We are writing a cover story for InsideFlyer on miles/points hoarders and would like to hear from anyone out there who is a self-described hoarder.

Do you consider collecting miles/points to be a hobby or obsession? Are you saving your miles/points for a particular award or is collecting them more important than spending? Are you a collector of other things also? If so, what?

Thanks!

Hi Darcie-

Might be helpful to define your terms in a bit more detail.

What is your story's threshold for 'hoarding? More than 250K? 500K, 1MM, 2 MM, 3 MM+?

I might add that with all of the volatility (enhanements/devaluations)of the FFP over the past 3 years, I think a consensus has slowly coalesced among FTers I know and respect, that too much hoarding can erode the value of your remaining mileage balance, so it is likely far less prevelant than a few years ago.

While many programs have devalued points/miles, I still feel it is worth holding onto the points/miles until I get the award I want. However, that is because I know that eventually I will get enough miles for that award, even if the award costs 25% more when I want it. I try to get about 6-10 cents/mile when I use an award ticket (like IND-JFK-FRA-CPT-JNB-VFA-JNB-MUC-IAD-IND in business class, which would cost $8k-$12k, for 110k miles), so using miles on a very cheap coach ticket just for the sake of using them (I have a friend who will use 25k miles to fly STL-MIA when a ticket would cost $150) does not make sense to me. However, to someone who does not earn many miles and just wants a free ticket somewhere certainly can justify this because they might never have enough miles for, or need, a "real" award.

I tend to hold onto my miles until I have enough to take an international trip. I don't fly that much so it takes a long time to earn enough. I booked LAX-NBO for a safari with friends to Kenya/Tanzania last year. This year i booked SFO-DEL for a two week trip through Northern India. These are all in coach. Since it takes me a long time to earn milles, my thinking is I'd rather go twice in coach than once in first class. Makes for a long, tough flight, but worth it all the same.

The minute I hit 100,000 miles in my one account I book two tickets to Europe. In my secondary, as soon as it hits 50,000 two tickets to Canada. Miles are miles but a ticket is a trip!

I dont hoard, I maximize!!!

My spending habits are for OW All Partner Awards in the upper tiers and premium cabins. Though i have been know to burn 20k on inter-european travel when fares are crazy and i NEED to be somewhere. I have never used a mile for US travel or on my carrier AA.

I'm sitting on a lot of miles, but I'm also looking forward to retirement not too far down the road with vastly reduced opportunities to go somewhere on someone else's nickel (or even deduct the cost of trips I pay for myself from taxable income). I don't expect things to change dramatically enough in the near, if not immediate, future to make this the wrong thing for me to do. I use some miles for high-value awards, "burning" in excess of 100,000 miles a year, but fly enough to build up my balance despite that.

So, in my case I think some "hoarding" makes sense, though it may not for many others. As with so many other things, in travel and out, it depends on one's specific situation. It's a bad idea to pontificate about how one answer, no matter how thoroughly someone thought it out for his or her own situation, is right for everyone.

I am considered by my family as a hoarder because I don't use miles for family trips. We fly coach, and I can buy a ticket for less than the equivalent value in miles. So I still have almost 200k of the AA "original" miles, and almost 1 million Marriott points, etc. On the other hand, I have lifetime earnings of about 3 million Marriott points, 3 million AA miles, and probably 2 million other points/miles between all the programs. And I currently have only about 2.5 million between all those programs. So I have used them when there was a good value.

I'm currently sitting on over a million membership reward miles. I'm waiting for another 25% transfer bonus to CO.

Sorry, Darcie: no hoarding for me. I spend 'em as fast as I get 'em; anytime I get to 15,000, I upgrade another coach res. to F on HA!

Garnering ff miles isn't a hobby or obsession, it's an avocation. I like to have lots of miles in my accounts (right now 275K in my primary account, and a total of about 140K in secondary accounts). It means that I can travel whenever I chose. But more than that, I enjoy the chase. I would collect ff miles, even if I gave them all away.

Sign me contented when I am earning miles!

I don't hoard. Miles are devaluing too fast to hold onto for long.

If I had more money, I might consider "hoarding" miles (to save up for C/F int'l tickets)... as it is, I spend my UA miles on Saver Y awards to see my folks back east pretty much as soon as I earn enough. I don't have significant hotel points to speak of, and all of my CCs are cash-back cards because IMHO they have a better rate of return (for my lifestyle, anyway).

I wouldn't say that I hoard miles. I just save enough for two business/first class tickets to Europe and then I spend them on the girlfriend at the time. Every girl I know likes to spend her birthday in Rome and doing it in style is even nicer.

I am not worried about how many miles I have in my account at any one time, I am more worried about lifetime miles counting toward lifetime plat. (it is a long road).

I'm a little different than most FTers; as my signature eludes to, I don't fly much (and have only ~160K UA miles and only ~11K combined SkyTeam miles as of now). But, I put 99% of my personal spend on my AmEx Plat, and it looks like at current levels, I'll be running ~110K pts/year on that (which, IIRC, will xfer 1:1 on SkyTeam, and even more with some of the periodic bonus offers).

But say, by this time next year when I'm over 200Kpts(mi), I'll still be a bit loath to spend 'em- it seems like it takes forever to make 'em, but they're gone fairly quickly (esp. since for all but the most expensive flights I'll just buy the ticket(s) outright).

I do sometimes wonder what's the best benefit with the miles I do and will get, though.