Earn & Burn Airline Rewards to Maximize Your Free Flights
Last month, I received an email informing me that one of the benefits associated with my American Airlines AAdvantage credit card would be “discontinued” in May:
On May 1, 2019 existing benefits, a 10% return miles RedeemedAAdvantage ®, will be discontinued. Book your trip with miles no later than April 30, 2019 to earn 10% of your used miles back.
I followed the advice of the email and immediately booked a flight with miles – this was the trip I was planning to take, but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to redeem miles for summer travel or save miles for more expensive vacation travels. in December.
As reported by NerdWallet , redeeming miles as soon as you have enough to cover your plane ticket – the ‘earn and burn’ strategy – is often the best bet:
When asked what they would do if they had accumulated 50,000 bonus points or miles, just over half of Americans (55%) said they would use them for flights or other travel expenses. However, about 1 in 8 (13%) say they will continue to save them. This could have been a big mistake.
Why is it wrong to accumulate these miles for the future? As NerdWallet explains – and as I recently found out – credit card issuers update their reward programs frequently. Points and miles can lose value, which is why sites like The Points Guy keep track of the monthly rating, and the points / miles earning options can be changed or removed altogether.
NerdWallet also reminds us that the value of our rewards will decrease over time due to inflation – it probably doesn’t matter much if you are trying to decide whether to use these points for a summer vacation or winter trip, but there is something to think about if you are saving money. for a special occasion, which is still a few years away.
In other words:
Don’t assume that your awards will retain their value. Save enough to cover your next trip and then book it.
If you want to get as many reward flights as possible, you need to earn and burn.