What are "Delta K"'s mentioned in this post? Sounds like a lot of delta points can be had from it given the above balance

I have to admit that I don't like the new success stories section. I don't see the point and I feel that modesty is more appropriate. I always feel uncomfortable reading these posts.

@Anon Yes they flow e-z but you have to work to use them (there are so many ways to earn Delta miles like the MR transfer 50% bonus and credit cards and flights using bump vouchers to buy one get one free with AMEX card etc etc). I do work and always fly from USA-Sweden 2-3x a year in low level biz for 100k per seat so I need a bunch of them.

Nice haul but folks tend to underestimate the cost of the miles they use. If you can't recover the miles you use for the same cost, then the true cost lies somewhere in-between. If you have an endless supply of miles then I might agree it only costs you what you paid to obtain them (assuming you add a cost for time and effort). Otherwise, opportunity cost must also be factored in. Would you assign an opportunity cost of zero to donate a kidney? You might do that if you had 20 kidneys to donate in a lifetime, but most of us only have 2, so assign a much higher cost to donating or losing one of them. In other words, the Chase BA 100K cost you more than just the annual fee and minimum spend.

I'm 16 months in, just in time to catch the original 100k BA offering. Between my wife and I, we now sit on:

DL: 350k
AA: 436k
BA: 75k
US: 71k
UA: 26k
CO: 102k
eCerts and vouchers of ~$1200

Amex MR: 75k
Capital One: 170k

SPG: 80k
Wyndham: 100k

And that doesn't count the bookings made for the rest of the year which include 8 domestic RT's, 6 SPG nights, and the equivalent of 530k of airline miles for a BIG trip this fall.

I suppose that puts at at somewhere around 2m-2.3m points earned in 16 months. Amazing. And we're finally putting them to real use now.

And then there's the folder of free car rentals, club passes, drink coupons, and stray programs like ThankYou and Expedia BRG coupons. It just goes on and on.

Our credit ratings are still excellent and the opportunities keep coming. I think an Amex Gold PR, Chase Sapphire, and another USAirways are coming up in the next week. Once I finish moving some cash around, we finally move onto Bank Direct and the Fidelity 50k offer too.

All said though, these totals are NOT for the faint heart. It's a part time job!

One thing I do that's probably different than most is to have a specific monthly travel budget that's set aside. It keeps me from overdoing cash-intensive things and gives me a place to pay for the occasional cost of doing business (e.g. Amex Plat annual fee). Without separating our hard costs, it'd be easy to see the free travel bringing on unexpectedly high incidental costs.

Thanks for everything you do Rick, Andrew, and Shannon!