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It's the end of the year, which means it's time for my taking stock of my balances in various frequent traveler points programs. This blog will be for airlines. A blog later this week will cover hotel programs.
Once upon a time I celebrated growing big balances of airline miles/points. I remember, for example, when a colleague and I were talking about having amassed 250,000 miles each on United after lots of job travel. "It's wild to think I could buy 10 people round-trip tickets anywhere in the continental US," he quipped.
The difference between then & now is that 250k no longer buys 10 round-trip flights between New York and San Francisco. Many days you'd be lucky if it buys three. Inflation is as much a thing in the points economy as it is in the real economy. Actually, it's worse. It's worse because there's no place to invest points to protect their value. Holding points is like keeping cash in a mattress. Keep a small balance that way? Meh. Keep a big balance that way? Holy smokes, no! Thus I consider having a big balance of points a risk. You'll see that how I characterize my balances in the following summaries.
I've called my American Airlines points (see below) a mountain for many years as I've hovered over 750k with them. I've now built my Southwest balance up to that level. I finish 2025 with 770,000 Rapid Rewards points. That's a new high... and that's not a good thing, for the reasons I outlined above.
My Rapids Rewards balance with Southwest zoomed forward because I spent a lot of the year chasing status with them. My business travel is down from even a few years ago, so to keep renewing elite status I did most of my leisure flying on cash vs. on points. I would've preferred to spend points and save cash, but here I decided chasing status was more important. I cinched Companion Pass in September and made A-List Preferred again with the help of a mileage run in late December.
All that status-chasing helped me earn 229,000 redeemable points with Southwest. I spent less than 28k points. Thus my balance lands at about 770k. Three-quarters of a million.
For 2026 my goal is to spend down that balance. 770k is way too much to have stuffed in a mattress. But I'll see if I'm content to give up the status chase into 2027. 😨
I seem to alternate between up and down years with my United MileagePlus miles. After having a down year with UA last year and also in 2023— remember, down is good, because I'm redeeming points to secure value from them— 2025 was an up year. My points boosted from 62,000 to 177,000.
It's not that I flew UA a lot, though. I earned only 18k from butt-in-seat time. The lion's share of my points are from credit card sign-up bonuses. I opened two of them in the past 14 months that paid in 2025. Together they paid 200,000 points. So why didn't my balance zoom up to almost 300k? That's because while I earned a lot of points this year I also burned more than half of them, redeeming them for flights and other awards— and making sure to do so at decent rates.
Status-wise I maintain Premier Gold with United, a benefit of reaching Million Miler lifetime status years ago. What's the value of that status? Plenty, actually. First, I can reserve a seat in Economy Plus at booking. Those seats with extra legroom are a valuable perk that make flying actually bearable. It's worth at least a few tens of dollars per flight. That's what UA and other airlines charge to reserve comparable seats without sufficient elite status. Then there's free checked bags. I used that a few times. Then there's lounge access when traveling internationally. We had a good time relaxing at the Air Canada Maple Leaf lounge in Toronto in August. Oh, and my designated partner gets all these Premier Gold benefits, too, since I'm a Million Miler. Upgrades? Yes, those are a benefit, though as a lowly Gold it's rare I get one. I did score one coming home from Toronto. All in all these aren't gonzo benefits, but as little as I fly United anymore— not enough to earn even Silver status on a per-year basis— I certainly appreciate the lifetime status from my blood, sweat, and tears of the past.
For 2026 my plan with United is to continue spending down my balance. I don't think that'll be too hard as 177k points isn't a lot anymore. I spent about 107k this year, and that was just for a few, unexciting flights. The only question is, will 2026 be another year of spending on a bunch of small award flights like I did this pat year, or will I find an opportunity to spend a lot of points on something big, like a fun overseas trip? I hope for the latter.
I've had a crazy big balance with AA for years now. What's "crazy big"? If you thought my three-quarters of a million with Southwest was wild, try this on for size: I have nearly 900,000 AA points.
What's even crazier is that this is exactly what I had last year, too. In 2025 I didn't earn a mile with AA, I didn't spend a mile with AA. I have almost a million miles in their program, and I didn't do a damn thing with them.
My plan with AA in 2026 is the same as it has been for years now: find good ways to spend all those points!
Rounding out the list here is Delta Airlines. While it's been over two years since I flew on AA it's been at least three since I set foot on Delta or one of their partners. I retain a pile of points with them— though it's a waaaay smaller pile than with AA. It's not a mountain but a molehill. My balance of Delta Skymiles is a mere 15k.
My plan with Delta in 2026 is also the same as it has been for several years new. I will keep ignoring Delta 🤣 until their flights and offerings seem relevant to me again. Meanwhile, my paltry 15k miles never expire. Though by the time I grow them into something useful that 15k might only be enough to buy a sandwich in-flight.
