Related post: Here’s How I Burned 2,446,000 Miles In 2016, How Did You Stack Up?
Some guys are great at recording all of their trips and the value of each mile burned. I’m not that precise, but I went back several years, tracked down my flights taken, and posted them on DDF for 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017.
In 2017 I burned through 1,375,570 miles and points. That’s 1.07 million less than I spent in 2016, though my 2016 numbers included the 1.06 million points that I spent to throw out the first pitch and get 2nd row seats to game 7 of the World Series.
I also saved a boatload of miles when we had to cancel an August trip to Israel that I had booked 4 round-trip business saver awards on United’s Polaris 77W for 560,000 United miles along with 5 nights in the Waldorf Jerusalem and 3 nights in the Ritzaliya on points as well.
In 2017 I flew some 52,306 miles in the air, about 10,000 more miles than I flew in 2016.
2017 flying map and routes:
Here’s how I burned them:
February:
- 4 round-trip coach saver awards (with upgrade to first class) on United from Cleveland to Los Angeles: 100,000 United miles.
- 3 points+cash nights at the Andaz West Hollywood: 30,000 Hyatt points
- 1 points+cash nights at the Hyatt Huntington Beach: 10,000 Hyatt points
View this post on Instagram
#Sunset #LA #NoFilter #AndazWeHo taken with my #MavicPro #Drone Can you spy me by the rooftop pool 😃
March:
- 1 one-way coach saver award (with upgrade to first class) on United from Cleveland to Washington DC: 10,000 United miles.
- 1 one-way first class saver award on Emirates from Washington DC to the Maldives with a 2 night stopover in Dubai: 150,000 Alaska miles
- 2 nights at Fairmont Palm Dubai: Free with Fairmont Platinum.
- 5 nights at S. Regis Maldives: 130,000 Starwood Starpoints
- 1 one-way first class saver award on Etihad from the Maldives to Cleveland: 105,000 American miles (after credit card rebate)
April:
- 4 round-trip coach saver awards (with upgrade to first class) on United from Cleveland to Vancouver: 100,000 United miles
- 10 nights at the Four Seasons Whistler: DansDeals Seminars at Pesach On The Mountain
June:
- 2 one-way seats on a Hawker 800XP from Cleveland to Minneapolis: Free with Jetsmarter match
- 2 one-way AMEX Business Platinum 50% off awards on Delta from Minneapolis to Cleveland: 48,000 AMEX points
- 1 one-way coach saver award from Cleveland to LaGuardia on American: 7,500 BA Avios
- 1 one-way coach saver award (with upgrade to first class) from Newark to Cleveland on United: 10,000 United miles
July:
- 2 round-trip first class saver awards from Cleveland to Rome on United: 320,000 United miles
- 2 nights in a S. Regis Rome deluxe room: 53,500 Starwood Starpoints
August:
- 2 one-way seats on a Hawker 400XP from Burke Lakefront to White Plains: Free with Jetsmarter match
- 1 one-way coach saver award (with upgrade to first class) from Newark to Cleveland on United: 10,000 United miles
- 1 round-trip coach award (with upgrade to EML seat) from Cleveland to Boston on JetBlue: 15,820 JetBlue points (after credit card rebate)
- 1 night in Fairmont Copley Plaza: Free with Fairmont Platinum.
- 4 round-trip coach saver awards (with upgrade to first class) from Cleveland to Kansas City on United: 80,000 United miles
November:
- 1 one-way business class standard award from Cleveland to Maui via San Francisco and Honolulu on United: 75,000 United miles (after 15K service refund)
- 2 nights at the Andaz Maui at Wailea with confirmed suite upgrade: 45,000 Hyatt points (after 5K service refund)
- 1 one-way business class standard award from Maui to Cleveland via Dallas on American: 60,750 American miles (after credit card rebate)
December:
- 1 round-trip AMEX Business Platinum 50% off award (with upgrade to first class) on United from Cleveland to Chicago: 15,000 AMEX points
Total=1,375,570 miles and points redeemed.
How did you do in 2017? Hit the comments below and make your own map to post on DDF.
