Am I too miles and points crazy? (My husband thinks so)

Discussion in 'General Discussion | Miles/Points' started by LauraPDX, Sep 15, 2012.

    • Original Member

    ACMM Gold Member

    What is the highest level? Unobtainium? ;)
    • Original Member

    miles and smiles Gold Member

    Unobtainium is merely the carrot that is kept in front of the horse to keep it running. :p
    The highest status level is Happyasyouare. :)
    Flying Bat, 8MiHi, IDGflygirl and 3 others like this.
    • Original Member

    ACMM Gold Member

    Corrected
    8MiHi, travelingmore, YULtide and 3 others like this.
    • Original Member

    HaveMilesWillTravel Gold Member

    I don't sweat the small things. I no longer cringe when she pays something with cash where I would use a credit card. I usually do the online shopping, but if she ends up ordering something from LL Bean without consulting with me first (for the best portal to use), I don't say anything, In restaurants I almost always pay, so that's not a problem.
    • Original Member

    Quasiconvexity Silver Member

    The typical advice around these parts is to start looking for a new spouse :)
    • Original Member

    Mapsmith Gold Member

    "Wrong Card at the Restaurants"???? Aren't all your cards registered? And all the Wife's cards too?
    • Original Member

    HaveMilesWillTravel Gold Member

    Some cards earn double miles/points in restaurants. I do have most cards registered with iDine, but I rarely eat at restaurants that are part of the program.
    daninstl likes this.
  1. aptraveler Gold Member

    +1 :)

    Glad that you decided to attend FTU, I look forward to seeing you there, you'll have fun and learn a ton! :)

    Sent from my iPhone using Milepoint
    LauraPDX likes this.
  2. cmgilbride Silver Member

    And I thought I was the only one -LMAO
    YULtide and LauraPDX like this.
  3. daninstl Silver Member

    It's not the cards that are the problem it's that on Idine you can't have the same cards registered with multiple programs so for example I might have my Visa with AA and my Mastercard with BA and want a 1500 mile bonus with AA at a certain restaurant only to have her use the Mastercard. It's a complicated game we play. :)
    pcarol, marcwint55 and Gargoyle like this.
  4. daninstl Silver Member

    Signs you might have a problem:
    1. You have a membership card for any Africa based airline and you've never been out of the USA or EU.
    2. You spend more than 30 minutes per day on blogs and Milepoint, etc.
    3. Your dream vacation involves extra stops so you can max out the miles and visit an extra airport lounge
    4. You take photos of your food on the aircraft
    5. You take photos of your seat on the aircraft
    6. The only vacation photos you brought back are of the airplane food, seat and the hotel room
    7. You are seeing a professional about how depressed you are over the lack of a 2012 Grandslam event
    8. You have seen the movie "Up in the Air" more than 10 times
    9. You have over $500 in dog food or other pet products stored in your house from the latest Delta deal
    10. You know how to post icons and status of your programs on your Milepoint signature
    11. You have "ever" dumpster dived for Wendy's cups, puddy wrappers, Coke rewards caps or other items to get points or miles
    maradori, thegrailer, pcarol and 13 others like this.
  5. Cove Active Member

    Thank you for the 11 point plan to determine if I have a problem.
    Now I don't do photos and no recent dumpster diving so I feel I am in the clear.
    Having thought about the craziness of chasing points I only get anxious when there are no numbers in front of the commas
    In any of our Frequent Flyer accounts
    pcarol, 8MiHi, Gargoyle and 3 others like this.
    • Original Member

    Slow_Mustang Silver Member

    As others have pointed out, having a proper balance in life is a must. Nothing wrong with spending a little extra time on a hobby that entertains/relaxes/makes free travel possible. But, yes, the dishwasher does need to be emptied, among other family/marital obligations. Hardly a day goes by when we don't talk about juggling spends for different cards, or getting new ones or about replenishing the accounts we may have just dipped into. Sometimes one has to wean oneself away from a pleasurable activity to the one that feels mundane but needs to be done anyway. It is all about having a proper mix and balance.
  6. love2mp Active Member

