What does it mean to “Earn and Burn”?

In simple terms, it means to use the points you earn – don’t hoard them! Like cash, points depreciate in value over time. In early June, United Airlines devalued their MileagePlus rewards, so redemptions will now cost more miles than previously. Per this article from The Points Guy, domestic redemptions were largely unchanged. Many of those in the travel hacking community, however, like using points and miles to cover those big ticket / bucket list trips to international destinations. Those flights saw an increase in some cases of up to 122% in miles required to take the flight.

Hyatt, a popular place for redemptions via Chase Ultimate Rewards, annually reviews their rewards calendar and moves hotels up or down categories. Award Wallet posted a summary of the Hyatt changes in March 2023 – read it here.

How can you adjust for this? Don’t sit on your points. It can be tempting to save up your points for that ideal redemption, but just be prepared for you to need more points for that redemption as time goes on. Obviously earn and burn does not mean to spend on redemptions you don’t want, but keep in mind that you can always earn more points. When you find a trip that works with your points and schedule, book it!