For me, traveling is about meeting people, getting to know life, and seeing the world from other perspectives.
Growing up as an only child in the San Francisco Bay area, my parents instilled in me a strong love for travel, taking me along on journeys to the Bahamas, Greece, Hawaii, New England and Spain, among other destinations. Our approach was fairly basic: Find the least expensive airline, book a cheap, clean hotel in a convenient location or snag the most affordable package on a cruise line we liked. Loyalty programs didn’t figure into the equation.
However, in recent years, loyalty systems have become central to my strategy. Here’s why and what I’ve learned along the way.
When I was a kid, my parents’ careers allowed them to have relaxed summers, so we would occasionally spend weeks or even months traveling, which solidified my lifelong love of traveling. Although we sometimes sought to see everything imaginable without breaking our budget, we also traveled to see family.
While I was helping to plan a vacation to New York to see my cousin Chloe, who is like a big sister to me, a light bulb went off. I could help my friends and family better plan their vacation by installing an agent. Yes, at the age of thirteen I became an agent with the help of my mother (she started the company and I planned the vacation). Eventually, I saved enough cash to buy a car. But most importantly, I tried to be informed as much as I could about airlines, hotels, and cruises so that I could better help people. . . and improve myself.
I’m not saying everyone deserves to start their own agency, but becoming a true professional proved how central it would be to my life and career.
As I learned the ins and outs, I started taking business trips with hotel layovers on my own and even earned United Airlines’ Premier 1K prestige in 2015 (a much less difficult task at the time).
I started traveling more to New York to see my cousin, thanks to the availability of discounted one-way flights for 12,500 MileagePlus miles on peak dates, and the ability to verify a seat in advance with Premier Regional Upgrades (since replaced via PlusPoints). . . These trips have shown how vital loyalty systems can be, not only for the benefits you enjoy, but also for the travel opportunities that emissions and miles can open up.
My decision to attend American University in Washington, D. C. she was heavily influenced by the opportunity to study abroad in the nation’s capital, but I wouldn’t say that the fact that Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) is a hub for United didn’t play a role. a role in my choice.
Related: The Secret to United’s Best Preserved Elite Status: How to Earn PQP Faster with Partner Flights
At this point, I still didn’t have the credit history to open the transferable premium credit cards that TPG workers love. So I stayed fiercely unwavering at United Airlines, where I thought I could continue to earn maximum miles, and I used that to my advantage.
Thanks to United RewardsPlus’ partnership with Marriott, I earned Gold prestige in Marriott Rewards. When Marriott Bonvoy was established in 2018 after integration with Starwood Preferred Guest, my Gold club ascended to Platinum Elite Bonvoy prestige for a few months.
That’s when I added a hotel component to my problem strategy. And they gave me a little bit of cunning.
I used Marriott’s policy of earning emissions for up to three rooms at family gatherings. This way, I can accumulate emissions from all of our reserves and then use them for my family’s long-term travel. I also obtained bonus issuances on organization rates contracts of 10 or more rooms through my agency. All of this allowed me to achieve Marriott Bonvoy Ambassador Elite status.
Some of those things were convenient for a trip to India with my girlfriend from school, where we were able to stay in different hotels for less than 10,000 hours a night, further lengthening our time on the floor. This was just another ejemplo. de how dots can open up the world.
It also taught me why it’s vital to have a coherent strategy. Sure, you can do it in an airline or a hospitality program, but thinking about how to combine your efforts and magnify them through partnerships has been transformative for me.
As was thinking creatively about how to rack up points across multiple programs.
Shortly after returning from India, the COVID-19 pandemic forced students out of their dormitories. Like many others, I had to transfer to remote categories, but I missed the commitment of in-person categories and being with friends. Closed and apartment rentals with 12-month contracts were viable for me and many other academics, given the uncertainty of the pandemic.
Instead, I developed a plan to negotiate preferential rates for scholars across the country at extended-stay hotels, and earned issuances and commissions on reservations.
