9 Infuriating Changes to Miles and Points – And What to Do About Them

I’ve been thinking about the nature of the miles and points hobby, especially as it relates to the everyday ongoing changes we see. And then I heard a joke that seems perfectly apropos. Now bear with me because I’m not much of a joke teller, but I’ll give it my best shot.

It’s a joke about travel, passports, and a butterfly.

A butterfly is at the airport heading to security. He passes through and hands over his passport for identification. The security officer looks at the passport, looks at the butterfly, and then says, “This photo doesn’t look anything like you. It’s a caterpillar.” The butterfly replies, “It’s an old photo!”

Great metaphor not only for life but for the miles and points world. Change is everywhere. There is nothing but change, right? And that holds true especially in this miles and points hobby of ours.

And many of us are resistant to change, or bemoan change. We’re used to what we’re used to, and often the changes are not to our perceived benefit.

I got curious about how often changes are taking place in our travel world, both big and small, so I did some tracking and gathered data. I took a few weeks and looked just at posts from the BoardingArea space.

Here are some examples of the kinds of changes we in the miles and points world face on any given day:

• Hotel category changes. Unless you’re lucky and one of your favorite hotels goes down in category, category changes mean more points out of our pockets.
• Airlines change business models. Yes, we’re looking at you, Southwest Airlines.
• Airlines actually switch airline alliances. Maybe not often, but it does happen.
• Bonus categories for credit card spend come and go on a regular basis.
• Benefits are shifted or taken away from status you might have on an airline or with a hotel chain.
• Hotel chains shift how you can use your points or award night certificates.
• New airport lounges open and some airport lounges restrict access or benefits.
• Hotel club lounges never open again once closed, as we have seen post-pandemic.
• Airline award charts change, usually decreasing the value of our miles and points.

Even with these nine I’ve mentioned, I’m sure I’ve missed a whole host of changes, pro and con, that we witness every week. Never can really be prepared, except to generally be prepared for change.

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And it’s not just the travel and miles and points environment that changes. We change as well!

I’ve noticed this when talking with friends who for a very long time have been using miles and points to support their travels. We’re still traveling, but perhaps we’re okay with not MAXIMIZING every mile and point. Economy is fine if it’s a non-stop flight and works better with our schedules. We’re more agnostic when talking about airline alliances and hotel stays.

We’re not visiting destinations just because a great award deal opened up. We’re planning more trips to places we actually want to experience or returning again and again to places that we’ve grown to love.

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Sure, flying business class over the pond and being able to sleep during the flight still has its place, and we haven’t given up on wonderful award redemptions.

And yes, we’re even paying cash for some flights because it’s just more convenient in timing or routing.

Much like the butterfly metaphor, the world of miles and points is often an old image we hold.

It makes sense that the photo of us when we first began our miles and points journey is perhaps more caterpillar than butterfly. We become new butterflies because we’ve learned that for the long haul this hobby requires not a doom-and-gloom butterfly, but rather one who acknowledges that change is the name of the game. And that’s just how it is!

Do you find it difficult to book award flights with your miles and points? I do! That’s why I turn to Point.me. They get me great deals and save me money and time.

Thanks for humoring me with my musings on miles and points changes.

And if I may make a toast, may we all continue to enjoy and experience this amazing world of ours regardless of the nature of the changes to miles and points coming down the pike. Our hobby continues to challenge us, and it’s a challenge worth accepting!

HT: BMB for the joke

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