Somebody asked me that recently; which prompted me to take a moment to evaluate exactly how deep I am in this hobby. If I labeled the scale as 1 being completely oblivious to the world of points and miles, and 10 being unable to function normally to the point of needing an intervention, I’d say I’m a healthy 7.
I give myself a 7 because I feel that I’ve reached a point (no pun intended) in my journey where I can honestly say I have integrated collecting points and miles into my normal day-to-day activities. It’s a natural part of my daily life, and it doesn’t take much sweat. I give myself credit for knowing things life which credit card to use for what purchase in order to maximize my earnings, what promotions are worth my time, and how to disconnect from it all when I need to.
We all do crazy things in the quest for a deal, discount, or free travel, but there’s always limits and boundaries we won’t cross [for some of us at least].
Over the past year, I guess I could say I’ve done some things to accumulate miles and points that is beyond what the “average-leisure-traveler” would do, but I’ve never done anything in such excess that it has become destructive to my normal daily life, hurt anybody in the process, or would be considered questionable/illegal.
So what I have done?
- On Black Friday, I tested my first run at buying and reselling for points. A friend of mine reached out to me and told me that with the Black Friday Kohls promotion, I’d be able to earn 10 points per dollar through the Chase Ultimate Rewards shopping purchase simply by purchasing a bunch of KitchenAid mixers that were heavily discounted during the sale and reselling them on Amazon. He also told me that because there was “Kohls Cash” involved, aside from just earning lucrative amounts of points, I would actually be able to make a profit. I was pretty hesitant before diving right in because this was an entirely different “points-earning” avenue that I had yet to explore, and I was nervous to invest “thousands of dollars”. His orignal plan was to spend a total of $25,000 at this opportunity. Being the more conservative type, I “invested” about $3,000. The best part of this process was hearing my parents on the other end of the phone when they told me that UPS had delivered an abundance of giant mixers to their doorstep. At the end of the day, the series of transactions were successful, and I earned around 18,000 UR points and about $300 in profit. The only “work” involved was printing shipping labels and scheduling a UPS pick up to have the products shipped to Amazon.
- I’ve also done my fair share of mileage runs. To most readers, mile-running a common practice of life, but others in the outside world are perplexed beyond belief.
- On a similar note, I have gone out of my way to book “mattress runs”, specifically to earn free-night certificates with SPG and Club Carlson.
- At one point, I had 11 active travel credit cards (now I’m down to 9, but will be applying for 4 more by mid-February).
- I’ll have to admit that I definitely spend a lot of time browsing the blogs, forums, and social media in order to keep up with the fast-paced environment that this is all nested in. Time is money, and it’s very easy to be distracted by all of this to the point where it takes away from other daily obligations.
Things I won’t do/haven’t done:
- I’m still not on board with the Ink/BlueBird “5x everywhere” phenomenon, but since the Ink Plus Card is on my radar for my next churn, that could change in a blink of an eye.
- I won’t abuse a loyalty program – whether it be complaining at every instance for free points or credits, or manipulating a technological glitch, I won’t be part of it. I like to keep good faith in my hobby.
- I won’t take advantage of a promotion that is valued less than what I value my time. For instance, there are so many ways to earn marginal amounts of points that take way too much time (such as e-rewards, audience rewards for 2 points per question, etc.).
Based on your criteria I’m only a five. My main vices are spending valuable work time hanging out on FlyerTalk, and searching award availability several times a day. I haven’t done any mileage or mattress runs, but I’m trying to quit Delta, which means I might just eliminate travel to places best served by Delta.
It would be fun to take a “How obsessed are you?” quiz – I haven’t take a novelty survey since I stopped reading Cosmo and Seventeen.
Great post! I’m a 6, I would have said 7 –
but I’ve never done any buy/sell activities (sounds interesting!). Also, as of 05/2012 I’m no longer a churner, since I need a clean app record for a mortgage.
Currently have 12 cards, which I use mainly 4 based on earn type and multiple.
@ Rob – I once quit churning too. Apparently, I couldn’t quit forever.
