Just like the US government, Mr. and Mrs. WeeklyFlyer ran a deficit this year. We burned more than we earned to the tune of 877k points and miles. Wouldn’t it be great if we could just print points and miles? We burned through a little over 1.734 million points and miles. We took in a little over 857k in points and miles. This was a busy year and we had a lot to celebrate including the news of an addition to our family. But we were still able to earn and burn plenty of points and miles for some great trips. Below is a 2011 summary and our high level plans for 2012.

Earning

• Earned just over 120k Delta miles from flying
• Earned over 300k hotel points from hotel nights
• Earned 50k (current offer is for 40k) from the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
• Earned 75k miles from the AAdvantage 75k offer from Visa
• Earned 20k Delta miles from the SpaFinder deal
• Earned over 137k Delta miles from various other sources
• Earned over 45k points and miles from personal credit card spending
• Earned over 85k points from business credit card spending
• Earned over 25k US Airways and Continental miles from Avis promotions
• Earned free nights from the SPG free night promotion
• Total points and miles earned was somewhere in the range of 857k points and miles
• Status Earned
  • Earned Delta Gold status and will be downgraded from Diamond (that is what too much award travel will do)
  • Maintained Hyatt Diamond status through hotel stays
  • Maintained Starwood Preferred Guest Platinum status through hotel stays
  • Downgraded to Priority Club Platinum Ambassador from Royal Ambassador
  • Downgraded to no status at Hilton, but then upgraded through Instant Hilton Gold promotion
  • Upgraded to Platinum at AClub through instant Platinum promotion
  • Maintained Marriott Gold status through hotel stays

Burning

• We had a great year for personal and business travel. This post link is an update on our 2011 travel and trip reports
• Redeemed 300k on Delta for 2 flights in Business class to French Polynesia
• Redeemed over 250k for award tickets on Delta to the Caribbean and domestic flights
• Redeemed 240k British Airways miles for 2 flights in First class on AA to Buenos Aires
• Redeemed 280k Priority Club points for stay at the InterContinental Thalasso Bora Bora (best redemption of year)
• Redeemed 200k Hilton honors points for a stay at the Hilton Moorea
• Redeemed 150k Marriott points for a stay at the Ritz Carlton Puerto Rico
• Redeemed 60k SPG points for a stay at the Westin St John
• Redeemed 72k Hyatt points for a stay at the Park Hyatt Buenos Aires
• Redeemed 60k Marriott points for a stay at the Bohemian Savannah hotel
• Redeemed 30k Priority Club points for a stay at the Tampa InterContinental Hotel (worst redemption of year)
• Redeemed 12k SPG points for a stay at the Le Meridien Tahiti
• Redeemed 80k SPG points at an undisclosed location for New Years in 2012
• Total points and miles burned was somewhere in the range of 1.734 million points and miles

Preparation And Goals For Next Year

• Rationalize current credit cards to cancel ones no longer needed /used ( I recently cancelled the British Airways card I got back in 2009)
• Maximize credit card sign up by taking advantage of the Ink Bold 50k offer, 55k Delta Gold Business Card and 60k Continental Credit Card offer and any other Mega signup bonuses that come along
• Enjoy several trips with our new baby including an 80k SPG award at an undisclosed location for New Years in 2012
• Earn Delta Diamond status
• Meet AA Exp Platinum challenge requirements and see how the dAArkside lives
• Maintain top tier at Hyatt, SPG and one other program – not sure if it will be Marriott, Hilton or Priority Club

So there is our 2011 wrap up and high level plans for 2012. What were your best earning and burning opportunities from 2011 and do you have any “stretch” goals for 2012?