Airline Miles Rant

[Stmar]

Have you had "experiences" using Airline Miles? I had saved my United Miles and decided to use them. Well that was an experience, to use only miles and no cash I had to have an itinerary that took days or went through places like Newark. Now that would be thousands of miles out of our way. Ended up having to use miles plus cash, paid more in cash that we had in years.

 

[58Ford]

Used to travel A LOT. Miles are really only of benefit if you accumulate frequently because airlines/hotels/cars constantly devalue them. Throw in 2 years of Covid plus current reduced schedules and you quickly experience what you did.

Depending on your region and who flies you may get a better experience. EG. Alaska airlines has one of the best (if not the best - gets ranked annually) frequent flier plans. But they are a left coast based airline.

2 years ago half a million points got you Singapore airlines businesses class to Australia. Now a days we are spending 150k to go to CA and back - not guaranteed first either! I am at the point now that I encourage my SO to just use them. We are no longer accumulating them at a rate to keep up with the devaluation.

Congrats on your election results last night. . Had a similar result the week prior here.

 

[jimh406]

You could check to see if they have partner airlines. I save my miles for mostly emergency trips. There is no penalty in my plan for booking the day before, but paying the going rate would be a huge increase.

I have noticed that a trip to the same place can be drastically different in miles depending on the day/time, so it does pay to book early to get the lower number of miles used.

 

[Mark_BX25D]

I have noticed that a trip to the same place can be drastically different in miles depending on the day/time, so it does pay to book early to get the lower number of miles used.

Yep. There's a system there to learn, and systems can be gamed if you learn them.


But the deck is always stacked against you.

 

[Stmar]

Flying from our regional airports we have to be flexible and book way in advance, have always done that. The new norm is not user friendly.

 

[fried1765]

I stumbled upon this old thread about airline miles and I have to say, I feel your frustration. It's crazy how using miles can sometimes turn into a real headache, with limited availability and hidden fees.

I bought and paid for a different "airline miles" program, in a very different way than most, and it cost me a LOT ....up front.
My oldest son is a major airline "director", with unlimited confirmed F/C priviledges that extend to me.
At 82 though, I am a bit too old to enjoy extensive traveling.

 

[WFM]

Back in 2018 Discover had a Miles card. If you signed up for it and used it at the end of one year Discover would double your miles. Any late payments or not paying your balance monthly you lost the deal.
So in 2018 I used it for everything that took a card. Materals for my business and bread at the store. From someone who likes paying with cash a hard thing to get used to. But I did it. In one yr I charged and paid off $60,k , not one cent of interest paid. Discover doubled my miles two months after my twelve months ended. I bought three first class tickets to Alaska. I still use my card alot but flying is such a PIA I try not to now and just cash out the miles for cash at the end of the year.

 

[skeets]

I dont fly