Let’s face it – there’s no doubt that we’ve seen a ton of changes in some of our favorite loyalty programs over the last few months… and most have been for the worse. Specifically, we have seen devaluation announcements from Southwest, Hyatt, Delta and United, just to name a few.
The good news is that most programs give pretty good notice before the changes kick in. On the other hand, there’s always the sneaky players (cough Wyndham Rewards) that are far less courteous in giving notice before the changes are “discovered”.
What it really comes down to is this – programs are constantly changing, and it’s causing me to re-evaluate my “points portfolio”. The term “points portfolio” simply refers to the 87+ programs, between Mr. Points Traveler and I, that are being monitored in my AwardWallet account. Sure, diversification of points and miles is key, but there also comes a point of reality check: is it worth it to invest time in certain programs if they do not serve you well?
Here’s what I’m saying goodbye to:
Wyndham Rewards: Wyndham Rewards and my family have had some joyful moments a few years back. I remember the race-against-the-clock excitement of purchasing thousands of points and transferring them to airline miles. I also have the glorious-memory of using Wyndham points for my worst hotel stay ever – a windowless jail cell, complete with creepy teddy bear wall art (hey, at least I got a good story out of it). That’s pretty much it for me in terms of Wyndham points.
To top it off, Wyndham recently drastically devalued their program (in terms of transferring points to airline miles) even more without even giving notice. I’m not a fan of being in a relationship with a program that can not properly communicate, so with 1,531 Wyndham points set to expire in just days, it doesn’t pay to keep them alive. Bye bye, Wyndham Rewards.
Delta SkyMiles: I am convinced I have never flown Delta before even though my dad insists I have about 10 years ago. What does that tell you? I’m sorry to say it, but Delta is one airline I don’t give any attention to. Not only do they not work for me in terms of location (I am EWR-based), but their loyalty program just stinks in my opinion. Sure, I’m sure many Delta lovers will rebuttal by saying there are plenty of “gems” in their award charts, but I’m just not intrigued enough to even care. Am I a bad person to say that I would fly Delta in the case of a too-good-to-refuse mistake fare if one should come up in the future? Maybe (at least I’m honest). But for now, my zero balance with Delta SkyMiles will continue to stay at zero.
Hilton HHonors: Hilton was never a preferred program of mine from the start (nothing personal), and with so many other hotel programs that I focus my time and energy on recently (my current obsessions include Club Carlson, IHG, Kimpton, SPG, and Hyatt), it’s just not worth it to continue the aggressive pursuit of HHonors points. I’ll give Hilton praise though – their mid-tier HHonors Gold status is pretty solid (free hot breakfasts, free wifi, room upgrades, nice treatment, etc), but their points-redemption value have drastically devalued to the point where I don’t see myself ever going out of my way to earn them again. The free night certificates from my Citi Hilton HHonors Reserve Visa were fun though. So long, Hilton.
Spirit Airlines Free Spirit: Need I say more? The one and only time I flew with Spirit Airlines on a LGA-ORD round trip for under $100, I had to dodge all kinds of ridiculous “extra fees”, only to be stranded in ORD on the way home. I learned the hard way that it is sometimes better to pay a little more to fly an airline that actually cares about having you as a valued customer. Purely speaking in terms of their loyalty program (if that’s what they want to call it), it’s not an easy program to make redemptions in to begin with, and the miles have a very limited shelf life. Considering that I’ve already made the choice to never fly them again, I don’t see a need to even entertain the idea of tracking my miles with them.
Hawaiian Airlines: I’ve tried to give Hawaiian Airlines a shot in my book, but I was never able to organically grow my balances past 1,000. Back in the day, you used to be able to earn Hawaiian Airlines miles on Amazon.com purchases, and transferring those miles to Hilton points used to be a good value. Now, however, the program hasn’t shown me much excitement, and with my balance set to expire yet again in a few weeks, it’s safe to say that I probably won’t ever have much use for Hawaiian Airlines miles in the future. If you can convince me otherwise, I am all ears.
What programs are you cutting loose from 2014 and why? Any similarities to my list? Would love to hear about your choices!
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Funny I have almost 1/2 million Delta now and adding all I can and have almost ZERO United now and will never add one more ever! ;-)
I have 111k Hawaiian miles, 235k Hilton HHonors points, and 55k Delta miles. Finding decent redemptions has been a challenge.
We flew delta on a mistake fare 4 tickets round trip for $379.04 each
Date was April 1(yes… April fools) flt delta 84 JFK- mxp 840pm and dl7747 mxp – fco and flew back April 12, 1985..I still have ticket stub.
Correction was April 1 2003. You were not yet born in 1985. Old age is showing again.
Delta totally sucks!!!! Too bad I am MSP based and have no other option that fly Delta :( Have almost 1MM useless Sky Pesos.
@Santastico – I will take them. They are GOLD to me! I know how to spend them!
@Delta Points – Oh, you know to spend DL miles? In that case, please teach me how to use them to fly international first class. Also, how would I book a double open-jaw with a stopover? And what if I just wanted to fly one-way in economy?
You can go on and on about how DL miles are gold to you, but the fact is that they are the least valuable currency of the US legacy carriers, by far.
The Dad- Very funny comment.
