How have miles/points and FT changed YOUR life?
 

I have always loved to travel and have done my fair share prior to having kids. Since then, we have found it to be too expensive to take family vacations on a regular basis. We did a family trip to Aruba, one to Disney World and a couple trips to Florida for beach vacations with the kids, but they were definitely moderately priced and we had some financial help from my parents and in-laws to help take the $$$ sting out of my wallet.

Then....I found FT

FT has truly changed my life for the better since joining the forum about a year and a half ago. Since then here is what I have done with the miles/points which I have accrued:


1. May 2011 - Coach R/T Ticket BOS-AMS = 60K Delta Skymiles + $65 in taxes/fees (Traveled with a friend who had 60K Delta miles of his own so we traveled in coach together.)

2. October 2011 - 8-day all-inclusive vacation to Playa Del Carmen, Mexico for my family of 4, including RT direct flights on JetBlue = All paid for with my 385,000 Capital One Venture Points. All food, drinks for the week included in the AI package. We did spend $550 for an amazing all-day private land/sea tour of Palaya Del Carmen, Tulum, Akumal.

3. April 2012 - 9-day trip to Anna Maria Island, FL for my family of 4 (This place is sooo beautiful). Been thrice before. This trip includes
- 9-Day standard-size SUV rental = 54K Delta Skymiles
- 2 nights at the Hyatt Regency in Sarasota = 24K Hyatt Points
- 6 nights at a house that is 50 yards from an amazing beach and nice pool on Anna Maria Island = My in-laws are paying for our house rental
- 4 R/T tickets on JetBlue direct BOS-TPA = 110K JetBlue points + $90 in taxes/fees

4. December 2012 - 10-day trip to St. Lucia with my wife to celebrate our first 15 years of marriage.
- 2 R/T coach tickets BOS-JFK-UVF on AA metal using British Airways/Avios points = 80K BA/Avios points. I may decide to do a couple of the legs in Business Class, but may not since BA/Avios require FC award points for any 2-class aircraft on AA metal, even if the front of the plane Business and has no FC. Ugh... So, anywhere from 80K-160K BA/Avios points
- 4 nights all-inclusive at Calabash Cove Resort in Gros Islet = 175K AA miles + approx $600 cash
- 5 nights all-inclusive at Jalousie Plantation in Soufriere= 240K AA miles + approx $1000 cash

After all of this my wife and I combined still have over 1 million points/miles in various hotel/airline/credit card programs. I look forward to some future FC travel with my wife and some posh accommodations such as the Hyatt Paris Vendome (Thanks Chase and Hyatt!)

All I can say is...thank you FT!!!!!


How has FT changed YOUR life?

I have a lot less free time and my family doesn't talk to me for fear of a quick sell on FFM :)

Wow, that's amazing! Congrats to you! I just signed up at this site today and I better start thoroughly researching the info here. I'm trying to get to Europe next Summer for less than $1400 which is proving to be challenging.

Dunno how M&P & FT changed anything at all. I wuz always entitled to fly free while playing checkers on a globe!

It is really tough deciding whether to visit my swimming pool today (Bahamas), go out for Italian food (Italy)!:D

I was already beginning to see Europe when I discovered FT, but since then my world traveling has accelerated and broadened and it is nothing strange for me to casually decide to travel to the other side of the world on a whim, if I have the points and the time. No place on Earth is safe from me.

GF and I are going to Chile for 80k BA points + $160, staying 6 nights at the W for 24k SPG points + $360, and camping two other nights. There is no chance in hell I'd be able to afford something remotely close to this without those two credit cards. Looking forward to spending the 160k A*A miles I accumulated from those deals too!

zutmin,

43.75K + $150 per nt - calabash
48.00k + $200 per nt - jalousie

necker via >
VS CC - 95.2k + $0 per nt
SPG - 114k + $0 per nt
AX MR CC - 143k + $0 per nt

I wrote an extensive report on this on TOBB:

http://milepoint.com/forums/threads/...-and-lan.2414/

I was in the miles/points game long before FT. FT has added a community component to it.

Just spent 2 weeks in South America... Argentina, Chile, Peru. All Business Class on LAN... all top end hotels....

Next year doing a 3 country Asia trip, flying F and again top end hotels.

Chances of me affording that without FT? 0%.

I hadnt been outside of US/Mexico/Canada in like 5 years (and that was cause my parents took me!).

^^

Its been incredible. have trully lost track.

This.

I believe you will be able to pull that off without too much trouble. Do some research then post some questions on the FT forums. Europe for less than $1400 can be had easily... first class and staying at some really nice properties. You're going to have to put in your time in research and hopefully you have a credit score that can tolerate some fluctuations. Keep us posted :)

I don't quite understand your post. Are you showing me how a trip to Necker Island would be a better value for my points? If so, you are probably correct. However, I do not have any MR points, SPG points or VS points right now. All of my MR points were transferred and my SPG points went to AAdvantage.

