RustyC

The second half of last year was the perfect storm for me as far as frequent flying goes: the fuel price spike/fee-ing frenzy, followed by an illness of a parent requiring 2 months' hospitalization unexpectedly, followed by the economic meltdown and a drop in business income. I had made silver by midyear, but took no flights afterward, and that broke a 16-year streak of making gold elite every year, all on my own dime.

The family matter was by far the most significant (and thankfully had a good outcome), but any of the 3 could have derailed the status-earning, so they might as well have all happened at once.

Unless there's a mistake-fare-level deal that can be used for 6K EQMs or so, I'll probably stall out at silver again this year, and that mainly because of a single BKK trip.

My batting average on upgrades is down, but then again if you qualify heavily on international segments or aren't flying as much, you don't notice that as much. Mileage bonuses at 25% rather than 100% are a real bummer, as keeping the 100% bonus was my #1 reason for trying to stay at gold level for all that time. Like many people here, I'd calculate EQMs and RDMs, and having that 100% RDM bonus altered the economics. Travel begat travel.

Benefit erosion is indeed a problem. Some airlines now charge for award bookings on partner airlines, and that partner might charge for baggage even for elites of partner airlines. Other "unbundled" fees also may hit. So the "real" value of awards is down. And, as the OP mentioned, legacy carriers are looking more like LCCs every day.

So I've been taking more trips on Spirit, though always only to FLL and always on their $9 fares or less for both legs (now $49 or less RT a-i). A typical Spirit trip may be just 2 days or, in some cases, even 1 day. The miles aren't much incentive; they only grant half-mileage and I would need something like 32 ATL-FLL RTs on that basis to earn just ONE freebie.

Gold elite used to be a bit of a stretch to try to get every year, so not having to do it is something of a relief. I could resume again if the economy improves, but it's hard to envision many of the negative changes of recent years being rolled back. And that's before factoring in the oft-discussed gross imbalance between unredeemed miles floating out there and number of seats they might be redeemed for. My contention on that has always been that the wave of baby boomer retirements starting around 2011 will make things much worse, as people who built up often huge balances over a career or biz travel will be wanting to use the miles for travel in retirement, the kind they didn't have time for while working.

worldexpress

I agree. Try booking at the Drake Chicago. I think they converted janitors' closets for priceline bookers. Never again. I like hotels.com stay 10 nights, get one free. Straight forward, no brain power needed. And you book for a type of room as you would on a hotel site. I've spent 10 nights at a couple of $40/nt hotels in thailand (which were very nice solid 3-1/2 to 4 star properties, thanks to the reviews which is another great feature on hotels.com) and used the free night for a $400 room at the Raffles in S'pore as part of a 2 free night stay there. That's why I get excited about hotels.com welcomerewards. This is not a paid endorsement, btw.

zcat18

Haven't read every post in the thread, but just thinking about the OP's point...

Yes, I would LOVE status and the perks (esp the extra FF miles) that go with it, and yes, I keep a UA FF account open and active to get points toward *A travel.

That being said, I've never held a job that required frequent travel. I probably average about 25,000 miles of flying per year, mostly for pleasure, but that's broken down across several airlines. I'm in a bit of a gap in my career (doing some part-time "consulting" for my old company while finishing up my doctorate, which will probably take another 18 months-2 years), so money is very much a consideration. For instance, I took a trip to India this year. I could have flown LH for $1,500 and gotten UA miles and Premier status (or whatever they're calling the lowest level these days), but BA's going rate was $300 cheaper. Looking back, status would have probably been worth the extra $300 to me, but I let the opportunity pass.

For me, the bottom line is that I can't really afford mileage runs (have booked a few but have always chickened out at the last minute), so I'm more or less forced not to care about miles and, instead, to book based on value/price. I'll probably never even sniff the possibility of a premium cabin (at least internationally) for another several years, and I just happily dumped all of the FF miles I'd accrued into a trip to Europe for my mom's 60th birthday.

