If you spend enough time in the miles and points community, then you’d surely have come across people waxing eloquent about how much CPP (cents per point) their latest redemption gave them in value. Cents per point (CPP) screenshots are flexed like trophies. Business class or bust. Suites or nothing. Economy redemptions are dismissed as “wasted points” and a mid-range hotel stay is often scoffed at. So the question that I want to really ask is: have miles and points distorted our reality? Have we optimized ourselves into a corner?
Chasing Business Class to Extract Maximum Value: The CPP Trap
CPP is seductive because it’s clean, numerical, and objective, at least on the surface. It definitely isn’t the most accurate way to measure perceived value, but it surely is a decent method in absence of any other method whatsoever.
In these posts, I’ve written about CPP values for some of my recent redemptions, but do they paint a clear picture or simply distort reality? Do they make us chase luxury even when we don’t need to, only because we need to flex the CPP value we derived?
This Points Redemption Delivered an Incredible 4.7 Cents Per Point
Redeeming Amex Membership Rewards points for 4 cents per point value!
Here’s what CPP doesn’t take into account?
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Would you actually pay $4,000 in cash for that 5.5 CPP redemption that you’re flexing about?
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Did you choose the destination because you wanted to go, or because award space existed?
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Do you end up choosing luxury hotels over others, just for a higher CPP, while ignoring more conveniently located boutique ones?
CPP measures mathematical value, not experienced value. The question, is what do you value more?
When Luxury Becomes the Default, Not the Upgrade
There was a time when business class was aspirational, a once in a while indulgence that genuinely felt special. For many, thanks to miles and points, they are the baseline. So the key question is, does luxury really feel like luxury if it’s constant and readily available on every trip?
When every trip is premium, your expectations recalibrate upward. Think about the time when you flew premium cabin for the first time and stayed at a luxury property. After years of doing that, do you feel like this during your travel?
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A perfectly fine business class seat feels “dated”
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A solid 4-star hotel feels “underwhelming”
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Anything less than lie-flat becomes inconvenience rather than a trade-off
Economy class is still how most of the world travels. It’s perfectly fine. Even though I have a significant chunk of miles and points on hand at any given point of time, I usually think about flying premium cabins only if the flight it over 3-4 hours in duration. Otherwise, I stick to good old coach.
Regular Hotels also do exist!
Not every trip needs to be a resort stay with breakfast rituals and welcome letters. Sometimes, you just have a small layover and need a nice and clean hotel at the airport. Sometimes, you’re way to busy at work to enjoy any amenities. During such busy work hours, any hotel with a decent bed and amenities works, as long as you get enough time to get some good sleep and get some work done.
The Social Media Factor
What catches our eye? Premium cabin flights and luxury hotels are eye catching and make for very good write-ups, photos and videos in the age of instant gratification and social media. Would an economy class experience or a stay at a two star motel garner the same number of eyeballs?
To each their own, but that’s just the way things are and what catches attention in the age of social media. You can blame the algorithms, the humans who created the algorithms or the humans who incessantly want to consume that type of content. In short, luxury is often stating at you because it grabs attention and is good for business, be it for a magazine, newspaper, television ad, blog or a social media handle.
The Pundit’s Mantra
If not for miles and points, I wouldn’t have traveled even a fraction of what I have. So, while Im extremely thankful for that, I do like to keep things in perspective.
Here’s how I look at it. Why do you travel? In my case, it’s something that makes me happy. Simply hopping on to a flight and going to a country where the people don’t look, eat or talk like me excites me. So, miles and points act as a tool to achieve that goal. Also, I’m someone who genuinely loves trying out new travel brands, be it a new airline or hotel chain. However, I do tend to prefer more luxury experiences over others.
However, your definition of happiness may be very different from mine. The goal of this post is to say that it’s perfectly fine. I know plenty of folks in this space who fly coach and don’t stay at ultra luxury properties. However, they also take a lot more trips than I do and most importantly, they thoroughly enjoy their travels!
In essence, miles, points and the proliferation and bombardment of images and videos on social media often tends to distort our view of reality. Miles and points a handy tool and it’s up to each one of us how we use them. Either way, as I stated earlier, what really matters is what makes you happy!
Here are three things that miles and points have helped me achieve:
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The freedom to travel more often
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The ability to say yes to spontaneous trips
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Spending very little cash out of pocket on travel
How has your travel changed after you entered this space? Do you fall prey to the CPP trap and end up flying premium cabins and staying at luxury hotels more often? Or do you have your priorities aligned differently? Tell us in the comments section.
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