The true power of miles and points is not in saving travelers money, but in offering them freedom. On a recent trip, we made a change in plans and decided on a whim to visit the Cayman Islands for practically nothing at all.
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Miles and Points Can Feel Restrictive
Airlines never seem to have the exact award we are looking to book. We held on to Business Extra awards for years to try and burn the points on a trip to the far east in business class. The cost (7200 Business Extra points for a saver award) was the same for a 16-hour flight to Hong Kong as a five-hour flight to Dublin, Ireland and it only made sense that we would want to maximize our experience and our value.
The long-haul Hong Kong awards just never opened up in advance for us… for more than three years. It never happened and we moved on, spending them instead on flights to Manchester, England.
It can feel like there is always a reason that you can’t use your miles or points, whether those restrictions are imposed by the airline (availability limitations) or self-imposed (desire to get maximum value). To a certain extent, this is true.
Value and Savings
It sounds ostentatious to say that we went to the Cayman Islands on a whim because most people associate travel with high costs. It can be expensive to fly to the Caribbean, especially in the winter. Generally, it’s expensive to fly either very close to the departure date or months in advance – how does a consumer win?
Some blogs post that they booked an $18,000 trip for $50 and 140,000 miles, that’s a little naughty to me. While it may be technically true that the tickets sell for that much in cash, it is unlikely that the same traveler using miles/points have actually saved $17,950. Rather, they have saved whatever they would have paid to take that trip out of pocket which is likely substantially less – and less attention-grabbing.
Miles and points definitely represent tremendous savings and value – but that’s not their superpower. Strategic buying, cashback credit cards can achieve some similar results.
Freedom
The ability to pick up and go on a whim without concern for costs is really what makes the collection of miles and points so special. In our case, we could have afforded to pay for a trip to the Cayman Islands when sunshine in Florida wasn’t quite enough, but we wouldn’t have spent the cash on it. When using points, the one area in our live’s for which we are genuine millionaires, our points give us the freedom to live our best lives when we otherwise wouldn’t want to spend the cash.
Miles and points give me the freedom to invite friends and family along on trips at a moment’s notice, to switch dates and times as they suit, or to celebrate leaving a job without spending any money on the trip.
Establishing a value for miles and points based on what you save (as I have traditionally done) is perhaps not enough. Maybe the same way that a Range Rover and a generously equipped Ford Explorer share the same traits, heated leather seats, four-wheel drive, remote start, etc. but there is a value to driving a Range Rover that a Ford doesn’t give you. Having the freedom to go anywhere, any time is far more valuable than getting 2-3% back on your spend.
What do you think? What is the most satisfying way that you have spent your miles and points? How have you exercised the freedom they deliver?
You have summed it up very well.
I am fortunate to have access to both a sizeable stash of miles/points, as well as travel benefits from my airline affiliation – and of course the ability to book tickets with cash too. An ideal trip involves some sort of mix of these – whichever makes the most sense for the specific itinerary you are looking at. This goes both for air tickets as well as hotels – sometimes the best deals are using points, and sometimes by using the airline staff discount rates.
Having access to the miles and points gives me the confidence that I can plan a trip to anywhere and afford it. And that is the priceless “freedom” you speak of.
Two words: Option Value. A mix of points gives you a TON of options.
I often distill this sentiment to the fact that I can be anywhere on the planet tomorrow.
For me the greatest value is in being able to do things that otherwise would never be possible. For example for our honeymoon I used Hilton points to get an overwater Bungalow at the former Waldorf Astoria in the Maldives. It was an amazing experience and one I never would have been able to afford without points.
Sometimes I use points to save money. But usually I try to use them to make an experience that would otherwise be out of reach possible.
@Stannis +1
Totally agree here. I’m just a package delivery and rideshare driver but I’ve been able to see 3 continents flying in premium cabins and staying in very nice hotels across the world and although that doesn’t always resonate with people I speak to outside the hobby (for instance while ride share driving) what always seems to connect with them is explaining I have the freedom and flexibility to book a ticket and be anywhere in the world within 36 hours and can likely make it cost less than a pair of shoes. That always seems to put it in perspective. Saving money is one thing, but having the power of flexibility and freedom is something that connects with seemingly everyone.