    Your husband is probably like mine...he thought I was crazy about points/miles until we started taking trips and enjoyed the benefits of my obsession, I mean hobby. Now...he's the one asking me if he's using the "right" card or if we can earn points for something...sniff sniff...I'm so proud! :D P.S. My parents are also recent converts after flying to HKG and back in J and staying at the Conrad on points.
    pcarol, marcwint55, 8MiHi and 4 others like this.
    • Original Member

    violist Gold Member

    Having a large balance is a must :D

    To answer the OP, a friend of mine was wandering around some desolate place and
    saw a sign for a gift shop - turns out it was attached to a state prison, but she
    decided to check it out anyway and was surprised to find handcrafts of high quality
    and low price. She picked up some items and took them to the cashier, remarking
    on how attractive and well-made the merchandise was. And the prices, she said,
    are so low they are criminal! Replied the cashier, "We all are, ma'am, we all are."
    • Original Member

    ACMM Gold Member

    ... so indeed size does matter ;)
    marcwint55 likes this.
  7. 8MiHi Silver Member

    In the US we have a twelve-step program that leaves me out.
    • Original Member

    Simon Milepoint Guide

    LOL too funny but probably correct.
    Quasiconvexity and marcwint55 like this.
  8. edekba Gold Member

    People say I have a problem because i speak Airport codes instead of cities now. :(
  9. marcwint55 Gold Member

    what will happen when you start speaking rows and class of service?
    Quasiconvexity and edekba like this.
  10. marcwint55 Gold Member

    stick her in coach on the next flight and she may get the message.
    Slow_Mustang, daninstl and edekba like this.
  11. SOLTATIO Silver Member

    All of them except the dog food. Crap...
    Hi. I'm Soltatio and I am a miles and points addict....

    But I'm loving it so I'm not gonna stop! And you can't make me!:p
    LauraPDX, pcarol, daninstl and 2 others like this.
  12. marcwint55 Gold Member

    I assume that a proper mix is the term for an alcoholic beverage.
    Slow_Mustang and daninstl like this.
  13. marcwint55 Gold Member

    I still cringe, but small amounts of points are not worth arguing about.
    Mapsmith likes this.
  14. FrugalAsianMan Silver Member

    Even though my significant other has been reaping the benefits of my labor (and she's willing to indulge me by having her own miles accounts and signing up for offers I tell her to), she still gives me that eye roll or "sure, honey." response when I talk to her about miles. In fact, like it's been mentioned a few times in this thread, most people I talk to usually just gloss over my conversation when I'm talking about miles.

    I'm convinced it's similar to running your own business; only a certain type of person will get into it. And while I think miles earning is much more conducive to a larger population than being your own boss, I do think you have to somehow personally be exposed to it in the right conditions in order to really get involved. For example, some of my peers (I'm in my twenties), don't necessarily have the proper credit line or are too afraid to mess up their credit to take advantage of most of the great credit card promotions out there for miles earning. (Sucks.) Then there are others who simply say they just don't have time for it, or are just too skeptical as to how I do things. They all exclaim "wow, how do you do it?!" when I tell them my roundtrip ticket from SFO to JFK was $5.

    So how do I deal with all of it?
    • Blog it. Writing in my travel blog helps me organize my thoughts, and sometimes I feel like someone out there is reading.
    • Connect w/ other miles enthusiasts or making sure that you stay in touch with your friends who *are* miles enthusiasts definitely helps too. I have a Facebook group (a secret/private one) among some of my friends who are also miles junkies.
    • Get involved w/ Miles/Points communities like MP over here or flyertalk or even slickdeals.
    • Become an evangelist. This option may not be for everyone, but I've found that speaking about how to earn miles and current promotions at local clubs and groups--or even just privately (one on one) to friends--can be a great outlet for all of this. It may take the right audience members, but if you can show them the value of earning miles (which I think is pretty easy to do), you can usually create a new miles enthusiast from the experience. And in exchange for your time and effort, you can usually get in one or two referrals. (i.e. American Express refer a friend for credit cards)
    • Keep up with other miles blogs helps keep me both up to date with current offers but also sane. Why? Because I know I'm not alone...in the whole checking daily and keeping on top of promotions! hahaha. :p

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