Tagging Miles

Editorial: Paid time off is there for you to use it!

By 5 Comments





I included in the weekly a post from Mike, writing for One Mile at a Time, about vacation time in the US. Folks commented on that post, that it was “off topic,” I would argue quite the opposite. Lucky and his team, as well as many of us in the mile and point blogosphere, talk so much about making dreams realities (e.g. aspirational award flights to places like Bali, the Maldives, etc.), that to ignore the harsh realities of limited time off, seems like a mistake. Further to that points, I’ve had numerous conversations over the past few days with folks who either:

  • Don’t get enough time off
  • Don’t feel they can take time off
  • Feel that the world will stop rotating on its axis, if they were to go on vacation.

I can’t fix any of these problems, but, it occurs to me that some of these are very real concerns, and worth taking the time to offer what could be a controversial post. Before I start, I just want to say – I never sit down to write with the intent of offending folks. But to the same point, I think folks appreciate candid opinions. Here’s my offering:

Folks who don’t get enough time off

This I think is a huge issue, especially in the United States. My first full time (read: non-seasonal) job gave me a whopping 5 days of vacation a year. 5 whole days! It rubbed me the wrong way, even back then, and the only reason I had that job, was because I was in grad school. I quickly learned, after I finished my MBA, that you have to negotiate, and before you can negotiate, you have to figure out your priorities. I’ve actually turned jobs down, because I didn’t feel the work/life balance was in line with my goals. I realize that not every one can do this, but I would encourage anyone who can, consider your priorities, and if vacation time is one of them, and the offer is not enough, share, in a non-threatening way, that you were “hoping for a little more.” That is advice that one of my mentors shared with me ages ago, and it has never failed. It goes back to the idea – if you don’t ask, you don’t know.

Folks who don’t feel they can take time off

This kind’ve falls into two types of folks (I think): (1) Folks who the boss doesn’t want to let take off, and (2) Folks who feel they can’t delegate. I can’t help the first, but I can offer, from my experience, at least, that if you really want to, you can find the right talent, and mentor them to the point where you can delegate. You might not be able to do this overnight, but, the key is building trust and communication.

Folks who feel that the world will stop rotating on its axis, if they were to go on vacation

This one is pretty hard. I dare say there is no one that should fall into this position (reference previous point). Even the President of the United States takes a 2 week vacation around Christmas. First: The world will not stop, if it does, send me the bill. If you’ve got a small business, then yes, you need to lay the groundwork to be able to take vacation. I know many small business owners who still make the time to go on vacation. I totally get it, you’ve put blood, sweat, and tears into an amazing business, it is hard to break away for a week on the beach, in the woods, or on the ski slopes. But hopefully once you do lay the foundation, you’ll be able to find a balance.

Conclusion

Paid time off is truly key. Vacations are also important, not just because I write about miles and points, but rather, because work/life balance matters. Local to me, Ocean City Maryland talks about a different problem, wasting days off. I’m not sure I’d agree that a day off is “wasted,” but the commercial is pretty funny.

And to finish off – I thought I’d share a photo of Indy (#IndyDog), imitating me, whenever my wife says “hey, wanna fly somewhere?”

Fly? Plane? I'm in!

Fly? Plane? I’m in!

 

 

Gestures of Goodwill aren’t just to be received – Be sure to show your Gratitude too

By 2 Comments

Recently, I shared some tips for requesting a Gesture of Goodwill, and many folks shared their experiences which was awesome. I think it’s a great story when an airline stands by their promise to deliver you from point a to point b, in a particular level of service.

I thought today, as I shared via twitter, some great advice from John Walton and Gary Leff (see below), that I’d expand on that.

Travel Advice

Gestures of Gratitude Go Both ways

Obviously airlines are more apt to share a gesture of goodwill or gratitude. I use the two interchangeably, maybe I shouldn’t, but I do. I say that because goodwill and gratitude, to me, imply the similar emotions. Not the same, but similar. But let me cut to the chase.