Or am I way off on my interpretation of your post? Color me confused :confused:

Damn...nice work! Travelin' in style

Gonna read that as soon as I get home. Took a peek at it...BRB with beer in hand.

This!!! :D
I have a new, time-consuming hobby, and I've become THAT guy to my friends who either come to me for help/advice or avoid me for fear that I'll convince them of the error of their ways!

Same is true for me! On the one side, I spend (waste) hours reading about various things on FT. On the other side, my family gets to travel various places for free!:p

On that note can you and your family adopt me then? lol

BTW great reading the first post in here congrats.

Like others, I had dabbled with miles before discovering FT. Since then, I have become incredibly more efficient in earning free or cheap travel. The result: 5 trips to Europe with the family, Kauai, Canadian Rockies, and other US flights, and free hotels all over. Without FT, such travel would have been rare.

Thanks to everyone who has contributed!

JFK-HKG-BKK this January in CX F using miles from the citi/aadvantage credit card bonuses.

Staying at the IC Hong Kong on a F&F rate on the way back.

Before FlyerTalk, I was an amateur travel hacker - mainly dealing with Aadvantage and Disney Rewards - and a cash back fiend. With FlyerTalk, I have realized just how amateur I was and save cash back, if less than 5%, only for when I am not meeting a minimum spend requirement. My wife and I have racked up 204k combined BA miles, 77k additional AAdvantage miles, 224k Capital One Venture miles, 120k HHonors points (on our way to 280-300k shortly), 45k SPG Points (on our way to 80k shortly), 80k US Airways Dividend Miles, and 30k Continental OnePass miles (before July 19th - We are holding out for bigger United bonuses....). Thank You, FT colleagues.

As far as trips go, we spent around 90k Venture miles for a cabin at a family reunion in a resort in August 2011. We are going to Disneyland in February 2012 and staying in the Grand Californian with family members who are DVC owners. (We paid for their flights using BA Executive Club miles on American as well as the shared cabin at the family reunion using Venture miles.) We went to Walt Disney World using Venture miles on Allegiant and staying in a partner hotel in October 2011. I also used Venture miles for the car rental. We will return to Disneyland in June 2012 and stay at a nearby Hilton or Starwood property. We already used BA Avios for the flights.

and
 

and now I never use cash, have to think about which card to use, have to tell spouse which card to use, my ups man hates me for all the coins I got.
Certain banks know me as the "coin guy"....all in all well worth it.

Sounds a lot like my life for the past year or so :cool:

I had never experience first class before FT. Now I think, "I need more miles" in everything I do. I never thought we could travel and now I am thinking that we can. FT is helping me make memories that will last a lifetime.

Well said...I share your sentiment.

How has FT changed my life?

People think I'm crazy. But they are envious.

When I must fly there, the back of the plane is much worse than I remember from my pre-FT days.

I get annoyed when I get the hotel room I payed for, and not an upgrade.

The wife rolls her eyes when I explain the latest bonus offer, but she now expects to fly in the pointy end.

I go crazy if I cannot access an airport lounge.

I have come to love showering at the airport, in fact I am looking for ways to upgrade my home bathroom using some of the better ideas from various lounges.

I could go on.....

I can't talk about FT per se, but I can talk about points...

I worked for United Express when I got out of college. It was fun, and I got to fly for free, although I never once flew internationally on my benefits. Something about the plane tix might be free, but you can't afford to do much else on $10/hour.

I did get to fly UA's 3-class product domestically more times than I can count, including once when my mom and dad were sleeping on the floor at LAX because they missed their flight to ORD. Me? I was in SFO going back to IAD, and got the F suite.

But all of the those NRSA benefits that people moan about are a gamble. I've got just as much of a chance at getting left at the gate as I do at getting F. You never truly know where you're going to go until you get on the plane. Just getting a middle in seat in back row of economy that doesn't recline, and is next to the lav is a relief. It's a relief, 'cause you get to go home and not chance getting fired for missing work. Calling in sick because you missed your flight is a huge taboo in the industry.

Points gets me a confirmed seat at the front of the plane, with lounge access. I actually get to plan a trip months in advance (if not close to a year) and look forward to actually going.

My wife and I took a six-week trip across SE Asia last year, and we did almost the whole thing on points. Heck, I got SPG C&P every where, which was a bit of a miracle. I didn't have the points for J seats, but AS was running a sale, and we bought enough points to to fly CX J. We paid $2300/pp for those tickets, and it was well worth it.

Had I known that this would have been a huge boon in the miles department, we might have postponed our trip. We picked up almost 1 million miles this year, enough to do a repeat trip next year, albeit in F this time :). We've got our travel more or less planned through 2014 with what we have today, and who knows what comes after that.

I'm doing the same thing, just starting in June. Without FT, I'd still be on my couch... Wishing....

This is very true. Just thought about it and realized since Sept. we've been to Vegas twice, Fort Myers, Maui in early Nov. and HNL this month already.

