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canyonwalkerAround every New Year I take stock of my balances in various frequent traveler points programs, both to see how well I've done in accumulating & using miles as well as to set goals for the coming 12 months. One thing that's different this year is now all the airlines I fly with and the hotels I stay with are doing it, too. They've been emailing me "Your Year in Travel" summaries. If nothing else it's fun comparing my records to theirs to double-check my accuracy— and theirs.
As I go through these balances you'll see that I refer to having a big balance as bad and having a smaller one, especially spending to get down to a smaller one, as good. That may seem contrary to common wisdom; isn't earning and saving a good thing? Sure, earning points is good, but their value doesn't come until they're redeemed. And that's where the rub lies. Loyalty points only ever lose value. Saving them up for too many years hoping to take "the trip of a lifetime" is a mistake. By the time that opportunity comes years later you'll find that the points price has increased 2x, 3x, or worse. The bigger the points balance you carry, the bigger the risk. Thus the more you have the more important it is to have a plan for how to spend them, soon.
I'll split airlines and hotels into two posts to cover a few of each. Here's where I landed in the various airline programs at the end of 2023:
I have been busy with Southwest this year. I flew 31 segments with them and earned 202,000 Rapid Rewards points. In addition I renewed both A-List Preferred and Companion Pass elite status. And unlike some previous years where I only made it by a whisker, in 2023 I cinched A+ in August and crossed the finish line for Companion Pass in October.
On the other side of the ledger I redeemed 154,000 points this year on Southwest flights. The difference between that and the points I earned boosted my balance by over 50k. So now I'm sitting on nearly 450,000 RR points with Southwest— even more than the nearly 400k I held a year ago.
A lot of people would celebrate, "Woohoo! I have 450,000 points!" I don't celebrate it because carrying a big balance is a bad thing. Points only ever devalue so it's a poor idea to keep them banked for too long intending to use them later. For 2023 my goal was to burn faster than I earned. Well, I earned too much and didn't burn enough. Thus "Burn more than I earn" is my goal again for 2024.
Finally I've had a good burn year with United. A year ago I was sitting on 450k with United, similar to what I'm sitting on with Southwest now, but in the past 12 months I redeemed a whopping 187k on award flights. And I didn't just buy piddling little flights here and there. The bulk of those points I spent on two round-trip tickets to Australia for a fantastic vacation late in the year. That's the kind of trip I've been looking to spend points on for years. Alas, it's gotten more expensive over the years— because of how miles and points only ever lose value (see above).
In addition to spending a boatload of UA points I earned a few from flights and credit cards. One weird thing about how airlines have retooled their frequent flyer points programs in recent years is that they pay way fewer points now for actually flying. 5 paid flight segments earned me only about 8k points. I got another 6k from barely using my United credit cards before canceling them. Anyway, these few extra points land my year-end balance at about 280k. That's enough for another awesome trip like Australia! ...Most likely not Australia again but somewhere similarly far off and exciting and new. And hopefully in 2024!
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? Well, on all the United flights I flew I was able to reserve a room seat in Economy Plus. Those seats with extra legroom are a valuable perk that make flying more comfortable. What's it worth, though? At least a few tens of dollars per flight. That's what other airlines charge to reserve comparable seats without sufficient elite status. Then there was the huge upgrade we scored, unexpectedly, on the flight home from Australia. (Details on that are still in my blog backlog.) That was worth hundreds of dollars to each of us. Too bad such things are rare and completely unpredictable with merely Gold status, but Yay, status!
I've had a crazy big balance with AA for years now. In 2022 I chipped away at it to get it down below three-quarters of a million. Well, now it's back up again. I finished the year at just over 800k AA miles.
Really what makes my AA balance crazy big is that I barely ever fly them! In 2023 I only flew 3 flights on American. Two were a quick round trip to Seattle paid for by others, one was a flight to Charlotte, NC on points.
While I wasn't busy flying American I was busy using their affinity credit cards. I opened not just one but two AA affiliated cards this year. I cinched the big 70k sign-up bonus on one already; the other I'm still working on. That 70k bonus is most of the new points I've gained this year. The bonus I'm still working on will give me a 75k+ boost this coming year. In a year's time I'll be nearing one million points on AA— and that's not a good thing unless I spend them. Thus my plan with AA in 2024 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. As little I flew AA in 2023, I flew Delta even less. I flew zero on Delta. And 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 2024 is also the same as it has been for a few years new. I will keep ignoring Delta until their flights and offerings seem relevant to me again. Meanwhile, my paltry 15k miles never expire. If/When I start earning points with them again I'll see if I can grow that balance into something useful.