Whenever I travel on a long-haul flight. Whether its on revenue or award travel, regardless of airline, I make it a point to pick up something to give to the flight crew. Most often, it is something I can find locally, whether I’m starting out in Maryland (and looking at Salt Water Taffy), or overseas (where chocolate might be an option, or Tim Tams if starting in Australia). I try to give it to the purser or the individual that looks like they are the lead in the particular cabin I’m flying in. I do this primarily because these folks are working, in some cases, long hours, and while chocolates, or taffy, or tim tams are not much, they might represent just that little bit that could brighten their day.

When it really comes down to it, these folks are working hard while we’re “playing” or at the very least relaxing. Before I started doing this, I experienced many times when cabin crew went above and beyond. I remember dozing off on a Lufthansa flight once, and waking up just about tucked in. Now a days, I try to do what I can to show my appreciation for the crew before we even depart. Let me be clear though, I don’t do this with any expectations, and neither should you.

Wrapping Up

For those of you who don’t fly often, I would encourage you even more. For those of you who do fly, I would assume that you probably already do this to some extent. But I think we all have to remember, most often when we fly, we don’t have to be “on”, whereas the crew are always “on”, even when they are in crew rest, I suspect it is hard to turn off. And they are “on” for our safety, and to a lesser extent to provide a great passenger experience. I think those reasons alone, are enough to show them a small token of our appreciation. And that’s not even considering irregular operations, whether they be delays due to weather or mechanical. Remember, what you as a traveler experience, is likely experienced by the crew as well.

Things that stood out to me from #FT4RL

By Leave a Comment

This past weekend’s #FT4RL was a great way to spend it. I learned a great deal, and met a lot of great folks. I already shared some initial thoughts. But I thought I’d share some more, and hopefully give you a few laughs.

  • Dan, who writes Points with a Crew, travels completely differently than I do. But, despite that, he still has gotten the occasional two floor hotel suite!
  • Kenny found this great tutorial on how to leverage Kohls:

  • Jeff’s dog may have had a credit score. He also pleaded rationality:

If you’re trying to book 8 award tickets in first class to Sydney over Christmas: just STOP.

  • Haley blew all of our minds with Disney insight. There were times that I felt like I was in a tactical briefing.
  • Richard reminded us all, that while we often consider “hoarding” information, for fear of the deal dying, or not getting that Cathay First Class award seat, not everyone knows that this game really exists. He also created this great video introduction:

Oh, and he flew in all the way from Japan. That’s commitment!

  • Of course, Dia MCed the whole thing quiet awesomely, and chimed in with a few great tips and tidbits!

At the end of the day though, the greatest value of these events are the networking. Seeing old friends, making new ones, sharing tips and tricks, and travel stories.

Announcing the next Maryland Meetup!

By 17 Comments

Jailbreak 1

Usually I (and others far more efficient than I) work these meet-ups in the Saverocity Forums, however I thought I’d put it out on the blog to get greater interest.

The next Maryland Meetup will be:

Thursday, November 12. Starting around 6pm, going till whenever!

Jail Break Brewing Company
Suite F, 9445 Washington Blvd N, Laurel, MD 20723
(443) 345-9699

Please either join the conversation in the Saverocity Forums, or comment here, and I’ll coordinate a reserved space for us all.

As I’ve commented about conferences (like most recently the FT4RL), networking is key to really maximizing the miles and points game.

So will you make it?

Thoughts after an amazing Family Travel for Real Life #FT4RL

By 2 Comments

FT4RL

This past weekend, I had the privilege to speak at Dia’s 3rd Family Travel for Real Life #FT4RL conference.

