Business Platinum Card from American Express
130,000 MR points
Value vs. Enjoyment: How Do Points Shape the Way You Travel?
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Business Platinum Card from American Express
- Earn 90,000 MR points upon spending $15,000 in the first three months
- Plus, earn 40,000 MR points upon making a purchase in months 14–17 as a cardholder
- And, earn 1.25x MR points on all purchases
- Also, receive a $200 annual travel credit
- Transfer MR points to Aeroplan and other frequent flyer programs for premium flights
- Unlimited airport lounge access for you and one guest at Priority Pass, Plaza Premium, Centurion, and other lounges
- Credits and rebates for business expenses throughout the year with Amex Offers
- Bonus MR points for referring family and friends
- Qualify for the card as a sole proprietor
- Annual fee: $799
15 Comments
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I think I put more emphasis on enjoyment than value. I have the points to travel in 1st class but I just dont have the big attraction. Seeing Ricky’s videos and reading his blogs on his 1st class experience does make me want to join him. But when I plan my trips I just stick to business class. I find that luxurious enough and very comfortable. Plus having a lie-flat in bed/seat is very handy when I have multiple stopovers of 11-24 hours as part of my mini RTW.
Dont get me wrong, 1 day I will make the leap to 1st class, especially to say I have done it and taken a shower while travelling on a plane. Guess it would be more bragging rights than anything, lol.
I could get more value by using my acquired points for hotel stays, but I find airbnb very reasonably priced and I enjoy meeting my hosts. I get great information about the culture and some really good advice. Have not had a bad airbnb experience.
Sometimes I have fallen into the trap of being too used to the local cost of living and missing out on enjoyment because it was too "expensive" going by the local standard. Later on I realized it would only have been an extra $10-25 cdn which in the grand scheme of things would have really been worth it. Hasnt happened often but I try to make myself more aware that I probably wont even be back here again and to just go for it, the pictures and memories last a lifetime while the money would go towards something else anyways, like beer =D.
"Sometimes I have fallen into the trap of being too used to the local cost of living and missing out on enjoyment because it was too "expensive" going by the local standard."
This happens all the time to me. I love getting a good deal so much that I hate any feeling of being ripped off, even if it’s ultimately still a very small dollar value. Good reminder for me to be more open to spreading my dollars around when I travel and thereby getting more in return!
Enjoyment over Value. Maximize value? Accumulate more points. If you have a million Bonvoy points, you’ll have a different perception of value than if you have ten million. Get more points and you can afford to "waste" some, and enjoy higher standards.
I book all trips last minute (I mean really last minute, bag packed waiting at the door, no booking yet, leave today/tomorrow/next day) and I get great flights. CX F, BR J, JL F. If I have enough hotel points in enough different programs I’ll find nice lodgings wherever I go. Yes, I do sometimes avoid destinations with no points hotels, or I pay a favourite that doesn’t accept points, like Babylon BKK haha.
Main thing is not to be so obsessed with "the principle" of maximizing value that you miss the thing that would have changed you, or relaxed you, or opened you. (hint: it isn’t the most expensive thing, and it’s never the most isolated luxury thing). There is no "principle" except the value of your time and how to "maximize" the "value" of each minute you live. When you’re on the road, time is limited and you may not pass this way again.
Spend some money. It’s okay to spend a bit, even if you use a little debt to do it. I failed to go into debt to fly Concorde. I had the credit but not the cash, so I didn’t fly it. Now it’s too late. That was a mistake. A lesson. I hope you think about that, if you’re younger than my 59 years. In old age, the things we’ll regret are the things we didn’t do. Frugality and "the plan" seem to be good reasons to forego the Opportunity and most of the time, they are. Learn to recognize the exceptions.
"People these days know the price of everything and the value of nothing" – Oscar Wilde
Great input as always DenB. What you said about regretting not doing something later in life resonates a lot with me, and I think that’s why I’ve ended up following through with a lot of my crazy ideas (like six-continent Mini-RTWs and 27-hour hauls in EK F).
We’re probably getting too philosophical for typical Blogging, Ricky, but now I find myself wondering how your business, your "responsibility" to produce engaging content, influences your travel decisions, small (meals, room choices, attractions) and large (destinations, itineraries).
It’s clear you’re driven to travel and satisfy your own internal curiosity, BUT business is business, right? When have you chosen "for the enterprise" instead of for your desire? Maybe this is a topic for reflection and a separate post, someday.
Oh I’m all about the philosophical stuff, and you raise an excellent point. The truth is that the pursuit of more content and more engaging content is a huge driver behind my travel style these days – but then again, it’s also the reason I can travel so much, so I can’t say I particularly mind.
Off the top of my head, all of the things you mentioned are indeed influenced by having the business to some degree, and talking about the specific examples would definitely worthy of its own post someday.
I think too many people online discount a very large group of people : those who collect because it’s a matter of "going or not going". Yes, I have enough points to travel business class with my partner and stay in the best hotels in the world. However, some of us have quite a few children. So, to me, it’s not "points VS cash", nor "CPM" that motivates me. Using points, I have been able to show my three children some of the most amazing cities and sights in the world. Yes, we are on economy. Yes, the category 5 hotel is very nice (but it’s not the Gritti). But if it wasn’t for the world of points, I’d have never been able to show the kids what is out there… I regret nothing.
Hi Fernand,
This is a dilemma I, too, face. As a university student, I’m not unlimited on funds and much of my travel is also a matter of "going or not going".
When I travel with the family (total 4), it’s also often a "going or not going" – points have allowed us to visit our faraway family in China much more often than we used to (cash tickets to China can be very high during summer which is the only time everyone is free). After all, travelling to see family is "priceless in cpm".
Rachel
Thanks for your input! Definitely not a perspective I’ve given too much thought to, but I can see how, when I have kids, I’d get much more enjoyment out of bringing them somewhere vs. travelling on my own or just with my partner. And I suppose it’s much easier to say "I’ll pay cash for this trip and save the points for the next trip when they’d fetch more value" when you’re travelling as two people vs. as a family of five, when the cash costs can really add up.
I like max value (luxury hotels F and J long haul) with some cash injection to ensure enjoyability. Some people aim for lowest cost overall. I disagree with tbe latter as the opportunity cost is very high.
Yeah I can’t really make sense of the ultimate-lowest-cost viewpoint either, but then again, I get that not everyone prioritizes travel in their lives to the extent that I do, and the satisfaction of taking a trip that’s "completely free" every now and then is greater for those people.
Great post! I definitely had a lot of FOMO when I first started and maximized point systems to their extremes (AM at 35cents, AP at 7cents etc), going to places that I hadn’t thought of before.
Now a seasoned vet, I churn and collect for specific sweet spots and pay cash for everything else. It definitely feels lie a small load has been lifted of my shoulders when I used to try to book an entire trip on points.
Great writeup and some interesting food for thought. One thing that I didn’t see mentioned here with being flexible was throwing cash into the mix.
Of course not everyone is able to do this and I am priveliged in this sense, but that is how I maximize both value and enjoyment.
I try to go for max value whenever I can but when the points options or value isn’t there I just shell out the money for a cash ticket.
I take the same approach. Flexibility is key to maximizing value (both monetary and personal), and cash is the most flexible means of exchange out there. As Ricky touched on, the most value is extracted by those of us who desire more – frequency, luxury, and/or variety of travel goals. It’s another way that points collection benefits from scaling up – not just churning or P2 or MS, but also increasing the breadth of redemption options that will bring you value.
Agree with both points here. I myself have certainly begun recognizing this more, being willing to pay cash where it makes sense and use points where it makes sense.