No longer a PM (Point/Miles) Slave!!
 

Yes, I was one of the many Point Sluts. I collect points/miles whenver the opportunity arises. Just like everyone of you. My secondary job was looking for deals across the airline/hotel website. My most used credit cards was to get more miles/points from the airline/hotels (and FXXKING BA charges £4.50 per ticket/person for online booking).

But now, I have decided, I no longer want to be one PM Slave any more!!

Well, one of the reason is, Carnival have so many wonderful cruise deal. And I no longer wish to stay in the crapy HI/HIX which charges $150 above whenever they wish to. And I am disgusted by the agressive self-selling BM and his M families. Their hotels are not very much better and they always be $30-50 more than same catagory hotels. So intead to give my dollars to not-so satisfied HI/HIX service and not-so satisfied M price. I pay Carnival $80 per night to have a wonderful cruise with all meals included, and a comfortable cabin on high sea. And forget the airlines who treat everybody as enemies while act a robery on you before you bought the ticket.

If I no longer satisfied with Carnical, I know I have RCI to turn to!

Why be one PM Slave? Why? Just for the few points which have no real value and do not grow in lifetime? Do not tell me to go on Points.com. To exchange few points to other programm would cost you a fortune.

I had a transit in Hong kong. I stayed in the M Skycity. Their cheapest price was HKD$988+10% if you want to earn penny worth M reward point (you properly earn 2000 points maxinum as Platinum member plus the credit card points). I got a rate for HKD498 room only net. It saves me HKD$490+98.80=HKD$588.80 net. Is that worth 2000 points to pay the double price?

I no longer wish to be a Points Slave. I no longer wish to travel unnecassery just to fulfill the empty hotel beds and never be really appreciated. I no longer wish to fight for an upgrade upon check-in and always got a oh sorry we are very full as response. I no longer wish to ask for free mini-bar when I use all the points I collected on one reward stay on those not so great ICs.

I no longer wish to be a Miles Slave. I no longer wish to travel in the back of the plane 40 times a year just to help airlines to pay for the big petro companies and never be upgraded once in last two years. And all I got is 2 silver cards with two airlines which do not give me anything rather than check-in in business class counters.

I no longer wish to be a PM Slave. As shareholders, I no longer wish to pay any penny to IHG nor BA if they do not appreciate that I do not need to travel with them nor I do not need to buy their shares.

Yes, no more! I no longer wish to be a PM Slave. I want to travel in style and only travel when I want to! Bonus points? Oh no. They cost you USD$10 more per 1000 points. When you use 15000 points for a USD$75 room? Ha! Platinum Status? Oh no. By paying for the service you NEED you may found you can reduce 1/3 of your travel expenses!

So no more. I no longer a PM Slave. Cancel all my remaining cash reservation for 2009. And burn my points to free stays! And next year, I start from 0. I will have all the choices I have to find the best value! 400,000 Priority club points? 120,000 airline miles? See you my ex! There is no lifetime loyalty in PM market. There is no lifetime slavery neither! Cut the card into half, I will be the newbie!

Think, change, more rewarding. Or, you will be abandoned.

Since this is not only related to IHG Hotels, I move it to the MilesBuzz Forum.

Thanks for your understanding

FLYGVA
co-moderator IHG Forum

Any chance of gifting me your remaining points then. :)

Hey I want in on this disposition too!

I am glad that you found 'freedom' with your choice and enjoy cruises. I enjoy cruises, too, but my hotel/airline points have been great tools for me and I appreciate them.

I'd really disagree with this line... My points that I've accumulated for "required travel" or simple things like opening bank accounts or ordering $1 coins have afforded me the luxury of flying around the country and continent to see friends and family that I wouldn't have had the opportunity to see. I've also been able to use miles & points to take vacations with my wife where the only thing we had to pay for was meals. If it wasn't for the luxury of having these points, we couldn't have afforded to do these things. I'm very grateful for my work and the reward programs because of this. Sure, nothing is perfect and loyalty programs have declined in value recently, but they're still beneficial to many of us.

I'm sure many of us here agree that buying points is generally not a good ideas. However, some will do it and the hotels will make money off of it. Also, if you're close to a reward, those 1,000 points could be much more valuable than $10 to you. If they bump you up to having enough points for an extra night at your dream vacation, it's definitely worth more than $10 IMO.

To each his own...

You are right. That's my secondary job too.

I don't look at my points collection as a secondary job, but a hobby. Some chase the little white ball around the green grass field, others hunt, fish, boat, collect knick knacks or whatever, all of which cost money; I collect points. The nice thing about this hobby is it doesn't cost a dime. Of course that assumes no MR's and the gas you spend going to the bank. And every so often I get to fly somewhere free, and share my hobby with a SO and double my fun. I don't begrudge my friends who don't see the fun I have, some of them actually get it.