I will be upfront. My wife and I are DINKS, Double Income, No Kids. But we still have Family!
I shared the below graphic in my presentation, partnered with Kenny, of travel that we were able to facilitate, because my wife and I play the miles game.
Family Travel
The red lines, were travel we were able to help facilitate for my mother in law (including a round the world trip with us, where we climbed the Great Wall ). The gold lines are those that my parents enjoyed. They like cruising, so for them, it was more about being in a particular port city at the right time. The blue lines is an upcoming trip to the Christmas markets, which was so nice last year, I’m taking my brother and father this year.
For my wife and I, it is huge, for us to be able to share travel with our family. My parents took my brother and I on more trips than I could ever document, in fact, after my brother (who’s 7.5 years older than me, and yes, I break it down by the half year, because, I’m that guy), moved to college and onward in his life, my parents still took me on cool trips. Heck, I have some of my fondest memories traveling to revolutionary war sites in Virginia and North Carolina, and attempting to sleep in the back of our Ford Explorer on trips from New England (no lay flats there unfortunately). They took me to many more places, but that’s not my point.

My point, rather, is giving back.

As someone who is not a parent, I can only guess what goes through a parents mind, when they try to show their kids the world. I mean, Kenny, shared in our presentation that his goal is to show his kids as much of the world as possible. I can understand the sentiment, and based on what my parents did for me, I totally get it.
I would argue, that same feeling is just as real for any child. Again, not speaking as a parent, but speaking as a child who has parents, there is a statement that I think any parent believes: They (the parent) want their child to live in a world better than they did. Further, they (the parent), want their child to be better off than they were. This is completely logical, and truly noble.
But as a child, I feel like it would be absolutely huge, to be able to facilitate travel, or experiences, for my parents, that they wouldn’t otherwise have. It’s kind’ve poetic. Parents want more for their kids. But kids want to do the same for their parents. I want to spoil my parents. I want to do that despite the fact that I was not an easy child. Hopefully, that means that fewer people learn just how difficult of a child I was, but, lets be honest, I’m doing this more for my parents, and not because I want to silence them. If anything, my parents taught me to grab the Brass Ring, and I’d love to be able to facilitate them getting some more Brass Rings, too.
And really, attempting to get back to brass tacks. Travel is so much more meaningful when it is shared. I’ll fly 159,000 butt in seat miles, this year. There are some trips that I’ll do that will be truly meaningful. Examples include:
– Bali for my wife’s birthday
– The Christmas Markets with my father and brother
There are others, but, this post is really to point out that, there is so much opportunity for travel out there, and that while many of us traveled in different ways 20-30 years ago, there are new ways to travel. Even better, we should be sharing those new ways of travel with the folks that sacrificed so much so that we could see the country, see the world, and grow up to meaningful participants in society–aka our family.

Wrapping Up

Dia is awesome, and she truly put on an amazing event with FT4RL3. I am truly appreciative to attend and present, despite not having kids myself. But FT4RL reminded me of why I play in the travel game. It is because not only do I want to see the world, but I want to share the world with others. My wife enjoys it for the most part, but, really she has to deal with me for the most part. But I’ve been able to share the world with my parents, my mother in law, my brother–reference Christmas Markets trip–and my wife and I are still looking to drag my father in law on a trip somewhere.
If anything, I want to stress. Family is important, and not just the family you live with. Miles and points offer a lot of opportunities to do things that normally would be impossible. So what do I say? Leverage them! Whisk your loved ones away on whirlwind trips (if they are ok with that, otherwise, it could be awkward), and make dreams come true. Why? Because Miles and Points really can make some dreams come true. Besides, if you have a too many points (if that’s possible), travel is a great gift.
I’ve got a couple of more things I want to share from FT4RL, so I’ll put together another post or two on them, but if you want the play by play, Dan, who writes Points with a Crew live-blogged it. I have to say, while I was speaking, he seemed engaged, so I have no idea how he managed to do it, but, worth a read!

How do you value your miles and points?

By 8 Comments

This is perhaps a rhetorical question. After all, miles and points are currencies, but they are very finicky currencies. Meaning, their value can change at the whim of an airline or bank. In fact, some currencies, such as the transferable Ultimate Rewards Points, Membership Rewards, Thank-You Points, and even Starwood Preferred Guest, are all at risk from being “devalued” by an airline or hotel chain, that they effectively have no control over.

