Some of Our Biggest Points and Miles Mistakes

At TPG, we’re passionate about maximizing points and miles to save money when you travel.
Despite our years of collective experience, even points and miles professionals (including some of TPG’s own points and miles professionals) make redemption, transfer and earning mistakes.
Here are nine points and miles “oops” we’ve achieved in the real world so you don’t have to.
A Point transfer error calculation
By far the biggest mistake I made in my points and miles journey was transferring too many points from American Express Membership Rewards to Flying Blue to pay for flights on a trip I had planned. This was very early on, but I just picked a number that I knew would be enough to cover the flight.
I ended up with tens of thousands more points than I needed for the flight, but I didn’t use them well. They would be more valuable to me in the form of original Membership Rewards points. It took me over a year to find a flight that I could redeem my remaining Flying Blue points on.
Instead, I should find the exact flights I want to take and figure out the exact number of points I need to transfer to cover those flights. Transferable points are much more useful when you can actually transfer them than keeping them in an account with fewer options to use them.
—Tarah Chieffi, Senior Writer
Unicorn booking error
My first big points redemption didn’t go as planned. In early 2023, I reported for readers on a timely World of Hyatt deal that offered 35,000 to 40,000 points per night to stay at the Andaz Maui at Wailea Resort on numerous dates. This was a great deal for a Category 8 Hyatt hotel and an opportunity to save money on my first trip to Hawaii.
Related: Reviews of Andaz Maui at Wailea Resort in Hawaii
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Because I did not have enough World of Hyatt points at the time, I transferred Chase Ultimate Rewards points to my World of Hyatt account through the Chase Travel℠ portal at a 1:1 ratio. This is one of my favorite Chase Sapphire Preferred® card transfer partners.
I’ve been waiting for an opportunity like this to transfer the welcome bonus I received when I opened Chase Sapphire Preferred.
When we booked our flights for October 2023, we were concerned about whether it would be appropriate to travel to the islands after Maui suffered devastating wildfires in August. We ultimately decided not to go and canceled our trip. Luckily, Hyatt credited those points to my World of Hyatt account, where they still remain today. Once you transfer points from your Chase Ultimate Rewards account, they cannot be transferred back to your Chase account.
So, in this case, all is not lost as the points can still be used. However, they are limited to bookings at World of Hyatt hotels.
—Carolyn Tanner, journalist
Late for the points party
My biggest mistake was not embracing points-earning credit cards early on and limiting myself to one loyalty program for too long.
When I first got into the points and miles game, I was a little hesitant about getting a credit card that earned points. I then wasted a lot of time trying to earn points solely through shopping portals, and ended up with a now-defunct Avios-earning debit card. The rate of return is pitiful because it is a pay-as-you-go debit card, so it must be recharged regularly. After a while, I upgraded to a credit card available in the UK that earns Avios. I often look back and regret how many points I missed using this strategy – especially considering I could have made three times as much money without the extra money.
Related: Why I’m Changing My Points and Miles Strategy
Recently, I realized that I had inadvertently associated myself with Avios as my loyalty currency of choice; although I had accumulated quite a few Avios, I was limited to British Airways and their Oneworld partners for redemption. Desire for maximum flexibility and better exchange options, I opened American Express® Gold Card. Now, I can earn more valuable Membership Rewards points that can be transferred to various airlines and hotels. I have never looked back and wish I had seen the light of day sooner.
—Jordan Waller, Editor-in-Chief
Missed the sign-up bonus
Instead of getting a 60,000-mile sign-up bonus to book a one-way business class flight to Tokyo on Japan Airlines, I got a giant zero. This is a total rookie mistake. After I joined TPG, I decided to sign up for Citi® / AAdvantage Business™ World Elite Mastercard® (See Rates & Fees) — Citi’s business card for American Airlines loyalists.
Currently, the sign-up bonus is 75,000 American Airlines miles (for spending $5,000 in the first half month of account opening), but at the time the sign-up bonus was only 60,000 miles. Still, the card has very reasonable spending requirements of just a few thousand dollars. Unfortunately I didn’t pay enough attention and spent less than needed. I think I miscalculated, it was about $12. I called the customer service line but they wouldn’t budge – I didn’t get the sign up bonus.
Learn from my mistakes and make sure you spend the minimum amount of your winnings. Also note that annual fee payments generally do not count toward minimum payouts.
For more details on current offers, check out our full review of the Citi AAdvantage Business World Elite Mastercard.
—Clint Henderson, Managing Editor
Unconfirmed quotes are still available
When my wife and I got engaged in October 2020, I really stepped up my points and miles game.
