TRAVEL: Points, Miles, Discounts, Tips, Advice & Questions

[Chopper 17235]

21 hours ago, wild_turkey said:

I’ve recently done CSR, CSP, and Amex Gold. I’m not eligible for Capital One currently. I fly mostly AA and rotate their Citi and Barclay cards to get signup bonuses and other small perks.

If there was another good offer in front of me then maybe I would take it, but I do occasionally fly Delta so it seems reasonable to pay a $250 AF to bank 90k miles that won’t expire. I would cancel the card after the bonus.

Someone point me in the right direction if there’s a better option out there.

90k points for $250 is a lot of points for not a lot of money but I'm skeptical you'll get use from those miles. It's crazy how much Delta has devalued what their points are worth to the consumer trying to use them for flights.

And right on time, Gary Leff's newsletter today has a long skreed about Delta's program.

USELESS: Delta Now Charges Over 500,000 SkyMiles One Way For Some Economy Travel

by Gary Leff on February 20, 2023    

Spoiler

For a decade SkyMiles has charged an astronomical number of miles to fly on Delta. Using Delta miles to travel on their partners remained a value, even if SkyMiles kept raising those prices, because partner awards are generally all saver awards.

    An airline might offer all or most of its seats for miles, treating the miles as money, and charging according to the price of a ticket. So a $5,000 ticket might cost 500,000 miles (or more).

    But partner airlines usually offer only the seats they don’t expect to sell, and at a deep discount. So you spend 57,500 American AAdvantage miles to fly Iberia business class each way to Europe, or 80,000 AAdvantage miles to fly business class each way to Australia.

American and United followed Delta’s path of ridiculous pricing for their own flights, especially in business class. You might spend 350,000 – 700,000 for American Airlines business class roundtrip to Australia, and they simply don’t make lower-priced seats available.

But Delta said ‘hold my beer’ because even when those saver partner award seats are available, they now price those seats as though you were flying Delta.

You can still get good value out of MileagePlus and AAdvantage traveling on partners. You can no longer get value out of Delta miles traveling on partners, unless you’re traveling between countries Delta does not serve. For instance flying between Mexico City and Europe or Asia works, while traveling to and from the United States has become ridiculous.

If you’ve wanted to get value out of SkyMiles you’ve needed to (1) usually fly coach, and (2) luck out with one of their ‘flash sales’ on domestic routes and travel to the Caribbean.

Even coach travel, though, is no longer reasonable even when it’s seats that are likely to go unsold. Legendary FlyerTalk member tvl4free who has been watching fares and award seats for decades pointed out that Delta sometimes now charges over 500,000 miles one way for coach travel. It’s actually worse than what he notes.

Immediately some members of SkyMiles leapt to Delta’s defense, pointing out that you often now pay more for one-way awards than half the cost of a roundtrip (another form of devaluation)! But digging into his example of Dallas – Bangkok this are… really bad for anyone engaged in the SkyMiles program.

First, yes, 505,000 miles one way in economy for Dallas – Bangkok (Delta to New York, connecting onward with Saudia):

To be clear, that’s not always what the award costs. A one way coach award can sometimes be booked for ‘only’ 100,000 miles one way.

So let’s be fair and look roundtrip. Having to book roundtrip awards to avoid a penalty is a huge hit to the program, so how much does a roundtrip cost? 605,000 miles in coach, 935,000 miles in business class. And remember this is flying long haul on a partner airline, not ‘buying a ticket with miles’.

Just to make sure that the Delta flight to New York wasn’t the problem, I looked at New York – Bangkok on Saudia. That was a little cheaper… and oddly, business class was less than coach. Which almost for a second made me think that business class was a value here at 390,000 miles one way. Oy!

And to look at a roundtrip, again in case booking one-ways is the problem here, and looking just at the partner award flights: 513,000 miles roundtrip in coach, 765,000 miles roundtrip in business class.

This isn’t a matter of piecing together illogical flights. These are offered up as choices, and in some cases the only choices, for New York – Bangkok. And this isn’t the old ‘Delta’s just not good for business class awards, you can still get good value on partner airlines and most people fly coach anyway.’