I suppose I have moved part of the way in your direction in recent years, but for a different reason - I have made some money. This means, for instance, that I would not put my family up at an InterCon - even on points - if there was a Four Seasons in the same city. Even where an InterCon is a good choice, I would probably pay for a suite rather than redeem for a standard room. Spending hotel points has therefore got more difficult, but of course there are always airline mile transfers and (with Priority Club) giftcards as well.

I still need my airline miles, though. Whilst I have no problem ponying up the cash for discounted J fares, I'd prefer F and I need cancellation ability due to my job. This means that airline miles are still very valuable for me, as the cost of flexible F still makes me wince.

What I don't do now, though, is 'suffer for my art' - the ability to earn points or miles on a flight or at a property does not drive my choice as much as it did.

Your broader arguament does not really work for most FT'ers, though. If you travel with your job, you are going to accumulate miles and points whether you like it or not! And, as you're going to accumulate them anyway, you might as well maximise as best you can.

(a la Beavis and Butthead):
Ummm.....er......uhhhh....what??


If the cruise thing is what you want to do, but are staying in overpriced Holiday Inns collecting points for vacations you don't want to take I agree you are wasting your time and money.

But that doesn't mean you shouldn't collect miles to get you to your ports-of-call.

Or have a good rebate card to pay for your cruises.

Just don't overpay for your miles on that side of the equation. No one should ever overpay for a hotel room just to get points in one program, unless work is paying, or maybe there is some tangible benefit to come later (like a Hyatt FFN).

The OP does point out some major differences in how people approach this game.

Point Slut: Does anything to get miles/points, including overpaying for airline tickets, hotel rooms or merchandise. Forgets to look at the cost of acquiring said points/miles.

Point Whore: Will do almost anything to get miles/points as long as the economic equation breaks even, even if it wastes personal time and energy.

Point Commando: Will analyze point earning opportunities and optimize travel patterns to attain the maximum value for said person's spending/working/travel habits.

BTW- Aren't there different cruise reward programs as well? Cruise CCs? Couldn't the OP be getting rewarded that way?

[QUOTE=Cheapskate Travels;12244115]

...The OP does point out some major differences in how people approach this game.

Point Slut: Does anything to get miles/points, including overpaying for airline tickets, hotel rooms or merchandise. Forgets to look at the cost of acquiring said points/miles.

Point Whore: Will do almost anything to get miles/points as long as the economic equation breaks even, even if it wastes personal time and energy.

Point Commando: Will analyze point earning opportunities and optimize travel patterns to attain the maximum value for said person's spending/working/travel habits...

:-: :D

Good point.

You might not be surprised at the number of people that don't bother to enroll in any airline/hotel program, and don't care about amassing miles/points.

Why, just the other day, I was chewing the fat with someone who flies two-three times a year from the USA to Europa, and said person doesn't bother with the airline frequent flyer programs. :rolleyes:

Good for you! I think I was a points whore and maybe still a little bit since I fly only with AC and it's partners. On the rare occasion I'll take WestJet but only for domestic flights and European budget airlines like EasyJet or RyanAir. Though, I do daydream on flying with JAL or Korean Airlines...(...Must... not let...evil thoughts... take... over me) LoL :D If WestJet does one day become a big player in OW, then I'd be the first on the OW bandwagon and jump ship from *A. Last spring, I was looking for a AC fare to MAD and the cheapest fare was with NWA. But decided to pay a little bit more to fly AC so I can cash in the points and also to avoid connecting in the US and CDG.

I've only flown business class (domestic) once, only because a chain of negative events occurred earlier resulting in my miss-connect and it was the only seat available ^
I don't think I'll ever get status since all my travel is leisure and I don't fly as much of some FT heavyweights. I do however, fly more than the average bear. :cool:

I am still making the same money. I am sort of self-employeed so that I can travel whenever I want and wherever I want. The point I was to make is, as one people who travel on his own expense every year, contribute 50 nights to one hotel chain and 40 flights to one airline, the recognition is nowhere near someone who travel solely on company expenses.

The question I would like to rise is, is there any lifetime loyalty among FTs to one particular hotel chain or particular airline?

My answer is maybe yes maybe no. And to me, the lifetime loyalty is fading. I decide to become one Value Seeker rather than PM Chaser.

Carnival do not have reward programm as far as I concern.

They have credit card but only to USA/Canada citizens. Not for us Brits.

I have been in most of the places and I do not bother to go on shore at all. Thus no money spent.

I would like to stress one point, FTs are best to find the value from the deals (like you). If the hotel company/airline company failed to give the recognition after you spent so much money you could otherwise saved oe spent somewhere else, would lifetime loyalty still apply? Or is there such a thing called lifetime loyalty? If the hotel/airline knows there is no lifetime loyalty, do they really care about you at all from their heart?:td:

It is great that you can always have a choice!