FF Bubble?
 

As it is nearing the end of the calendar year, when the miles and points in my accounts mostly reset, I have been thinking about my travel choices in 2014, and the changes to my accounts in the past year. Now, my experience may not be that of others, but in the past few years I've seen a significant "claw-back" of benefits in the travel world. The creation of "Avios," the "enhancement" of the BA lounge experience at LHR, the Marriott revaluation, the evaporation of AA "old miles" etc.

It makes me wonder whether there is a bit of FF bubble in the value of the benefits that have been offered over the years and whether the FF market is now reaching some sort of equilibrium, or whether the travel providers are now extracting more value from their customers than is warranted. I know I've read fellow FT'ers who consistently argue that the benefits will neccessarily be devalued over time, but I'm wondering if that is right.

Have we reached the point of equitable benefits yet? Or should we expect that the value will continue to decline because they've been too generous in the past? Any thoughts??

There's nothing necessarily permanent about the value of FF points, benefits or status. Never has been, never will be.

I always work on a "use 'em or lose 'em" basis.

Anyone who experienced or witnessed the Ansett debacle in Australia circa 2001 will know what I mean.

Banking them long term is definitely bad. But I, like many others here, cringe at spending them on sub-optimal redemptions. So they tend to accumulate until I can burn them on CX, LH, etcetera. And since they are so easy to earn, that sometimes means a seven figure balance sitting on the sidelines.

This is US-centric I know. Much harder to earn elsewhere.

I've been struggling a bit as well since I'm usually looking for 4 tix and on specific dates around school schedules. It's hard for me to stomach the thought of not redeeming at the lowest level and "wasting" the miles but then the thought that a big pile will be devalued in the blink of an eye is an issue too. I guess the best thing is to just remember to live for the moment :p