Calling 44-year-old Barry Collins a “points geek” feels woefully inappropriate given his level of dedication to the craft. More precisely, he will become a points millionaire at the end of 2024 by completing the challenge set by the Scandinavian airline SAS to travel around the world on routes operated by 15 members of the SkyTeam alliance. It has become.
Barry, who described the experience as being like TV’s Race Across the World without the cameras, said his points journey cost £3,950 and took 21 economy flights, many of which It was a long distance. This earned him 1 million euro bonus points. This could be worth £10,000 if used wisely.
Barry says: “Every man I talk to about this says, ‘That’s so cool,’ but every woman asks, ‘So who’s looking after your kids?’ ”
The SAS promotion has drawn significant interest from points enthusiasts around the world, as well as fierce criticism from environmentalists.
SAS declined to say how many passengers completed the million-point challenge, but some travel bloggers speculate it could be in the hundreds. Many, like Barry, did it for the thrill of the chase. On one flight from Guangzhou to Nairobi, he noticed that his 10 passengers (9 men and 1 woman) were all on the same journey.
I find this darkly appealing. Why do so many men get frustrated about points? What efforts do they make to get the most out of point collection and redemption techniques? And even if you’re tempted to try it out for yourself, is it really worth it?
This week’s consumer outrage over British Airways’ decision to revamp its Executive Club loyalty scheme from April shows how important these things are to certain types of travellers.
Gamification in the points industry creates an addictive appeal, said Rob Burgess, a former investment banker at Head for Points, a travel website specializing in frequent flyer miles and hotel points programs.
We met for lunch on the Square Mile, but the day before he had taken his teenage son to Paris (using points) and used his £150 Amex Platinum overseas dining credit to spend virtually free food. I ate at a high-end sushi restaurant.
“It’s human nature to take pleasure in beating the system,” he laughs. The 40,000 people who subscribe to his Saturday newsletter certainly agree. But to overcome this system, you need to invest time in understanding it.
Some money comes for free, but some money is lost if you take your eye off the ball. Most cards have an annual fee. If you don’t pay off your balance in full each month, you’ll be charged ridiculously high interest rates, and there’s always the temptation to overspend for points.
And if too many people play this system too well, airlines could move the goalposts. Rob believes BA’s changes will make it “very difficult, almost impossible” for leisure travelers to achieve the coveted “gold” status in the future.
Still, January is the peak time for newbies to start collecting points. The American Express Preferred Rewards Gold Card offers a sign-on bonus of 30,000 Membership Rewards points when you sign up by January 14th (these are in addition to Avios). (can be redeemed with countless airline and hotel points schemes).
Earn an extra 12,500 points when you spend £25,000 on your card in your first year. Earn 2x points on international spending and airline transactions. See how easy it is to get sucked down this rabbit hole?
However, he points out that only a few are able to get very high value from the points system. A former banker, he is an expert in point calculations. What are the important lessons? Redeem points for business or first class tickets for maximum redemption value.
When paying with points, first class fares are three to four times the economy class fares. But a flatbed premium cabin is (oddly) a much better deal, as it can cost 10 to 20 times more if you paid cash.
“If you’re the kind of person who would pay £3,000 to fly first class, that means you’ve actually saved yourself £3,000 of money,” he says. Understanding that this quest is about getting better value, not lower prices, explains why so many wealthy people are obsessed with collecting points. Plus, if you travel a lot for work, the points you earn on flights and hotels are practically free.
Barry, a real estate developer and kitchen designer, became interested in points collection 10 years ago by a fellow business owner who transferred a significant portion of his work-related expenses via points cards. Although he has never paid for a luxury flight in his life, he has spent the past 10 years as a hobby, flying his family first class and business class to Orlando, Cancun, the Caribbean, and many other places, paying taxes and airlines. I flew for less than the ticket price. seat.
He was saddened to learn that I had never flown in anything other than economy. Since I rarely fly, I’d rather forgo lounges and flatbeds and spend my money on a first class experience at my chosen destination. You can’t miss something you’ve never seen before.
But one of the hidden benefits of paying for airfare with points is its flexibility. Most airlines will only charge a fee of just £30 to change your flight if you give them 24 hours’ notice. Our forums are full of tips for booking flights, like using SeatSpy to instantly notify you when new seats become available or using SeatGuru to view airline seating charts.
Barry’s biggest tip for collecting the most points in 2025 is to double or triple stack. You can collect additional points by using the British Airways Avios shopping site as a portal to other retailer websites. At the time of writing, you can earn 16 Avios per £1 spent at Harvey Nicks and 18 Avios at Diptyque. There’s good news for those who don’t mind spending £85 on a luxury candle. But there are always offers for hotel booking sites, travel insurance, and other essentials that you probably need to buy.
Barry then selects one of 10 cards from a mobile wallet app called Curve. This adds even more possibility of collecting points or cashback. Finally, points are added to the card transaction itself.
Nectar card points can be converted into Avios. You can also earn on Uber trips. Do you enjoy drinking? Wine Flyer always has great deals on Avios. Energy companies such as Octopus allow you to pay your bill with Amex (the forums advise setting up a low-value direct debit and then top-up). You can also pay your council tax bill using your Visa or Mastercard points card.
Still, Barry warns: It’s all there, otherwise don’t bother. ”
I have quite a few colleagues at FT, all men, who are passionately interested in this topic. If I had to say it, I think some people have enjoyed Christmas shopping.
This brings me to Barry’s wife Cheryl. She happily takes care of the children so Barry can fly out and books a solo beach vacation in Turkey. Additionally, she can now share 1 million points with Barry.
Claer Barrett is the FT’s consumer editor and author of What They Won’t Tell You About Money. claer.barrett@ft.com Instagram @Claerb
