The difference here is that I’m already earning points. I’m not doing anything new to earn them; I mostly remember “restaurants on this card, online shopping on that one” and apps like CardPointers can assist if needed.
But this isn’t about selecting new loyalty programs or even being loyal; this is focused on more transferable credit card points, and airline miles you’re already earning.
It’s about using them at maximum benefit, not earning them maximally.
There will always be other places that don’t care.
But I think it’s okay to appreciate the world around you and spend time being present while waiting for someone. We used to do this all the time. People watching is fun.
There's another aspect: these days most people don't like being told what to do. When it infringes on other people's lives like making photos I understand but anything else nope.
I couldn't imagine working in an army either. I'd never let them get away with barking at me.
People have never liked being told what to do. Even in the military, it's rare that anyone likes being told what to do. The point is that you do it anyway, because you are disciplined and believe in the chain of command, provided you aren't being asked to do something illegal.
If you don't trust your chain of command, then there are issues. But militaries are decidedly not democracies, because the military often requires swift action, and democracies move slowly by design.
That's fine, I wasn't trying to convince you. :) I was just clarifying that there isn't a human alive who actually likes being told what to do. There is usually a reason they do it anyway, but it is rarely because they like it.
(I am exaggerating, and in the sense of pleasure there are obviously submissive people, etc., but you get my point, I think)
True and I'm one of them in fact. But it's different, I'm submissive only when I want to, to whom I choose to, within limits that I set. There's a lot of safety net. Whereas people who are forced to work in the military don't have any choice.
I think being so antiauthoritarian is what makes that interesting for me. Though I'm never authoritative myself, I could never manage people either.
For sure; the container you set within which you choose to be submissive matters a lot, of course. Particularly, it matters because it lets you remain in control of how and when and what you submit to. :)
The issue of being in the military is precisely that you don't have that control, and choices are made for you. The benefit of this is learning discipline, hard work, resilience, and eventually getting to a point of being in control (whether of yourself or of others).
There are hundreds of ways this can go wrong, but it is all designed for one thing: swift action when necessary. Allowing people choice definitively makes things slower, and speed is of the essence in war. Strategy is too, of course, but decisive action matters.
And those who have no choice are nothing if not decisive when told what to do. :)
It uses Seats.aero under the hood, which is a Roame competitor, but I’d love to integrate it with others. Seats.aero is the only one with an API, though, which I believe is a mistake on Roame and others’ part.
The actual searching for actively available award flights is the part this relies on Seats.aero for
In my personal instance I actually have added the list of Chase The Edit as well as AmEx’s FHR/HC hotels. The problem is there’s no easy way to to search AmEx/Chase for those.
I’ve never booked on super.com usually because I’m not into the “any room, run of the house” that usually requires, but please lmk if I’m missing something!
And please, I am very open to PRs that improve it. :)
Nope. I just booked biz class flights to Scandinavia in August for 140k pts.
Cash was about $7k for the same flights.
In part, the reason I built this wasn't exactly to optimize 1.5cpp vs 2cpp, although that can be useful too... but rather to help me make the choice between using points vs. cash. (which, yes, is based on the cpp value).
But if you don’t find it useful, I’d love that feedback too!
Thanks for proving my point, as I was booking for 2pax, which is about $3500/pax indeed. And the 140k pts was total for both (+ ~$1200 total for fees, etc., in the interest of full disclosure).
I was booking over 3 weeks, late August to early September, and I booked on KLM/AF. I had specific date ranges I needed to hit.
Again, you don't have to like it. That's fine.
But consider that "I think points are nonsense" isn't the person this was built for. :)
> Thanks for proving my point, as I was booking for 2pax, which is about $3500/pax indeed. And the 140k pts was total for both (+ ~$1200 total for fees, etc., in the interest of full disclosure).
Again, sounds like you're trying too hard to justify 2 cpp vs 3 cpp.
Cash price $2,900/pax including fees, Aug 19 to Sep 9 (21 days), Turkish airlines lie-flat business round trip with nice short 1h30m layover at a brand new airport.
Versus your 70k points + $600 cash fees per person?
Especially with kids, or with high income, you stop caring about $1,000/person and care more about simplicity or having the trip vs not (e.g., departing on Friday cash vs Wednesday points)
And if one is rich with points (1 million+), then one should have no problem spending 250k points one-way business on the date of their choice. Otherwise, they can't consume their point balance.
I was happy with the deal I found because my goal was saving cash, and using points I already had. I am not trying to prove a point past that.
$600/pax is a lot less than $2900/pax. Saving $4600 total to use 140k points is, indeed, very useful for me and a lot of other people.
You have other desires and needs. Cool. You could also build those into your request, but like I said: I don’t see the point you’re trying to make other than “I don’t want to like this tool because I don’t like points in general,” which is fine.
Related indirectly : Turkish airlines hub (Istanbul airport) is a scam. Everything there costs at least twice the price it should. Especially food which is basically what everyone does during layover. Think 30€ for a burger or a kebab.
« Brand new » is not an argument by itself.
Business is a must, or at least booking a lounge.
> Turkish airlines hub (Istanbul airport) is a scam. Everything there costs at least twice the price it should. Especially food which is basically what everyone does during layover. Think 30€ for a burger or a kebab.
Business class passengers don't pay for food. They are busy eating free buffet in the lounge.
OK, so you've calculated I've saved $2200/pax. Fine.
For the record, I already took that into account. My goal with these flights was to save cash, because at the moment, cash flow is the issue I'm solving for. At other times, I have other priorities.
I can't believe I have to say this, but... YMMV, I guess.
I don't know if US miles gives better deals, but in EU (Flying Blue, KLM) Amsterdam-Munich (1hr flight) business class is 52k miles. Amsterdam - Los Angeles business class goes for 550k miles. For 1 passenger.
This was 70k round trip SFO-OSL, for 1 passenger. In general, good deals on international flying is the main win with points. Domestic can be useful too, but usually less so.
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