The way people used to make excuses for Delta are gone. Partner awards are no longer a way to get value. Giving up on an aspirational use of miles to let you fly in a style you couldn’t afford with money, and just flying coach, doesn’t get you value here.

If you’re saying ‘well sometimes you can fly to Bangkok in coach for 100,000 miles one way’ you aren’t defending the program you are indicting it. SkyMiles doesn’t respect you. They’re generating $5.5 billion from American Express and Delta is laughing at you most of the time that you search for an award on their website.

To be clear, United and American both charge exorbitant rates for business class international travel on their own flights. Occasionally United will drop ‘saver award’ space, usually to London or to another Star Alliance hub like Frankfurt or Brussels. The way to get value with those programs remains booking on partner airlines – for now. They might be tempted to follow Delta’s lead, if Delta can get away with this.

The way to play the game with frequent flyer miles is transferable points, bank programs that let you move points into numerous foreign frequent flyer programs – like Air Canada’s Aeroplan; Turkish Miles & Smiles; Cathay Pacific Asia Miles; Air France KLM Flying Blue and more.

 

Edited February 21, 2023 by Chopper
typo

[VABuckeye 2472]

I just booked Italy from September 15th until October 2nd.  We're flying Emirates business class from JFK to Milan and back.  Holy crap, I'm not going to want to get off the plane.  We'll have complimentary chauffeur service to and from both airports and the treatment from Emirates looks to be extraordinary.  I can only imagine what their first class service is like.

No itinerary yet except for flights.  I was hoping to do the F1 race at Monza but I couldn't make it work.

[mininghorn88 2292]

Almost all of my flying is for business on my company's credit card.  I have been Diamond on Delta for the last several years.  Getting the mileage requirement is never a problem.  Now Delta has raised the matching spend amount to $20K per year.  Since I have built up status on Delta I would prefer to stay with them.  I have flown 1.1 million miles with Delta.  I have flown about 600K with AA through the years but do not fly with them regularly any longer.  I use SHV as my "home" airport.

So, I am looking at getting a Delta branded credit card to ensure that I meet the spend threshold with personal spending.  I am not too worried about lounge access.  What card to go with?

Any advice is appreciated.

[Mother mopar 3318]

Almost all of my flying is for business on my company's credit card.  I have been Diamond on Delta for the last several years.  Getting the mileage requirement is never a problem.  Now Delta has raised the matching spend amount to $20K per year.  Since I have built up status on Delta I would prefer to stay with them.  I have flown 1.1 million miles with Delta.  I have flown about 600K with AA through the years but do not fly with them regularly any longer.  I use SHV as my "home" airport.
So, I am looking at getting a Delta branded credit card to ensure that I meet the spend threshold with personal spending.  I am not too worried about lounge access.  What card to go with?
Any advice is appreciated.

Congrats on being a million miller. If I was you id look at the Delta Platinum Amex. Good benefits and the annual fee is only $250.

[Chopper 17235]

On 2/21/2023 at 8:34 PM, Mother mopar said:

On 2/21/2023 at 3:49 PM, mininghorn88 said:

Almost all of my flying is for business on my company's credit card.  I have been Diamond on Delta for the last several years.  Getting the mileage requirement is never a problem.  Now Delta has raised the matching spend amount to $20K per year.  Since I have built up status on Delta I would prefer to stay with them.  I have flown 1.1 million miles with Delta.  I have flown about 600K with AA through the years but do not fly with them regularly any longer.  I use SHV as my "home" airport.
So, I am looking at getting a Delta branded credit card to ensure that I meet the spend threshold with personal spending.  I am not too worried about lounge access.  What card to go with?
Any advice is appreciated.

Congrats on being a million miller. If I was you id look at the Delta Platinum Amex. Good benefits and the annual fee is only $250.

It may be just the most expensive Delta card, but there's at least one that moves you up the upgrade list on every flight...above every other Delta status holder in your status category. I've heard it can be quite useful if you live near one of their hubs, though possibly not ATL.

[Mother mopar 3318]

It may be just the most expensive Delta card, but there's at least one that moves you up the upgrade list on every flight...above every other Delta status holder in your status category. I've heard it can be quite useful if you live near one of their hubs, though possibly not ATL.

