earn 'em and burn 'em baby!

At work I am known as a mile-whore. I get asked almost everyday about maximizing miles. I do have over 500,000 HHonors points and over 150,000 Continental miles but do have trips planned. I do burn my honors points at a local hampton inn in hopes to reach Diamond by the end of the year.
Oh ya, I am 23 and have only been doing this for about a year now.

It would seem that I am a bit of one. I am currently sitting on the appx equiv:

2,600,000 on DL
2,600,000 on KL/AF
800,000 on BA
600,000 on LH
200,000 on BD
250,000 scatter in smaller airlines
1,300,000 points on Hhonors
400,000 hotel scatter

My wife and son, under my tutelage probably have close to 750k on various airlines.

When I started doing this a long time ago I was single, then I was married and then I had a kid. Therefore while the numbers grew and grew for years, I would say that my absolute numbers have not grown much over the last 5 years and have in effect been treading water, I am able to do this because despite burning anywhere between 350-600k a year I still fly paid BIS miles of appx 300-350 a year which in essence means that my balance(s) remain stable overall (i.e. my BA balance is way down from what it used to be because I don't like what they have done to their programe and have reduced flying with them, but my LH balance and KL balances have grown).

The retirement idea is a nice one, however if the hoarde can last me and my family into the foreseeable future for our rare "big" holidays and the occasional emergency I will be happy.

In some ways I would be considered a "hoarder" but I wait for the awards I want. I accumulate quite a few miles through my credit card. I am in the process of booking two business class tickets to China for the olympics next August and will most likely need to use double the miles as normal to do it. But I have the miles, it is my niece's first trip overseas at 18 and it will be next to impossible to get "saver" award seats.

I book quite a few trips to Alaska using miles but usually at the lower award level and maximizing use of stopovers with AA or DL, and often in F.

So I would say I accumulate, not hoard.

You are my new personal hero.

Well, I am not in the same league as hfly, but yes I am a hoarder. Always saving the miles and points for a vacation with the family that I never quite seem to find the time to take. We've talked about grand plans for years, but the last time I took a whole week off was 2002!

I've redeemed less than 10% of my miles from any program with the major exception of Alaska where I continually use the miles to bring my wife and daughter with me on business trips. I've never used hotel points in HH or MR. I hate to use the miles for myself since that means I am not earning EQM or nights/stays for elite status. A sickness I know, but at least I am a sicko with status!

Sitting on:

UA 770,000+
AS 148,000+
AA 88,000+
HH 260,000+
MR 220,000+
Many other programs 0-30K

Glenn

Glad to see other hoarders here. I don't fear "devaluation" and glad to say that if i lost my house tomorrow, i've got enough for almost two years of free hotels nights saved up....

I just don't want to travel when I'm not working since I'm always traveling while working. So we just don't use many miles or points right now.

DL 965,000
NW 835,000
HH 420,000
PC 320,000

What's that I read between the lines, squinting on just the right angle? 1 night free accommodation for attendees at FT's 10th birthday do? Very kind of you.


jk Now where did I put my glasses?

Someone taking a snapshot of my Frequent Flyer account totals might think I'm a hoarder -- over 1 million each in United and Flying Blue, over 600K in AA, 400K in Lufthansa, plus ~100K each in quasi-orphan Delta and BA accounts -- but I don't consider myself to be a hoarder.

The "Silas Marner" type hoarder is very reluctant to spend. I'm not. I do redeem regularly for myself and for my SO, and for friends and relatives, and not in a miserly fashion either -- toward the pointy end of the plane. Within the last year I've treated myself to a First Class Europe - Japan RT, V. and I will fly WBC to Cape Town this fall, and I've redeemed 3 US-Europe and one US-Pacific RTs for friends and relatives, some in business and some not. On top of that, I've burned quite a few United miles upgrading myself on Trans-Atlantic flights.

The thing is that I do fly a lot on business, and I earn lots of miles in a year (although this year I'll probably have a net decrease in my total holdings, which is all right because last year I had a net increase). Also, it's a problem sometimes finding award travel when we're free (CPT was actually our third choice, after BKK/KUL and EZE, for instance; finding two First or Business seats on the same flights over a complete itinerary is not always that easy).

Yes, I do maximize my mileage earnings, but I don't churn credit cards or pay (much) extra to do so. And yes, I'm frugal in redeeming (seldom pay double miles for an award), but I don't insist on the cheapest award flights just to save miles.

Like some, I do see the balances as a sort of "retirement travel account," and I even cringe with each "enhancement" that devalues the miles I have. But I live with it.

I sure do wish, though, that there was some way to earn "interest" on my mileage balances . . .

Just thought that I would point out that all of my miles are related to flughts and flight related activity, I do not have a miles earning card, nor do I really need one.

I'm something of a hoader in that I won't spend miles for less than ~3cents/mile and hotel points for less than ~half a cent per point (both net).

I generally earn ~500k miles per year; and spend at a similar long-term rate, though with ups and downs. I like to keep enough of a buffer to be able to do an unplanned transpac or TATL in C/J on any airline.

I take the family (5 of us) to EU on vacation every 2-3 years in C/J/F, and still have plenty left over; I even spend miles on business trips if the company won't pay for C/J and there is no confirmed MFU avilable (buys good will for the next time I ask...)

On the hotel side, I use points on MRs and for family vacations. I'm hoarding my PC points for the next EU vacation with plans for staying mostly in ICs. SPG points (mainly from SPG Amex) I treat as miles, and hoard to transfer as required - mainly for MFU on airlines I don't use much.

Current totals:

Airlines
AA~300k
CO ~400k
AS ~100k
Amex ~200k
BA ~100k
plus ~100k spread across other programs

I wouldn't say that someone who spends roughly at the same rate as they earn is a hoarder.

I have been "stockpiling" my AA points for the future. Which future, I don't know. Either for retirement so wife and I can get away and enjoy some travels, or for some major vacation with wife, me, and 3 kids (when they are teens). I currently have 790k AA miles and add an average of 70k per year. Provided the program is still around in 15 years, I should have enough miles to do some mighty nice traveling, perhaps an around-the-world trip, might even take the wife .

For immediate or domestic travel to family, I have 310k DL points. Wife has 130k in CO. I have 44k UA and will get that to 50k for two 25k domestic tickets. Wife has 50k AA for same purpose. She gets AA Platinum and CO Silver every year for biz travels so those accumulated miles are used for the family trips. We've burned thru 475k in UA, DL, & NWA points over the past year for family trips.

I'm a bit of a hoarder and collecting miles / points is my hobby.

I have:

AS 98k
AA 736k
CO 90k
DL 50k
NW 50k
UA 52k
US 150k
... total airline miles 1,148,943

HH 404k
Hyatt 2k
PC 437k
MR 95k
SPG 53k
... total hotel points 883,317

I also have 1k Hertz points and 4k Amtrak points.

I count my point almost daily but it's easy because I keep the log in Excel. With DL, NW & UA I had to do all sorts of little things to get up to the 50k mark since I don't actively fly them. I'm not saving for a particular award but I like to plan big trips. This last summer I spent more than 1 million miles and points for a month in Australia. The trip was fantastic and a big chunk of the miles I have now will surely be used to make a similar trip.

I also collect licencse plates and currency. I've had a few other FTers help me out with the license plates.