Why I’m changing my points and miles strategy for the rest of 2024

Before joining TPG in 2021, I was new to the world of points and miles. Despite traveling frequently over the past decade, I was still unaware of the benefits of loyalty programs or how simple it could be to earn points or miles for airfare and hotel stays. how.

Over the past few years, I’ve immersed myself in points and miles, eager to understand every aspect and maximize the value I get from every trip or every penny I spend. Fast forward three years and I have accumulated a large amount of money Avios and, until very recently, was also sitting pretty with British Airways Executive Club Silver Status.

At this point, however, I’ve reached something of a crossroads, and I’m now adjusting my earning and redemption strategy to squeeze as much value out of my points as possible.

Here’s how and why I’m changing my points and miles strategy for 2024 to no longer focus my energy on earning Avios to redeem for flights.

I won’t reveal the total number of Avios I currently have in British Airways Executive Club but let’s say that’s more than enough to book a few luxury flights around the globe.

Up until now, my strategy has been simple: Earn as many Avios as possible and redeem them for as many great flying experiences as possible. I did this through a variety of methods, initially starting without a credit card by using British Airways’ online shopping portal to regularly spend as much as possible.

While it didn’t give me the most Avios imaginable, it was a great gateway to understanding points and mileage accrual, and I was regularly able to earn double and triple Avios or higher than when buying retail and subscription but I still want to buy.

I then briefly flirted with British Airways’ now-defunct prepaid travel card, which would earn 1 Avios for every pound ($1.25) spent. That’s not quite the earning rate I could get with a points-based credit card, but at least I’m earning something – and at that point, I’m still approaching points and miles with a little worry.

I quickly switched from a debit travel card to take the plunge and get myself a British Airways Avios income credit card with a fee of 1.5 Avios per pound spent. This is a twist, in addition to the card’s generous welcome bonus, combined with the card’s regular income accumulation with shopping portal, I quickly saw my Avios account blossom. I also won a British Airways upgrade voucher after reaching a certain spending threshold.

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As my Avios amount grew, I took advantage of British Airways Reward Flight Saver redemptions on short-haul economy and Club Europe fares to destinations as far as Sicily, Italy; Athens, Greece; Dublin; and Porto, Portugal. So far, I’ve kept these redemptions at a low Avios cost to help me save for some of the larger Club World redemptions I’m hoping to make this year for myself and His partner.

I have now reached what I consider a healthy Avios threshold.

Simply put, I really don’t need more (although some of my TPG colleagues would probably disagree). For my current plans and personal needs, the number of Avios I have accumulated during this period is enough to keep me flying for the rest of the year and (possibly) beyond, depending Depends on how wasteful I am.

I no longer need to worry about earning Avios the same way, and while I could focus my efforts on another airline, I want to earn points and miles for travel expenses beyond flights.

Certainly, Avios is not limited to British Airways flights but can also be used on the airline’s flights. A world partner (and Aer Lingus), but I wanted more flexibility. Avios can be used on many different airlines, but they don’t cover everything. For example, they cannot be redeemed with Virgin Atlantic, Lufthansa or Air France, among other airlines convenient to me as a UK resident.

On top of that, I feel like I’m missing out on redeeming points on hotel stays unless you count British Airways Holiday redemptions, which give you much less bang for your buck than flight redemptions standard flight.

So I decided it was time to diversify the way I earn points, which led me to sign up for a new loyalty card, specifically the American Express® Gold Card.

Theoretically, I could diversify by getting hotel cards of the same brand, for example Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express Card, but once again I would find myself tied to a specific loyalty currency. With Amex Gold, I am opening up a new world of earning and redeeming thanks to the potential support of Amex Membership Rewards point.

Related: How to redeem American Express Membership Rewards for maximum value

At TPG, we consider Membership Rewards Points to be one of the most valuable loyalty currencies due to their consistent 1:1 conversion across many leading loyalty programs , such as Air France-KLM Fly Green, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, Singaporean airline KrisFlyer, Marriott Bonvoy And Hilton Titleto name a few. We currently evaluate Membership rewards points at 2 cents each.

While I still retain my original Avios earning card just to keep the embers alive, it is no longer my primary earning card and I am now accumulating a much more valuable currency which I can later transfer and redeem, broadly speaking, wherever I like—including loyalty programs like Marriott Bonvoy and Hilton Honors.

To me, this is a much more streamlined approach to earning loyalty points, as you are given greater opportunities to maximize their end use. If I wanted, I could still earn Avios through my old credit card or by spending on shopping portals with my new card. But now I can also accumulate points to transfer to other airlines and customer loyalty program.

The power of my points will now be much stronger.

As I’m limited to only earning Avios with my daily spending, that means I also focus all my energy on it by using some endow or shopping portal to increase my income. It wouldn’t make much sense to step outside the Avios bubble, as profits elsewhere would be tiny, with slow growth compared to the impact on my Executive Club balance.

This doesn’t mean I haven’t earned points from other loyalty programs over the past few years. I do, but only in small amounts and with few options to boost them further.

Related: 4 reasons why Amex Gold is the #1 card we can’t live without

With my shiny new Amex, I can now accumulate points (including Avios) through various shopping portals to top up my other loyalty accounts when I want to redeem them.

I’m no longer glued to the routes and cabins of British Airways and Oneworld. The world has become a delicious round point oyster.

• Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card: One of our favorite starter cards, this Chase option earns 3 points per dollar spent on dining, select streaming services, and online grocery ordering, plus 2 points per dollar spent on travel and 1 point per dollar spent on most other expenses. These points can be transferred to many travel partners, including World of Hyatt, United Airlines, Southwest AirlinesBritish Airways and Marriott Bonvoy.
• American Express Gold Card: This card has a high earn rate on food and grocery purchases, plus monthly statement credits, including up to a $120 annual dining credit (maximum $10 per month; registration required sign), up to $120 in annual Uber credits (up to $10 per month). ) and $100 hotel credit (two-night stay required). You’ll earn 4 points per dollar spent when dining at restaurants (including US delivery) and at US supermarkets (up to $25,000 per year, then 1 point per dollar), plus 3 points per dollar spent on flights booked directly with airlines or amextravel.com and 1 point per dollar spent on all full purchases other conditions. You’ll be able to transfer your points to a number of travel partners, including Delta Air Lines SkyMiles, JetBlue TrueBlueBritish Airways Executive Club, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, Marriott Bonvoy and Hilton Honors.