Loyalty DOES Matter

Travel isn't cheap and we are not rich.

One big way we have learned to save money is through the loyalty programs that all airlines and hotels offer. In this series of posts, I'll go over the different loyalty programs that we use, why and how we've benefited from them.

Instead of jumping around and trying to use every program out there, we have focused on one budget option and one “business’ option. By focusing this way we can leverage our loyalty and find the best deals. We are able to use one loyalty account for all travel and I tend to book travel for us so to pool the points into one account. Using the points like this is the preferred way for family trips but if someone needs to use points for a personal trip we don’t have to fight over them.

We use 4 loyalty programs, 2 airlines programs and 2 hotel from major hotel chains.

While are in no way experts on these programs but this is what we have learned from utilizing them over the years and hopefully what we do know will be helpful for those of you out there who are learning just like we did.

If you’ve flown Spirit you know that as a budget airline they will really tack on the fees. This year we made a decision and spent $100 for a loyalty match program that allowed me to use my Marriott status to match and become a Gold level member. There are several perks when you hit Gold but there are 3 that really make it worth it.

Spirit also has started points pooling which is something I had never heard of. You and up to 8 family members or friends can pool your points for perks. You don’t have to be a member of the loyalty program but as a Gold member you do earn more points on each dollar spent. In the past when I purchased tickets for our family, each person’s loyalty number would get their points. Now we can pool it all together and get closer to free tickets.

For 2023, flying DTW to MCO on June 19-22 the base ticket round trip with nothing added is $90. Let’s add a luggage for the trip and do one carry on and one checked bag. The total for luggage comes to $285. I have to be in a window seat and for the cheapest option round trip the total cost is $60.

Let’s add that all up: