Liu Yiqian is the man. Not only is he a billionaire, he is a miles hoarder. You see, Liu earns miles slightly differently than we do, he earns up to 18,750,000 miles at a time. Rather than writing a check for a near priceless ceramic, Liu whipped out his American Express Centurion Card ensuring that he would earn a casual 18,750,000 points for his $36,000,000 credit card purchase. To put that number into context, a family of four could take five long haul first class round trip flights a year for the next 15 years off of that sum alone.
Being rich and being sensible do not often go hand in hand, but in Liu’s case, his mileage game is on point. Bloomberg covered his $36,000,000 purchase earlier in the year which bankrolled those points and the article drew enough attention that for the first time in his life, he realized how valuable points could be and how to use them. Did I mention that he just made another swipe yesterday for $45,000,000? I would imagine his overall Amex Points total to be somewhere over 40,000,000 now. Probably enough to buy an airline on miles, let alone fly with them. Liu apparently has become an avid points and miles student and has been funding his travels to collect his auction wins with free flights gained from his points and miles, just like the rest of us.
Considering that the average First Class flight on a five star carrier from the US to Europe or Asia requires roughly 125,000 miles, it’s astounding to think what 40,000,000 points can do. If I happen to spot Liu sitting up in Cathay First returning from another auction win, I’ll be sure to give him a fist bump and ask him if he would like to donate a million to the Childrens All Saints Hospital, but he can just abbreviate it on the check, … C.A.S.H
