When you travel, do you tell other travelers you used miles and points?
I am usually pretty open about my miles and points hobby and the fact that I am not paying for my trips. Of course, the goal is to spread knowledge and influence others to see the world without having to spend a ton of money. It goes without saying that, to me, the trip is about the experience and destination and not about first class or room upgrades or luxury hotels, but I do enjoy the nice occasional first class amenities. I also enjoy the fact that I solve a little optimization puzzle when I go on vacation.
When Svetlana and I travel together, people tend to find it very amusing that we like to collect and use miles. Of course, we won’t run after every tourist and report on our optimization strategies, but most people appreciate it when it comes up naturally. For those staying in our same hotel, one of two things happens. People may appreciate the information and think about how they can incorporate our strategies into their next trips. Otherwise, some people are happy to lead their lives without miles and continue to travel the way they do. Either way, it makes for a good story.
But sometimes a situation comes up when it really seems best to just leave it alone and not say anything about miles. Last year, when Svetlana and I were in Rio de Janeiro, we stayed at the Sheraton Rio Hotel & Resort. As it was around New Year’s, rates for the hotel were $800+ a night our last few nights!
In our case, we were using Starwood hotel points. As the hotel is a Category 5 hotel with Starwood, rates run 12,000 points a night in low season and 16,000 points a night in high season. You also get the fifth night free. The Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express comes with a 25,000 point sign-up bonus after spending $5,000 within 6 months. Taking into account this bonus, even a weeklong vacation at the Sheraton Rio Hotel & Resort between two people is not a big deal. But you can imagine it’s very different when you’re spending thousands of dollars on the hotel alone to spend New Year’s Eve in Rio de Janeiro.
On our way out one night to a white party from our hotel, we met three very nice girls from Colombia and decided to split a cab out to Barra about 30-40 minutes away. They were staying at the same hotel and had just arrived the day prior. During the cab ride, we got to talking about where we’re from, how we like Rio, how they liked New York when they visited, how we should visit Colombia because it’s such a nice country to go out dancing, etc. At some point, they asked how we like our hotel and we commented it was nice. It certainly wasn’t the finest five star hotel we’ve ever stayed, but nice seemed like an accurate way to describe it. They commented how they thought it was just ok and they thought it would be newer. After all, it’s pretty expensive. It costs $1,000 a night!
We simply changed the subject. We certainly didn’t want to lie and say we’re paying $1,000 a night. Then again, we didn’t want to say we’re using 12,000 points a night and a simple credit card sign-up gives us a few nights immediately. Knowing we got a much better deal wouldn’t make them feel that great and why ruin even slightly a perfectly otherwise nice, although expensive, trip for them.
Has anyone else had a similar situation? Do you usually talk about using miles and points when you’re on vacation?
I really love when I come across fellow travelers in first class that also used miles. We can spend a few hours of the flight sharing strategies, helping the time pass far more quickly. But you’re right. Sometimes it’s not the most pleasant experience to pay $5,000 for a ticket and be sitting next to someone who worked the system and got it for free. You do need to use proper judgment when sharing!
I just wear a big red t-shirt that reads “I FLY FREE” … oh, wait, that’s not me.
(just teasing, MileValue Scott! :) )
We are happy to blab away with other frequent travelers about our deals, but are pretty hush hush in situations where the people around us have spent a great deal of money for the same thing we got for free, or nearly free.
We were able to trade in 100,000 Starwood points for 250,000 Qantas miles on a double plus bonus deal, right before they ended Concorde flights. We were able to snag two round-trip Concorde tickets JFK/LHR for those miles. :-) since we were flying with a whole lot of people who were happy to have snagged one of the last Concorde tickets at any price, we decided that discretion was the better part of valor and kept very quiet about our deal.
On the other hand, we once got in on a fare error and got two sets of UA Biz Class tickets from San Francisco to Auckland for $1,200, which we were able to upgrade to 1st both times. Most of the folks in First had snagged the same deal, so we all talked about it. If there was anyone in first who had paid full fare, they weren’t crying loud enough for us to notice them.
I often find that fellow passengers like to talk frequent flyer strategies–particularly on Southwest.
I have yet to travel using miles & points, and will have our 1st next month to Maui using Avios for our flights and Starwood for our stay at Sheraton Maui. I won’t mind, just like you, to share the knowledge but will depend on the situation. You are very nice, and sensitive to others in deciding not to brag about using points & miles at Sheraton Rio. It just shows you’re a 1st class lady!
I have always wondered what other passengers or hotel customers are paying for their flights or rooms. Here I am most of the time paying next to nothing. However, I don’t know how to start the conversation with them.
This is a pretty touchy subject at times, especially with people who aren’t into the points game. I usually never bring it up, even among my friends unless they ask me about it , which will usually happen at some point throughout the night. Lol
I seldom talk about it while traveling unless someone asks a question for which it seems pertinent. I bring it up with friends back home when they marvel at how many international trips I take. When I say I’m flying on miles, it’s always something like, “Yeah, you fly so much that you earn free trips. I don’t fly enough that I’d ever get enough miles.”
No, it’s credit card signups mostly, and I rarely pay for flights at all unless it’s just too good a deal to use up miles on or if I need very specific dates not available with miles. You could do it too…But that’s where the conversation dies.