I’m would rate myself a 5. No mileage or mattress runs for me. Not enough free time.
I’m sadly at a 10+. The only time I semi-allow myself to be away from the crazed “gotta have it all .. now” mentality of points/miles hoarding is when I’m actually on a trip. Thank God we are gone 12-16 weeks a year, or I would have to be institutionalized. I seriously would need a 12 step program if I ever wanted out of this…
I think I’m a 5 also. Learning a lot, putting in place what I can – step by step, and learning more!
Most definitely a 10+. But I’m okay with that. :)
I don’t do mattress runs, and my mileage runs are only to destinations of semi-fun (LAS, SFO etc), so I’d be a weak 6 compared to those hardcore FT types.
I would say a 6 or 7, but definitely gaining momentum. :) I recently did my first app-o-rama for travel cards, my first mattress run to complete a promotion, and get antsy if point balances haven’t increased recently in my accounts. I was more conservative before.
I’d say 6 ( I added a point in case I am biased )
A 10 for sure. 3.8 mil miles in 2 years….
Paul, you are my hero.
I’m 8 or 9.
I’d say I’m a 7 or 8. Never did a mileage run, but once did a mattress run for Club Carlson points. I check a few blogs daily, especially Flyertalk, which gets several visits a day from me. I have 16 active rewards credit cards and try to use the correct ones for the different category bonuses. I use the Ink Plus/5x everywhere deal sometimes. I’m heavily leveraged with prepaid cards: Bluebird, Mio, AMEX, WF — so that’s where most of my miles/points come from these days. And, yes, I generally get excited when I receive a new credit card in the mail! Like today, with my new Chase SW 50K Visa!
I think most outside this community would see me as a 10++, but I think you guys understand me. :)
Glen has a good point…A 10 to the “outside world” might only be a 7 or 8 here !
I say a 5. I say this as I only earn about 1 million points a year. Unlike FM who will earn 1 million in March alone! I don’t do 20 steps to earn max rewards as I don’t have time. I do play with Freedom 5x, INK 5x, DELTA AMEX $60,000 a year for MQM’s and MQD’s soon. IMO, unless you earn 2 million PLUS a year, you are NOT a 10! – Rene
I would have said 7, but if you’re a seven then I’m a 5 (maybe). I get several credit cards every quarter or so. I take advantage of all the the Club Carlson promotions. I don’t do Bluebird, VR, buy to sell, or do a lot of flying. I have built up about a million miles/points (800K+ or so this year, so I hope for more travel this year. Mardi Gras in about two weeks on free flights and hotel.
I got 1,200,000 UR points alone in 9 months. I think that sounds 10-like …
I think PatMike definitely needs to be institutionalized;-)
The rating systems is highly subjective of course just like the secret TBB screens. I went from 1 to 8 down to 6, tried to get under 5, i failed…and since the blog started I don’t have time to earn or burn anymore, I need help.
Ok, that was all in good fun.
My number is a solid 7.
Travelbloggerbuzz is deluding himself. He is obviously a 10 based on his statement “…and since the blog started I don’t have time to earn or burn anymore, I need help. ”
That seems to be the definition of a 10, as listed above, “10 being unable to function normally to the point of needing an intervention”
Ok,I think most of us here can go for a group discount on the institutionalization;-) I am going to see if I can get some institutions to be interested in providing me with affiliate links, lol.
I agree with Glen that the “outside world” sees us quite different than fellow hobbyists would. My family would put me at a 10+, especially after my mother was deluged with shipments of post-its and crayolas from Office Max, Biscoff spread, teddy bears from 800Flowers and small bouquets from FTD during the Grand Slam years.
Fellow hobbyists and myself would probably put me at a 7 or 8. I don’t care about status or mileage runs as I rely on partner earned miles for free flights and never pay for flights except feeders on EasyJet or Virgin. I have 10 credit cards, some will be cancelled later this year and I will be going for business cards in my August churn once my blog is more well-established. I do all kinds of surveys while watching tv and will thoroughly research portals before I buy anything online. There is no way I could afford to do the travel I do to all those exotic eco-tourism destinations without miles and points!