The Delta Reserve Card....got it and love it. You are eligible for unlimited upgrades with the card and it's a tiebreaker amongst those with status. However, I never got upgraded by using the card in and of itself. Combined with your status and yes, I've seen my share of upgrades but that's also dependent on where you are flying to/from. For me, it's worth it, comes with a companion pass, lounge access, bag fees waived, MQM boost etc.

[Chopper 17235]

57 minutes ago, Mother mopar said:

The Delta Reserve Card....got it and love it. You are eligible for unlimited upgrades with the card and it's a tiebreaker amongst those with status. However, I never got upgraded by using the card in and of itself. Combined with your status and yes, I've seen my share of upgrades but that's also dependent on where you are flying to/from. For me, it's worth it, comes with a companion pass, lounge access, bag fees waived, MQM boost etc.

Yes combined with status is the angle I was coming from...the free miles that go with the card aren't enough to lure me to Delta but if I lived near a hub like JFK and flew often the equation would change. Some friends who live in NYC are mileage warriors and love having Delta status.

[Mother mopar 3318]

Yes combined with status is the angle I was coming from...the free miles that go with the card aren't enough to lure me to Delta but if I lived near a hub like JFK and flew often the equation would change. Some friends who live in NYC are mileage warriors and love having Delta status.

I enjoy having status but I don't chase it and I very rarely fly international. If your ever going to really make status count, you have to fly long-haul flights.

Delta and AA are basically all that fly out of VPS (my airport) so I went with them. I've heard good things about United but know nothing about them.

[wild_turkey 3159]

On 2/21/2023 at 3:29 PM, Chopper said:

90k points for $250 is a lot of points for not a lot of money but I'm skeptical you'll get use from those miles. It's crazy how much Delta has devalued what their points are worth to the consumer trying to use them for flights.

 

You may be right. I did some random searches on routes I would routinely book each year and the amount of miles required is pretty high. Significantly higher than AA which I'm more familiar with their mileage redemption.

I'm concerned that even when I do want to fly Delta, which is once every 1-2 years, the flights I would want will require too many miles and I'll end up just paying cash then anyways. 

Can't decide if it's worth a $250 AF just for the sake of stockpiling 90k miles that I may use one day.

[Chopper 17235]

32 minutes ago, wild_turkey said:

You may be right. I did some random searches on routes I would routinely book each year and the amount of miles required is pretty high. Significantly higher than AA which I'm more familiar with their mileage redemption.

I'm concerned that even when I do want to fly Delta, which is once every 1-2 years, the flights I would want will require too many miles and I'll end up just paying cash then anyways. 

Can't decide if it's worth a $250 AF just for the sake of stockpiling 90k miles that I may use one day.

If you can't get one of the sapphire or amex or cap1 cards you like right now, maybe look at the Aeroplan card? or Alaska airlines? Both have partners that make their miles very useful, esp for international. I just don't know if either would be good from your home airport.

https://onemileatatime.com/reviews/whirlwind-aeroplan-adventure/

https://onemileatatime.com/deals/alaska-airlines-visa-card-bonus/

[midtown 3345]

I had a small miles related win. United wanted $500 to upgrade to first from PTY to SAT. I am flying on award travel and was able to change my flight from economy to first for 12,500 miles which is equal to about $150.

[Chopper 17235]

also @wild_turkeyconsider an avios card, either BA or Iberia. If you're in Florida already you can easily make use of the cheap awards on Iberia to Madrid. And Madrid is going to become a much bigger hub if the company that owns BA & Iberia is able to consummate their deal to purchase Air Europa.

[BearSchlong 8098]

DFW or IAH to Rome. 18 months out, what carrier/CC/program should I focus my efforts? I’ve been a Mexico/Caribbean traveler, now starting to focus on Europe.

[VABuckeye 2472]

If you can generate enough spend Amex MR are great for transferring to BA or Iberia Avios.  Once or twice a year there is a 1:1.4 transfer.  It used to be 1:1.6.  Those were the days.  Please note that you need an Iberia FF account for 90 days before you can transfer Avios in so plan ahead.