I convinced my wife to host the reception at the local Hyatt Regency for several reasons. First, I can earn World of Hyatt points through the loyalty program and paying with my World of Hyatt credit card. Additionally, the location’s wedding brochure mentions that an additional 20,000 to 40,000 bonus points can be earned depending on the amount spent on the event. Knowing that our budget would earn us enough points to cover at least half of our honeymoon accommodations was a no-brainer.
We started preliminary planning with the event staff at the Hyatt Regency Rochester in early 2021, but with the coronavirus pandemic in full swing, we decided to push back a bit and set a date for May 2022. We resumed our planning with the events staff at the Hyatt Regency Rochester.
Here’s a big mistake on my part: I never actually brought up the bonus points offer in any of our discussions with the Hyatt team. Anyone who has been through the wedding planning process knows how much time and thought goes into discussions with a venue—from tasting the food to planning the event, even down to how they fold the napkins. When considering all these details, it never occurred to me to confirm that we would receive these bonus points or to check that it was written into the contract.
Well, between the time we first spoke with the Hyatt team and when we signed the contract 10 months later, the hotel stopped offering bonuses. It was removed from the brochure and never actually became part of our wedding package.
When I finally realized this, I was furious and spent most of my honeymoon calling corporate and event staff at the Hyatt Regency Rochester, filled with resentment. But really, it’s my responsibility to make sure that’s part of the deal before I sign anything. Live and learn. Hey, they still put on a pretty great event for us.
— Colin Hogan, Newsletter Editor
Losing Avios due to expiration
Once upon a time, I accumulated Avios in my Iberia account for my summer 2020 trip to Europe. I originally planned to fly business class to Europe using Iberia’s award chart, which cost 34,000 Avios per person each way.
The last point-related action I took with this goal was in 2019, when I took advantage of a transfer bonus or promotion (or something else I can’t remember right now) to earn these before booking a trip for 2020 Avios. Well, we all know what happened next, but the 2020 trip didn’t happen.
However, the countdown to the Avios in my account has started and Iberia stipulates that Avios will expire after 36 months of inactivity. This isn’t usually a problem for me, but during the pandemic it was an issue for my Avios.
During the epidemic, many airlines have temporarily or permanently relaxed their mileage expiration policies. So, obviously, I didn’t track the expiration date of these Avios… Finally, in August 2022, they did. According to TPG’s December 2024 valuation, all 218,013 Avios worth more than $3,000 are gone.
I contacted Iberia to understand my situation and see if they could be reinstated through payment or airline mercy, especially given the realities of international travel in previous years. Unfortunately, no such mercy was offered.
The Avios were gone forever and I had to start from scratch, accumulating enough points to go on a big family European trip to Barcelona, Italy and Paris, which I eventually did in the summer of 2024.
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Summer Hull/Points Specialist
— Summer Hull, Senior Director of Content
Honeymoon booking error
While looking for award space on United Airlines, I forgot to enter the number of people for a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Madagascar into my search criteria.
I checked for a few months while researching this trip and found that there were many flights to the country we wanted on different dates. However, when we were finally ready to book and looking for two people, there were no seats available. (As it turns out, partner airlines only allow one Award tickets for every flight on certain sectors.
We eventually found a workaround, but it was a huge headache that cost us a few extra points; it also resulted in us flying in two separate cabins for part of our honeymoon. If we don’t find a solution, we’ll have a bunch of Chase points transferred to Manchester United that we won’t be able to use.
—Rachel Kraft, associate writer
Not maximizing sign-up bonus
I earned a ton of Capital One miles by opening this hotel Capital One Ventures X Rewards Credit Card The first year it is offered. I’m planning a big trip to Israel for my family of four, but I can’t decide whether to use Capital One miles or United miles for the flight. My colleague suggested that I pay the money back directly and not convert the miles into another currency. I bought the tickets with cash and then used miles to pay myself back. (You can use Capital One miles to pay for travel.)
However, after the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7, 2023, I had to cancel the trip. United refunded the money, so I have a big credit on my bill and negative miles. I have to make up the mileage deficit before I can start making money again, so I feel like I’m not getting enough value from the sign-up bonus on this card.
—Erica Silverstein, Editor-in-Chief
Transfer points not calculated correctly
I was an assistant to a “big shot” and my first atonement was for him. I miscalculated. I transferred all of his American Express Membership Rewards points to Delta and purchased two business class tickets to Paris. However, there aren’t actually enough points to purchase a ticket. I was only 2,000 SkyMiles away, so I called Delta and cried. Since he was a Delta SkyMiles Diamond Elite member, they just gave me the difference – something they certainly wouldn’t have done if I had called myself.
— Anonymous TPG staff
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