Learning moment: Don’t intentionally hoard your points and miles

I thought I was being strategic by collecting and sitting on Marriott Bonvoy points. Three years and 800,000-plus points later, my plans for the "perfect" epic redemption failed to occur. Despite considering myself an advanced points and miles enthusiast, this was a learning moment for me: Hoarding my rewards has depreciated their value.

Sudden changes, such as the devaluation of an award chart or changes in transfer partners, can derail your meticulously planned travel. Waiting for the perfect redemption is a risk, and points and miles should never be seen as a savings account.

After reflecting on how hoarding affected my redemption plans, I compiled a list of what to do instead — and you can decide which steps work for you.

Follow the golden rule: Earn and redeem

The world of points and miles is quite fun; you can opt to save them up and redeem them for something meaningful or worthwhile. Many people, myself included, tend to focus on saving enough points and miles for a grand redemption, whether it's a bucket list hotel or flying in business or first class.

On the other hand, you may have saved enough points and miles, but you're waiting for the right redemption. This means relying on an airline to release award seats or a hotel to open up award nights for a property. If you have your eyes set on a high-priced redemption, inevitably, you need to save up.

Earn your points and miles, but also make sure you redeem them. This will help you avoid surprises like a devaluation, where your aspirational 70,000-mile award ticket jumps to 90,000, and you end up not having enough miles despite committing so much time to earning them. Instead, have a short-term plan, and, in some cases, a long-term plan can be beneficial as well.

Among my wide range of rewards, I tend to earn and redeem the majority of them, with an emphasis on cashing in transferable points and miles. That's because I earn them easily by spending on cards like the Chase Sapphire Reserve® (see rates and fees), but more on that later.

Related: Fifth-freedom routes: Flying top international airlines without setting foot in their home countries

Create redemption goals to keep you focused

I went wrong with my Marriott Bonvoy points because I did not have a list of redemptions I was willing to commit to. I had general ideas, including redeeming my points for a stay at The Ritz-Carlton Maldives, Fari Islands or transferring my points to American Airlines AAdvantage, but I did not create an actionable plan.

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In January, Marriott increased award costs for many properties, with hotels such as the JW Marriott Masai Mara Lodge in Kenya costing more than 230,000 points a night. The same property in the past was as low as 98,000 points per night, signaling to me an amazing opportunity that I missed out on because I was hoarding. This mistake also caused me to miss the chance to transfer my points to Korean Air's SkyPass program, which ended its partnership with Marriott in June 2024.

Therefore, create a list of redemptions you're willing to book, and don't limit yourself to something exclusive, such as high-end properties or business-class flights. Instead, the best redemption is the one that brings you any sort of value, whether it's using your points or miles for several trips to visit family throughout the year or booking a specific hotel on a tropical island. I recommend having a list of low- to high-cost redemptions and numbering them by priority. Whichever one becomes available first, act on it and secure your redemption.

Related: This is the best time to take an African safari

Diversify your points and miles portfolio

The saying, "Don't put all your eggs in one basket," applies here. Mitigate your risk by not committing to one loyalty program.

I earned my 800,000-plus Marriott points through paid stays and promotions. I don't see a need for a cobranded hotel card, so I don't feel as bad about hoarding points from earned stays instead of earning them from spending on a cobranded Marriott credit card.

However, the best way to diversify your points and miles is to invest in several transferable currencies. American Express, Bilt, Capital One, Chase, Citi and Wells Fargo all offer credit cards that earn rewards that you can transfer to a variety of airline and hotel partners.

So, if you hoard American Airlines AAdvantage miles, you can only redeem them for flights with American Airlines or its partners.

Instead, by having a large stash of Chase Ultimate Rewards points through a card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (see rates and fees), your redemption options include:

• Transferring points to Air France-KLM Flying Blue to redeem for an award flight
• Transferring points to British Airways Club to book a flight on any Oneworld partner
• Booking through the Chase Travel℠ portal and taking advantage of Points Boost
• Transferring points to World of Hyatt for a hotel redemption

Related: How (and why) you should earn transferable credit card points

Have a moment of self-reflection

You can plan to earn and redeem points and miles, create a list of redemption options and diversify your points and miles portfolio. However, as time goes on, reflect on these practices and see if you're abiding by them.

I stuck to a few of these practices, but with limited interest in redeeming, I kept putting my Marriott points on the back burner until they ballooned to over 800,000.

Reflecting on this advice, I looked back to 2019, a moment I was proud of as an advanced points and miles user. I applied for the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card (see rates and fees) with the short-term plan of using Chase Ultimate Rewards points. My plan was to meet the minimum spending requirements and earn the welcome offer, plus some additional points, which I would then transfer to Singapore KrisFlyer to book a first- or business-class fare on the airline's Airbus A380 from Sydney to Europe. Though I couldn't get a first-class seat, I secured two business-class tickets within months of earning all the points.

Bottom line

If you're hoarding points and miles, now is the time to stop and create an actionable redemption plan. This is especially true if your rewards are tied to a specific airline or hotel because those are the least flexible and will sting the most if a devaluation or major change to the program occurs.

Take it from me: It's better to enjoy your points and miles, which require all that spending and investment of time, rather than see them watered down by changes.

Related: The credit cards that help fuel my luxury travel