{"id":9117,"date":"2009-10-23T20:00:16","date_gmt":"2009-10-24T00:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"\/\/www.askmrcreditcard.com\/news\/?p=9117"},"modified":"2009-10-23T20:00:16","modified_gmt":"2009-10-24T00:00:16","slug":"why-i-collect-miles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.askmrcreditcard.com\/news\/why-i-collect-miles\/","title":{"rendered":"Why I Collect Miles"},"content":{"rendered":"

I spend a lot of time reading and writing about credit cards and loyalty programs.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Some times I wonder if I have been spending too much time.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This week, I am watching it all pay off.<\/p>\n

Time For Barbecue<\/strong><\/p>\n

First, I booked an award flight on Southwest airlines to Austin Texas.\u00a0\u00a0 Sure, I only had one free ticket for my family of three, the other two were paid.\u00a0\u00a0 We will be going on President’s Day weekend in February, which strikes me as great time to be somewhere warmer than in Denver. \u00a0 The slopes are also way too crowded that weekend as well. \u00a0\u00a0 I am looking forward to sampling the world famous food on the Austin-San Antonio barbecue trail, as well as some Tex-Mex for variety.\u00a0\u00a0 The actual value was a mere $75, perhaps not the best use of the miles, but have you had<\/em> Texas barbecue?<\/p>\n

Free Tickets To The Caribbean<\/strong><\/p>\n

Next, I booked three tickets from Denver to St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands for next May using some American Airlines Miles.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The coach price for the seats would have been $600 each, first class would have been $1,800 each.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We chose first class since it was a longer flight with connections.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We also do not have to pay bag fees, which would have been necessary for our scuba equipment.\u00a0\u00a0 Kudos to American Airlines for having a reasonable number of seats at the “saaver” award level.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In the past, booking 7 months in advance would have been easy, but it no longer is on most airlines.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Boo to American for making us stop in both Puerto Rico and Miami on the way back to avoid an prohibited\u00a0 “stopover” of more than 4 hours in Miami until the next flight.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I will follow up with them to see if they will make an exception, but I am not holding my breath.<\/p>\n

Super Seats Across The Ocean<\/strong><\/p>\n

What put me in a really good mood yesterday was when I checked my Delta itinerary for my “falafel run” to Tel Aviv coming up on Christmas.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Regular readers will recall that I had gotten these tickets<\/a> in large part due obtaining Delta Amex credit cards after a Delta promotion that was subsequently withdrawn.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Later, I got in a small conflict<\/a> with Delta after they repeatedly rescheduled my flights.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Since that was resolved, I have been rechecking my reservation periodically.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I was pleasantly surprised to see that the aircraft on my ATL-TLV flight and my return were both changed to the 777LR.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 For those of you who are airline geeks, you will recognize that this is the longest range commercial aircraft in the world, and the flagship of the Delta fleet.\u00a0\u00a0 You don’t have to be an aviation expert to appreciate the new, lie flat seats that Delta has installed in these newer 777 aircraft.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Here are some photos <\/a>of the new aircraft and the business class seat.\u00a0\u00a0 Here is a picture<\/a> of the old style for comparison.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The flight from Tel Aviv to Atlanta will be the longest flight I have ever been on at over 13 hours against the wind.<\/p>\n

A Movie About Miles<\/strong><\/p>\n

Later this year, a new movie called Up In The Air<\/a> is coming out about the pursuit of frequent flier miles.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This is a major release starring George Clooney and Jason Bateman.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 For me, accumulating miles is not something I really am able to do through travel, as I no longer have a day job that allows me to do so.\u00a0\u00a0 Accumulating miles is also not about gaining status or hoarding points.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This week, I actually made several reservation that will put those miles to use, and I can’t wait to be “Up In The Air” myself.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I spend a lot of time reading and writing about credit cards and loyalty programs.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Some times I wonder if I have been spending too much time.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This week, I am watching it all pay off. Time For Barbecue First, I booked an award flight on Southwest airlines to Austin Texas.\u00a0\u00a0 Sure, I only had […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhy I Collect Miles<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.askmrcreditcard.com\/news\/why-i-collect-miles\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why I Collect Miles\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I spend a lot of time reading and writing about credit cards and loyalty programs.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Some times I wonder if I have been spending too much time.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This week, I am watching it all pay off. 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