Comments on: Miles & Points Earning: Is it the best of times or the worst of times? https://travelbloggerbuzz.com/miles-points-earning-is-it-the-best-of-times-or-the-worst-of-times/ An eclectic journey through the Travel Miles/Points blogosphere Sun, 03 Apr 2016 11:16:19 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 By: A Collection of All Non TBB Buzz Posts in One Place - TravelBloggerBuzz https://travelbloggerbuzz.com/miles-points-earning-is-it-the-best-of-times-or-the-worst-of-times/#comment-382990 Sun, 03 Apr 2016 11:16:19 +0000 http://travelbloggerbuzz.com/?p=54#comment-382990 […] Voices in my Head While Waiting for the Cable Guy More Random Thoughts Random Thoughts Best of Times or Worst of Times […]

]]> By: TBB is super busy working on... | TravelBloggerBuzz https://travelbloggerbuzz.com/miles-points-earning-is-it-the-best-of-times-or-the-worst-of-times/#comment-31101 Sat, 02 Nov 2013 05:42:49 +0000 http://travelbloggerbuzz.com/?p=54#comment-31101 […] The only positive changes have been on the earning front which I argued before is NOT the “best of times but the worst of  times“. United’s announcement was proof.The game is just not as juicy as it used to be and […]

]]> By: TravelBlogger Buzz https://travelbloggerbuzz.com/miles-points-earning-is-it-the-best-of-times-or-the-worst-of-times/#comment-2603 Mon, 08 Apr 2013 13:05:19 +0000 http://travelbloggerbuzz.com/?p=54#comment-2603 In reply to HikerT.

Yeah, I agree. It still gets me when others say “I went to ______ for free”!

]]> By: TravelBlogger Buzz https://travelbloggerbuzz.com/miles-points-earning-is-it-the-best-of-times-or-the-worst-of-times/#comment-2602 Mon, 08 Apr 2013 13:04:29 +0000 http://travelbloggerbuzz.com/?p=54#comment-2602 In reply to Anonymous.

Yes the Hilton devaluation was not a surprise at all. What was a surprise was the scale of it! Still a good value for lower categories and a horrible value for aspirational properties, especially when you compare it to pre-March 28 rates;-)

]]> By: MileageUpdate https://travelbloggerbuzz.com/miles-points-earning-is-it-the-best-of-times-or-the-worst-of-times/#comment-2601 Mon, 08 Apr 2013 12:05:42 +0000 http://travelbloggerbuzz.com/?p=54#comment-2601 In reply to Anonymous.

While Im not happy about the devaluation Hilton couldnt allow the low redemption relative to the high end hotel rooms. They cant be profitable giving away $800 and up Hotel rooms for 60k pts.

]]> By: HikerT https://travelbloggerbuzz.com/miles-points-earning-is-it-the-best-of-times-or-the-worst-of-times/#comment-2600 Mon, 08 Apr 2013 05:30:08 +0000 http://travelbloggerbuzz.com/?p=54#comment-2600 Oops, typo. That 0.2 cents should have been 0.67 cents: $6.95 / 1035 UR = .0067

]]> By: HikerT https://travelbloggerbuzz.com/miles-points-earning-is-it-the-best-of-times-or-the-worst-of-times/#comment-2599 Mon, 08 Apr 2013 05:14:42 +0000 http://travelbloggerbuzz.com/?p=54#comment-2599 So true about the “NOT free” aspect. So many people gloss over the opportunity costs. For example, if you used Ink to buy $200 GCs + $6.95 fee at OD, loaded to BB at WM for “free”, then cashed out via BB for “free”, what is your true cost? Many would claim 0.2 cents, but this is just the out of pocket. It ignores the opportunity costs. The first opportunity cost to consider is the cash back you gave up by not using a 5% cash back card at office supply (AMEX Simply Cash). If you do this you will see the cost per UR increases to 1 cent, and this doesn’t include the opportunity costs of loading and cashing out via BB (which are limited so not necessarily “free”). Of course, AMEX Simply Cash has a lower spend cap than Ink on office supply, which lowers the implied opportunity cost, but you get the idea… If you earn miles or points via manufactured spend, you need to look at the opportunity costs. At a minimum, compare to the cash back you otherwise could have generated with a 2-6% CB card, and don’t forget about the other opportunity costs such as BB limits, AMEX FR, Citi closure, Chase adverse action, etc.

]]> By: TravelBlogger Buzz https://travelbloggerbuzz.com/miles-points-earning-is-it-the-best-of-times-or-the-worst-of-times/#comment-2597 Mon, 08 Apr 2013 04:56:59 +0000 http://travelbloggerbuzz.com/?p=54#comment-2597 In reply to Anonymous.

Yes, Dishonors is a better name. They feel they can get away with this crap, as does Delta abusing their members with the horrendous award search engine. So…we need to let them know we can hurt them in their pocket. But…deep down, I think they are making the right business decision and we know it:-) Time will tell but trend is not looking good on the burning side. As previos reader commented, as long as earning remains easy we will be fine:-)

]]> By: TravelBlogger Buzz https://travelbloggerbuzz.com/miles-points-earning-is-it-the-best-of-times-or-the-worst-of-times/#comment-2596 Mon, 08 Apr 2013 04:53:57 +0000 http://travelbloggerbuzz.com/?p=54#comment-2596 In reply to WishyAnand.

Yes still a lot of value of course. Key part of your sentence is this:

“if gathering miles remains so easy.”

Big emphasis on IF.

Bluebird is here to stay but we are not sure if it is making any money yet. CVS should drop the VR at some point when they get a better software to handle it as well as Walgreens did;-)

]]> By: Anonymous https://travelbloggerbuzz.com/miles-points-earning-is-it-the-best-of-times-or-the-worst-of-times/#comment-2595 Sun, 07 Apr 2013 22:46:26 +0000 http://travelbloggerbuzz.com/?p=54#comment-2595 Too many miles chasing too few seats makes sense in a capacity-controlled airline award context. But for hotel programs that are already effectively revenue-based, for the HHonors analysis above, the logic doesn’t hold together. There isn’t a shortage of standard award rooms, and the hotel is already buying the room nights for less than their redemption cost in almost all circumstances.

Don’t excuse Hilton’s devaluation as though it follows logically from a previous chain of events. It was pure, gratuitous, unadulterated greed and sense of an opportunity to rip off Hilton customers who were stuck with big points balances. And they deserve all the shame and ridicule they can get for it.

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