When my student housing project concluded, I had established business partnerships with 21 Marriott, Hilton and Hyatt properties, referring a total of 450 students and earning 4 million Hilton points (worth $24,000 at TPG’s valuations), 5 million Marriott points (worth $42,000) and 1 million Hyatt points (worth $17,000).
It now had 10 million issues across 3 major loyalty programs: Marriott Bonvoy, Hilton Honors, and World of Hyatt and had achieved the elite prestige trio: Marriott Ambassador Elite, Hilton Honors Diamond, and Hyatt Globalist prestigeArray.
But as rich as I was in topics, I know that loyalty systems can be replaced at any time, so I once again resorted to a strategy we proposed to TPG readers on a basis: diversify into transferable topics.
Related: Six Reasons Why I Love My World of Hyatt Card and Plan to Keep It for the Long Term
When I joined TPG in January 2022, I had all those hotel issues that I could use to explore the world with friends, and I’ve spent the last two years doing just that. But those trips also taught me that transferable emissions are the best currency to leverage your travels and your loyalty rather than funneling all of your emissions into a single hotel or airline program. Doing this can overexpose your balances to the effect of devaluations.
For example, earlier this year, United Airlines increased its award fares by up to 122% without warning, and Alaska Airlines increased its Japan Airlines award fares by as much as 100 percent (also without warning).
Transferable rewards offer more diversification and flexibility when it comes to affordable travel. With Chase Ultimate Rewards issuances, for example, you can move emissions to partner airlines and hotel systems at your discretion, opting for the one with the most productive redemption rates for a specific trip. You can also redeem those issues directly through Chase Travel at a rate of 1 to 1. 5 cents per point, depending on the card you have.
All that flexibility means you can stretch your points even further for the trips you want rather than relying on award availability with one frequent-flyer or hotel program, and being subject to any changes they might make to redemptions.
After years of watching United make negative adjustments to its MileagePlus program, I made the decision to shift my loyalty to American Airlines to see how well I can maximize AAdvantage’s prestige. Not only was I able to achieve top-tier Executive Platinum status with American Airlines and gain valuable benefits such as system-wide upgrades, but I also enjoyed the reasonable award tickets I was able to book electronically using AAdvantage’s dynamic pricing, such as redeeming only 6,000 AAdvantage Miles for a one-way flight from Hollywood Burbank Airport (BUR) to Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) via Phoenix International Airport Sky Harbor (PHX), which otherwise would have charged $300.
However, I probably can’t stay Executive Platinum, so my new strategy is to qualify for United Premier Gold and AAdvantage Platinum Pro. This way, I can earn miles with any of the airlines, enjoy decent prestige benefits on the airlines and continue to use transferable issue credit cards for my expenses.
That’s what I propose to readers: prioritize redeemable miles over elite prestige. While prestige can be a great benefit, award miles can lead to award travel, which deserves to remain the purpose of travelers.
As far as the hotel was concerned, I was disappointed with the limited additional benefits at the Marriott Ambassador Elite level, so I began to focus on achieving Hyatt Globalist status. This will include exceptional Elite breakfasts, a hotel fee waiver on eligible rates, and free parking on awards. corset.
The other explanation I’m focusing on World of Hyatt is that it’s still the only major hotel chain that publishes rewards charts instead of dynamic pricing, and you can still get great prices with redemptions in its other categories.
Related: Here’s Why Venture X and Amex Gold Are the Only Two Cards in My Wallet
Travel has played a fundamental role in my life. They have given me an exclusive attitude in the world through opportunities to be informed non-stop. None of this would have been imaginable without the troubles or the miles, which also gave me the opportunity to continue to inform and grow, both as a traveler and as a person.
And while I’ve already learned a lot about loyalty programs in the decade or so that I’ve been intrigued by them, there’s still so much more to know … and more travel opportunities that I’m sure they’ll open up.
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