[Ag with kids 581]

On 11/8/2022 at 6:15 PM, Ag with kids said:

BWAHAHAHAHAHA...WTF again.

I now am approved for my FOURTH AMEX Platinum Business card with 120K MR points after $15K/3mo spend.  I've got some big expenses coming up so this was perfect to knock out about $14K of that...

Come next year, I'll start cancelling cards #2 and #3...but until then, gimme free stuff...

This was just a card offer on the website.

Oh my mother fucking God...

AMEX wants me to get my FIFTH Business Platinum for $15K/3 mo spend.  WTF are they doing here???

I'm passing this one since I'm currently working on the spend for another card, but still.  I think someone there is on crack.

 

I'm cancelling 2 of them next month which will ensure I keep the MR points from them.  Going to keep my first one open and then close the last one in about another year.  I don't need FOUR of these fuckers.

Edited March 10, 2023 by Ag with kids

[Damor 1236]

More dumb question amnesty, please, regarding using AMEXtravel for flights with a personal Platinum.

I get 5x MR points whether I book directly with the airline or AMEXtravel, correct?  Is there any reason I should use AMEXtravel over direct booking if the fare is the same?

[Mother mopar 3318]

More dumb question amnesty, please, regarding using AMEXtravel for flights with a personal Platinum.
I get 5x MR points whether I book directly with the airline or AMEXtravel, correct?  Is there any reason I should use AMEXtravel over direct booking if the fare is the same?

Amex card has a lot of built-in perks that may or may not make it more advantageous such as baggage fees waivers, baggage insurance, travel delay insurance, warranty protection etc.

[Damor 1236]

Those are independent of how I book, though, aren't they?  I'm planning to use the AMEX, but I guess my question is whether or not to use their travel portal.  Although I don't travel a lot, I've had more issues when booking through a travel portal than direct, so I was looking for any perks I'd be missing out on.  If all else is equal and I'm getting 5x points either way, I'm more likely to go direct with the airline.

[52-80 19159]

27 minutes ago, Damor said:

Those are independent of how I book, though, aren't they?  I'm planning to use the AMEX, but I guess my question is whether or not to use their travel portal.  Although I don't travel a lot, I've had more issues when booking through a travel portal than direct, so I was looking for any perks I'd be missing out on.  If all else is equal and I'm getting 5x points either way, I'm more likely to go direct with the airline.

No reason for the portal except for hotel as a requirement for FHR program

also the portal might still offer the 2-for-1 business class deal

[Mother mopar 3318]

Those are independent of how I book, though, aren't they?  I'm planning to use the AMEX, but I guess my question is whether or not to use their travel portal.  Although I don't travel a lot, I've had more issues when booking through a travel portal than direct, so I was looking for any perks I'd be missing out on.  If all else is equal and I'm getting 5x points either way, I'm more likely to go direct with the airline.

Can't speak to that as I only book directly.

[Nice Guy Eddie 13512]

I've never been much of an Amex guy except for an extremely underutilized Amex credit card that I've had since the 90s. I have a recurring $8 monthly vendor charge on it to keep it active. I don't even have reward points on that card.

Anyway, Amex just offered me the personal Platinum with a 125K points promo if I spend $6K over 6 months.  While I haven't traveled much over the last few years I want to start up more travel. Is the card worth it?

[DFWTexEx 276]

On 2/20/2023 at 5:50 PM, wild_turkey said:

 

I’ve recently done CSR, CSP, and Amex Gold. I’m not eligible for Capital One currently. I fly mostly AA and rotate their Citi and Barclay cards to get signup bonuses and other small perks.

If there was another good offer in front of me then maybe I would take it, but I do occasionally fly Delta so it seems reasonable to pay a $250 AF to bank 90k miles that won’t expire. I would cancel the card after the bonus.

Someone point me in the right direction if there’s a better option out there.

 

@wild_turkey  I'm an AA guy and mostly stick to their cards (Plus a card for Chase rewards), especially now with how AA loyalty points work.  Do you know anything about how often you can be eligible signup bonuses on their cards?  I had a Barclay's for a while and closed it last year after I got the bonus.  I still have a CITI World Elite.

