Devaluations after devaluations, 2023 is wrapping up to be the year where loyalty programs are getting slashed into pieces. With the exception of Korean Air, let’s recap the massacre that happened so far…
- Jan 2023: Emirates devalues most of its premium cabin awards to/from Dubai
- March 2023: Alaska Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, and Etihad Airways devalues partner award rates by up to 100%
- June 2023: United Airlines devalues award rates sitewide on avg of 33%
- Sept 2023: Delta Airlines devalues its loyalty program by eliminating status earnings through flying. Now, it depends on how much $$$$ you spend on the airline.
Today, I like to do a PSA post in preventing travelers fall victim to these devaluations.
Keep track of when it happens
To prevent a costly mistake, keep track of when the devaluations go live. For example, the next major devaluation is Cathay Pacific. Effective Oct 1st 2023, Asia miles will devalue sitewide on avg of 25% in mostly premium award markets.
For those that wants to fly Cathay Pacific, this is the final days to lock in those pre-devaluation rates. For example, a Business Class flight from LAX-BKK will jump from 85K to 110K miles for redemption. That’s a 29% increase in just one day if you book October 1st instead of September 30th.
Flexible currency
Another way to protect your points is to keep them as a flexible currency. For example, 500,000 AMEX/Chase/Citi points is usually better than 500,000 points in one program because of the freedom of choice in using them thru various channels. It’s common that hotels and airlines offer “Bonus Miles Transfers” where they incentivize you to move them to certain loyalty programs. Stay on neutral when that happens!
While tempting, I always recommend readers to not fall victim to that unless you have a specific redemption in mind.
Don’t treat points as an investment
A common mistake readers like to do is to not spend their hard earned points. It’s understandable that you have the feeling of wanting to save them and almost treat the reward currencies as an investment.
You need to flip that mentality and remember to spend them as fast as you can. Clock is ticking.
Earn and burn.
MAKE THE POINTS RAIN
spend it like it’s devaluating tomorrow
One of the best splurges before devaluation was the whole fam scoring upgrades in Emirates A380 Business Class. Doing this at today’s rates is borderline unaffordable now.
Overall, devaluations are an inevitable part of the miles and points game. This year has been especially tough with all the award rates inflating like crazy! Nevertheless, I hope this post helps serve as a good reminder in how to dodge some of these bullets when it happens.
Chai Bear World 