Leave a Reply
43 Comments On "Here’s How I Burned 1,375,570 Miles In 2017, How Did You Stack Up?"
All opinions expressed below are user generated and the opinions aren’t provided, reviewed or endorsed by any advertiser or DansDeals.
How did you earn all these miles?
Opening credit cards and manufacturing spend.
thats awesome!! I wish I knew how to MS like you! Any tips you can give us?
That’s the secret!
But seriously Dan we need some more tricks to earn miles now. I just flew coach for 11hr flights and miss my business class days 🙁
Do you go to most of these places alone or with ur family?
Dan generally buys 1 ticket and sticks the family in luggage since he gets free bags with his credit cards
Depends on the trip, in the post I wrote if I got 1, 2, or 4 seats.
That’s amazing. The experiences of a lifetime in just one year. Astounding.
Forget how you earned all these miles…how did you spend so little miles (comparatively) for so much???
That’s the art of it.
Amazing. I have trouble getting few thousands miles. More importantly, you are putting them to good use. Rock on.
Not impressed Danny boy. Our family burned through 2.8 million Aeroplan miles last year. Not hard to do with Air Canada.
Anyone can burn miles. I think the value Dan got from this is quite impressive!
I ended up burning 909,500 because I was bored and didn’t really apply myself 🙂
Make a roundup like this 🙂
Can you please make a current post on ways to manufacture miles?
Start by using the DD Forums and work your way up from there.
Your preferred method of acquiring AS miles???
24bm
Oh the good old days.
Next time Dan, Donate some of ur masser miles to me. Im non profit, and I would love to fly the world in business class like you
😛
what was your #1 MS method last year?
Great trip report very nice and of course great pics.
#WellSpentMiles..
Thanks!
dan can we make a tanya shuir once a week/month? no points and miles shmuzing just 15 to half hour of learning tanya?
If you’re in CLE, sure.
Otherwise I’d suggest looking up your local Chabad shliach 🙂
if you spend 25k on the barclays red and get 3 eqd can you upgrade to barclays silver to get an additional 6k for spending 50 thousand ,making a total of 9k eqd? if you had the barclay business andother 25k total would get you to top tier? so it would theoretically be possible to spend to top tier? and if so can one match it to other mileage programs and how?thank you
1 one-way business class standard award from Cleveland to Maui via San Francisco and Honolulu on United: 75,000 United miles (after 15K service refund)? dan, how did you get this? service refund after you booked standard you called up and got credited to saver? was it because saver opened up?i tried to do that once and they didnt allow me to ?
15K service refund because they forgot my kosher meal 🙂
Dan how do u get the upgrade to first class when booking coach
United elite cardholders get upgrades on awards.
How do you remain an elite when your flights seem to be awards?
Are you going back for Pesach this year?
Sadly, nope.
It’s definitely tougher these days and a lot of the accumulation I built up was due to the good old days.
Hope you’re buying carbon offsets for all those flights!
Burned close to a mil this year without flying business/first even once. All coach!!!!
Can we get a TR? Haven’t had one of those in a while
Dan…in several of your trips, you list, 1 one-way coach saver award (with upgrade to first class)“. What procedure do you use to snatch those upgrades?
Thanks!
I burnt 700,000 points this year. Most on business class trip to Japan, HK, SG, and NZ and first class BA using travel together ticket. Managed to score a 5 night Marriott travel pack as well. Now just hoping to win a United exclusives auction.
Have traveled to many amazing places all thanks to you! Did Maldives/Dubai this summer, and Israel all trips done with my husband and kids! Thanks!
I know that everyone can get the regular 40k or 50k for the Barclays card and the Venture cards and Capital One Cards and the chase standard 50k for Reserve and Preferred. But after the spending bonuses, how do you build into the hundreds of thousands of points? thanks for the helpful posts I built up my cards thanks to you, but now that all my big purchases (flights hotels rental cars) are all paid with points how can I work upwards after all the bonuses?
thanks for everything your truly are AMAZING!!!!!!
So in 2017 I flew…wait for it…zero miles! But I did give birth to a beautiful baby boy! Priceless! Mazal Tov to you on your little girl!