@takeshi74 wrote:
@snowkitty wrote:
I was just reading the other topic of when people redeem their points. I have been saving up my points with Amex Blue Sky and my CSP. I am trying to accumulate them until next summer to peace together a nice vacation for my family. Should I not do that?
You should do whatever works for you.
@snowkitty wrote:
I saw someone say that points devalue.....is that right? I'm planning on using them for hotels, probably not airfare or car rental. Should I be doing something else? A friend of mine banked her Amex for a year and is taking her family to Key West for Christmas for basically free. I want to save them but now I am kind of nervouse about it due to the response on the other topic.
Points can devalue. None of us has a crystal ball so we can't tell the future for any points program. We know that United has announced changes to their points redemption in 2014., Many Ultimate Rewards points collectors rely on transferring to United and should factor that into their decision making. I fall in that camp but I'm not changing what I have been doing. YMMV. PenFed is reducing their points earning schedule and has already increased point redemption costs. I can't speak to other programs as they're not relevant to me and I don't track every points program out there. Again, you have to rely on specifics that apply to you versus broad generalizations like "points devalue".
Right,, "points devalue" usually refers to the redemption side (rather than earning) so accumulated points lose real value. (Whereas earning decreasing is more nerfing of a card). Apart from United, Hyatt and Hilton have recently changed their redemption schedule, which basically means that if you transfer X UR/MR points to those partners, you will get less value than transferring X points in the past.
But, as above, no-one really has a crystal ball, and in any case as far as already earned points, there often isn't much of an option. If you already have the points needed and know that the redemption rate is going up soon, AND you can adjust your trip date, you can move stuff up, but more commonly you have say 75K points towards a 100K trip, and you learn that it is now going to cost 150K. All you can really do is accept it's going to take much longer or change your goal.
The decision you DO have control over is whether devaluation still makes the card right for you. For example, a very common use of CSP is to transfer to United (often considered, along with Hyatt,the most valuable redemption). When the new United schedule came out, a lot of posts across the web asked if CSP is still a worthwhile card, as the total value is less.