I joined FT a little over a year ago to gain ideas as to how someone in my position could achieve some sort of status, but what I've learned is that you've either got to be willing to spend more money than you have, hold a job that involves frequent travel, or wait until you can afford to do the dirty work (mileage runs and whatnot) in order to achieve status. Personally, the joy of travel is more important to me than status itself, but some perks DEFINITELY would not hurt in the slightest.

*ADDENDUM: I do some of my flying to visit family, as well, mostly in Las Vegas and New York. For domestic flying, I'd much rather spend $300 r/t between MDW-LAS on Southwest and miss out on status than $500+ on UA and get a couple thousand miles.

wharvey

I have not traveled for business in over 18 months... it is all leisure travel for me. If I want a specific view, then of course I would not use Priceline/Hotwire. However, that is usually not the case. I just want a nice hotel near the place I am wanting to visit... and I do not have to have a suite or upgraded room.

I have used Priceline for Hawaii... and was not disappointed with the hotel I got on the Big Island. I was even offered an upgrade for $20 a night when I checked it... and I took it since it was part of our anniversary trip.

I also have to say I have never - in over 100 Priceline/Hotwire stays - gotten a "Priceline" specific room. I have never felt slighted or punished because I paid via Priceline. However, I do not doubt it happens.... guess I have just been lucky.

RustyC

It's a bit like tobacco companies and marketing to young people...you'll never get anyone to admit it's done, and there won't be a piece of paper anywhere directing to do it. But the results aren't random.

I've gotten a few rooms I'd say are likely "Priceline rooms," though never admitted to as such. Usually it's the location in the hotel, like maybe the most noise-susceptible first floor room. Or maybe something minor doesn't work and hasn't been fixed yet. The thing to ask yourself is whether a picky person paying close to rack rate would ask for a different room if given that one.

That said, I try to adjust expectations accordingly and have only found something to be a dealbreaker in a "Priceline room" maybe one time in 15 or so. Most hotels won't rent the room if something major doesn't work or there's some mess that hasn't been fully cleaned up.

deltame

I should preface that I I love airline miles and status and have developed certain "healthy" addictions; however I never cared much about hotel points or hotel status.

I don't have a lot of work travel. I may have had 2 (or at most 3) business trips a year, but company policy is such that work travel needs be booked via contracted travel agency/site (or in the case of attending a conference then the conference hotels) and therefore Priceline bidding is not permitted. So, no, I believe for many of us, the choice to book via Priceline/Hotwire vs. traditional methods is likely about leisure travel.


I love using Priceline in my personal (leisure) travel in the placed I frequented in the US and Canada. I agree with wharvey below that in some cases I would not necessary want use Priceline; however keep in mind that unless you booked (paid) specifically for a particular type of room/view, you may still get a less desirable room/view even if you didn't use Priceline/Hotwire. I was in DC last week for a conference and our group rate was ~$300/night, my room rate was even higher since by the time I signed up for it, the group rate was no longer available. Guess what, I got a room that had no view - one side faces an office building next door and another side faces the other wing of the hotel itself. In my leisure travel, I have gotten some nice (reasonable) rooms booked thru Priceline, in one case I initially got a very small room but took the trouble to discuss with front desk and they obliged and changed me to another room. All the examples are YMMV, of course. From my personal experience, unless I am taking a dream vacation or a great package deal, I would choose Priceline/Hotwire to book/bid hotels in leisure travel whenever possible.

DHAST

When I was in LA, and flying transcon a couple of times per month, I went out of my way to rack up the miles, EQM and otherwise.

I've never traveled on a dime other than my own. These days, I take one or two domestic trips, and for the big trips overseas, I just fork over the necessary cash to get a reasonable seat. That could be an E+ pass on UA, or a consolidator C seat to BKK. I'd rather just pay for it than play all of the games.

