Our 2017 Miles and Points Progress

How is your 2017 miles and points progress? For my family, frequent flyer miles and points are the means to an end–they're what enable us to fly internationally and for me, be productive for work and for my family, not be overly jet-lagged at the destination or when returning home.

Because of the nature of my business, which specializes in luxury travel, we don't value hotel points apart from Starwood Preferred Guest Starpoints, as those transfer to a number of frequent flyer programs and can be profitably used towards first class and business class awards. The best luxury hotels and resorts, such as Cheval Blanc, Aman Resorts, Four Seasons, The Peninsula, Mandarin Oriental, and luxury boutique properties, cannot be booked with miles and points, so I give my clients the same advice I practice–focus on earning transferable miles and points, such as Chase Ultimate Rewards points, AMEX Membership Rewards points, Citi ThankYou points and Starwood Starpoints, as well as some individual frequent flyer miles such as American AAdvantage, Alaska Mileage Plan and the like.

Those miles and points can, with proper planning, be turned into award tickets on many of the best commercial airline products currently available, such as Etihad First Apartment on the A380, JAL First Class, Singapore Suites, Singapore First Class, Cathay Pacific First Class, Emirates A380 First Class, etc.

Getting back to the topic of this post, here's our rough breakdown of the miles and points we've earned so far in 2017, about 10 weeks into the year, by category:

• 66%: Credit Card Signup Bonuses and Spend Required to Obtain

• 21%: Referral Bonuses

• 13%: Spend and Category Bonuses

And here's a breakdown by the type of miles and points earned:

• 41%: AAdvantage miles

• 33%: Chase Ultimate Rewards points

• 26%: AMEX Membership Rewards points