2022 in review: A year of revenge travels and devaluations

I think we can all agree that 2022 was an amazing year for general travel, given the lull period in the past couple of years.

But it came at a cost to travel hackers: award chart devaluations, nerfs and poor award availability.

In this capitalist world, it was inevitable that when the floodgates of desperate travellers re-open, travel companies were always going to charge more cash, more miles and more points.

Devaluations and Nerfs in 2022

Singapore Airlines Krisflyer

For Singapore-based travellers, Krisflyer’s award chart devaluation was the big one.

That’s because, miles/points from most good credit cards in Singapore can only be transferred to 2 frequent flyer programs and Krisflyer is one of them (Asia Miles the other).

Personally, I feel that having poor Saver award availability is worse than the actual devaluation, especially when Krisflyer miles have a fixed expiry term.

It didn’t help that members of other frequent flyer programs can access those “hidden” award seats, and many fell for the Krisflyer Gold “trap” last year and dumped hundreds of thousands of credit card miles/points into the FFP, while general travel was still uncertain.

Marriott Bonvoy

In February 2022, Marriott Bonvoy announced dynamic award pricing and increased award rates at some aspirational properties by up to 30,000 points.

While there are still fantastic ways to use Marriott points, this devaluation made it a lot harder to find low award rates at those “sweet spot” properties.

Qatar Airways Privilege Club

Qatar Airways didn’t exactly lower the value of Avios with a devaluation but the frequent flyer program quietly added a fee for each award segment booked, without prior notice.

For a one-way Business Class award redemption from Singapore to Europe (via Doha), travellers will now have to pay US$70 per segment, for a total of US$140 in additional fees.

Hilton Honors

Because Hilton Honors do not have award charts, devaluations are often done separately (and quietly) by individual properties.

Since the start of the pandemic, we have seen insane jumps in award rates at many Hilton properties. These affected previous sweet spots like Hilton Petaling Jaya (40% up) and Hilton Garden Inn Bali (360% up).

Singapore credit cards

Here are the key nerfs involving Singapore credit cards:

• Nerfed: DBS will stop awarding points for Amaze transactions from 1 June 2022
• Nerfed: Grab no longer supports payments to other e-wallets
• Nerfed: UOB Absolute card dropping Cashback on Grab wallet top-ups from 1.7% to just 0.3%

Too-good-to-be-true award redemptions

With all the devaluations mentioned above, do not forget that there are still amazing award redemptions possible with miles/points.

I do not see them lasting very long, so try to include them on your future travels!

Huge discounts on Hyatt properties

Regardless of hotel status, travellers can enjoy amazing discounts at some Hyatt properties when booking with points.

With a good Hyatt points sale, you can stay in one of these great properties from s little as US$58 per night!

World of Hyatt usually announces award category changes in February, so, it’s probably a good idea to start thinking about how to include those sweet spots in your upcoming travels!

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan

The frequent flyer program gave travellers a scare (or were we just over-reacting?) by announcing upcoming award chart “changes”.

This turned out to be a false alarm and unbelievably, these amazing sweet spots, are still bookable for travel up till late 2023.

Related: Sweet Spots: Best ways to redeem Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles in 2022

My 2022 travels

While I spent most of 2021 hotel-hopping, I flew a lot more in 2022, since flying home from my pandemic travels in January.

2022 did not turn out exactly as previously planned but man, it was a dream to travel freely again and check high-value hotel and flight redemptions off my bucket list.