Why now?

The real reason that I felt compelled to confront such a polarizing issue is because I happened to be reading this post from Gary Leff. He talks about paying any bill with Plastiq, a system that will allow you to pay a wide variety of bills, with a credit card. Briefly, the deal is specifically for new folks signing up, and  for a limited time, getting 1.99% for payments made with an American Express or a MasterCard. See graphic below:
Plastiq Limited Time Offer Rate (Courtesy of (I hope!) View From the Wing).

Plastiq Limited Time Offer Rate (Courtesy of (I hope!) View From the Wing).

While it probably doesn’t make a whole lot of difference, it looks to me, like the links are “pretty links” affiliated with View from the Wing, Gary’s blog. I’ve seen others including Frequent Miler, and it appears his link is similarly specific to him. I don’t see this as a problem, just something to be aware of. Now is Plastiq a bad thing? No, it provides an avenue for paying bills with credit cards at a potential gain (even if you use a 2% cash back card you’re getting .01% more than you’re paying, but that may be in the rounding).
How to value?

There are a handful of ways you could value points, to keep things simple, here are the ones I’m considering for this post:

  • Cost of Acquisition
  • Redemption value
  • Fair Trading Price (Courtesy of Frequent Miler)
  • Flat rate
  • Voodoo Math

Cost of Acquisition

This is easy, and does not incorporate the opportunity cost of assuming 2% as the base. It is as simple as taking your cost of acquisition, divided by the number of miles that you are accumulating. Example, you spend $206.95 for a Visa Gift Card from Staples with your Ink Plus, and load $200 onto your RedBird, then you’ve paid $6.95 for 1,000 UR points, or $0.00695 per point.

The skeptics of you may highlight the fact that I wrote about this in the past.

Redemption Value

This is easy as well, imagine you have just booked an Emirates First Class flight with 100,000 Alaska Miles. Let’s say the market cost of that flight is $13,343.80.
EK F Flight
So that ultimately means that your Alaska miles are worth $0.133 per mile. Wow, that’s quite the value!
Frequent Miler came up with this, and it took not one, but two posts explaining it. I’m not saying that it is that hard to understand, I’m merely saying it is a pretty complicated approach. The easiest way to describe it is, that this is the lowest, straightforward, repeatable prices for buying points. Ok, I’ll be honest, I love repeatable processes. In fact, I really appreciate the approach. That said, I still have a hard time understanding Fair Trading Prices. I understand the concept as it incorporates a ton of components, including annual fees, the cost of buying the points, and category bonuses. I’m sure Frequent Miler would include more if he could quantify it. That said, you don’t have to do the math, you can just leverage Frequent Miler’s Fair Trading Prices.

Flat Rate

The easiest of all: 1 point equal 1 cent. Simple as that. If you have a 2x card, then you’re getting 2 cents per dollar, or 2%.

Voodoo Math

I call this Voodoo Math, because it includes a variety of factors, and I’m not entirely certain that I even know all of them. For example, One Mile at a Time’s Points Valuations don’t really include any notes, so its hard to figure out how he comes to these numbers. The Points Guy offers his valuations monthly (and for once, I agree with him, because these things do change quickly). Gary perhaps offers the most clear justification and background discussion of points values, but nonetheless offers his own. I wish I could find others, but the fact is, when I read valuations like this, I think a couple things:

  • These generally incorporate logical benefits like SPG’s 25% benefit when transferring to other programs (like American Airlines)
  • These can be further bolstered to justify annual fees, or otherwise market credit cards.
  • These can also incorporate personal biases, e.g. I really want to fly Korean Air First so Ultimate Rewards points are more valuable now.

