If you've ever been to Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta and looked around, you'll notice there are 400 gates belonging to Delta Air Lines and 4 for everyone else. As such I'm a SkyMiles member. With sum of recent travel for work, play and school I've amassed 130,564 status miles year to date, catapulting me into the highest tier of Delta customer loyalty rewards and leaving me wondering what value I saw in buying in a condo in Atlanta.
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Anyway, my point is only that even if you constantly jump around airlines don't neglect the frequent flier programs (or those for hotels, cars...). The travel industry is rife with loyalty rewards, and the reality is that you needn't be that loyal to capture the benefits. The ability to move points/miles/credits between members of airline alliances (SkyTeam, OneWorld, Star Alliance...) or between hotel programs and airline programs leaves almost any points with some value, even if you never see yourself on US Air ever again after that flight.
You can use the loyalty rewards to travel in style, minimize your cash outlay or both. The Points Guy is a great reference for loyalty programs and worth checking out to make sure you aren't leaving your valuable loyalty on the table. These programs ultimately make money for most companies that have them, because other companies (predominantly credit card companies) buy the points to distribute them to card users or customers. I scored 4,000 SkyMiles for renewing my subscription to The Economist just last week. I was going to do it anyway, but why not take some miles? I also get miles via SkyMiles Dining for eating out and using my American Express card. Don't neglect the loyalty programs. Save your money and travel well too.
Anyway, my point is only that even if you constantly jump around airlines don't neglect the frequent flier programs (or those for hotels, cars...). The travel industry is rife with loyalty rewards, and the reality is that you needn't be that loyal to capture the benefits. The ability to move points/miles/credits between members of airline alliances (SkyTeam, OneWorld, Star Alliance...) or between hotel programs and airline programs leaves almost any points with some value, even if you never see yourself on US Air ever again after that flight.
You can use the loyalty rewards to travel in style, minimize your cash outlay or both. The Points Guy is a great reference for loyalty programs and worth checking out to make sure you aren't leaving your valuable loyalty on the table. These programs ultimately make money for most companies that have them, because other companies (predominantly credit card companies) buy the points to distribute them to card users or customers. I scored 4,000 SkyMiles for renewing my subscription to The Economist just last week. I was going to do it anyway, but why not take some miles? I also get miles via SkyMiles Dining for eating out and using my American Express card. Don't neglect the loyalty programs. Save your money and travel well too.