As I go through these balances you'll see that I refer to having a big balance as bad and having a smaller one, especially spending to get down to a smaller one, as good. That may seem contrary to common wisdom; isn't earning and saving a good thing? Sure, earning points is good, but their value doesn't come until they're redeemed. And that's where the rub lies. Loyalty points only ever lose value. Saving them up for too many years hoping to take "the trip of a lifetime" is a mistake. By the time that opportunity comes years later you'll find that the points price has increased 2x, 3x, or worse. The bigger the points balance you carry, the bigger the risk. Thus the more you have the more important it is to have a plan for how to spend them, soon.
I'll split airlines and hotels into two posts to cover a few of each. Here's where I landed in the various airline programs at the end of 2023:
⬆️ Southwest Airlines: Earn and Burn (Needs More Burn)
I have been busy with Southwest this year. I flew 31 segments with them and earned 202,000 Rapid Rewards points. In addition I renewed both A-List Preferred and Companion Pass elite status. And unlike some previous years where I only made it by a whisker, in 2023 I cinched A+ in August and crossed the finish line for Companion Pass in October.On the other side of the ledger I redeemed 154,000 points this year on Southwest flights. The difference between that and the points I earned boosted my balance by over 50k. So now I'm sitting on nearly 450,000 RR points with Southwest— even more than the nearly 400k I held a year ago.
A lot of people would celebrate, "Woohoo! I have 450,000 points!" I don't celebrate it because carrying a big balance is a bad thing. Points only ever devalue so it's a poor idea to keep them banked for too long intending to use them later. For 2023 my goal was to burn faster than I earned. Well, I earned too much and didn't burn enough. Thus "Burn more than I earn" is my goal again for 2024.
⬇️ United Airlines: Yay, Redeeming Points!
Finally I've had a good burn year with United. A year ago I was sitting on 450k with United, similar to what I'm sitting on with Southwest now, but in the past 12 months I redeemed a whopping 187k on award flights. And I didn't just buy piddling little flights here and there. The bulk of those points I spent on two round-trip tickets to Australia for a fantastic vacation late in the year. That's the kind of trip I've been looking to spend points on for years. Alas, it's gotten more expensive over the years— because of how miles and points only ever lose value (see above).In addition to spending a boatload of UA points I earned a few from flights and credit cards. One weird thing about how airlines have retooled their frequent flyer points programs in recent years is that they pay way fewer points now for actually flying. 5 paid flight segments earned me only about 8k points. I got another 6k from barely using my United credit cards before canceling them. Anyway, these few extra points land my year-end balance at about 280k. That's enough for another awesome trip like Australia! ...Most likely not Australia again but somewhere similarly far off and exciting and new. And hopefully in 2024!
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? Well, on all the United flights I flew I was able to reserve a room seat in Economy Plus. Those seats with extra legroom are a valuable perk that make flying more comfortable. What's it worth, though? At least a few tens of dollars per flight. That's what other airlines charge to reserve comparable seats without sufficient elite status. Then there was the huge upgrade we scored, unexpectedly, on the flight home from Australia. (Details on that are still in my blog backlog.) That was worth hundreds of dollars to each of us. Too bad such things are rare and completely unpredictable with merely Gold status, but Yay, status!
↗️ American Airlines: The Mountain Beneath Me Grows
I've had a crazy big balance with AA for years now. In 2022 I chipped away at it to get it down below three-quarters of a million. Well, now it's back up again. I finished the year at just over 800k AA miles.Really what makes my AA balance crazy big is that I barely ever fly them! In 2023 I only flew 3 flights on American. Two were a quick round trip to Seattle paid for by others, one was a flight to Charlotte, NC on points.
While I wasn't busy flying American I was busy using their affinity credit cards. I opened not just one but two AA affiliated cards this year. I cinched the big 70k sign-up bonus on one already; the other I'm still working on. That 70k bonus is most of the new points I've gained this year. The bonus I'm still working on will give me a 75k+ boost this coming year. In a year's time I'll be nearing one million points on AA— and that's not a good thing unless I spend them. Thus my plan with AA in 2024 is the same as it has been for years now: find good ways to spend all those points!
↔️ Delta: Not a Mountain but a Molehill (15k)
Rounding out the list here is Delta Airlines. As little I flew AA in 2023, I flew Delta even less. I flew zero on Delta. And 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 2024 is also the same as it has been for a few years new. I will keep ignoring Delta until their flights and offerings seem relevant to me again. Meanwhile, my paltry 15k miles never expire. If/When I start earning points with them again I'll see if I can grow that balance into something useful.
