Becoming less of a hoarder
 

I was strictly a hoarder of miles until about eight months ago when I began treating myself to air travel I could never afford to purchase with real money.

User here. Love that DL/Af codeshare. Have had lots of 100k Skyteam awards FC flts on AF. Great use of miles.

User *cough* *cough* any of you hoarders turned givers that wish to donate feel free to PM ;)

Definitely a user. About 1.6 million miles earned lifetime, and about 140K miles total still in all the accounts.

Every single mile was spent on free travel in coach, and some were used in memorable mileage sales (40K to BKK on DL, 25K to HKG on CO, 20K to DUS on CO, etc.).

Both! I take all the trips I can using miles/points. However I do not spend 50,000 on a $250 ticket. I always want to have more miles in my accounts knowing that they will be worth less soon.

I was a hoarder until I lost 450K in the ansett collapse(had actually orderered flights but they had not sent the tickets as they usualy sent them a month before travel! :(

Now I usually dump miles once a year for whoever needs it.
or use for urgent expensive flights

or when Crappy Qantas change their programmes :mad:

Burner all the way.

My family accounts have probably redeemed upwards of 500K on UA (currently have ~100K in our accounts) and 375K on AA (current balance ~325K).

I wouldn't say that I was a hoarder, but more of a saver for a rainy day. Well, now I don't fly as much for work, so I am slightly using more FF miles/hotel points than I earn. I'd say I've been burning about 300k miles/points per year.

Burning
 

Burning as many as possible these days. Went FC to Florida a few months ago (2 of us), going FC to Alaska in July (4 of us). Sent daughter to Calif., Had a lot of miles just getting devalued. That coincided with a new austerity enforced by the Princeton tuition office, and concern about the long-term viability of some of the airlines. So, time to burn.

Have burned most of the US, still have lots of Delta and AA, as well as about 200,000 GlobalPass miles from the Run.

Larger amounts in the bank with the hotel programs, in SPG, Hilton and Marriott.

using them
 

I went from a hoarder to a user.

As many have said, the value of my air miles hasn't been increasing but I have done well increasing my allotment here at FT.

I keep a bundle for emergencies as 35,000 miles is better than $ 1700 for a ER ticket which unfortunately I have used my share of and in reality will use a few more times in the near future (I have a terminal parent). Then the miles are priceless when I can get that last minute ticket for free or $75.

I am hoarding hotel miles still they seem to being holding more value for me. I ordered a GLON with the old HH criteria use before the rise to 175 K.

Burner
 

When Qantas slaughtered their program I booked MEL-DPS x 2 and MEL-SIN-LHR-CDG using 320,000 points. Also booked 2 Hilton GLONP2 using 300,000 points for those trips, all in two weeks.

Hoarder- then Blow it all!
 

I'm a hoarder, and a selfish one at that. I'd rather buy friends and family a ticket (and do often, for certain work-challenged family members) than use my miles. I save them up until I have enough for 3 F tickets to some international longhaul destination, and then blow them all on a fabulous F experience with the wife & kid. Have done it for LAX-LIS, CLT-BKK and more. Next year: ZRH-JNB.

A user here. Never had more than 100k banked in any account. Always interesting to see the graphs on MileTracker.

I'm generally a hoarder but I'm trying to wean myself of the habit.

Randy just added a "real" poll feature, so now y'all call really vote.

I've hoarded 500k in AA, 325k in UA, and 440k in Delta for future family of 5 trips. Over past five years I've used 260k in DL, 125k AA, and 120 CO for tickets.

I have always been a "horder", but all this talk about Northwest's future and other airlines makes me think about changing that.

Could things really be that bad?

Hoarding. and when that's done, maybe some more hoard to go.

I'm sort of the same mindset although I haven't been as fortunate getting saver awards on UA for 35k. I get it about 75% of the time and then I have to use the standard awards since there are no saver awards available. I've burned around a million or so but still have almost a million left. And I never use them for upgrades especially since UA now has E+ seating, it ain't so bad sitting in the back of the bus. :)

By this standard, I am a hoarder. I managed to get a huge pile of miles in 2001 when Continental was allowing multiple promotions to be stacked (I was routinely getting 80K miles for $400 trips to Europe). By a "point flow" standard, I am a user since I have used more miles than I have earned each of the last 2 years.

