Woohoo! It worked again!

[dreamshark]

 Since Amber's brood became a family of 5, flying them out here for Christmas has become a daunting financial endeavor. Christmas time domestic fares are typically in the range of $600-$800 per person, so... do the math. But for the 2nd year in a row, Amber and I managed to cobble together enough points and miles from our credit card hobby to cover ALL OF IT. And with beautiful non-stop Delta flights that do not require getting up before dawn or arriving at midnight. Go us!

Of course, last year's deal drained 6 years worth of Chase Ultimate Reward points and this year did a similar number on the Amex points. But hey, this is the kind of thing I was saving them for. The last big points cash-in got Richard and me to the Helsinki Worldcon in 2017. Now we're concentrating more on making memories for the grandchildren. 

Of course the way the airlines have been performing over the past 5 years, it's still a crapshoot. Those beautiful non-stop flights will probably be changed by the airline at least 3 times between now and Christmas, if they even take off at all. But right now it feels like a huge win. 

Comments

[minnehaha]

Brilliant!

I am so annoyed with Delta that I may give up chasing status, even though I already made Platinum for next year. And I have many, many FF miles.

K.

[dreamshark]

I have never had status on any airline - it's all credit card points. So the recent bull-in-china-shop changes to their elite benefit programs don't affect me. They do seem to be trying to drive away their most valuable customer base, which is puzzling. You have to wonder if one of their competitors sneakily installed an enemy agent at Delta as VP of Loyalty or something. "I have a great idea, JP! Let's radically raise the threshold for elite qualification while simultaneously cutting back on elite benefits! Think of all the money we'll save!"

But it's hard to quit Delta if you live in Minnesota.