What if that golden travel parachute turned into a pile of bricks, plunging your hopes of that perfect free trip to the ground? No one likes a buzz kill, but let me be the first to tell you that your points and miles will never be worth more than they are today, in fact, they almost certainly will become worth less. No, not worthless, but worth less, yes. Here’s the best strategy to limit the damage…
Set Goals, Earn And Burn…
I get a much bigger kick out of my mileage balances than my bank balances, so it’s hard to part ways with a large sum, just after building it up. You should though. I meticulously set goals for my miles, and collect miles from certain programs or airlines to fulfill those goals. Once I’ve reached the target, I cash out while the going is good and on to the next target, the next set of miles…
Hedge Your Losses With Transferrable Points
I love getting miles for actually flying, it feels like a bonus, but I certainly don’t rely on it for a majority of my mileage earning. I highly recommend taking advantage of the competitive banking world to secure great credit card bonuses, chock full of miles. Within that advice, I strongly advise you to seek programs which allow you to transfer your points and miles to many different airlines, not just one. Amex, Citi and Chase each offer programs where you can transfer to a number of different airlines, finding the best option, avoiding devaluations.
Diversify Your Points, Miles and Rewards…
Sometimes we’re forced to stay at different hotels or fly on other airlines. Don’t grumble, start a nice stash with a competing airline alliance, hotel chain or other program. I recommend picking one airline in each of the three major airline alliances, allowing you to diversify in a way which allows you to accumulate serious amounts, rather than many little amounts.
