The Point System

 Ah, frequent flyer and AMEX points -- a nice perk of having some bucks and spending them. When the Ds were little, we had a routine with points, from American Airlines. We would use the card that gave a point per dollar, plus miles flown, which back then for an active lawyer, were a lot. I would save up about $200K miles every few years, and we would use $50K per ticket to bump us up to Business from Coach when we would take long trips -- which, coincidentally, were every 2 years.

The only problem was having to go back to coach. On one infamous leg, we were bumped out of Business from London to Miami, and the Ds joked that I looked like Shrek in the coach seat. They were correct.

As we traveled less and spent more, the miles accrued. I never used them, but the Ds got wind, and THEY did. For D1 and Joey's honeymoon to Japan, a gift of 1 million miles from Amex got them Business both ways. They loved it.

For D2 and Jonathan's honeymoon,  they raided my AA account, and used 6 figures of miles to upgrade to Business to Greece and Italy and  home. It made me happy.

Wifey and I flew to France on Business, and didn't use miles, but since AA sent us on Iberia, there was some very big bonus -- more miles accrued.

Well, Saturday we went out with Joelle and Kenny, and discussed our next big trip. We're planning Argentina and Chile in December -- with a still undetermined number of people. We'll fly AA Miami to Buenos Aires, and home from Santiago. Wifey said, correctly, we ought to finally use some of our miles - I have more than 400K on AA.

I figured it couldn't be THAT hard to book using miles -- plenty of my fellow Boomers do it all the time. Ha. I should have known.

This am D2 called. I said hello. She answered with "Who's your pal? Who's your buddy?" She knows I can never resist Bill Murray references. She clearly wanted something. Yes -- more miles.

She was politic. "Dad -- either you should use them, or Jonathan and I will -- we're planning a trip back to Italy this Summer -- North this time." Apparently there's someplace called Lake Perry Como. Wifey was immediately jealous -- she's always wanted to go.

I offered a deal to D2 -- she could have the miles, but her mother would have to go along. Talk about a Hobson's choice!

Nah. Of course I told her the miles were hers. My kids know me -- I'm much more happy giving them stuff than having or even using stuff myself. I could be falsely self deprecating and deny this, but it's true.

But wait -- maybe there was still a deal to be cut -- a quid from D2 for the quo of the miles. I reminded her that Wifey was traveling to Colorado this August for a wedding that I had been uninvited to, for reasons too complex, absurd, and silly to even get into. But the trip for Wifey would be daunting -- the venue is 1.5 miles from Denver, and renting a car and navigating through the Rockies is probably beyond Wifey's capabilities at this point. Wifey may have to fly to the bride's mother's house and go with her and her husband -- turning a 4 day trip into one of a few weeks.

If D2 would accompany her mother... Alas -- not to be. The precise time of the wedding contradicts with the romantic trip to North Italy. Wifey will have to make her own way to the destination wedding. I bet she can.

And I will run the hotel for dogs. I rather like playing bachelor for a week or so when Wifey travels alone. My move is to go to one of several local places, eat dinner at the bar with a martini or two, and watch Sports Center or chat with the bartender. Then I Uber home. It's a nice change, but I look forward to Wifey's return. 

So we'll keep accruing those points, and letting the Ds and their men enjoy them. Snark aside, it makes me very, very happy.