[wild_turkey 3159]

[mention=173]wild_turkey[/mention]  I'm an AA guy and mostly stick to their cards (Plus a card for Chase rewards), especially now with how AA loyalty points work.  Do you know anything about how often you can be eligible signup bonuses on their cards?  I had a Barclay's for a while and closed it last year after I got the bonus.  I still have a CITI World Elite.

Citi card you have to wait 48 months between bonuses. Barclays card is a little bit less clear but I think the same 48 months is a loose guideline.

I get the Citi card in my name for a year, then get the Barclay card in my name for a year, then the Citi card in my wife’s name for a year, then the Barclay card in her name, then back to the Citi card in my name. That 4 year cycle keeps it to where we pay only 1 AF per year, get a signup mileage bonus each year, and maintain the other card benefits at all times.

I’m also in DFW and fly AA frequently for personal travel, but I never travel for work so I don’t get status or any extra miles beyond just churning the cards.

[VABuckeye 2472]

On 3/21/2023 at 2:41 PM, Damor said:

Those are independent of how I book, though, aren't they?  I'm planning to use the AMEX, but I guess my question is whether or not to use their travel portal.  Although I don't travel a lot, I've had more issues when booking through a travel portal than direct, so I was looking for any perks I'd be missing out on.  If all else is equal and I'm getting 5x points either way, I'm more likely to go direct with the airline.

I use their travel portal to book hotel rooms. Chase UR points do go farther for hotel redemptions but I accumulate Amex MR points at a rapid pace. 

For flights I always transfer points to the airline. 

[VABuckeye 2472]

5 hours ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

I've never been much of an Amex guy except for an extremely underutilized Amex credit card that I've had since the 90s. I have a recurring $8 monthly vendor charge on it to keep it active. I don't even have reward points on that card.

Anyway, Amex just offered me the personal Platinum with a 125K points promo if I spend $6K over 6 months.  While I haven't traveled much over the last few years I want to start up more travel. Is the card worth it?

If you use all the perks it easily pays for itself. 

[gmr548 16580]

9 hours ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

I've never been much of an Amex guy except for an extremely underutilized Amex credit card that I've had since the 90s. I have a recurring $8 monthly vendor charge on it to keep it active. I don't even have reward points on that card.

Anyway, Amex just offered me the personal Platinum with a 125K points promo if I spend $6K over 6 months.  While I haven't traveled much over the last few years I want to start up more travel. Is the card worth it?

I get a decent amount of value out of it. Use the $440 in annual media/Uber credits and the cell phone insurance coverage (that's saving me $8-10/month or ~$100/year) reliably on things I'd be spending on anyway, so that eats the majority of the annual fee right there. There's also a $200 hotel credit and $200 airline fee (not fare but paid seats, baggage, etc) that I didn't actually use all of last year (probably will this year), and there's also a free Wal Mart plus membership I've yet to activate. So it's pretty easy to see a path to getting equal or greater value out of the various credits/perks. I think that welcome bonus is worth it if you know you're going to be traveling. A lot of the perks that are hard to quantify in value (lounge access, hotel/rental car status, insurance, etc.) are tied to travel and don't do a lot for you otherwise.

That said, I was leaning toward canceling the card this year and transitioning to Amex Gold because frankly the spending bonus on dining and groceries would really rack up a ton of points at a lower AF; but Amex offered a bonus on adding an authorized user. Between the bonus being worth the fee for an additional user and getting my wife lounge access (they did away with free guests due to crowding/to extract more money) for our upcoming travel, it seemed worth it to keep it this year. I may get rid of it in 2024.

[Chewbacca 7780]

3 hours ago, VABuckeye said:

If you use all the perks it easily pays for itself. 

Yeah, but the big perk is lounge access, IMO.  If you don't use that, the annual fee looks steep.

[Nice Guy Eddie 13512]

19 hours ago, VABuckeye said:

If you use all the perks it easily pays for itself. 

