More than 9 months later, my experience in Emirates First Class still blows me away! Photo by: Evan Berman

Happy New Year everyone! I have never been one to make resolutions; rather, I prefer to look back at the last year and evaluate how to make the next year even better. This is the first edition of the Maxing Out Memories Annual Review. Today I will share my 2023 travel and Points & Miles summary as well as what I am planning (and considering) for 2024. Additionally, next week I will do a similar exercise for the blog and I’d love your feedback on what you’d like to hear about in more detail!

2023 in Review:

2023 was my busiest travel year yet and 2024 is shaping up to be even more hectic, in a good way of course! Let’s dive into my travels for the year:

Flights:

Let’s start with a flight map of my travels:

I took 55 flights, the same number as in 2022. However, due to visiting Asia and the Middle East on Part 1 of the “Round the World” ANA trip, I racked up 57,355 miles flown (2.3x around Earth!), compared with the 41,750 miles flown in 2022. I spent more than 6 full days in the air and did much more international flying, with only 29 domestic flights (this total does include domestic flights Split to and from Zagreb Croatia as well as Muscat to and from Salalah Oman), compared to 49 domestic flights of the 55 in 2022.

As I flew many longer flights (my average flight in 2023 was 1,043 miles. For context, Miami, Florida (MIA) to New York (JFK) is 1,089 miles), it has become much more important to me that I fly comfortably. As such, I flew Business Class 9 times and First Class 6 times, though I caveat that last detail as 4 times were US Domestic First Class (PHX-CHS and CHS-PVD on Breeze Airways, LAX-KOA on Delta, and CLT-BNA on American). Below is an assortment of statistics about the flights that I took in 2023:

A few takeaways:

• Despite my lack of enthusiasm towards United Airlines, I flew 6 routes with the carrier, tied with American Airlines for the most flights with any airline.
• My flights are heavily skewed towards my 2 big international trips (Eastern Europe in March and Round the World Part 1 in August and September). That is unsurprising as most other trips I took where flights were involved featured non-stops (ex. New York, Boston, Dallas, etc.)
• The only route that I flew more than once was BOS-CHS. Since I flew that route once with JetBlue and once with Delta, it means that I did not fly the same flight twice, a departure from previous years where I frequently flew CHS-LGA/JFK and various ATL connections!
• Unsurprisingly, nearly 2/3’s of all my flights were within North America with the other 1/3 coming almost equally from Europe and Asia, with the remaining 2 in Oceania.
• I’m proudly team window! While I was unfortunately stuck with the middle seat twice, I always choose a window seat when available.
• I was surprised that Wednesday was the day I flew the most. In looking back at my travels, I realized that I frequently had connecting flights on Wednesdays on my lengthy international trips.

Lodging:

I stay in many different types of places. Mostly hotels, but thanks to the wonderful Vacasa-Wyndham partnership, I now often stay in Vacasa rentals. Here’s a breakdown of my stays:

• Hyatt: 13 nights (3 at Small Luxury Hotels of the World (SLH) Properties, 4 at Hyatt Place Properties, 4 at Hyatt Regency Properties, 1 at Park Hyatt, 1 at Grand Hyatt)
• Marriott: 36 nights (9 from stays: 2 at Westin Properties, 2 at Residence Inn Properties, 2 at Aloft Properties, 1 at Courtyard, 1 at EDITION, 3 at Four Points by Sheraton Properties* (2 nights from Rocket Miles), and 25 nights from the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Card)
• Hilton: 4 nights (2 at Resorts, all at Hilton brand)
• Choice: 7 nights (3 at Choice Hotels Japan Properties, 1 at Cambria, 1 at Sleep Inn*, 2 at Clarion Properties)
• Wyndham: 6 nights (2 at Ramada Hotels, 2 at H+ Hotels , 2 at Hawthorne Suites*)
• IHG: 2 nights (2 at Holiday Inn Express*)
• Vacasa: 9 nights
• Other: 5 nights*
• Total: 82 nights (57 nights from stays, 25 from credit card)

*includes stays booked through AAdvantage Hotels, RocketMiles, and/or BookingAA Hotels

Here are my takeaways:

