Found my way back to the D this week en route to Athens which meant a necessary carb load stop at grandma’s house.
How great does that food look? Anyhow, I was speaking with my uncle when he brought up how AARP’s membership has gone up from $8 to $16. I replied that the $16 was the best money I had ever spent. Perplexed, he asked why I was a member of AARP. Of course I had to show him the blog post of how I booked a round trip ticket on British business next summer for $800 (should’ve been $400) to St. Tropez thanks in part to the AARP discount.
“But you aren’t over fifty and you aren’t retired,” he declared. Technically only part of that statement is true. And technically you don’t have to be either to become a member. Even after I told him that there is nothing illegal or immoral about me joining AARP, he still shook his head in disbelief.
My aunt overheard our conversation and was also dumbfounded. Knowing I’m obsessed with points, she proudly told me that my other uncle (the one who makes the best kebab) had flown first class from Phoenix to Detroit on American using points. I was heartbroken when I heard he had spent 40k points to do so. She then asked if I had seen the Jennifer Aniston commercial which made me pull up my post from when I flew Emirates Shower Class. If you thought they were shocked by my AARP membership…
The point of this post is that we as points enthusiasts forget that 94.75% of the rest of the world has no knowledge of this points hustle. Explaining to them that they can do the same if they only read their [favorite] nephew’s blog falls on deaf ears. They think I’m crazy or criminal and want nothing to do with it. So while we get mad at deal killers let’s not forget that there’s a whole world out there that is completely oblivious to the points lifestyle.
The only thing we share in common with the uninformed is our membership in AARP.
Love you grandma.
