Travel Planning in 2022
A running joke I hear from my Miles to Memories colleagues is that I don’t like travel. I love it, actually, but my family and I travel less during this current life season. Years ago, my rewards hobby philosophy shifted to obtaining more everyday value out of reward currencies while still enabling free travel. Previously, I enjoyed travel planning as much as the trips themselves. That’s fallen off for years, though, and the pandemic has greatly contributed. I admire those who speculatively plan trips and are still able to follow through with traveling safely. But I don’t like to spend hours or days planning trips that I will probably end up cancelling. Recently, however, I caught myself enjoying travel planning in several small ways. Here are just a few examples.
Amex Platinum’s Fine Hotels and Resorts Credit
Along with announcing the Platinum’s annual fee increase to $695, Amex introduced several new card benefits last year. One of those new benefits is the Platinum’s annual $200 credit on a Fine Hotels and Resorts stay. This is my favorite new card benefit in recent memory. I had a blast maximizing this benefit across multiple Platinum cards last year. Amex has also encouraged me to do something that I haven’t greatly focused on in a few years – more luxurious travel. Sure, we splurge on rewards trips periodically, Disney World visits most recently, but I enjoy Amex broadening what’s possible here. Disney brings me to my next example.
Disney World Devalues Resort Stays
This may sound like a negative, but stay with me. Historically, my family and I have enjoyed staying at Disney World resorts for many reasons. Recently, Disney World devalued resort stays by removing some of the primary benefits. Based on the changes and a bit of reflection, I realized I should leverage other hotel loyalty currencies more for a similar Disney World experience. As a result of these changes, I’ve found properties that we’ll enjoy that offer more flexibility than Disney resorts, anyway. I have multiple hotel currencies that enable similar (enough) stays in a much wider variety of properties. By staying off property on points, we’re not paying inflated Disney World resort rates with the free Disney gift cards we’ve accumulated over the years. I’m making lemonade out of lemons here, and I’m enjoying the process.
Outstanding Earning Opportunities
Banks have encouraged us to earning points at higher rates and volumes over the past few years. Indeed, I and many others earn more than we could possibly consume in the near term. This is a large reason why I’m a fan of cashing out points. Another effect of earning so much is that we can be a bit more liberal in how we redeem. For me, that’s involved more convenient flights at slightly higher redemption rates. One thing I’m not fond of in our hobby is booking award flights. Having, and consequently redeeming, more miles has made the process less stressful for me.
Travel Is a Reality Again
As I mentioned earlier, many have been able to safely travel throughout the pandemic. Bravo to all of you! My family and I have gotten back to a more natural travel pattern last year, and we expect that to improve even more in 2022. Simply knowing that the trip I’m planning is more likely to occur makes the process more of a thrill for me. I like knowing the hard work will pay off.
You!
The Miles to Memories team has been able to interact more often with other points and travel enthusiasts at our Diamond group meetups over the past year. Denver was a hit over the summer, and I enjoyed meeting many of you in Orlando in early December. I’ll be thrilled to see new and familiar faces at the next one in April. The privilege of meeting and learning from other points and travel fans like you makes travel planning for such events a pleasure.
Conclusion
These are just a few reasons I’m excited for travel planning in 2022. I’ll undoubtedly hit some figurative and actual bumps in the road and sky along the way. And the pandemic has made travel a challenge for all of us. I’ll take the small wins where I can, and one of those areas is enjoying the travel planning experience. How has travel planning been for you lately? What are some of your challenges and successes?
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