Now I realize my second point is harsh, but why else would you attribute a value to points, other than perhaps a Fair Trading Price? Because you want to show that one particular credit card is better than another, and it is worth a hard pull. Don’t get me wrong, I apply for a bunch of credit cards each year, however I just have to be skeptical, and would advise others to be skeptical. Let’s circle back to Gary’s post:

As long as you’re using the Everyday Preferred card at least 30 times a month for purchases, it’ll earn at least 1.5 points per dollar on all of your spend. And I value Membership Rewards points at 1.8 cents apiece. So each dollar spent on the card, earning 1.5 points, gets you a 2.7% rate of return.. and a cost through this service of 1.99%. Profit. – Excerpt from View from the Wing

Here’s my concern: Gary is attributing a value, a value of 1.8 cents per Membership Rewards point, and thus asserting that even paying 1.99% you can generate a profit. In all fairness, he offers his logic in the underlined section, but I still have difficulty with the word profit, given how quickly miles and points can change in value.

I too even use Voodoo Math for my personal valuations when I make the quick determination of which card to use for a particular transaction, although that’s more because of that third bullet, based on which particular award I see myself doing next.

The biggest challenge I see with the voodoo math approach is the fact that today I might think UR points are more valuable than say Membership Rewards, however, tomorrow Korean Air or United might devalue their program, leading me to have accumulated all of these UR points for a goal line that has effectively moved another 10 yards, or to another zip code (e.g. United increasing awards by nearly 2x in some cases…there’s a multiplier that I don’t like).

Wrapping Up

There are tons of ways to value your points. Is one way better than another? I can’t say, but, the real point is, to be conscious of how others value their points, and how you value your points, so that everyone can speak the same language.

How do you value your miles and points?

The most important message from the Freddie Awards

By 3 Comments

This past Thursday I had the chance to attend the Freddie Awards. For a little background, the Freddie Awards, named after Sir Freddie Laker, the founder of Laker Air, Britain’s first all-jet air carrier (way back in 1966). Randy Peterson (who we all know, is the Godfather of miles and points), named the awards, which award the most rewarding Frequent Traveler programs, as voted by frequent travelers, after Sir Freddie because he was a pioneer market in the travel industry.

INDY 2015 098

Sir Freddie, borrowed from http://freddieawards.com/

For me, attending is most important for the people you meet and have the chance to connect with. I am very thankful to have had the chance to meet a number of folks, notably Michael, Jeanne, (others), and reconnect with many friends.

But even more than that, I did something I occasionally do–I took a risk–, I asked my friend Barb, whether there was any chance I might be able to say hello to a titan in the frequent traveler industry,  Ms. Suzanne Rubin, VP for American AAdvantage-who won–rightly so–one of the most coveted Freddies–Best Airline Elite Program–, I might add.

INDY 2015 231

I wanted to say hello to her, but more importantly, I wanted to thank her because, I think she, and the AAdvantage team, is doing an amazing job. While Delta Skymiles is innovating in a bad way, and United MileagePlus is largely following Delta’s lead, Ms. Rubin and the AAdvantage team are innovating in a different way. They are sticking to mileage earning, yet rewarding premium flyers with more redeemable miles and more Elite Qualifying Points (EQPs). The two things that really matter to many frequent travelers.

Really what Ms. Rubin and American Airlines is saying, is, we really appreciate all of our flyers, and we want to show our appreciation for those that buy premium fares just a little bit more.

I personally appreciate this approach. I had been a United 1K flyer until the end of 2013, but chose to move my business to American, when United told me in no uncertain terms, that if I don’t spend $10,000 in their terms, I’m not important. In 2014, I spend more than I had planned on flying, and between my wife and I, we well exceeded what United said was meaningful. And that primarily went to American, because they demonstrated that they valued us, not just for the money we spent, but for our loyalty.