Once upon a time I celebrated growing big balances of airline miles/points. I remember, for example, when a colleague and I were talking about having amassed 250,000 miles each on United after lots of job travel. "It's wild to think I could buy 10 people round-trip tickets anywhere in the continental US," he quipped.
The difference between then & now is that 250k no longer buys 10 round-trip flights between New York and San Francisco. Many days you'd be lucky if it buys three. Inflation is as much a thing in the points economy as it is in the real economy. Actually, it's worse. It's worse because there's no place to invest points to protect their value. Holding points is like keeping cash in a mattress. Keep a small balance that way? Meh. Keep a big balance that way? Holy smokes, no! Thus I consider having a big balance of points a risk. You'll see that how I characterize my balances in the following summaries.
⬆️ Southwest Airlines: Amassing another Mountain (of Risk!)
I've called my American Airlines points (see below) a mountain for many years as I've hovered over 750k with them. I've now built my Southwest balance up to that level. I finish 2025 with 770,000 Rapid Rewards points. That's a new high... and that's not a good thing, for the reasons I outlined above.My Rapids Rewards balance with Southwest zoomed forward because I spent a lot of the year chasing status with them. My business travel is down from even a few years ago, so to keep renewing elite status I did most of my leisure flying on cash vs. on points. I would've preferred to spend points and save cash, but here I decided chasing status was more important. I cinched Companion Pass in September and made A-List Preferred again with the help of a mileage run in late December.
All that status-chasing helped me earn 229,000 redeemable points with Southwest. I spent less than 28k points. Thus my balance lands at about 770k. Three-quarters of a million.
For 2026 my goal is to spend down that balance. 770k is way too much to have stuffed in a mattress. But I'll see if I'm content to give up the status chase into 2027. 😨
↗️ United Airlines: Earn and Burn (but Mostly Earn)
I seem to alternate between up and down years with my United MileagePlus miles. After having a down year with UA last year and also in 2023— remember, down is good, because I'm redeeming points to secure value from them— 2025 was an up year. My points boosted from 62,000 to 177,000.It's not that I flew UA a lot, though. I earned only 18k from butt-in-seat time. The lion's share of my points are from credit card sign-up bonuses. I opened two of them in the past 14 months that paid in 2025. Together they paid 200,000 points. So why didn't my balance zoom up to almost 300k? That's because while I earned a lot of points this year I also burned more than half of them, redeeming them for flights and other awards— and making sure to do so at decent rates.
Status-wise I maintain Premier Gold with United, a benefit of reaching Million Miler lifetime status years ago. What's the value of that status? Plenty, actually. First, I can reserve a seat in Economy Plus at booking. Those seats with extra legroom are a valuable perk that make flying actually bearable. It's worth at least a few tens of dollars per flight. That's what UA and other airlines charge to reserve comparable seats without sufficient elite status. Then there's free checked bags. I used that a few times. Then there's lounge access when traveling internationally. We had a good time relaxing at the Air Canada Maple Leaf lounge in Toronto in August. Oh, and my designated partner gets all these Premier Gold benefits, too, since I'm a Million Miler. Upgrades? Yes, those are a benefit, though as a lowly Gold it's rare I get one. I did score one coming home from Toronto. All in all these aren't gonzo benefits, but as little as I fly United anymore— not enough to earn even Silver status on a per-year basis— I certainly appreciate the lifetime status from my blood, sweat, and tears of the past.
For 2026 my plan with United is to continue spending down my balance. I don't think that'll be too hard as 177k points isn't a lot anymore. I spent about 107k this year, and that was just for a few, unexciting flights. The only question is, will 2026 be another year of spending on a bunch of small award flights like I did this pat year, or will I find an opportunity to spend a lot of points on something big, like a fun overseas trip? I hope for the latter.
⏸️ American Airlines: Paused atop the Mountain
I've had a crazy big balance with AA for years now. What's "crazy big"? If you thought my three-quarters of a million with Southwest was wild, try this on for size: I have nearly 900,000 AA points.What's even crazier is that this is exactly what I had last year, too. In 2025 I didn't earn a mile with AA, I didn't spend a mile with AA. I have almost a million miles in their program, and I didn't do a damn thing with them.
My plan with AA in 2026 is the same as it has been for years now: find good ways to spend all those points!
↔️ Delta: 15k and Not Even Trying
Rounding out the list here is Delta Airlines. While it's been over two years since I flew on AA it's been at least three since I set foot on Delta or one of their partners. I retain a pile of points with them— though it's a waaaay smaller pile than with AA. It's not a mountain but a molehill. My balance of Delta Skymiles is a mere 15k.My plan with Delta in 2026 is also the same as it has been for several years new. I will keep ignoring Delta 🤣 until their flights and offerings seem relevant to me again. Meanwhile, my paltry 15k miles never expire. Though by the time I grow them into something useful that 15k might only be enough to buy a sandwich in-flight.
