How Many Miles Is Too Much Risk?
 

Having flown extensively for years I have amassed over 1 million miles with 700,000 on one airline CO. The balance is United, where I will lose Prem Exec and AA where I am just starting but have 100K and Platinum. I have a ton more with Amex.

I keep earning the miles faster than I can use them with Elite bonuses, class of service bonuses and my credit cards.

I like flying CO & AA but if I use free tix I won't qualify for Platinum. Is 700K at CO too much exposure?

Why dont you consider opening a NW Worldperks account and having all your CO flights post to Worldperks instead???

Which risk are you worried about?

Program cancellation

Point devaluation

Using points at a time when you have no stauts with that line

Change in tax code making their use taxable

Continued charges added to tickets, even ff tickets

Lost opportunity to do some really good deeds

Protecting value in case of death

Protecting ownership in case of divorse

Future fear of flying

Future travel making flying obsolete

Your employer confiscating them

World war making use too dangerous or unavailable

Computer fraud resulting in there theft

Poor health make use questionable

Something else not mentioned here???????????

Point use now are points enjoyed and not subject to loss. Utilized while you have status and health.
Programs exist to protect miles from some threats.
Points gifted to a charity are NEVER a loss in value.
Points can often be exchanged for other than flights

Finally, points use for first class tickets to Australia are a blessing you will remember forever and will use up all your point quickly. See the "tolerance museum" in Kings Cross, Sydney...the War Memorial in Canberra...the Great Barrier Reef in Cairns...the Great Ocean Road in Western Australia, the zoo in Adelaide as well as some fine wineries, dine first class in Melbourne, enjoy the nothingness of Alice Springs and the holy rock at Uluru. Visit Tazmania for the "holocaust" site of Australia, and let me know what you saw in Brisbane (have not been there yet)

fyi
I worked at a travel agency for 3 years and we had a client in a similar "bind." We actually spoke with our Continental rep who reaffirmed that there are no exp dates or problems with accumulating 100k´s.
One thing to remember (although you probably already know) is that your CO miles can be used on KLM, Emirates, AAEagle (for all those caribbean destinations) and even A3 (although I am a bit hesitant to mention a train award on FT).
Any student FTer like myself would be in heaven with that kind of accumulation.
Happy redemptions. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

You can also transfer them into a Hilton HHonors account and utilize them for purchases, cruises, etc. I stay at Hilton properties most of the time, and with the bonus programs that they have, from time to time, I have been able to accumulate a high number of points in their program, which then translates to quite a bit of stuff that I would have had to buy, or do without, otherwise. While the calculated dollar value might be greater when you use them for CO award tickets, you state that you accumulate them faster than you can use them. I have a similar "problem", using USAir, almost exclusively. As I am from PGH, there are not a lot of other choices for times/connections that I need to travel. With the new UA alliance, it looks like I will be able to have my flights on USAir posted to my UA account, and also be able to transfer them, as opposed to just watching them build up.