Cut to this year, where my (and my wife’s) goal is to retain Executive Platinum status via EQPs, and I’ll admit, half of my flying will have been on partners, such as Qatar Airways (but that mileage run was for the ages!), but I can tell you: with Americans latest promotions, I’m doing everything I can, to fly American metal for my next 50k EQPs, because the message they are sending is clear. Reward loyal flyers, and reward loyal premium flyers more. As Gary Leff says, I am not my fare, and I appreciate that American realizes that there is more than just a transactional relationship, and I think you should consider the value of that too. Because if enough of us stand up and support those folks–those airlines–that are doing right by us, maybe they will stick with the mileage earning approach, rather than moving to revenue-centric models. Call me idealistic, but I believe there are good people out there, and I strongly believe that good people, doing good business, will win the day.

Why I’m a fan of Qatar Airways

By 5 Comments

P1000217

Many who know me, know that I’m a big fan of Qatar Airways. In fact, nearly half of my American Airlines Executive Platinum status is going to be earned on Qatar Airways this year.

  • So why am I big fan:
    • Layflat seats: I haven’t flown a single flight without layflat seats. I hear Qatar flies planes with angled layflats or worse, but I’ve been lucky.
    • Exhaustive food options. I’m flying Doha to Washington-Dulles as I write this,  and I’ve just had the best gnocchi that I think I’ve ever had.
      CAIRO 1 2015 927

      Gnocchi

      • a corollary to that: other than the 5 course meals, their tea in excellent.
    • Lounge: I *really* enjoyed the old premium terminal. In fact I prefer it compared to the new terminal and lounge. Of course this might be because I liked the chicken Sandwiches more than the Krug I can get now.
      Chicken Sandwich at Qatar's old Premier Terminal

      Chicken Sandwich at Qatar’s old Premier Terminal

      • That said, the batenders at the current lounge had only a third of a bottle of Krug left (not sure why) and held it for me. To the point where one of the bartenders asked my permission to pour a glass of Krug for a new friend.
    • New mattress pads, even on old 777-300ERs! That said, they are hard to do yourself. I asked the crew to set mine up, which was wonderful.  For reasons I can’t fathom and won’t speculate on, my wife didn’t ask. So, you can imagine who was helping.
      Qatar Bed

      Qatar Bed

    • They give you pajamas in business class! I mean who else does that (other than Qantas and Eva Air)?
      Pajamas

      Pajamas

  • Some of the things I think Qatar could still improve on:
    • Remote gates: we flew from Cairo to Doha on 777-300ER, with 250 or more passengers yet we were bused from a remote gate. I thought the whole point of the new airport was to have enough gates – what is this? Another Heathrow or Frankfurt?
    • Boarding practices: if there is one thing that I hate, it is Qatar‘s boarding practices.  I’ve left far too many lounges just to sit on a bus or stand in line when they post “last call” 40 minutes before departure.
    • Pajamas: ok, this is a total first world problem, but when I put the Qatar PJ’s on I at once feel like Captain Kirk. The tapered leg of the bottoms and the tunic (yeah, thats what I’m going to call it), feel so Star Trekish.
    • Qatar‘s Onyx entertainment is awesome on the 787, and I hear on the A380 and A350, but the selection kind’ve sucks on the 777. Unlike some, I seldom load movies on my iPad so my most recent trip, I slept and read. Two wonderful activities nonetheless.

To wrap up, flyer Qatar Airways in my humble opinion is good to great.  It’s business class, so I think you need to set your expectations.

The Emirates’ A380 Shower Spa I never expected

By 15 Comments

(Note: I’m traveling this week and next so posts may be sparser than normal)

Introduction

Flying the Emirates A380 in First Class was one of my bucket list items. A colleague and friend of mine jokes that all I do is chase metal (airplanes), but this Emirates A380 flight was different, for two reasons. The first I knew before. It had a Shower Spa, allowing First Class passengers to shower at 40,000 feet. The second reason I wouldn’t learn until I was onboard the aircraft and more than halfway to Dubai.

