Amex BCP vs EDP

[UpperNwGuy]

I don't question the ability of The Points Guy to figure out creative ways to get 2, 3, or even 4 cents of value from UR or MR points on certain flights.  What bugs me is that he freely admits that the way he redeems to get these values is by transferring the UR or MR points over to an airline partner -- yet he consistently assigns lower values to the frequent flyer miles of those same airline partners!  That just doesn't make sense.  How can he claim that UR points are worth 2.2 cents each when says United miles are worth 1.5 cents each?  I am sure that most of his UR redemptions involve transferring the UR points to United miles as step one.  From there he books flights on either United or one of its Star Alliance partners (Lufthansa, etc.).  He should either increase his valuation of United miles or decrease his valuation of UR points.  "Flexibility" is not worth 0.7 cents a point!

[Anonymous]

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@UpperNwGuy wrote:

I don't question the ability of The Points Guy to figure out creative ways to get 2, 3, or even 4 cents of value from UR or MR points on certain flights.  What bugs me is that he freely admits that the way he redeems to get these values is by transferring the UR or MR points over to an airline partner -- yet he consistently assigns lower values to the frequent flyer miles of those same airline partners!  That just doesn't make sense.  How can he claim that UR points are worth 2.2 cents each when says United miles are worth 1.5 cents each?  I am sure that most of his UR redemptions involve transferring the UR points to United miles as step one.  From there he books flights on either United or one of its Star Alliance partners (Lufthansa, etc.).  He should either increase his valuation of United miles or decrease his valuation of UR points.  "Flexibility" is not worth 0.7 cents a point!

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TPG usually books first or business class, which almost always have a better redemption value than economy.   And you can usually book first and business class tickets on partner airlines for much less than on the main American partner airline.  

[Anonymous]

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@longtimelurker wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:
At the end of the day though, you're asking the right questions. It's best to figure out what the value is to you before you click "Apply." If you're only buying cheap domestic tickets, and you don't want to learn the ins and outs of airline partnerships (I'm in that camp--I'll take more expensive tickets to avoid the headache) or you don't want to travel, you might be better off with cash back or points that have set travel value (like the CSR or Venture card or something like that).

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There used to be times where you can also get good value on domestic American flights by transferring MR to Avios and using them.   I think it is hardner now to get good value doing this, but havent checked recently.

But in general I would say point systems aren't great except for international (esp premium) or high cost hotel redemptions.   So even though UR do have a 1c cash value, the FU is just a 1.5% card viewed that way, and you can easily do better, and the Freedom is 1% outside of its rotating, capped, 5%.    And the CSP is, like say the Venture/Arrival, a card with a large bonus and waived first year AF, but unlike them, is a 2% in only certain categories (but eaier to redeem at full value)

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I disagree with you about international hotels.  You can get some phenomenal redemption values, particularly with Hyatt.  But Hyatt does play games with their award nights, so buyer beware I suppose.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

I'm flying from the Midwest to Zurich for 50,000 points per ticket in economy.  To be fair, I bought them during a flash sale, but I think it was only a discount of 10,000 miles per ticket, so even without that I would've been over 2 cents per point I believe. 

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So you did this through the Amex Travel site or is this some type of thing where you had to transfer to an airline and then use on another airline. 

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I did this on Delta's website. 

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Looking at the points guy website seems like he is misleading people.  He mentions flight costs that might be that high if you booked the day before the flight.  For example he states PHL to Frankfurt is 1622 dollars in economy during high season. I saw a lot of fares from BWI to Franfurt for 500 dollars  during high season.  So he states what a great deal it is to use 43k amex points with 125 dollars.  That is less than a cent per mile in my calculations. But he gives it some crazy value.  Like 4.4 cents per mile.   

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I think you raise an interesting point.  Given unlimited time, you could pounce on the best offers the moment they are posted.  However, there is no guarantee that the tickets will be offered at a reduced rate for your desired dates or travel.   Is there a chance a fantastic $500 deal will be offered?  Yes.   Is there a chance the price of the ticket will go up?  Yes.   Also, the departure airport makes a difference too.  With the exception of Southwest, most airlines don't really offer direct flights from my airport, and many airlines don't even fly out of my airport.   I don't really have access to the same cash deals that others might.  

[longtimelurker]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@longtimelurker wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:
At the end of the day though, you're asking the right questions. It's best to figure out what the value is to you before you click "Apply." If you're only buying cheap domestic tickets, and you don't want to learn the ins and outs of airline partnerships (I'm in that camp--I'll take more expensive tickets to avoid the headache) or you don't want to travel, you might be better off with cash back or points that have set travel value (like the CSR or Venture card or something like that).

---

There used to be times where you can also get good value on domestic American flights by transferring MR to Avios and using them.   I think it is hardner now to get good value doing this, but havent checked recently.

