biggest ticket items [airfare/hotel] should be 'free' and if you select a location where food/drink/entertainment is relatively cheap (Thailand/Central America) or at least one of those are (you 'adjust' on the other ones), seems you can still enjoy the fruits of your labor.

That being said, if travel is still desirable in your future beyond 2014 then it is important to keep everything active which is absolutely travel-related. Things like AMEX MR are great for economizing at hope since you can trade points for useful gift cards [for your use daily or others' as gifts] and wiser people will have more examples. Heck, you could trade AMEX MR points for AMEX gift cards (at a discount) and pay for the items I mentioned above that ding the travel budget above and beyond airfare/hotel (goes hand-in-hand with what you mention @ post 7). The Coupon Connection could be a valuable strategy here if travel is still desirable, especially if you're 'fat' on things like MR and 'thin' on miles or hotel points. I'm not sure how an app-o-rama would be beneficial in the short- or medium turn: you've already mentioned some concern over money so a ding to credit or inquiries is probably not desirable + you've already got plenty of points/miles you're undecided on using -- more of the same just increases your quandary. Failing travel plans, Couponing, or gift carding, donate as much as possible to charities and monetize them in terms of tax deductions [ps, I'm no accountant nor do I play one on TV].