The Second Reason

About 5 hours out of Dubai, I started to feel bad. I won’t go into the details, but I was feeling tightness of throat, and some other symptoms. First I went to the shower spa, which doubles as a bathroom for the first class cabin. Then I decided maybe I should head to the lounge in the stern of the upper deck. A sprite later, I returned to my seat and woke my wife (who’s especially patient with me). At this point, my symptoms were worsening and increasing. We both started to get concerned and one of the crew noticed and brought some cold towels. A few minutes later, another member of the crew offered have us sit in the shower spa to see if that helped. It was out of the main view of the other passengers, and my condition felt like it was deteriorating, so I took them up on the option.

Within a few minutes, that shower spa which has a sign for maximum occupancy of 2 passengers had 5 individuals in it. My wife, myself, and three crew members who were absolutely amazing. Within minutes they had a medical device out to gauge my blood pressure and pulse. I was overheating at this point, and my wife aptly commented that I was looking flush. I happened to look into the mirror after a few minutes on oxygen and I mentioned that my face was on purplish side – the comment was meant to relax the situation a bit, I’m not sure if it hit the mark.

The crew were able to communicate with medical professionals on the ground which gauged this as a likely allergic reaction. I think we all came to that conclusion between tightness of throat, difficulty breathing and a developing rash on my arm. After a few minutes of oxygen and more tightness in my throat, the crew asked if there was a medical professional onboard. Luckily there was. A few minutes later she administered an “Epi-Pen” (my first experience with that, as well as everything else that had transpired). Another 20 minutes between the oxygen and the effects of the Epi-Pen and I was starting to feel better. Even as I write this, my hands are shaking. I’m not sure if it is because of the experience, or because of the epinephrine, but I’ll accept either reason.

Back to my reason for wanting to take this flight in the first place

I did still get the chance to take a shower at 40,000 feet. Still shaky in the shower, it was an experience I hadn’t really expected. Refreshing, but really, what I will remember most of my experience in the shower spa is humbling. That said – shower at 40,000 foot experience if taken separate from everything else that happened, was really quite well done – not cramped like you might expect (and have experienced on boats).

Shower Spa I spent way more time in than I expected to.

Shower Spa I spent way more time in than I expected to.

Conclusion

First and foremost, I have to express (and will in a separate letter to Emirates) for some members of the crew that were there and on the top of their game. Danielle, Thomas, Robert, Millicent, and Catherine really could not have been better in this situation.

I cannot gauge how bad I was. I know I was concerned, I know everyone else in the shower spa was concerned, but I suppose we wouldn’t have been there if we weren’t. I’ve flown over half a million miles in the last 5 or so years (I’ve never actually calculated it), I’ve been onboard when the crew calls for a doctor. I’ve never been the one that the crew was calling because, until now. But I couldn’t be more grateful for the team that jumped into action to help, including the doctor that happened to be on the flight. I think that we often forget that airline crews undergo significant training for these and many other scenarios. They are not just onboard to serve us a meal and beverages. These are skilled professionals that when necessary can and do jump into action.

Airline Awards, Irrational desires, and sunk costs

By 4 Comments

Introduction

Last November, my wife and I had this crazy idea. We wanted to take my mother in law on a trip to Asia on miles and share with her what we truly enjoyed in this miles and points game. We had previously taken her to Argentina and Uruguay for a long weekend (although that was on revenue, each paying their share), and thought she’d appreciate the chance. Well, she jumped at the opportunity, and through some negotiation, we initially decided that we would fly to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and back, with enough time that if we wanted to nest another itinerary we could.

United Airlines Award Itinerary

Original Itinerary

Well that trip was originally scheduled to be this past March. For reasons I’ll not go into, we had to push that out to November. In the process, I lost what was one of my “bucket list airline products.” ANA Square Class on the ANA 777-300ER (my favorite aircraft type). We instead chose to fly roundtrip over the pacific on Eva Air’s 777-300ER (see a trend?) in Business.