My 2022 highlights:

• January: Stayed in the new Four Points and Westin in Surabaya, return to Singapore to catch up with family and friends
• February: Stayed a week in the new Fairfield Kuala Lumpur Jl Pahang
• March: Hotel-hopping in Kuala Lumpur at Alila Bangsar and Hyatt House KL for just 2.5k points each night, cleared some GHA D$ in a PARKROYAL and spent a night at The St. Regis KL
• April: Covered the opening of Aloft Bali Kuta, flew Etihad Business Studio to Milan, stacked hotel points for 1 months of FREE stays and flew in Finnair’s new Business Class back to Singapore
• June: Flew Qatar Airways First Class to Europe, Singapore Airlines Suite to Singapore, then hotel-hopped in Jakarta
• July: Travelled to Kuala Lumpur for my birthday and received an epic upgrade at The Westin KL
• August: Travelled 2 weeks in Kota Kinabalu
• September: (Finally) Flew the long way to New Zealand in Qatar Airways Qsuite
• November: Flew Japan Airlines Business Class from Manila to Delhi (via Tokyo), onward to Abu Dhabi in Etihad’s new Business Class, F1 Abu Dhabi and stayed in the Andaz for only 6.5k points per night, redeemed points at Al Bustan Palace and W muscat, flew Oman Air Business Class back home
• December: Flew Singapore Airlines and Lufthansa Business Class flights to San Francisco to spend the New Year

While I enjoyed every bit of my “revenge” travels this year, the November trip was a little too crazy and put me way behind on the flight/hotel reviews that I intend to write, as I struggled a little to cope with my main job and blogging on Suitesmile.

I plan on taking a short break from travelling in the coming months to catch up on those! (or at least try to :P)

For recent travels that I have not blogged about, have a look at Suitesmile’s Instagram Story Highlights.

My travel plans for 2023

As shared above, I plan to slow down the travels a little in the early months of 2023 and make room for any last-minute error fares/rates that may come our way.

At the moment, I have the following trips planned in 2023:

• January: Return home from Los Angeles on SWISS Business Class
• February: Fly to Seoul in Cathay Pacific Business Class, make a side trip to Jeju and stay at the new Grand Hyatt Jeju
• May: Fly Round the World in Turkish Airline’s new Business Class, Etihad’s First Class, Royal Air Maroc’s Business Class and Japan Airlines’ First Class

Loyalty statuses to prioritize

Hotel

As I am no longer living in hotels, I will only try to re-qualify for my Marriott Bonvoy Titanium (or Platinum) status as I still see it as the best hotel loyalty program for travellers in Singapore and Southeast Asia.

While I enjoyed the Globalist benefits with World of Hyatt, the spend-based lifetime status requirement leaves me unmotivated to keep my Globalist status beyond 2023, unless if there is another fast track opportunity.

With poor upgrade policies, below-average loyalty benefits and insane devaluations, I’ve (almost) fallen completely out of love with Hilton Honors, just 3 years away from a lifetime status. I’ll need to think about whether it is still worth chasing.

Airline

With a single New Zealand trip on Qatar Airways Business Class, I have re-qualified for Privilege Club Gold status (oneworld Sapphire) and will continue to keep it in 2023.

However, as I’ve always enjoyed trying out products from different airlines, I will not be attempting to keep this status beyond 2023, unless, of course, if there are cheap mileage run opportunities.

Side note: I have also recently shared in Suitesmile Chat that Qatar Airways Silver status offers great benefits like priority check in, airport lounge access in some airports like Singapore and Doha and even priority meal servings when flying in Economy Class!

To another great year ahead

I’ve enjoyed watching your amazing travel stories on Instagram in the past year. Definitely looking forward to seeing more of them!

I also greatly appreciate you guys who have been signing up for credit cards and buying miles/points through Suitesmile. While this small website still does not generate enough revenue for me to run it full-time, you guys brought me closer to that dream every year.

A special shoutout to admins and members of Suitesmile Chat Telegram group who have been sharing travel hacks/tips/photos and helping other newbies travel smarter and better. Join for free, if you haven’t already!

My ultimate travel-hacking wish for the coming year is to see fewer devaluations of sweet spots. If you have been loyal to just one airline/hotel brand, it may be worth re-evaluating your approach of putting all your eggs in one basket.

Remember: Be a fan of the product, not the billion-dollar corporation behind it.

Happy New Year everyone! Thank you for your readership in the past year. Travel safe and stay healthy. ❤️🥂