What’s the point?

I recently tidied up a long-ignored drawer, that gave me a flashback to my corporate life. So, what was in this drawer? Loyalty cards. Many, many loyalty cards.

For airlines

For hotel groups

For train companies

For coffee shops

For taxi companies

Anyone who has worked in international business will know that the brilliant film ‘Up In The Air’ is a pretty accurate description of the business travel game. I’m feeling embarrassed about it now, but, when you are travelling a lot, there is something very satisfying about airport lounges, priority boarding, room upgrades, free drinks and the like.

So, for a few years I obsessed about collecting points in as many places as possible and then I just stopped. In the end it was just easier to fly BA than keep switching between airlines, especially as short haul travel is so uniform. The personality of a small independent hotel trumped the uniform layout of even the best international hotel brands. Money spent with a local coffee shop was more tasty and more satisfying than with a global business.

The moral of this tale? Take stock and decide what matters: sometimes that’s having ‘elite gold status’ and sometimes it’s receiving very personalised service. There’s room for both.