United Airlines Award Itinerary primarily on EVA Air

Original November Itinerary

Cut to today

We had decided we needed a change. I didn’t want to fly domestic from Seattle back to Washington, DC, and we have been moving away from a strong desire to visit Malaysia. Nothing against Malaysia, it just has dropped lower on our bucket list. Contributing to that, my mother in law expressed an interest in seeing the Great Wall and my wife and I have Chinese visas until early January. Things were really starting to sound like this modification was made to be.

Even more so, as we were talking to Kim, the United customer service agent, who was about as patient and amazing as one could ask for (especially with me no longer having 1K status). It took about an hour, but we finally had the itinerary mapped out.

United Award Itinerary, including ANA 777-300ER, Air China 777-300ER, and Lufthansa 747-8i

Updated November Itinerary

The final itinerary had the three of us flying BWI-ORD-NRT(36 hour stop-over), HND-PEK (70 hour stopover), PEK-FRA-IAD. Finding 3 seats in First or Business is tough, so I took the personal hit to fly in ANA’s Square Class (First) from ORD-NRT, while my wife and mother in law were gracious enough to accept ANA’s very impressive business class. On the flight from PEK-FRA, I’m flying in Air China’s First Class, because even though United’s website showed three seats in First, they only confirmed one. My wife and mother in law will get some more “girl time” on that flight in Business. My hope is that Lufthansa First Class opens up on the FRA-IAD flight for 1 or more of us, because right now, Expert Flyer is showing F7 (7 out of 8 open seats).

Lufthansa 747-8i Availability

Lufthansa 747-8i Availability

The shocker

I realize, as a hardened mile/point guy, I should’ve known that changing the routing would result in a re-pricing of my itinerary. The original itinerary was ~120k UA miles, but because we changed our destination and routing, it re-priced. For me, for example, I was quote an additional ~120k UA miles. My wife and mother in law were quoted only an additional ~40k UA miles.

Enter the balance of Irrational desires and sunk costs

My original feeling was that it was way too many additional miles. Before I started the call, I had already “invested” 360k UA miles into this trip, not inclusive of hotels. Now I was being told it would be an additional 200k miles. It took me a few moments to regain my composure and weigh the options. Knowing the United Award Chart like the back of my hand (like I’m sure most of you do), I realized that being quoted an additional 120k for my trip wasn’t necessarily unreasonable. I’d pay that much anyway, if I were to delay my ANA 777-300ER Square Class experience to another trip.

United Airlines Star Alliance Partner Award Chart to North Asia

United Award Chart to North Asia

So here I was, justifying my additional 120k miles, so I could fly First Class on ANA’s 777-300ER, and Air China’s 777-300ER, with the hope of adding Lufthansa’s 747-8i’s First Class. For my wife and mother in law it was 40k UA miles more each. A drop in the bucket. It was a tough decision. Here I had my irrational desire to fly really cool international airlines’ first class products, and yet I was looking at more than 50% additional miles to do it.

The Decision

Ultimately, my mother in law’s words in a rather simply stated e-mail made the decision very easy. She said “I would like to see the Great Wall, that is on my to do and wish list.” It sounds simple, but, really, when we started searching for this trip, it was about her. The fact that I get to check off some of my airline bucket list items is a bonus. The challenge I have from here out, is focusing on how I can make the hotel and tour choices (including the Great Wall), in Tokyo and Beijing about her.

Take away

Often, I think we get overtaken by the fact that miles open the door for luxurious travel. In reality, I am more and more believing that miles don’t necessarily open the door for that luxurious travel so much as they are a tool, a vehicle for us to see sights we would not otherwise be able to see, to enable experiences that we would not be otherwise able to experience. Miles and points, if used to their fullest, make the world our playground. In the words of the most interesting man in the world, “Stay thirsty my friends.”

Note: Opinions expressed here are author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline, or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities. The owners of this website may be compensated in exchange for featured placement of certain sponsored products and services, or your clicking on links and advertisements posted on this website. For more information, please see our Legal Notice.