The value of loyalty programs

[Midpack]

My big three are Hilton, Delta, and Kroger. I save significant money from the points on all of them, and it's completely automatic since I rarely shop at their competitors. I really don't care if they track my spending and resell the information; it's worth it to me.

And that’s exactly what Hilton, Delta and Kroger want you to do - nothing wrong with that. Our big three are Costco, Harris Teeter and Hilton (limited since Covid). We decline other loyalty programs, not worth the data mining. We use OpenTable, but their loyalty program is useless.

 

[athena53]

I started with airline and hotel loyalty programs early on since I was traveling on business. I joined all the major ones and used whatever hotels and airlines fit the corporate travel policy. When I had a conference in Bermuda in 1997 and realized I could take DS, then 12, with me on a free ticket, I was hooked.

My tactic at this point is to sign up for programs I'm likely to use (as long as there's no fee) but then try to make my buying decisions based on price, convenience, etc.- not just the loyalty program unless I'm working on some big reward. (BF and I took a few road trips when Hilton offered me Diamond status in 2021 if I stayed X number of nights.) I know I'm giving up more shreds of privacy with each one; it's the spam e-mails that other me more, although they go to my spamcatcher address.

I'm getting disenchanted with Hilton; they're allowing properties to post crazy-high point rates for rooms in some desirable hotels, which brings the redemption value down to a pitiful level. They pulled that trick for a 2-night stay at the Hilton O'Hare in April, hardly a desirable property but it's getting a lot of business traffic again. I caved and paid cash for the second nights. Why not go elsewhere? My granddaughters LOVE the rooms with a view of the hotel across the street.

 

[Car-Guy]

Credit cards that give cash (or points back). I tend to use Capitol One the most, "just because"... I typically use my accumulated points when I buy something from Amazon. At checkout they'll ask me if I just want to use my points instead of charging my CC... Since most of my purchases are small from Amazon, (<$100) I just use my points. They make it super easy. I haven't had to pay/charge for much of anything from Amazon in years. Works for me!

 

[euro]

this ^^^^

about the only loyalty program we actually use is at our local grocery store and a few others where we just use our phone number. i do the majority of the shopping and I shop at the same stores for the same items and rarely...almost never...use coupons.

Same here. Grocery store only as otherwise, you pay full price on any item that's temporarily reduced. Also, I tend to shop on Thursdays (smallest crowds), and collect the 5% senior discount.
Other than that, these programs are more trouble than they are worth to me. Over the years, I tried many Hotel programs, but inevitably, I end up forgetting my number, or booking a room through a third party so it doesn't qualify, or when I do get the points, they'll be expired by the time I want to use them. I did accumulate quite a few air miles back when I travelled for Megacorp but they keep expiring as I don't fly anymore. Used to be able to extend the expiration date by using a small amount for my WallStreetJournal subscription, but it looks like they (both, the airline and WSJ) discontinued that option. I decided to just donate the miles to charity and be done with the program.

 

[pacergal]

Safeway, Kroger, Starbucks, Dutch Bros are about the only ones I use consistently and majority of them have apps on my phone, so I just tap and pay/get free stuff and go. Have AlaskaAir Visa and we have a ton of miles, enough for a few RT to Hawaii, but haven't flown for a while. Might use them up this year.

 

[athena53]

I decided to just donate the miles to charity and be done with the program.

Doesn't donating the miles to charity qualify as activity in the account even if it's a small number of miles? There still seem to be ways to keep the account active if you don't fly the airline a lot. Buy something, anything, from the airline's shopping portal, donate miles to charity, buy the minimum number of miles, gift them to someone (for a fee, of course ).

DH had 100,000 miles in his AA account that were about to expire. I bought a $15 iTunes gift card through the shopping portal (note that gift card purchases don't count for some programs). We later used the miles for 2 Business-Class flights to Madrid. I'm sure it would take more miles now but it was the best $15 I ever spent. Even in retirement, with 2 major trips a year I'm still accumulating enough miles to make the program worthwhile.

 

[euro]

Doesn't donating the miles to charity qualify as activity in the account even if it's a small number of miles? There still seem to be ways to keep the account active if you don't fly the airline a lot. Buy something, anything, from the airline's shopping portal, donate miles to charity, buy the minimum number of miles, gift them to someone (for a fee, of course ).

DH had 100,000 miles in his AA account that were about to expire. I bought a $15 iTunes gift card through the shopping portal (note that gift card purchases don't count for some programs). We later used the miles for 2 Business-Class flights to Madrid. I'm sure it would take more miles now but it was the best $15 I ever spent. Even in retirement, with 2 major trips a year I'm still accumulating enough miles to make the program worthwhile.

Yes, I think you are right, donating just a few miles would keep the program going. However, we have only made one trip (Europe) since I retired in 2016 and I was unable to redeem miles for that flight because I couldn't make the times/dates available for redemption work with our plans/schedules. So, it is easier for us to just donate the whole account and be done with it.

 

[Phroig]

We’ve been using airline miles for hotel rooms. We visit DS (at college) once a month, and haven’t spent a dime so far on accommodations. You can do this with American and United, but not Delta. United and Delta miles, however, do not expire.

 

[athena53]

I've been buying Schiff glucosamine supplements and noticed a sticker advertising their rewards program. I signed up, entered codes from a few bottles and idly checked yesterday. I'd earned enough points to redeem for a $10 Costco gift card for Schiff products. I'll take it!