I Didn’t Take Advantage of Short-lived Hilton/Amazon Deal. Here Is Why

I didn’t know about it until it was dead, that’s why! If you expected some contrarian nonsense, sorry to disappoint you. I would trade 1 Hilton point for a 0.5 cent Amazon gift card in a heartbeat. Are you kidding me? This is a deal of the year, as far as I’m concerned.

I speculatively value Hilton points at around 0.3 cents apiece. Right now I don’t have any firm plans to use them, so if someone offered me a $650 Amazon gift card for my 130k stash, I would be all over it. Unfortunately, the ratio was quickly adjusted to a more logical level. As in, you get 0.2 cents in Amazon purchases per each 1 Hilton point. At that rate I’m definitely not a buyer, or rather seller.

What surprised me most was seeing folks commenting (while the deal was alive) that they were going to pass. Huh? Don’t get me wrong, there are scenarios where it certainly makes sense. For example, if you are going to Bora Bora or Maldives, it’s easy to get much more than 0.5 cents per Hilton point.

In Maldives you can get an overwater bungalow for 95k Hilton points where cash rate is often close to $1k per night. Throw in the 5th night free, and I can see why some would skip this Amazon deal. Ditto for Bora Bora which doesn’t really have a lot of lodging options, and those on motus (islands in the lagoon) are all crazy expensive. And motu is where you really want to stay, trust me.

But some commenters had no plans for their Hilton points whatsoever, they simply felt they are worth more than 0.5 cents apiece. Except you can  buy them for that price from Hilton several times per year. Of course, I’m not here to tell people what to do with their points. It’s none of my business.

I’m simply encouraging you to  determine what your points are worth to you in case this type of opportunity comes again. And it might. I believe the deal was alive for less than two hours in the evening, so there wasn’t much time to ponder on it. It was the case of “you snooze, you lose.” Which brings me to my main point.

Chasing  deals at the expense of living your life

As I’ve mentioned earlier, I missed out on this sweet opportunity. Why? It’s simple. I don’t have any deal notifications on my phone, email or any of my social media accounts. This is by design. My life is busy enough already and adding this extra layer of stress is the last thing I want to do.

A few years ago I made a rule not to check my blog’s emails, comments or notifications after 4:30 PM each day. The same goes for reading miles and points sites, though occasionally I break down. But the goal is to disconnect as much as possible and focus on my family instead.

You’ve probably noticed that we rarely post on weekends. This isn’t going to change any time soon because that time is reserved for my family. I’m certain Nancy feels the same way. I absolutely don’t mind readers emailing me on weekends, just be aware that I may not respond till Monday.

In no way am I throwing shade at other bloggers. This industry is extremely competitive, and if you are not first, you are last. In order to be successful (as in make decent income from blogging), it’s almost a requirement to post ten times per day and report on deals as soon as they hit the web. So being disconnected is simply not an option.

When I was gone on my 2-week trip to South Pacific, I didn’t check my blog emails once. Nancy kept an eye on them, something I very much appreciated.  Otherwise, I would simply set up an automatic reply saying I’m out of office. I also haven’t read anything miles and points related in that time frame. Not a thing. You would think I would miss this hobby, but I didn’t. In fact, when I came back, I was thinking that if I never read another miles and points post again, I would be totally fine.

Keeping up with various deals, figuring out what credit card to get next and yes, even running this blog, it all felt like a giant albatross around my neck. I know it’s a reckless thing to say because this blog is also my business, but there it is. I’m sure many people can relate to that feeling when they come back from vacation.

But fully disconnecting from this hobby/blog made me realize just how much of my life revolves around miles and points. And I didn’t like it. Of course, I enjoy this hobby. I could never blog on it for 5.5 years if I didn’t. I also truly enjoy helping readers, and rest assured, your support is never taken for granted.

It still blows my mind that people take time out of their busy schedule in order to read my musings. When I get a question or an email, I don’t think “how can I make money on this person?” My first thought is: what is the best/current/unbiased advice  can I provide?

But this commitment certainly comes at a price because miles and points blogging  world requires a lot of time and energy. Rules, credit cards and loyalty programs change constantly, and you better keep up or end up irrelevant. This isn’t a complaint in any way since the same can be said about many industries.

My point is that despite this reality, it’s important to set priorities and stick to them, while ignoring all the noise around you. The same principle also applies to readers (without a blog). I recommend you set a cutoff time each day when you stop reading posts, looking at deal notifications, forum discussions, Twitter etc.

Yes, you will miss out on some juicy deals as a result of this decision, but you will be able to focus on real-life relationships instead. This is especially important when you are on vacation with your family. This is what you’ve worked so hard for all year, why use it on chasing internet deals or reading blogs? They will still be there when you get home, I promise.

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p style=”text-align: center;”>Me and my husband, NOT reading miles and points blogs or checking Twitter