Does anyone leave their points in affinity program accounts. - WHY?!
 

This relates to dot coms only.

Now that Goldpoints has reduced their redemption level, the question of who among us lost redemption value arises.

I have never had enough trust in any affinity program to leave anything more than a minimal amount of points in my account. Fortunately, Goldpoints does not apply to me, but other programs have had similar problems. I try to remain a bit paranoid and redeem, redeem, and let me say it again -REDEEM. It is noteworthy to say that on several occassions I believe this has cost me points in the long run.

Who has been caught with "your pants down" and why did you let yourself be so exposed?

I believe that in the long run you are better off to redeem ASAP. It may cost you in a few instances, but the risk of a program going down and taking your points with it (or de-valuing your points) is much greater.

While I am familiar (all too well) with the Goldpoints history with the Valuemags and triple points promotion, Goldpoints/Carlson Travel/Radisson doesn't realy fall under the same umbrella as the dot.coms (Clickrewards, etc.) There are lots of people out there staying at Radissons to get their points, who now cannot redeem for airline miles at the rate they used to.

That said, I somehow feel safer with my points in AA and Hilton, although no program is guaranteed in today's climate.

I think for any program, you need ot look at their history, and what your plans are for using the points. In the Goldpoints case, they are still just as valuable if used for Radisson stays.