 

16 hours ago, gmr548 said:

I get a decent amount of value out of it. Use the $440 in annual media/Uber credits and the cell phone insurance coverage (that's saving me $8-10/month or ~$100/year) reliably on things I'd be spending on anyway, so that eats the majority of the annual fee right there. There's also a $200 hotel credit and $200 airline fee (not fare but paid seats, baggage, etc) that I didn't actually use all of last year (probably will this year), and there's also a free Wal Mart plus membership I've yet to activate. So it's pretty easy to see a path to getting equal or greater value out of the various credits/perks. I think that welcome bonus is worth it if you know you're going to be traveling. A lot of the perks that are hard to quantify in value (lounge access, hotel/rental car status, insurance, etc.) are tied to travel and don't do a lot for you otherwise.

That said, I was leaning toward canceling the card this year and transitioning to Amex Gold because frankly the spending bonus on dining and groceries would really rack up a ton of points at a lower AF; but Amex offered a bonus on adding an authorized user. Between the bonus being worth the fee for an additional user and getting my wife lounge access (they did away with free guests due to crowding/to extract more money) for our upcoming travel, it seemed worth it to keep it this year. I may get rid of it in 2024.

 

16 hours ago, Chewbacca said:

Yeah, but the big perk is lounge access, IMO.  If you don't use that, the annual fee looks steep.

Thanks for the feedback. I decided to move forward with the platinum Amex. The 125K points promo makes it worthwhile to try for a year.  I know that I can easily max out the $240 digital entertainment, $200 Uber benefits. And I can find benefits from the hotel status and Clear program.  I want to start traveling more and maybe the included benefits will encourage me.

 

[Chopper 17235]

On 3/21/2023 at 9:11 AM, Damor said:

More dumb question amnesty, please, regarding using AMEXtravel for flights with a personal Platinum.

I get 5x MR points whether I book directly with the airline or AMEXtravel, correct?  Is there any reason I should use AMEXtravel over direct booking if the fare is the same?

If you're booking a premium class, it's worth it to check the airline purchase direct price against the Amex portal because they offer a discounted fare on some but not all flights. For some airlines Amex is able to cut the fare by not taking their full cut of the 'travel agent' commission. Also you get to use the Amex concierge service to make any flight changes and that sometimes can work to your advantage as well. The wife used their concierge to handle some flight changes on a trip to Italy last year and she felt much better taken care of compared to her colleague who purchased her flight direct from the airline.

[VABuckeye 2472]

Amec concierge service is top notch.

[Mother mopar 3318]

Headed to Amsterdam this wknd on business flying Delta PS. Actually looking forward to the trip and flying.

[Chopper 17235]

On 5/3/2023 at 9:36 AM, Mother mopar said:

Headed to Amsterdam this wknd on business flying Delta PS. Actually looking forward to the trip and flying.

I was just thinking about this restaurant and pub the other day. Top notch entrecote and fondue. http://www.cafebern.com/

[Mother mopar 3318]

I was just thinking about this restaurant and pub the other day. Top notch entrecote and fondue. http://www.cafebern.com/

Thanks bud, have to check that out amongst the "coffee" shops as well.

[Chopper 17235]

17 minutes ago, Mother mopar said:

Thanks bud, have to check that out amongst the "coffee" shops as well.

It's a wonderful city in so many ways. They're trying to cut down on the huge numbers of brits who fly over for stag and hen parties and if they're successful, Old Town would be so much better for it. Ryanair and Easyjet made it too easy for some true trash to invade the city. Maybe Brexit has helped too, I don't know. Cafe Bern is what's known as a brown cafe', which have a distinct history within NE. Pretty interesting but thankfully you can't smoke cigs indoors any longer.

[pearlandhorn 3269]

Just opened a chase sapphire account for the 80k bonus points for $4k in spending. Will be my corporate travel card. I typically spend around 3k a week with flight, hotel, meals, rental car, etc. Also been flying delta and staying at marriotts pretty religiously the past few months. Cut up my corporate issued card as that program is getting reigned back in.

Any tips or tricks for a newbie on point programs? 

Edited May 4, 2023 by pearlandhorn

[Chopper 17235]

4 hours ago, pearlandhorn said:

Just opened a chase sapphire account for the 80k bonus points for $4k in spending. Will be my corporate travel card. I typically spend around 3k a week with flight, hotel, meals, rental car, etc. Also been flying delta and staying at marriotts pretty religiously the past few months. Cut up my corporate issued card as that program is getting reigned back in.

