Secrets of an airline points millionaire

To call 44-year-old Barry Collins a “dots nerd” feels terribly inadequate given his level of devotion to the craft. More precisely, he is a millionaire of points after completing a challenge set in the last months of 2024 by the Scandinavian airline SAS – to fly around the world using routes operated by 15 members of the SkyTeam Alliance.

He describes the experience as being like TV Race through the world without the cameras, Barry’s points-collecting odyssey cost him £3,950 and involved 21 economy flights, many of them long-haul. This earned him 1 million EuroBonus points which – if spent wisely – could be worth £10,000.

Barry says, “Every guy I tell about it says, ‘It looks so good,’ but every woman asks, ‘And WHO does he take care of your children?

The SAS promotion has aroused great interest from points enthusiasts around the world, and also intense criticism by environmentalists.

SAS declined to reveal the number of passengers who completed the million-point challenge, but some travel bloggers estimate it could be in the hundreds. Many, like Barry, did it for the thrill of the hunt. On a flight from Guangzhou to Nairobi, he discovered that 10 of his fellow passengers – nine men and one woman – were all on the same quest.

I find this darkly fascinating. What is it that makes so many men worried about the points? What lengths will they go to maximize their points collection and redemption technique – and if you are tempted to make a go yourself, is it ever really worth it?

The consumer outrage this week over British Airways’ decision to shake up its Executive Club loyalty scheme from April shows just how much these things matter to a certain type of traveller.

The gamification of the points industry creates the addictive appeal, says Rob Burgess, a former investment banker behind it. Head for Pointsa travel website dedicated to frequent flyer and hotel points schemes.

We met for lunch in the Square Mile, but the day before she had taken her teenage son to Paris (on points) and they ate at a fancy Sushi place for next to nothing with her £150 Amex Platinum foreign dining credit.

“It’s human nature to take pleasure in beating the system,” he smiles. The 40,000 people who subscribe to their Saturday newsletter are sure to agree. But to beat the system, you need to invest the time to understand it.

There’s free money to be had – but there’s also money to be lost if you take your eye off the ball. Most cards have annual fees; Ridiculously high interest rates are charged if you don’t clear your balance in full each month and the temptation to spend more in search of points is always present.

And if too many people get too good at gaming the system, the airlines can move the goalposts. Rob thinks BA’s changes will make it “very difficult, bordering on impossible” for leisure travelers to gain coveted gold status in the future.

However, January is the peak time of year for beginners to start collecting points. The American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card offers a bonus sign of 30,000 Membership Rewards points. it applies before January 14 (these can be exchanged for Avios, plus a myriad of other airline and hotel points schemes).

What is it that makes so many men worried about the points? What lengths will they go to maximize their points collection and redemption technique – and is it ever really worth it?

Spend £25,000 on your card in your first year and get another 12,500 points. There are double points on foreign expenses and airline transactions. See how easy it is to get sucked into this rabbit hole?

Yet only a few manage to get very good value from point schemes, he notes. As a former banker, he is an expert in the mathematics of points. The key lesson? Redeeming your points for business or first class flights gives you maximum redemption value.

When paying in points, a first class fare costs three to four times more than an economy. But if you paid in cash, it could cost 10 to 20 times more – so the flat bed cabin is (strangely) much better value.

“If you’re the kind of person who would pay £3,000 to fly first class, that means you have indeed saved £3,000 of your money,” he says. Realizing that this quest is to get better value, rather than lower prices, explains why so many rich people obsess over collecting points. In addition, if you travel a lot for the work, the points you collect from flights and hotels are effectively free.

Barry, a real estate developer and kitchen designer, was turned on to collecting points 10 years ago by a fellow business owner who routed a lot of work expenses through point cards. He has never paid for a luxury flight in his life, but in the last decade, his hobby has flown his family first or business class to Orlando, Cancún, the Caribbean and many other places for no more than the tax and the aircraft loads on their partners. seats

It’s sad to learn that I’ve never flown anything other than economy. I rarely fly, and prefer to forego lounges and flat beds to spend the money on first-class experiences at my chosen destination. You can’t miss what you never had.

Yet a hidden benefit of paying for airfare on points is flexibility. Give 24 hours notice, and most airlines only charge a nominal fee of £30 to change your flight. The forums are stacked with flight booking advice, as usual SeatSpy to notify the instant that new posts appear or SeatGuru to view airline seat plans.

Double or triple stacking is Barry’s advice to maximize your points collection in 2025. Use British Airways. The Avios shopping site as a portal to other retailers’ websites, and you’ll collect extra points. At the time of writing, you can get 16 Avios per £1 spent at Harvey Nicks, and 18 at Diptyque. Great news if you’re the type of person who doesn’t mind blowing £85 on a fancy candle. But there are always offers on hotel booking sites, travel insurance and other essentials that you need to buy anyway.

A hidden benefit of paying for airfare on points is flexibility. Give 24 hours notice and most airlines will only charge £30 to change your flight

Next, Barry chooses one of his 10 cards from a mobile wallet app called curvewhich adds another potential layer of collection of points or cashback – finally, there are the points on the transaction of the card itself.

Nectar Paper Points can be converted into Avios; you can also earn on Uber rides. Enjoying a drink? The Wine Flyer still has good Avios deals. Energy companies, including Octopus, allow you to pay your bill on Amex (forums advise setting up a low-value direct debit, and then reloading). You can also pay council tax bills with a Visa or Mastercard points card.

But Barry warns: “To collect a decent amount of points, you have to do everything, every time. It’s all in or don’t worry.”

There are a few of my FT colleagues – all male – who are fiercely interested in this topic. Dare I say, I think it even made Christmas shopping enjoyable for some of them!

This brings me to Barry’s wife, Cheryl. She was happy to look after the kids so Barry could land, and she booked a solo holiday to Turkey – plus she’s now sharing the million points with him.

Claer Barrett is the FT’s consumer editor and the author of “What they don’t teach you about money‘. claer.barrett@ft.com Instagram @Claerb