Maybe it’s withdrawal from wedding planning. Or perhaps a way to avoid planning for babies (I am newly married – don’t want babies yet!). Whatever the reason, I’ve become preoccupied with planning as many vacations and trips as possible. So far we’ve got 8 separate itineraries set up; some as short as one overnight stay in a nearby city for a wedding, all the way up to a two week trip to Europe.
It all started when I realized that I had built up an impressive (for me) number of points in my United MileagePlus account. I signed up for the United Mileage Plus card on a whim after the wedding last November. My husband has one, and he likes it. I received a targeted offer for 50,000 bonus miles, plus 5,000 miles for adding an authorized user. I’ve been using that card for pretty much everything, including final wedding expenses, automatic payments, and regular monthly spending. I even gave one couple a United gift card as a wedding gift (don’t worry, they registered for it!) With purchases at United garnering x2 points, I’ve been booking all my travel with the card as well.
The other thing that happened is I took a trip for work in November, and I learned that I had something to gain from hotel loyalty programs. I don’t travel for work very often; maybe once a year at most. This was an awesome trip – a conference at the Gaylord in National Harbor, Maryland (just south of DC). The conference was Monday to Wednesday, so Andrew and I went together Saturday morning. We packed four Smithsonian museums into Saturday afternoon and Sunday all day.
We also had drinks at [Smith Commons](http://www.smithcommonsdc.com/) (good drinks, friendly bartender) and dinner at [Granville Moore’s](http://granvillemoores.com/) (Belgian, mussels and frites, delicious, looooong wait.)
We stayed in the [Marriott Crystal City at Reagan National Airport](lhttp://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/wascc-crystal-city-marriott-at-reagan-national-airport/) on Saturday night, which was great for taking the Metro from the airport (one or two stops) to literally drop our bags, then to catch it again to head for the Mall. I chose this property for the price and proximity to the subway, airport, and the Gaylord. The next morning, we packed up early, then took a cab to the [Gaylord](http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/wasgn-gaylord-national-resort-and-convention-center/). They were fantastic, and allowed us an early check-in so we could again toss our luggage and head back out to museums. One disappointment – the next shuttle into town was at noon, so we had to cool our heels a bit. Sidenote – there are several restaurants in the Gaylord, but we particularly enjoyed the sports bar! We sat at the bar and ate dinner, then found a quiet corner with a golf screen simulator. Normally, they charge to use it, but we were able to play for free. Fun! I am moderately bad on the green and terrible in the simulator, Andrew is great on both!
After returning home from my trip, I received an email from the Gaylord touting the Marriott Rewards program. I hadn’t really thought about how the Gaylord was owned by Marriott. When I looked into the program, I realized that with the Saturday night stay plus the 3 nights at the Gaylord I could earn significant points. Even better, Marriott Rewards has an [airline miles program](http://www.marriott.com/rewards/earn-points/miles.mi) where you can earn miles rather than accrue points. For someone like me who is trying to collect as many miles as possible and doesn’t care about earning hotel points, this is awesome! I earned double miles on each dollar spent for a total of 1,961 miles. For my IAH-DCA, DCA-IAH flights, I earned 2,416 miles. If only I’d had the United card already, I could have really racked them up!
beginning MileagePlus balance: 29,362
MileagePlus balance 12/2/12: 33,739
– doesn’t include United MileagePlus credit card bonus or spending
MileagePlus balance 12/31/12:
Airline Activity: 1,091 (IAH-CLE)
Non Airline Activity: 53,423 (CC bonus 50k + $3,423 spend)
Ending Balance: 88,253
Honestly, this miles and points race reminds me of playing a video game. We manipulate our spending and our travel patterns to earn points, which can be redeemed in creative but restricted ways. I bet there are fascinating graduate dissertations on that topic.
There are so many interesting companies and blogs in this “travel game” world – and I’m a total novice. Here’s to learning how to play the game!
Courtney Hoyt 