And I use hotwire religiously.

idayvuelta

I actually see it quite differently, as a budget leisure traveler. The bottom line is I tend to be able to afford ~$30-$120 a night, depending on where I am (highway offramp vs. expensive city or Asia vs. US) and what I'm doing (simple overnighter vs. vacation stay).

:-:In every instance I've used Priceline, I've stayed at a nicer hotel that I would have otherwise stayed at.
:-:In many instances, I've paid substantially less than I otherwise would have paid.
:-:In all other instances, I've paid as much as I would have otherwise paid, but gotten a night and day difference in the hotel quality.

So for me, even the dreaded priceline room at a decent 4* hotel is better than the god-knows-what I would have gotten at a hostel or cheap hotel. In every instance, I've come out way ahead with priceline.

Middle_Seat

Thanks to credit-card offers I'm closing in on Plat for Life on AA, so there is no question of quitting the "miles and points game" for the next 6 months or so. After that, I can't predict...the times and routings available with miles do seem pretty bad compared to what you can buy with money.

Hotel points and promotions are too confusing, and my impression is that some chains vaporize your points if you don't have a stay every 12 months or so. It's too much to keep track of. I've been buying nights through Travelocity and Hotels.com, but there are so many satisfied users of Hotwire and Priceline here that I will have to re-acquaint myself with those sites.

Peregrine415

Since *A raised their RTW fares significantly this year, I started flying other carriers/alliances and don't care about status since I fly biz internationally anyway. Nowadays I fly whoever charges the least expensive fare in biz and couldn't understand why all these years I paid those ridiculous surcharges to fly SQ.

elizadoo

I'm not one of those who banks a million miles a year but I usually clock in about 25 to 50K, which, combined with our Amex Rewards (sometimes offering double points) and transfer rewards of 30% from Amex to Delta, nets me about 200K in miles every year. [Let me clarify that we pay almost EVERYTHING on Amex, including utilities, insurance, etc.]

The lure of the miles isn't quite what it used to be, because it seems that the mileage requirement is steadily increasing, whereas the ticket prices are sometimes pretty rock bottom, and using FF miles for ticket just doesn't make sense.

As an example: a trip out of MIA to SJO (San Jose, Costa Rica) with a return out of San Pedro Sula (SAP) via TACA cost me $203, TOTAL, including all fees and taxes. When I compared that to using my Delta SkyMiles (47,5k plus appx fees of $75) the TACA deal was much better...

So now I save my miles for the really BIG trips, i.e. Africa, Hawaii, etc. My motivation to EARN the miles is still there, but in terms of HOW I earn them (loyalty to specific airlines) and HOW I use them, things have changed a lot.

streetbystreet

Just last month I flew Delta instead of Southwest because of miles. The flights were identically priced, but I had neglected to consider the change fees and baggage charges that Delta imposes. It ended up being quite a bit more expensive on delta, for something like 600 miles, which was a waste of money in the long run.

toadman

I stopped caring about status, but still care about the points and miles. I lose status in all hotel and airline programs at the end of this year. Company travel budget cuts and how we book travel insures that I will lose status. Don't really miss it. Now I book based on price and schedule and let the chips fall where they may.

morerainplease

I've felt for a while that planning a business trip is far more fun than actually taking it (when I sometimes sit on the tarmac thinking "Why am I doing this?"). Then I take my family to Paris for a long vacation paying for nothing but food and museum passes and I remember why.

To me it's absolutely crucial to use the points (airline and hotel) for something really fantastic and extended every once and a while. Unfortunately, it's hard to make it happen more than once every 2 to 3 years because of other life commitments . So the in between times can be a slog. But in the long run, I consider the points to be almost part of my compensation. I'm paid fairly by my employer, but doing it without the value of the points added in would be much harder.

Concerning the status portion of the question, I'm on AS and NW (now DL) and get a lot of upgrades to F. Which do really matter to me. And the upgrades from SPG improve my travel experience, too.

This has been a very interesting thread. Thanks, OP.

MWRFlyer

It makes economic sense to care about points and miles. It is just like if you are the type of person who does not turn in rebates.