Reading Time: 3 minInformation is power, but only if it’s properly organized. As we've shared in previous Points Path newsletters, hotels and airlines tend to devalue their points over time — often without much or any notice. While there are benefits to maintaining status with a given program, we advise playing both sides of the court. Stay loyal where it matters (or use credit cards to gain status), but still consider yourself a free agent willing to flex for the best deal.
For years, I was a staunch Delta loyalist. I would routinely book travel on Delta without even searching for pricing on other airlines. Its loyalty program incentivized me to do this. It was comparatively easy to reach its top-tier status (Diamond), and I would receive a complimentary upgrade to a higher cabin roughly 70% of the time. It was a quintessential reciprocal relationship.
Over time, that changed. Delta’s revenue management strategy has shifted, and it now intends to sell out the premium cabins rather than upgrading loyal customers. Loyalty is a two-way street, and as most other airlines have followed this path, it has taught me to stay abreast of what other carriers are offering.
Thankfully, airlines have made it easy for folks like you and me to stay in the loop. I strongly recommend signing up for a frequent traveler account on every major airline, and in doing so, signing up for its email newsletter.
This is by far the easiest way to be first in the know when a carrier launches a fare sale. I’m subscribed to every major carrier that I could see myself flying in the next couple of years — Delta, American, Alaska, Southwest, JetBlue, Frontier, United, Air Canada, and Breeze.
There are dozens more, and I’d encourage you to start a spreadsheet to track your favorite carriers and document when you’ve signed up for their loyalty program.
The next step is just as important. Rather than letting these emails flood your inbox haphazardly, use automated sorting and labeling tools to create order from chaos.
I use Gmail, which has a brilliant labeling system. I created a top-level label called "Travel," though you may prefer "Airlines." Upon signing up for each newsletter, I use Gmail’s “Filter messages like these” feature to create a label specific to that airline.
From here, you can choose to skip your inbox (for those who’d prefer to manually search through new messages once per week or so), or automatically send them to the “Updates” category within Gmail. Feel free to play around with sorting options for the one that suits you best.
Just like that, you’ve created a funnel where you’re notified when sales happen. Plus, you’ve proactively created a frequent traveler account, so you can earn points and miles whenever you jump on one of those promotions.