I love threads like these! I have to agree with all the comments about spending all my time researching, BOA thinks my job must pay me in dollar coins, my friends think I'm crazy/are envious/ask for help (which I love to give!)

I've only been at this for about 2 years and I only discovered FT a little more than a year ago, since then I've spent A LOT of time researching! Some of my redemptions (I need to get better at the hotel redemptions!):


2 RT tickets to London/Paris for myself and my mom - VDB vouchers (pre-FT)
2 RT tickets to JNB - VDB vouchers
Several tickets to MEM on VDB vouchers
3 RT tickets in Z on VA to MEL - 450,000 Delta miles
6 nights Sheraton Port Douglas 4,000 SPG +$40 / night
2 RT tickets to LAX - 2 SW award seats (pre-RR 2.0)
2 RT tickets to LIM-SCL-IPC 80,000 BA miles

Nothing can compare to the memories I have from these trips! So many thanks to the posts and threads and folks that have helped me! My trip to OZ on VA is 12/20 and I can't wait! Couldn't have done that one without the help of FT!

I'm on FT for almost a decade now. Before FT, I was a miles hoarder. After FT, I'm a hoader and a spender.
And FT humbles me. No matter how often I redeem CX F or SQ F, there will always be people here with crazier / better redemption than me.

How has FT changed my life?

That's simple. My wife is now uber-spoiled. She won't even consider the idea of sitting in coach on an international flight.

We take one grand international trip each year. Here are a few places we've been with our miles in the past few years, all in the front of the plane:

- South America: USA to Santiago, Chile, Return from Buenos Aires to USA
- the Middle East: USA to Amman, Jordan. Return to USA from Tel Aviv, Israel
- Europe: USA to Paris. Return to USA from Prague
- upcoming in 2012: USA to Madrid. Return to USA from Malaga, Spain.

I agree with the GetawayRus,

This summer, we took CX J to TPE and it was her first extended >6hrs on a plane. Now that she tasted internation J, there is no going back to Y.....
Stayed in W-Taipei suite with the Status Match to SPG PLAT using C&P

Feb 2012, AF J to FCO through CDG and return BCN though CDG.
W Barcelona, Hotel Eden, and Westin Regina all on Points and expected upgrade with the SPG PLAT.

She wants to go to China in June and is already asking me how to get from Y to J.... I am running out of miles to spent.

A few years ago, hubby and I were laid off (from different companies) one day apart. I'd already booked us an award weekend at the Embassy Suites near Monterey, so we got to leave earlier than we'd planned.

It wasn't a big deal points-wise as I was saving points for Hawaii, but it was sure a very needed morale booster when we'd taken a double whammy. (We're now both making more money at other companies and were only unemployed for about 3 months each, so it's all good.)

I signed up 10 years ago when I just made NW Silver Elite with a trip to Europe, and to Japan when I was in my 2nd year of university.

I have since flown over 600,000 miles for fun (not a single work related mile), visited over 100 countries, and 30% of my flights during that time are up front without having paid for any of those (apart from the famous CNZ mistake)

Without Flyertalk, and/or points, very little of that would have been possible. :)

I am still pretty new to the miles and points game...all your stories make me very excited for my possibilities going forward!

Here's my success story.

Not only did we redeem AA miles for a week long Disney trip for my daughter's birthday via the 75K AA miles cards, but I also signed up for the PRG Am Ex. I did the bump my bonus code, met the spending quickly, and called to have my points expedited. Well, they expedited my 75K points. So a couple weeks later, I got 25K more MR points, bringing my total to 100K! I transferred to DL for the 25K MQM's and 50% bonus, netting me Platinum status, and 150K DL miles.

So now I've booked 2 tickets in the low level from BNA-CDG-FCO-BNA with a 5 day stopover in Paris and 5 days in Rome! Grand total was only 120K DL miles, plus $200 in taxes. I will use my SPG points (I received 60K and the Mrs. received 60K from both personal and business cards) to pay for our hotels in Paris (4 award nights plus 1 free) and in Rome (4 award nights plus 1 free). So grand total, I will spend 96K SPG points for 10 nights. Because of my PM status, I also get Economy Comfort for free, so I'll have plenty of legroom (and drinks). So we will have a 10 day trip to Paris and Rome for only 120K DL miles and 96K SPG points all from credit card sign up bonuses since August! Thanks to all those in FT that helped along the way!

As someone who doesn't travel anymore for business, having retired for the second time 5 years ago, I remember being extremely upset when I stumbled onto FT a few years ago - realizing how much opportunity I had lost!

Although I got in at the end of the churning process I still managed to take Mrs bj2757 on 6 trips with FF miles the last few years, with enough points for 3 more backed up, AND we're taking our first ever round trip flight (Austin - Honolulu) in first class next fall!

Being retired I have the time to browse FT and other sites - and while I don't long for the years of being a road warrior - the points and miles ring up in my head after each new post :-)

I may be running out of options fairly quickly - and the thought of actually paying for a ticket/room is hard to accept! :-)