Blahgorrhea

I received in the mail today a letter from Delta letting me know that they are combining their two different rewards programs, both of which I have been a member of for a number of years. The letter assured me that I would still be provided with the same excellent service I have come to expect (which isn’t saying all that much), but my concern really is whether or not those frequent flier miles are really worth anything anymore.

Over the last 10 years or so, I have accumulated over 200,000 miles that I can redeem for free travel, for stupid office gifts or for magazine subscriptions. I learned tonight that I can also donate the points to charities. I have been flying Delta most of my life, as they are based out of Atlanta, and I have had an American Express card that offers me 1 SkyMile for every dollar I spend. I am religious about using my credit card in order to amass rewards points, but I never actually redeem the points, so why do I keep up with this ritual, when I could instead use a credit card that offers me cash back? [Continue reading…]