My opinion is that holding miles is not good. To many unknowns in the future, the biggest being airline bankruptcies and mergers, global economy slowdown, war in the middle east, and $200 oil. It will happen, not IF, but when.

Air travel as we have known it in the last five years, will never be the same again.

Devaluation of miles is a fact of life now, FF miles are a huge liability for airlines, hence the devaluation and fees on top of fees to redeem.

It is a different world now days and the airlines are really struggling, and they most certainly will continue to chip away at the value of the miles, little by little.

Loyalty from airlines left the building some time ago, it no longer exists.

I for one, will continue to burn up miles as needed as my airlines may, or may not, be in business tomorrow.

One day soon when we talk about past trips flying overseas for free, there will be gasps of amazement. I foresee the day when we'll be asked to redeem our miles for catalog items only as they zero out all our accounts, like Goldpoints is doing by the end of December. Instead of flying somewhere, we will out be giving Waveradios to all our relatives as Christmas gifts.

I have always believed in burning miles. I booked business class Cairo and Bali award trips in 2009 for Mrs. Outoftown and I, burning a half million miles on DL and US. Now I have to figure out how to get away with more vacation days for these two trips than I am allotted for the year.

-outoftown

Please everyone... burn your miles as soon as possible this year and the next... so that there will be less competition for those of us who are accumulating them for the future... spread the word... Bless y'all

Good luck with that, I sincerely hope that our FF programs as we know them, remain in existence for all to enjoy.

I myself am like you as a leisure traveler, trying to travel every year overseas. I already completed 2 BusinessFirst tix to IST for Delta using SkyMiles, and am now working towards two First or Business to Cairo or Malaysia again.....I wanted to know what you think about MileagePLUS?

To be fair, we've had these doomsday threads since the day I discovered FT - and I lurked for a couple of years before joining.

The value of a mile has ebbed and flowed a bit. Same goes for hotel points. However, I've actually been having *better* luck getting my flights/dates and better per-mile valuation for my miles in 2007 and 2008 than I was five years ago.

I've been using AA and UA miles to go international (Europe in F on LH, closer destinations in the Western Hemisphere in Y on AA and UA.) I've been using Starpoints and Marriott points in ordinarily-difficult hotel cities at very good valuations. (e.g., Int'l or odd locations where Priceline or other discount hotel options are not available)

I've been using WN to go domestic - the Marriott Travel Package with 80 credits, effectively providing 10 domestic R/T's - is too good to pass up even if you hate the cattle call. Those have gotten a *tad* more difficult to book, but we have still been to able to get 2 west coast trips, an Arizona trip, and a last-minute Florida trip done so far this year - all at base levels.

With the rising costs of travel, you're actually getting MORE value per mile/point, assuming you still place value on the travel at the higher costs and would still take the trips. Maybe that's why it's getting easier to book: people who don't have BOTH the free flights and hotels are passing up on taking the trips. I don't know...

The main thing that could sting me in the near future is if Marriott were to ever fundamentally change the Travel Packages. I can withstand category creep...as long as the packages remain somewhat intact.

Some of the "fees and surcharges" now made on award tickets for European travel especially on Delta, now make award tickets cost more than a regular non peak travel time ticket cost just a year ago. So award tickets can cost more than non award regular fares cost one yer ago.

Would you care to expand on your statement? I looked on the Goldpoints Plus website and the FT discussion board, and I don't see mention of a forfeiture or signficant devaluation of Goldpoints in December.

I've got a few points I can convert to airline miles if this is going to actually happen.

To answer the above post, see below. Sorry if OT. Also mrx900, your pm receive is locked, so I can't PM back.

I had the goldpoints creditcard and ate at a lot of tGIFs, so it impacts me greatly. Note that I am not active in goldpoints plus.

At the link http://www.goldpoints.com/common/Home.jsp it states

IMPORTANT NOTICE: On December 31, 2008, the Gold Points Reward Network program will end and all program operations will cease. If you wish to redeem your Gold Points, you must do so by December 31, 2008. You can review the Gold Points Reward Network revised Terms and Conditions via this link.

outoftown:

Thanks for the clarification.

I never completely understood the Goldpoints / Goldpoints Plus relationship, but I think since I can access my points at the Radisson website and have cashed some of them in during 2008 for airline miles, I am unaffected by your predicament.