• Surprisingly, I stayed more in the combination of Wyndham + Vacasa than my favorite brand Hyatt!
  • While I love the Hyatt brand, especially the SLH Properties, there just aren’t as many Hyatt properties as there are other brands, especially in locations that are not tourist hotspots.
• While Hilton hotels are everywhere, I prefer to stay in Hyatt and Marriott properties, especially as the mid-tier and high-end properties are nicer in the other two brands than at Hilton
• I am fortunate to have family and friends who live in many cities in the US that I often visit (New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, Boston, and Columbus). As such, most of my stays are when travelling internationally. This means that I highly value elite status as you get much better treatment outside of the US
• I am a “free agent”– while I love getting great value from Hyatt and using my Marriott status to get suite upgrades (and take advantage of 4pm late checkout), I look for value and will go with the best program for the stay.
  • This is why I maintain elite status with Hilton (AmEx Platinum gives mid-tier Gold Status), Hyatt, and Marriott (AmEx Bonvoy Brilliant Card gives upper mid-tier Platinum Status), and Wyndham (Barclays Wyndham Earner Business Card gives top-tier Diamond Status) to receive perks no matter which brand I choose.

Elite Status:

I currently have the following Elite Statuses (excluding rental cars as I frequently shop the best deals on Autoslash and do not care as much about the minimal perks):

Hotels:

• Hilton: Mid-tier Gold Status for as long as I hold either the AmEx Platinum Card or AmEx Hilton Business Card
• Hyatt: Mid-tier Explorist Status until February 29th, 2024 then entry-level Discoverist Status until February 28th, 2025 (there is not much difference between the two)
• Marriott: Upper mid-tier Platinum Status for as long as I hold the AmEx Bonvoy Brilliant Card
• Wyndham: Top-tier Diamond Status for as long as I hold the Barclays Wyndham Earner Business Card

Airlines:

• American: Mid-tier Platinum Status until February 28, 2025 (I am waiting for miles from a previous transaction to post, after which time I will have lower top-tier Platinum Pro Status until June 11, 2024)
  • Platinum Status gets me oneworld Sapphire Status, which provides access to Business Class Lounges and check-in when flying oneworld as well as 2 free checked bags. Platinum Pro Status provides oneworld Emerald Status, which provides access to First Class Lounges and check-in when flying oneworld as well as 3 free checked bags.
  • Curious how I got this status when I only flew AA 6 times last year? I’ll be posting a guide to American Airlines Elite Status and sharing my tips for winning the game (which it truly is, unless you are a road warrior who flies oneworld very frequently)
• Delta: Entry-level Silver Status until January 31, 2024 then no status.
  • While I have enjoyed getting upgraded to Comfort+ almost every flight, picking preferred seating for free, getting a free checked bag, and having access to the priority check-in and baggage, I am flying Delta less as I shift loyalty to American Airlines. The good news? If I ever decide to get back together with Delta, it is as easy as having 2 Delta Credit Cards for Silver Status or 4 Credit Cards for Gold Status (for now!)

Points & Miles Status:

Points & Miles are not like money– I highly recommend the “earn and burn” philosophy rather than attempting to save for a rainy day! Here is a summary of the most commonly used American frequent flier miles and credit card points currencies (excluding IHG as I had no activity either in earning or redeeming this past year):

Recap:

The beginning of the year is the perfect time to reflect on the previous year and think about how to best approach the new one. I had a terrific year of travel, visiting 14 countries (including 10 new ones!) and 13 states (including my first new one in many years!) and racking up 100,000’s of points & miles. I flew Emirates and Qatar First Class (Emirates wins by a mile, though I loved Qatar’s Al Safwa First Class Lounge in Doha), got my first Delft House flying KLM Business Class, visited Asia for the first time, saw countless festivals and sporting events, and so much more. 2023 was excellent, I’m ready for an even better 2024! Stay tuned for the next stops on my Eastern European Experience, my Round the World Part 1 Trip: Guam, Gulf, and Gastronomy, as well as my fast approaching Brazilian Birthday Trip and Round the World Part 2: Safari, Skiing, Oh My! My New Year’s goal is to use alliteration for all trip titles! 😉

Lots of exciting articles to share with y’all! If you have any 2024 travel goals, let me know! I plan to share a State of the Union (MoM edition) next week where I’ll talk about my goals for this site in 2024 and request your input as to what you find most helpful or interesting. As always, thank you for reading and keeping Maxing Out Memories!

Evan