December 4
For me, 2012 is pretty much in the books. My work year ends on Dec 10th because I’m taking pretty much all my vacation in December. I thought this would be a good time to look back at 2012, the places I’ve been this year, the points and miles I’ve earned and some of the highlights in-between.
Where I was
I started the year off in Sydney, Australia for business and had the chance to work in Melbourne as well. The NYE fireworks in Sydney are spectacular. That has to be one of my favorite travel memories of 2012.
February: I spent February in Thailand
March: in London and Brussels
April: two weeks of April in Brussels and the Netherlands
May: back in Thailand
June: mostly at home
July: I was in Hong Kong and Macau. It will be a long time before I forget Typhoon Vincente! The second strongest typhoon to hit Hong Kong and Macau and I was there, in the craziness of it.
August: spent most of the month at home
September: it was back to London and it was amazing to be there during the Olympics and Paralympics
October: I spent in The Hague & Thailand
November: spent one week in Thailand and the rest at
December will be split between Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Singapore.
How I got there:
Airline Miles:
- In 2012, I flew 126,154 butt in seat miles. Most I’ve ever flow in one year, surpassing my record by 12,000 miles
- 36,154 miles were credited to United – stupid mistake on my part
- 90,000 were credited to US Airways – so yes, I’m 10k miles short of earning Chairman and will have to buy up! I could kick myself for starting the year by crediting United now!
- In total, I earned/received 610,120 US Air Dividend Miles in 2012. I redeemed 665,000 miles this year. (I started 2012 with about 60k miles in my US Air account.) I earned bonus miles based on my Chairman status with US Airways, from the USAir shopping portal, the USAir Bank of America Debit Card (before they got rid of it) and through the Dividend Miles Multipliers. I also earned miles stays at Hilton, through other promotional offers. I bought 100,000 of those miles as well.
Where I stayed
Hotel Points:
Starwood
- In 2012 I have stayed 137 nights in 34 stays
- I earned a total of 348,189 points and redeemed 298,000 so I have a few left over to start 2013 with.
- I took advantage of as many SPG promotions as possible; I earned a 4th point for SPG Platinum 75 as well.
- I will qualify for Lifetime Platinum at the end of 2012.
Marriott:
I decided in 2012 to move away from Marriott as my secondary chain.
- In 2012 I strayed 28 nights
- I earned 90,149 points and have redeemed 30,000 of those
- I earned a 25,000 point bonus in the Marriott Q3 promotion
Hilton
I made the choice to move to Hilton as my secondary chain of choice. I earned Gold status through a challenge.
- I’ve stayed 31 nights in 2012
- I earned 86,793 points all from stays
- I have not stayed enough to requalify for gold, so I have to decide if it’s worth it to use points to maintain gold
It’s been a very good year for points/mile earning and I also redeemed almost as many as I earned, however, that’s what they’re there for in my opinion!
How was your year?
I approve of the Le Meridien Bangkok!
Wow! Overwhelming.
It’s not worth the annual fee for the Hilton Reserve card for the gold status alone?
What a boring life do I lead
.
But fortunately I was also able to fly 82.000 actual miles this year, and that’s just for pleasure….
@Gerard – 82,000 miles for pleasure, that’s amazing. Must have been long trips!
@Colleen – I hate taking out any more credit cards. I’m not into the churning . But it is worth considering.
@Kumquat – thanks. I’m glad you approve of my choices
How do you earn all your hotel points? I’m fairly new to the game and have focused on obtaining airline miles so far but I realize a great trip has to involve hotel stays as well so I’m trying to focus on accumulating hotel points now.