When I first started this game, 2 years ago, my goal was to
see the world on someone else’s dime. At the time, I had a good job that paid the bills and help me pay for my graduate education in cash with a little
extra each month to save for 1 trip a year trip. However, I could not afford to
travel internationally especially not in premium class. I turned to the points’
game to supplement my income.
My goals (maybe not desires – read
here) have me jetting off
to exotic locations (in premium class, of course). That is why I spend hours
each week learning new point earning techniques. I do it for the ability to
travel outside of the
US.
Or that is what I though….
I did something strange this weekend. I spent points to fly
out to Seattle to surprise my mom.
Wait, for those that know me, my mom lives in Connecticut,
so why did I fly across the country to see her.
A little back story, my mom was flying to Washington
State to surprise one of her
sisters for her 50th birthday. My mom had been planning on her
surprise visit since July. Two weeks ago, I saw a few days with zero closings
(rare in my business), so I took the opportunity to take a few days off. It
just happened to be around the 50th birthday party.
Knowing that I needed a flight to Seattle,
I looked at my frequent flyer accounts and saw I had room to spare with US
Airways, United, American and British Airways. My first thought was to spend the
British Airways points for two reasons: no late booking fee and mileage based
award chart. However, British Airways did not see any availability (darn…I
really wanted to try Alaskan Airlines and they have a direct flight from DCA).
I immediately gave up on United for two other reasons: to valuable for
international flights and I can get United flights with US Airways Points.
I eventually settled with booking direct United flights from
Dulles (IAD) to Seattle using
25,000 points. Yes, I could have saved 5,000 miles (I hold the US Airways
MasterCard) by flying US Airways metal, but that would have required me to
transfer planes in Philadelphia or Charlotte.
On a related note, due to the East
Coast’s visitor Sandy, flying US Airways would have meant major consequences.
My flight home was cancelled on Monday, but I was quickly rebooked on a Tuesday
flight. If I was flying US Airways, the earliest flight, I could have been
rebooked on was Thursday.
Yes, I spent 25,000 miles. The round trip ticket would have
cost me $800 or a redemption of $0.032 per mile. I would not have been able or
willing to spend $800 for this trip. There
is a big debate in the community about redemption values. Some feel it’s the
cash price at the time of booking, while others believe it’s the amount you
would have spent. In this situation, the spending of the miles was about
surprising my mom or not surprising my mom. Value per mile did not come into my mind.
In the end, my mom was very surprised. I surprised her at the airport and it was the funniest thing. She was screaming with delight for a few minutes nonstop.People
around us, at the airport, might have thought I was trying to mug her.
Oh! The surprise of my aunt was equally fun. A few photos of the party:
Spending the miles on this trip was the right thing
to do. Yes, I could have saved the miles for a trip in business class to Europe
or Asia. Would that have been the better value? Maybe.
However, the surprise on my mom’s face and the video to replay over and over
again was well worth the value in points.
Sometimes the best use of points can not be calculated in a
nice dollar to mile ratio. Only you can determine the best use of your points.
In this situation, I can't think a better way to spend 25,000 US Airways miles.
Happy Spending!!!!
