So now that the Thank You program has lost its zeal (up to an 18% return at gas, grocery and drugstores), it is time to make the next crediting decision.
I can apply for AA cards “til the cows come home” at 25K per pop. In fact, when I cancel some of my Thank You Point Citicards that I’ll no longer need, it opens up more AA cards for me before they get fussy with me.
And if I use my SPG card for spending, that is like 1.25 AA miles per $ when converting in chunks of 20K SPG for 25K AA miles. I’m at 1.2 million miles lifetime with AA and would like to reach lifetime platinum at 2 million. That seems easier to achieve than lifetime UA Premier Executive status as they only count actual flight miles and I’m at a measly 120K on the way to one million flight miles.
We have about $8,000 worth of UA vouchers or travel credits and another $2,550 uncommitted to an airline. I need to make that commitment before March 1st and I’m thinking maybe it is time to diversify again. I recommend it all the time, and it is probably time to put it into practice here.
If I dedicate that last voucher to American Airlines, it will give me free tickets for mileage runs and bonus miles promos that may come along. And as a lifetime gold, I’ll still be earning 4-500 mile stickers for every 10K of flying.
The United vouchers will take us to New Zealand in November or December of this year with money to spare. Unless there is another double elite qualifying miles promo again, I’ll probably drop to the premier executive level.
Humans are indeed creatures of habit. I walked up to pay for coffee Saturday morning and froze. Which card? Which card? I am in a habit of paying with my Premier Pass card for two TY Points, but it just didn’t seem right. The Starwood card? Starwood? I actually paid with cash. Don’t forsake me. I plead temporary insanity. The older I get, the harder it is to change.
In all seriousness, I will keep my Thank You Point cards that pay 5 points per dollar on certain categories of spend. My AT&T Universal Charter member card pays that on gas, groceries and drugs for the lifetime of the program. But there is no illusion now… A Thank You Point is worth 1 penny, period, end of sentence.
But that is the exciting thing about this hobby. It is constantly changing.