Any tips or tricks for a newbie on point programs? 

One Mile at a Time has a full review https://onemileatatime.com/reviews/credit-cards/chase/chase-sapphire-preferred/

If you're able to use the chase portal to book your corporate paid travel you get 5x points per dollar spent.

Page down to the travel redemptions section. As always the value is in transferring to travel partners rather than spending the points on Chase's own portal, but with int'l travel so booked for summer there probably won't be many opportunities until later in the year, if then. If you can do spontaneous trips, esp int'l, you can often find better value with points within a week or even within a couple days of travel when airlines make available open seats for rewards. However some of the transfer partners are no longer as valuable as they once were so ymmv.

Some unique benefits are the primary collision coverage on auto rentals, and reimbursement for instacart and doordash membership,

 

[VABuckeye 2472]

Chase UR and Amex MR points are the most versatile out there IMO.  A lot of people use Capital One points but I think their points ecosystem doesn't transfer to partners as well as Chase and Amex points.

[Ted Lange 16106]

18 hours ago, pearlandhorn said:

Just opened a chase sapphire account for the 80k bonus points for $4k in spending. Will be my corporate travel card. I typically spend around 3k a week with flight, hotel, meals, rental car, etc. Also been flying delta and staying at marriotts pretty religiously the past few months. Cut up my corporate issued card as that program is getting reigned back in.

Any tips or tricks for a newbie on point programs? 

If it is Chase Saphire Reserve you also get access to the Priority Pass lounges 

https://www.prioritypass.com/airport-lounges

you will need to sign up, some places that don’t have lounges you get a $35 credit at select restaurants, $70 if you are traveling with someone.  

[midtown 3345]

Well unfortunately for me the CSR offer has a 48 month rule.   I'm at approx 30 months since my last Sapphire bonus.  I've got two slots open in my 5/24

Anyone see any good SUB's?   I have room to spend for a bonus.  

 

Edited May 27, 2023 by midtown

[Party_Taco 3730]

^^^ I’m in the same boat, and very interested in options

[midtown 3345]

For Hilton peeps.  Currently offering 100% bonus on pts purchases.   Put it on your Hilton Amex and get points on top of points. 

[Blotto 23517]

Decided to fly out to SF this weekend last minute. Direct roundtrip on Alaska was just under $800. Booked the same flight plus 3 nights in some shithole hostel for $509 on Priceline bundle and save. The hostel is less than two blocks away from house I'm staying at. I wonder if I need to even bother checking in? If I just never show, what are the chances they will hit me with some bullshit charges? 

Edited May 31, 2023 by Blotto

[Party_Taco 3730]

For Hilton peeps.  Currently offering 100% bonus on pts purchases.   Put it on your Hilton Amex and get points on top of points. 

What’s the point to dollar value right now with that deal?

[KennyPowders 331]

On 5/4/2023 at 11:16 PM, Chopper said:

One Mile at a Time has a full review https://onemileatatime.com/reviews/credit-cards/chase/chase-sapphire-preferred/

If you're able to use the chase portal to book your corporate paid travel you get 5x points per dollar spent.

Page down to the travel redemptions section. As always the value is in transferring to travel partners rather than spending the points on Chase's own portal, but with int'l travel so booked for summer there probably won't be many opportunities until later in the year, if then. If you can do spontaneous trips, esp int'l, you can often find better value with points within a week or even within a couple days of travel when airlines make available open seats for rewards. However some of the transfer partners are no longer as valuable as they once were so ymmv.

Some unique benefits are the primary collision coverage on auto rentals, and reimbursement for instacart and doordash membership,

 

Can you explain what the bolded means. I use chase saphire and I log into my chase bank account, then go the travel programs to book whatever flight works. DO you mean somehow convert the chase reward points into AA points before I use them?

 

Also, does it not hurt your credit to can a card? I have none rewards cards that I have like a chase personal and a southwest card and I thought if I cancelled them to get new cards then it would destroy my credit? Thank you!

[VABuckeye 2472]

You can’t convert Chase points to American Airlines points.  AA points are only tied to Citibank credit cards. 
 