All good choices……….From a distance Delta probably compares very well on hard product but not with frequent flyer junkies…………and my Hilton will go toward a week or so at the Cavaliera in Rome……….other than that my arm goes into a Dr Strangelove rant if I even think about using the Hilton card for manufactured spend……it just ain’t happening………..
The Hawaiian miles award that intrigues me is to book a roundtrip flight between the USA and London on Virgin Atlantic. Hawaiian doesn’t charge Virgin’s “fuel surchanges,” just the departure fee, which is noticeable on flights leaving Great Britain. That said, booking this flight can be allusive. First you need to find award space for your roundtrip on Virgin’s website. Then you need to call Hawaiian with the flights. A week or so later, Hawaiian will (hopefully)have an answer for you. I can’t remember, but I think Hawaiian doesn’t call you back; you call Hawaiian back. Anyway, if all works out as planned, supposedly you can book a roundtrip flight in Upper Class for around $235.
Jonathan, even I’m not a big fan of Delta miles but your post is ridiculous. Sure, they don’t allow First Class redemptions but it’s not a big downside to their program. Also, not many programs allow two open-jaws with a stopover. There are also programs that don’t allow one-way award tickets. Every program has their positives and negatives so chill.
Note: I don’t have DL status or collect their miles. However, there are some values with Skypesos, especially to Australia. Between all US airlines, Delta has the best award space to Australia because of their partnership with Virgin Australia. Let me know when you find a saver award space in December on a non-stop West Coast to Sydney flight using any other miles.
I have 160k Skypesos and 221k HHonors points. When those are gone I do not plan to accumulate more except when absolutely necessary, i.e. when flying DL partners overseas like Aeroflot. I used to like Hilton but they shot themselves in the foot with the great deval. why should I stay there when I can earn stays 2x-3x faster at the competition? And Hyatt guarantees my upgrades with certs.
If you have 80+ existing programs, I’m shocked that you are not cutting a lot more of them. At 80+ programs, I can just imagine the volume of email and junk mail that you have to put up with. Even for a very frequent traveler I cannot see more than 3-4 hotel programs and a half-dozen airlines. International? OK, perhaps a few more maybe. If you cannot get there with ten airlines and sleep there with four major hotel programs, perhaps you are going to the wrong places. For both kinds of programs, I’d look for ‘majorness,’ valuable benefits that sits YOU – and perhaps most important, the ability to transfer points/miles among the ones that you do keep. Eighty+ is nuts.
I still like Hilton but ever since the MiniBreaks deal turned out to be dead, it’s getting harder to find good deals.
Agree on Wyndham and Hawaiian
If you don’t like Delta, have you thought about using Alaska to cover your bases with Delta (& American)?
It is hard to avoid Hilton. They have the only decent hotel in 2 of 3 locations that I visit on a regular occasion. They are also the only chain that has a hotel in every location that I visit.
@Jim – Oh, my post is ridiculous? Let’s examine yours for a second.
First, you say that the inability to book international first class awards is not a big downside. Sure, man. Whatever. I’m not going to even entertain such nonsense.
Second, you claim that there are other programs that don’t allow double open-jaws with stopovers and one-way award tickets. Yes, there are, but we’re not comparing SkyMiles to some 18th-century Bolivian frequent flyer program that operates single-cabin pterodactyls. We’re comparing it to the US legacy carriers, and of them, SkyMiles is the only program that doesn’t permit such flexibility.
Thanks for sharing your stupidity. Have a nice day.
@Dad: Was I just “owned?” LOL.
@JustSaying: I agree- never in a billion years would I use my HHonors card for every day spend… I only keep it open because it is no fee.
@DWG: That’s not a bad idea, but it just seems like too much work and I hate talking on the phone haha. I’m sure some people can make use of the trick though – it was new for me. Thanks for sharing!
@No Fly Zone: Keep in mind that AwardWallet tracks more than just the major hotel and airline programs. I also have all of our casino programs linked, panera, starbucks, rebates, Ultimate Rewards, ThanksAgain, dining programs, etc. All of the useless smaller programs accumulate to the 87+ between the two of us. Have them on there primarily so I don’t forget they still exist/get lost in the wind. As for the junk emails – I only receive emails from my major programs… otherwise I’d go nuts every morning sorting through tons of useless email clutter!
VG: I’ll be honest – haven’t given Alaska much thought but one day I will… I hear pretty good things about their program.
Well, I’m a (mostly) Delta flyer and won’t be cutting them anytime soon. I love flying them but like you I’m not thrilled with SkyMiles.
I haven’t *officially* cut any programs, but I’ve definitely stepped back on hotel earning. I prefer staying at independent properties in most scenarios so I’ve been getting more cashback compared to hotel points. I’ve got enough points for 8+ free nights in various programs already so until I use them, I see no need to keep collecting.
@angie -Owned? More like created? (LOL)
Just showing proof of your Delta flight in 2003.
“I am convinced I have never flown Delta before even though my dad insists I have about 10 years ago”
Angie, Use the Hawaiian Airlines toolbar for internet searches to keep them from expiring. 3 searches = 1 mile. Cheers !
Spirit Airlines short comings have been well documented, but they do create competition price wise in some markets.
I still have points in Delta, but Hilton is long gone