fwiw, I'm guessing the '08 will be the first year since I became a Flyertalker that my aggregate mileage/point balance will decline.

I've never hoarded miles or hotel points. I'm more of a last minute traveler and very flexible. Because of that, I've been very successful at getting standard award tickets. I'm a NW flyer having been in their elite program for going on 10 years....nearly all platinum. This past year I was bumped back to silver....whoa....they treat you like crap unless you're platinum...LOL. Now I'm back to gold and will most likely make platinum before the end of the year. At any rate, I say use the miles as you get them....I've used over 1.5 million on NW for myself, my wife, and family. It's a great perk even with the devaluation going on. I also collect intercontinental points and I use them every time I need a room for personal reasons. Just last night I was about 800 miles shy of the necessary miles and ICH comped me the miles and gave me the room. I know it's easy to grip and complain about these programs and where they've gone....but the fact is any time you get a free ticket or room....it's FREE!!! Enjoy! BTY...I just had a nightmare flight on NW because of weather and they comp'd me 10000 ff miles out of courtesy without me even asking....NICE!

Tracy

Thanks for your comments
 

The article on hoarding has been published in the Nov. issue of InsideFlyer www.insideflyer.com and will be available in print and online soon. Thanks to everyone for your comments and discussion. We didn't know know what kind of a response our thread would get and appreciate hearing from all the hoarders, non-hoarders and hoarders-no-longer.

-Darcie

Hi,

I spend what I earn each year

Five Asian C trips roughly equates to one free J trip, and also renewal into gold status, so it's a toss up each year, when to use the freebie, as I have been caught before having to fly "once more before December 31st".

Gold status means access to all the lounges for me and one other, that is most important.
Secondary importance is the ease to book, upgrade and be able to swap and change at a moment's notice.

Do I horde, NO!
Why, because I have seen too many airlines go belly up, and I have watched others who hoard have their nest egg eroded with changes.

Best of luck with the article, regards bkkrop

I face the situation of having to use my miles on short trips. I currently live in Peru and my 6 year old twins live in Ecuador. It is only a 1,139 kilometer flight each way but it usually sells for about $400-600 roundtrip (a scandal if you ask me).

Since I travel there in average once every three weeks I try to use my miles for that. Paying $500 for a ticket that only earns you 2,000 kilometers altogether seems like a waste. I'd rather pay for my longer trips usually from peru to the U.S. on business trips which end up costing roughly the same $500+ but accrue 5 or 10 times more mileage. This way I keep my top tier status for less money while at the same time earning enough miles to pay for half of my trips to Ecuador to see my kids.

Since I try to see my kids as often as I can and since I pay for those trips with miles I see no sense in saving miles for too long. Also it does not make sense to claim a business class award for such a short trip. By the way an award from Peru to Ecuador on LAn is usually 25,000 kilometers. It is more important for me to retian my tier membership and its benefits than having a lot of miles saved up. I will every once in a while take the long trip to Ecuador via Miami which earns me about 15,000 kms and goes a long way into keeping my tier status.

No hotel points anymore. When i travel on business I can't get hotel points due to my company's corporate rates which do not allow for points earning.

Anyone think I could maximize my km usage in another way?

I am one of those folks that hordes my miles and points. I generally pay for my trips so that I get bonus miles/points on them with my status. I only redeem my miles/points for family members who do not have status and thus cannot get bonus miles/points for their flights/stays

I don't wanna be a miles (w)hoarder...really
 

but it seems hard to justify spending my miles/points when I know my typical travel patterns do not maximize their economic potential.

Somehow I never seem to get around to planning/booking international J trips and it just seems like such a waste to use my miles on the domestic trips that I'm more apt to take.

Either that or just as I've convinced myself to take advantage of my miles/points, some sale or other promo happens to make using miles less attractive than scoring some extra bonus points/miles.

Not to mention, that it's tragic to see those hard earned balances dip. ;)

There is 1 exception to my insanity, I'm new to UA and for some reason I now seem to be more than willing to pony up (miles or AMEX points) for upgrades whereas I previously never even considered doing that.

oyyyyyy

This is where I come down also.

I don't earn all that much, but what I do earn I'll sometimes "hoard" for years, just for those occasions when there's no affordable paid option.