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The father of loyalty cards was American Airlines’ frequent flyer program introduced in 1981. 26 years later today, yours truly has 17 active loyalty program cards and these only include programs that let us save up points (so no discount cards are counted).

My Collection
Airlines
Air Canada AeroPlan
American Airlines
Delta Airlines
Cathy Pacific MarcoPolo Club Card
China Airlines Dynasty Club
United Airlines

Car Rentals
Hertz Gold

Credit Cards
Thank you Network (I actually have two different accounts)
Wells Fargo Credit Card Rewards Program

Gas
EssoCard

Hotels
Marriot Rewards
Priority Club
Hilton Hotels

Others
Golfsmith Players Club
Dave and Buster Game Card
Albertson’s Preferred Card
Von’s
Ranch 99
Ralph’s
MyCokeRewards

Loyalty programs were invented as a way to keep us from using a product from the competition. It gave customers incentive to become loyal to the company and it certainly works. Even though I have so many cards, I would try to go on flights that I could earn Air Canada points. When I go on hotels, my first choice would be Marriot hotels; on purchases it would be on my Citibank credit card for extra Thank You Network points. Whatever the occasion or the program, the club reward would steer me towards certain product over others.

Benefits I Will Receive This Year

• At least 4 free airline tickets to fly to and from Canada this year
• 6 free upgrade tickets if I fly with Air Canada
• 2 nights free hotel stay
• 4 more free airline tickets from my thank you network
• 20 oz coke product
• Free blockbuster movie rental

As you can see, there are many benefits of using loyalty cards. So what is the best approach to store up the maximum number of points?

Research and Homework
Efficiency helps everything and it is no different with loyal programs. It is wise to do some research on the options available and see how we can earn the maximum number of points for our circumstances.

For example, I realized that my travel schedule means that I would benefit the most from cards that have their rewards geared for flights. Some research led me to Citibank’s PremierPass Elite Level because of its generous benefits for traveling by air. The other thing I do is that I exclusively use this credit card to gain the most benefits.

I also noticed that airlines have grouped together to form partners with other airlines. This means that we can use our frequent flyer miles to earn points on partner flights. After some research I found that the Star Alliance network has the most flights to the destinations that I go to most so that became my primary choice of carriers. I also only put in my Air Canada number on every Star Alliance flight so the points can be earned quicker, as it makes the most sense to group all the points together in the same account.

With hotels, my primary choice is Marriot since they are everywhere in the United States which adds much convenience to my busy business schedule.

I also have backups for my flight and hotel rewards cards from other companies. This allows me the flexibility of choosing a different carrier if my primary choice does not work for me. In the end, I cannot let the loyalty programs rule my life.

Point Swapping
There are many websites that help you organize and swap points from one program to another. If you do that, expect to lose much of the benefits since the conversion rates are terrible.

Conclusion
Countless people are not using the benefits of these loyalty programs. These individuals are missing out because the cost of giving out rewards is already reflected in our purchase prices. Therefore, we need to act now and start accumulating them in a meaningful way or else we are throwing money away. I look forward to seeing you listed under the loyalty cards collector section also!