Note that I have changed the hashtag…. I had a great time in OC for TravelCon. And somehow finding myself in debt to Tahsir again as he hooked me up with some tickets to the UFC. I attended with Dan who won a raffle for the prize and we had a blast that evening.
My presentation is below. I’m not sure how much of it will convey via pure PPT, as I also spoke at 100 mph about the slides and hope that it came across OK. My goal going into this was to help share how I see points and miles and perhaps share a different approach to things. The underlying theme was risk, and how it must be priced correctly in order to be a smart decision. I took this theme of risk and reward across third party networks, MSRP, Delta and some MS concepts.
If you attended OC i’d be glad to hear your thoughts on the presentation and how it could be improved.
Don’t call it that. http://youtu.be/s78adWHXQ8U
Matt, I loved your fresh perspective. Question: for your equation, how do you figure out how many miles you need IN EACH PROGRAM? For example, for emergency fund, say there are 5 airline programs that can get you there. Do you keep sufficient balance in one program, or multiple?
Not an easy question to answer. My key is still in keeping enough in each txf program (MR,SPG,UR – mainly the last two of those…) within that, balances impact the programs.
For example, I use SPG for AA, and UR for UA. If I do sign up for a 100K AA bonus my SPG needs depreciate… similarly if my UA balance is low (it often is) I need more in UR.
Overall I try to keep about 200-300K in txf points for 2 people (haven’t really baked in Dylan to that equation yet) and another 100-200K scattered around specific programs, such as BA, AA, US, UA.
This gives me enough to get anywhere, at least in Coach (which is OK in an emergency) though I may bump up my reserves soon so that I always have enough for Biz.