I d rather give you a $100.00 out of my wallet than give you any of my loyalty points (not really, b

Ask anyone that travels for a living what they think about hotel and airline loyalty point programs and you ll get a wide variety of answers, opinions and an occasional rant, but one constant is we want our rewards points. Points are what allows us to plan last minute trips, or gives us the luxury of staying in a hotel instead of bunking with our in-laws.
I d rather give you a $100.00 out of my wallet sta travel australia than give you any of my loyalty points (not really, but it sounds good). In a nutshell points and medallion levels are how we keep score on the road. When you first begin to travel on a regular sta travel australia basis you keep count of how many more nights you need to make the Silver Level if you continue to travel the only thing you count is the accumulation of points, because you ll quickly become.. Diamond Level, Platinum Level or Executive Level and then after that all you want to know is What s my reward for spending all this time on the road ?
One thing that you re quickly forced to do is establish Brand Loyalty find a vendor (hotel, airline, rental car..etc ) that offers the best reward program for you and your goals, then stick with it. Remember The man who chases two rabbits, catches none so if you divide your attention between 5 different airlines you ll be stuck at some mediocre loyalty level with all of them, and when the next family reunion comes around you and your loved ones will be flying on 5 different airlines.
For the most part I m not much of a Chart Guy because I associate charts with PowerPoint Presentations and that s a whole different rant, but the chart above explains Delta s 2015 SkyMiles sta travel australia Program. I m not sure how it looks to you, but according to Delta The updated mileage-earning plan, for travel beginning Jan. 1, 2015, will better recognize frequent business travelers and those less frequent leisure customers who purchase premium fares. The move is consistent with a trend in the travel industry of rewarding customer behavior based on price. Customers will continue to earn additional miles for purchases with a Delta SkyMiles Credit Card+ . Huh, .. frequent business traveler   the business traveler will be traveling, forget the frequent part. Now for the less frequent leisure customers . more than likely they will be purchasing their ticket several sta travel australia months out and they will still be concerned with price and by the way the  less frequent part means they ll get to pay $25.00 per checked bag doesn t it? Basically, less frequent   is code for will take years to amass any amount of points to qualify for a free trip, let alone an upgrade .
If you fly from Ft. Lauderdale, FL to Atlanta, GA (FLL to ATL for all you travel nerds) round trip is 1162 miles and $192.00 before taxes ($229.00 after taxes) I know this because I just made this trip last week. Here is my take on the current points breakdown.. In the words of Forest Gump.. I m not a very smart man .. but this is how I see the program.
2015 Program Point Distribution  - This is based on ticket price before taxes etc (which was $192.00) .SkyMiles Member 960 miles, Silver Level  1344 Miles, Gold 1536 Miles, Platinum Level 1728 Miles and Diamond level 2112 Miles.
Now that we have our base line .. lets book a flight from Ft. Lauderdale, FL to Atlanta, GA using our miles for 10-6-2014 to 10-10-2014 the average mileage cost 32,500 miles. Now lets do the same in 2015 2-2-2015 to 2-6-2015 the mileage cost 40,000 miles. Roughly a 7500 mile difference, if you re an occasional traveler that s a huge difference. When it comes to the business traveler we ll still get our points we just might have to leave one of our kids at home for our next vacation. Unless Delta drops the mileage cost on trips in 2015, I don t see much of a benefit for the traveler.
Now you can always add additional miles by purchasing your tickets with a Delta SkyMiles Credit Card+ .. In my humble opinion those Credit Cards carry a higher % interest charge if you choose to carry a balance as I ve always said..every woman thinks she s an interior decorator, sta travel australia every man thinks sta travel australia he s a financial adviser and everyone thinks they have a sense of humor what I m saying is do your own research before taking out a Delta credit card . don t take my word for anything.
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