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Reward Points: Friend or Foe?

Written by Blake Teen on February 6, 2011.

The camera is empty. The photos are uploaded. And the souvenirs have been given away. What remains after a trip abroad? A roaring debate in my head about whether reward points are a waste of time and effort or if they’re a nifty way to save money. I have experience to support both views.

• Reward points are the enemy: A month after I returned, I’m still working on claiming my frequent flyer mile credit. The many segments of my trip were handed off to other operators so I face a complicated online form to get credited. The form requires a special 13-digit code that, alas, can be found only on the bigger section of boarding pass (the part that the flight staff keeps as you board). Plan B means I’m still scanning and e-mailing the little stubs of tickets a month later. Knowing that the cheapest round-trip flights on this airline cost 25,000 points, I’ve spent 4 hours to earn 1/4 of a trip. Yikes. The only solution I see is to enter my frequent flyer number upfront or be very patient and diligent about saving stubs and claiming credit.

• Reward points are my best friend: One of my travel buddies had a modest stash of reward points from his bank, thanking him for his business. Luckily, he donated his points to our little troupe. Looking through the rewards website, we discovered that we would get the most bang for our points at restaurants and hotels, so we booked three nights at a 3-star hotel in the heart of Bangkok. For free. The transaction was a breeze too, since the rewards system worked seamlessly with a popular online travel site. What’s the moral of the story? I would say that hassle has a real cost and it may not be worth going after a few points that sit at the end of an obstacle course.

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