What the bolded means is that you can get better value for your points by transferring to airline partners.  Particularly so if they go into certain foreign carrier buckets and you’re flying international business class. 
 

An example. Last year we went to Spain. We transferred Amex MR points to Iberia Avios at 1:1.4.   Business Class on Iberia from Miami to Madrid was 42000 Avios each way off peak.  It only took about 30000 Amex MR points to convert to 42000 Avios.  For 120000 Amex MR points we flew to Madrid and back in business class pods.  A fantastic redemption that you can’t come close to through the Chase or Amex travel portal.  
 

I will admit to using the Chase portal to book hotels in Europe as I have gotten some really good redemptions at very nice (as in a five star hotel in Malaga for 30k points a night) hotels. 

Edited May 31, 2023 by VABuckeye

[thunderlounge 7837]

You can fly AA on chase points, if that is your goal. 
 

How?

 

Transfer from Chase to BA, and get your ticket through BA with Avios.

Also works better than with AA too, as BA uses a mileage based chart to price awards.

Now you can’t buy domestic-only AA flights through BA, but you can get AA domestic-only award flights through BA. (AA also treats BA status better than their own.)

 

[midtown 3345]

20 hours ago, Party_Taco said:

What’s the point to dollar value right now with that deal?

It's a .10 per point discount.   TPG has Hilton pts at .60 and these are purchased at .50.

[BearSchlong 8098]

Can you explain what the bolded means. I use chase saphire and I log into my chase bank account, then go the travel programs to book whatever flight works. DO you mean somehow convert the chase reward points into AA points before I use them?
 
Also, does it not hurt your credit to can a card? I have none rewards cards that I have like a chase personal and a southwest card and I thought if I cancelled them to get new cards then it would destroy my credit? Thank you!

I cancelled a Barclays card and a citi Best Buy card recently, no or minimal impact. Replaced with the AA citi black card for club access. Thinking of cancelling a discover that I use for exactly one $24.95 recurring charge. And I have a basic BOA card I haven’t used in years, thinking about eliminating that one as well. So right now I’ve got 7 open cards:

BOA cash back card (hardly ever used)
BOA random card (never used)
Discover (aforementioned)
Bonvoy chase (for Marriott spend, lifetime platinum)
Amazon chase (hardly used, as I have the Amazon synchrony for 5% point rebate)
Southwest chase (hardly used as I’m 90% AA flyer)
AA executive world elite MC from citi (all daily purchases, for airline status.)

Just checked and I’m still 850.

I think I may deep six one BOA card and the discover.

Is it worth it to get an Amex for AA points?

[KennyPowders 331]

1 hour ago, BearSchlong said:

I cancelled a Barclays card and a citi Best Buy card recently, no or minimal impact. Replaced with the AA citi black card for club access. Thinking of cancelling a discover that I use for exactly one $24.95 recurring charge. And I have a basic BOA card I haven’t used in years, thinking about eliminating that one as well. So right now I’ve got 7 open cards:

BOA cash back card (hardly ever used)
BOA random card (never used)
Discover (aforementioned)
Bonvoy chase (for Marriott spend, lifetime platinum)
Amazon chase (hardly used, as I have the Amazon synchrony for 5% point rebate)
Southwest chase (hardly used as I’m 90% AA flyer)
AA executive world elite MC from citi (all daily purchases, for airline status.)

Just checked and I’m still 850.

I think I may deep six one BOA card and the discover.

Is it worth it to get an Amex for AA points?

From what I have read the reduction of credit cards only hurts you if you have debt because you are lowering youre available amount of debt and increasing your usage. I guess my question is, does have credit checks relatively constantly not hurt you? It is a metric but I am not an expert at this. I just assumed applying for 2-3 cards would hurt you in that aspect. Thank you for the insight.

[Sam Lin 3559]

The credit checks do hurt you, common advice is to get your new credit cards all at the same time, as the system counts multiple checks in a short period as one. Same advice for credit checks regarding mortgage/refi or on car financing - if you know you'll be getting a hard pull, then apply your new credit cards at the same time, so your credit score only gets hit by "one" check.