Travel

What are points worth?

There is a lot of talk about “the value of points.” Sure, you can figure out the straight economics of points (for example, each Southwest point = $1.67 cents on Wanna Get Away Fares – or twice that if you have a SWACP), but quite frankly, I don’t pay much attention to the economics of points (funny enough, I was an econ major!). The reason is that points allow much more than just not outlaying cash. Even if the economics didn’t make sense because I could have found cheapish tickets to Mardi Gras, the fact that nspfiance and I could both travel from round-trip between Cleveland and New Orleans for $10 total made the 23-hour foray worth it – and thus we booked it. If flights were as low as $200 round-trip, would we have pulled the trigger? That’s a toss-up. And that trip, and experience, is hard to put a dollar-value on.

In addition, how would you value our trip to South America last fall, flying first-class on 5 segments, mostly international? Do you value it at the ~$6,000+ the flights themselves would have cost? Do you value it at the ~$1,800 it would have cost if we flew economy (given that we were taking the trip for a friend’s wedding regardless of price)? Or do you chalk it up that miles and points gave us an experience we won’t soon forget, allowing us to do things we otherwise would never have been able to do? That’s how I value miles & points.

Smoking a cigar and having a glass of wine sitting on the courtyard deck above is hard to put a value on

Last Wednesday afternoon I learned I needed to travel to St. Louis, quickly. Surprisingly, there are very few non-stop flights. There was one the following day that left at 7:30am, and luckily had Saver Award Availability. 10,000 Miles + $77.50 (due to United’s Close-In fee) and I was in St. Louis. I could have chosen to fly on United, Southwest, U.S Airways or American – all for miles alone if I had wanted/needed. This was a short-haul trip, so prices each way were in the $200-$300 range. But if I needed to go to Timbuktu, I could still have found a way to get there, essentially for free or for minimal costs.

That’s how I value my miles and points.

This coming up weekend nspfiance and I are heading to Tulum, Mexico for a good friend’s wedding. For the first time in a long time, this trip isn’t being booked with miles or points – like whoa! That doesn’t mean there isn’t some travel hacking going on, though. Moving to Cleveland last year, only a 2.5-hour drive away from the rents and ending a 3-year long-distance relationship (the distance part, not the relationship part) resulted in not attaining United Premier status for the first time in years. While no more complimentary upgrades is painful, the most pain comes from the lack of other benefits. Apparently airlines these days charge for checked baggage and don’t give everyone access to special security lines, how rude. Since I cancelled my United card in January to get approved for my Southwest card, I’m really treated like a pleb.

So, what’s the quickest way to get some of these benefits back? Aegean Airlines gives you a 1,000 mile signup bonus when you signup for their loyalty program, Miles and Bonus. I got in on a 2,000 bonus in November. The cool think about Aegean? After only 4,000 miles you gain Star Alliance Silver status. And that signup bonus, yep, it counts toward status. You might be thinking how or why a Greek airline might be beneficial to someone who, say, has never been to Greece and doesn’t have plans to do so for the foreseeable future.

That’s where the power of airline alliances comes in. US Airways flights can be credited to Aegean at a 100% rate. United does too on many fare types. So my 2,800 miles on United are going to my Aegean account, 100% on the way down and 50% on the way back. That totals 2,100 miles. Add that to my signup bonus and I’m a Star Alliance Silver member for only taking one round-trip flight. That gives me access to:

• Priority Reservations Waitlisting
• Priority Airport Standby
• Access to Premier Access Security Lanes at select airports
• Free Checked Baggage on select airlines

And now I have 12 months from March 3, 2013 to earn an additional 16,000 miles and earn Gold Status. Those benefits include:

• Priority Airport Check-in
• Airport Lounge Access
• Priority Boarding
• Extra Baggage Allowance
• Priority Baggage Handling
• Priority Reservations Waitlisting
• Priority Airport Standby
• Access to Premier Access Security Lanes at select airports

Meet-up in a *G Lounge anyone?