A popular point of pride for new people to the points and miles world is how many they have. “I have over 500,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards Points!” is proudly shouted.
I understand why that is a point of pride for so many. Those point balances you’ve built up represent a tremendous amount of free travel that you can have. However, what I see is miles that aren’t being used. Flights that aren’t being taken. And memories you’re not making.
That’s why I consider hoarding points and miles one of the biggest mistakes you can make. Because hoarding points and miles means you’re missing out on the travel you could be taking.
Unfortunately, missing travel isn’t the only reason hoarding points and miles is a mistake. Let’s look at the top 5 reasons you need to stop hoarding points and miles.
1. Devaluations
Devaluations happen when an airline or hotel loyalty program tells you that your next flight or hotel stay will cost more points or miles than before. It is rare that prices ever actually decrease. Hoarding your miles over an extended period of time only has one predictable outcome: they will become less valuable. The flight that cost 50,000 miles now may cost 75,000 in six months.
2. Points Can Expire
Did you know that your airline or hotel loyalty points can expire? If you don’t have any activity on your account for an extended period of time, you can kiss them goodbye.
Don’t be sad by hoarding points and miles
Although the time limit is generally reasonable, 18-24 months with no activity, that isn’t the case for all of them. Points and miles in some programs expire within a set period of time from when they were earned and cannot be extended.
By hoarding points and miles, you risk forgetting about them and having them expire.
3. Award Availability Can Change
Hoarding points and miles for a future trip may leave you missing out altogether. There are multiple airlines that don’t allow points for first class bookings, and partnerships change all the time.
Use your points to travel, don’t hoard them!
Changes are happening to loyalty programs all the time, so you can’t count on them staying the same for long periods of time. By hoarding points and miles, you’re taking a risk that the trip you want will be available later.
4. You Can Keep Earning More Points and Miles
The past few are examples that you can’t control, but this one you can. You should stop hoarding points and miles because you can keep earning more.
You can keep earning more points. There’s no reason to hoard points and miles.
The longer you are in this, the easier it becomes. You begin developing your strategy for applications, meeting minimum spends, and balancing credit inquiries. You know which cards you should use on your daily spend at the gas station or the grocery store (and you may even make some labels to print on them so you don’t forget!).
Of course, it does get harder over time. Banks implement more rules like the Chase 5/24 rule. But even with these restrictions in place, many people still find it possible to earn hundreds of thousands of miles every year from sign-up bonuses. There’s no reason you should be hoarding your points and miles when you can simply keep earning more.
5. They Aren’t Worth Anything Until You Use Them
Unless you like staring at your points and miles balances, they do nothing for you if you don’t use them! So, unless you’re saving up for a special trip you are certain of taking, make sure you use them when you can and see the world for free!
Related Articles to help you spend your rewards:
https://travelfreely.com/combine-chase-ultimate-rewards/
