"Airline devaluations" refers to a situation where an airline reduces the value or benefits associated with their loyalty program points or miles. This can make it more difficult or less rewarding for customers to redeem their points for flights or other benefits.
Full definition
Includes details of the US Travel Ban that come in to effect this week, news of a
United Airlines devaluation coming later this year, details of British Airways flight cancellations, a breakdown showing how I booked a great Tokyo trip, news of Singapore Airlines eliminating First Class from a European route and lots more — it's been a busy week!
The way I try to protect myself
from airline devaluations is by concentrating my credit card earnings on transferable currencies like Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi ThankYou Points, American Express Membership Rewards Points and Starwood Preferred Guest Starpoints.
With the American
Airlines devaluations due to kick in a few months into next year I've been looking around for some good used of my AAdvantage miles before they're suddenly worth a lot less.
Some carriers in the oneworld alliance have amazing first class options, and I knew I wanted to book my girlfriend and I in one of these premium cabins before the American
Airlines devaluation earlier this year.
Note that I haven't said anything about earning elite status here: in the current climate
of airline devaluations I think most travelers are better off ignoring the elite status treadmill and, as Milenomics puts it, Being Your Own Elite.
The
United Airlines devaluation has been covered by a lot of others already, so I'll cover just the basics and then give my thoughts on what this means.
But unlike fixed - value points cards, like the Discover It card or Barclays Arrival Plus card, or co-branded airline cards, Ultimate Reward points are flexible and more valuable since you are protected from hotel and
airline devaluations.
But unlike fixed - value points cards (like the Discover it card and the Barclays Arrival Plus card) or co-branded airline cards, Membership Rewards points are more valuable as you are protected from hotel and
airline devaluations.
After all, the value of a mile almost always goes down over time due to
airline devaluations, so why not hedge your bets and use your miles as quickly as you earn them?
For a full update on the upcoming United
Airlines devaluation, check out my previous post: United Airlines Devaluation for MileagePlus Award Tickets.
While we're huge fans of the current American Airlines award chart,
airline devaluations have proven to be an inevitable part of the mileage game.
With the American
Airlines devaluation having just gone into effect, let's start with the AAdvantage program and see how quickly you can earn, and then expertly burn, 100,000 miles in the new program.
We plan to host meetup event every few weeks to bring together fellow RVA's miles and points junkies discussing airline hacks, manufactured spending,
airline devaluations (may be not) and much much more.