There's no button for both.

I earn and burn roughly in balance over a period of a few years, as miles and points continually get devalued dont see the point in saving forever. But in shorter time frames I may be building or burning balances depending on circumstances.

Both a user and a hoarder. But, more of a hoarder lately with trying to keep my elite levels on AA and Marriott. It's a Catch 22!

A Hoarder.

It has taken me four years of mainly business travel (and not much of it) and Fly Free Fasters and other sundry promos to get 130k miles on NW. Although now that I am travelling more on business, I might be more likely to become a User if I know that my supply will fill up a bit quicker then in the past.

Being only a leisure traveler, with miles harder to come by, I was always a hoarder. Cashed in miles only for a few round trips to Hawaii in first with my honey. Howver in the last few weeks I gave my daughter's family four free trips, my son and daughter-in-law three free trips and I used one for myself. I still have plenty of miles on Delta and AA, but figured people should enjoy them before they all go bust. Now I will probably continue hoarding again. I haven't decided what my fantasy trip would be, but want to make sure I have the miles when I finally make up my mind.

I spend the miles almost as fast as I earn them. I would rather have a cash discount in lieu of these miles. The travel vendors are not getting super loyal customers either. The typical "Gold" membership does not mean a whole lot. Let us face it, even the travel vendors cannot get off the mileage treadmill, so they keep on diluting the value of the miles/points.

Thanks to this board, I have been able to maximize my mileage earning/spending capability.

I'm a hoarder then user.

I accumulate then burn on premium space to Australia/South Africa/New Zealand/Europe. Very rarely use miles for domestic coach awards. Do use miles for Mrs Flyer Jon's upgrades -- after all, she earned a ton via Starwood Amex.

A hoarder, but not by choice. Some day, when my travel schedule slows down, I'll burn 'em.

Burner. They don't earn interest...and the rewards certainly aren't getting cheaper. I get nervous whenever I have more than 500k in one account. Time to burn!

User; as much as possible.

User....Everytime I hit 90,000 C class to Asia on UA...

I managed to get out of the 100,000+ BIS miles type of a job last year, moved to Europe. Now burning through the accumulated 1 million miles at a rapid pace. Feels great.

Mostly a hoarder - cumulatively, in all programs - in the few years that I've been doing this, I've gotten about ~800K airmiles (NW/UA/US/DL/BA/AA - the goal was 1 million cumulatively by 30, so I've got 4 years to get 200K - shouldn't be a problem at this rate!) & the airline equivalency of about 60K in hotel points - I've burned 170K on my mom & sister, 50K as a wedding gift to some friends, and 61K on myself (30K for an upgrade on US & 31K for an Y/F award ticket on NW).

I'd like to start using them more often, but the way I see it, I'll use the miles for upgrades on int'l flights & only on domestic flights I can't financially afford but need to take. Currently, my friends can mostly afford to come on the paid trips that we do - so I don't need to give them tickets & if I had a S.O., I'd probably do some pretty sweet Biz or F trips internationally, but I'm single, so I don't really have anyone to spend them on other than family. And they've got their own little collections of mileage too...

Thought I was a hoarder until I realized I had burned through 1,000,000 AA miles in about 4 years on upgrades to biz.

Yikes, 1,000,000 miles for mediocre food and a moderately comfortable seat.

I'm sort of hoarding again, but not flying as much. :(

lala

A little of both
 

I am using up my UA miles as fast as possible, before they go belly-up. I hold miles on NW and Delta, but I am not using them up anytime soon. Most of my balance is in AA - the account stays steady with 4 tix to Caribbean every year.

user
 

When I have enough for a trip, I use them. I may save enough for a specific award, but I use it when I need to use it. No reason to hoard the miles, they are not earning me any interest.

Mostly a user
 

International upgrades seem like the best deal to me...

Besides, who knows if I'll have to switch airlines or stop flying as much one day...

I usually burn as fast as I can. This year I've been saving up for a RTW award. I should have the miles in a couple of months and then I'll be back down to 0 again.

I save some ~50k miles for emergency or unplanned vacation, and use up the rest. :)

I am both
 

When the company pays for the ticket, I use miles to upgrade.

I'm hoarding until I collect enough for 2 FC RT to Europe. Almost there! :p