But in general I would say point systems aren't great except for international (esp premium) or high cost hotel redemptions.   So even though UR do have a 1c cash value, the FU is just a 1.5% card viewed that way, and you can easily do better, and the Freedom is 1% outside of its rotating, capped, 5%.    And the CSP is, like say the Venture/Arrival, a card with a large bonus and waived first year AF, but unlike them, is a 2% in only certain categories (but eaier to redeem at full value)

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I disagree with you about international hotels.  You can get some phenomenal redemption values, particularly with Hyatt.  But Hyatt does play games with their award nights, so buyer beware I suppose.

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What do you disagree with?   I don't specifically mention international hotesl (I guess some are a subset of high-cost hotels)

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@UpperNwGuy wrote:

I don't question the ability of The Points Guy to figure out creative ways to get 2, 3, or even 4 cents of value from UR or MR points on certain flights.  What bugs me is that he freely admits that the way he redeems to get these values is by transferring the UR or MR points over to an airline partner -- yet he consistently assigns lower values to the frequent flyer miles of those same airline partners!  That just doesn't make sense.  How can he claim that UR points are worth 2.2 cents each when says United miles are worth 1.5 cents each?  I am sure that most of his UR redemptions involve transferring the UR points to United miles as step one.  From there he books flights on either United or one of its Star Alliance partners (Lufthansa, etc.).  He should either increase his valuation of United miles or decrease his valuation of UR points.  "Flexibility" is not worth 0.7 cents a point!

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TPG usually books first or business class, which almost always have a better redemption value than economy.   And you can usually book first and business class tickets on partner airlines for much less than on the main American partner airline.  

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So he is still getting less than a cent a pony that way if you compare to the lowest rate economy fare.  I have never paid more than 700 Round trip to Europe.  Just start checking every day 4 months in advance the fare eventually will go down for a day.  He most likely the opposite.  Checks on a Saturday 20 days before the flight and uses that for his fare comparison.  Point Values should be based on the average value on any flight 60 to 120 days out.   I guess his bogus valuations get people to read his blog.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

Looking at the points guy website seems like he is misleading people.  He mentions flight costs that might be that high if you booked the day before the flight.  For example he states PHL to Frankfurt is 1622 dollars in economy during high season. I saw a lot of fares from BWI to Franfurt for 500 dollars  during high season.  So he states what a great deal it is to use 43k amex points with 125 dollars.  That is less than a cent per mile in my calculations. But he gives it some crazy value.  Like 4.4 cents per mile.   

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I think you raise an interesting point.  Given unlimited time, you could pounce on the best offers the moment they are posted.  However, there is no guarantee that the tickets will be offered at a reduced rate for your desired dates or travel.   Is there a chance a fantastic $500 deal will be offered?  Yes.   Is there a chance the price of the ticket will go up?  Yes.   Also, the departure airport makes a difference too.  With the exception of Southwest, most airlines don't really offer direct flights from my airport, and many airlines don't even fly out of my airport.   I don't really have access to the same cash deals that others might.  

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Luckily I can fly out of both PHL and IAD easily enough as well as BWI..  Although I much prefer going through customs at PHL over IAD.  I saw 525 from PHL to Rome 30 days out for flight this past June for example for. Seems best deals are leaving US Tuesday to Thursday.  the 500 deal to Franfurt was there for a month.  But yeah you had to leave on a Certain day.

[UpperNwGuy]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@UpperNwGuy wrote:

I don't question the ability of The Points Guy to figure out creative ways to get 2, 3, or even 4 cents of value from UR or MR points on certain flights.  What bugs me is that he freely admits that the way he redeems to get these values is by transferring the UR or MR points over to an airline partner -- yet he consistently assigns lower values to the frequent flyer miles of those same airline partners!  That just doesn't make sense.  How can he claim that UR points are worth 2.2 cents each when says United miles are worth 1.5 cents each?  I am sure that most of his UR redemptions involve transferring the UR points to United miles as step one.  From there he books flights on either United or one of its Star Alliance partners (Lufthansa, etc.).  He should either increase his valuation of United miles or decrease his valuation of UR points.  "Flexibility" is not worth 0.7 cents a point!

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TPG usually books first or business class, which almost always have a better redemption value than economy.   And you can usually book first and business class tickets on partner airlines for much less than on the main American partner airline.  

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Whether he is flying first class, business class, or economy, he is still transferring UR points to airline miles and then redeeming the airline miles for the ticket.  My argument is that since he transfers the UR points 1:1 to the airline miles, the value he assigns to his UR points ought also be the value he assigns to that airline's miles.  When he redeems the airline's miles for that great first class ticket, the airline makes no distinction as to whether those points came from a UR transfer, from their own credit card, or from flying that airline.  And this is equally true whether the ticket is on that airline or on one of its international alliance partners.