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Best card for hotels

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longtimelurker
Epic Contributor

Re: Best card for hotels


@wacdenney wrote:

I'm not married to the idea of staying at a Marriot.  I have been researching "travel" cards and CSP always comes up.  It just seemed to make sense because I already have Freedom and currently have 21,691 UR points.  This winter when it comes time to pay off my balance at school before graduation the bill will come close to the initial spend required to get the 40k signup bonus on the CSP if I apply at this time and then I believe adding an AU would get me another 5k UR points.  So not counting whatever I earn on Freedom throughout the year I would have at least 66,691+ UR points.

This feels like my best option, but I just wanted to make sure and I am unclear on exactly how it works.  In order to trasnfer the UR points to a hotel loyalty program would I need to "join" a hotel loyalty program?  If Marriott is considered a poor-value redemption, can you suggest which hotel chain would be a better choice?


 

You have to join the program but that is free and can happen very quickly.   Transfer to Marriott CAN be OK, it's just that you need to look at the amount of points needed vs the cash price of the room.   Usually for Marriott its ~ 1c per point or less, and people generally value URs more than that.  Hyatt is the usually recommended choice, but of course that depends on a Hyatt being near where you want to be!

 

Message 21 of 27
mongstradamus
Super Contributor

Re: Best card for hotels


@wacdenney wrote:

@longtimelurker wrote:

@MT936 wrote:

you get a free nights stay in a category 1-4 marriots hotel and 40,000 marriot points for signup. Every year on your account opening anniversery, you get a free night stay in a category 1-5 hotel and every year you get points towards elite status. There are a lot more benefits to the card you can find out on the website. The CSP is tied to the chase ultimate rewards program which is a very good cash back program. I don't believe the chase marriots is tied to this so the CSP would be better if you wanted cash back. The marriots premier rewards would be better if you stay at hotels often


I really wouldn't categorize Ultimate Rewards as Cash Back!  Perhaps the major selling point is that those with transfer cards (CSP, Ink etc) can transfer UR points to frequent flier and hotel loyalty programs.   THe Chase Marriott is not an Ultimate Rewards card, but with the CSP etc, points can be transferred to Marriott (although this is considered a poor-value redemption)


I'm not married to the idea of staying at a Marriot.  I have been researching "travel" cards and CSP always comes up.  It just seemed to make sense because I already have Freedom and currently have 21,691 UR points.  This winter when it comes time to pay off my balance at school before graduation the bill will come close to the initial spend required to get the 40k signup bonus on the CSP if I apply at this time and then I believe adding an AU would get me another 5k UR points.  So not counting whatever I earn on Freedom throughout the year I would have at least 66,691+ UR points.

 

This feels like my best option, but I just wanted to make sure and I am unclear on exactly how it works.  In order to trasnfer the UR points to a hotel loyalty program would I need to "join" a hotel loyalty program?  If Marriott is considered a poor-value redemption, can you suggest which hotel chain would be a better choice?


I think technically would be 69,691 since you have to 3k spending go get the extra 40k

 



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Message 22 of 27
mongstradamus
Super Contributor

Re: Best card for hotels


CSP is nice if you have hyatts to transfer if not you are kind of SOL when it comes to hotel transfers. You are better of using points via UR mall if you want to use them for hotels then going thru marriot i think. I would have to look at the numbers but usually not the best value. I would want to get at least 1.5 per point anything less is pretty meh. 



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Message 23 of 27
wacdenney
Valued Contributor

Re: Best card for hotels


@mongstradamus wrote:

@wacdenney wrote:

@longtimelurker wrote:

@MT936 wrote:

you get a free nights stay in a category 1-4 marriots hotel and 40,000 marriot points for signup. Every year on your account opening anniversery, you get a free night stay in a category 1-5 hotel and every year you get points towards elite status. There are a lot more benefits to the card you can find out on the website. The CSP is tied to the chase ultimate rewards program which is a very good cash back program. I don't believe the chase marriots is tied to this so the CSP would be better if you wanted cash back. The marriots premier rewards would be better if you stay at hotels often


I really wouldn't categorize Ultimate Rewards as Cash Back!  Perhaps the major selling point is that those with transfer cards (CSP, Ink etc) can transfer UR points to frequent flier and hotel loyalty programs.   THe Chase Marriott is not an Ultimate Rewards card, but with the CSP etc, points can be transferred to Marriott (although this is considered a poor-value redemption)


I'm not married to the idea of staying at a Marriot.  I have been researching "travel" cards and CSP always comes up.  It just seemed to make sense because I already have Freedom and currently have 21,691 UR points.  This winter when it comes time to pay off my balance at school before graduation the bill will come close to the initial spend required to get the 40k signup bonus on the CSP if I apply at this time and then I believe adding an AU would get me another 5k UR points.  So not counting whatever I earn on Freedom throughout the year I would have at least 66,691+ UR points.

 

This feels like my best option, but I just wanted to make sure and I am unclear on exactly how it works.  In order to trasnfer the UR points to a hotel loyalty program would I need to "join" a hotel loyalty program?  If Marriott is considered a poor-value redemption, can you suggest which hotel chain would be a better choice?


I think technically would be 69,691 since you have to 3k spending go get the extra 40k

 


Good point!  That is a minimum also.  I intend to use Freedom as much as possible between now and the time I app for CSP this winter so I will earn additional points.  Surely 69,691+ would get me a least 4 nights at Myrtle beach.  That is ultimately the goal.  The biggest drawback is that it will likely be July 4th week which is a busy week and I will not be able to make reservations till this winter at the earliest.

Message 24 of 27
wacdenney
Valued Contributor

Re: Best card for hotels


@mongstradamus wrote:

CSP is nice if you have hyatts to transfer if not you are kind of SOL when it comes to hotel transfers. You are better of using points via UR mall if you want to use them for hotels then going thru marriot i think. I would have to look at the numbers but usually not the best value. I would want to get at least 1.5 per point anything less is pretty meh. 


Yes, Hyatt has been the most recommended.  Unfortunately there is no Hyatt in Myrtle Beach.

Message 25 of 27
mongstradamus
Super Contributor

Re: Best card for hotels


@wacdenney wrote:

@mongstradamus wrote:

@wacdenney wrote:

@longtimelurker wrote:

@MT936 wrote:

you get a free nights stay in a category 1-4 marriots hotel and 40,000 marriot points for signup. Every year on your account opening anniversery, you get a free night stay in a category 1-5 hotel and every year you get points towards elite status. There are a lot more benefits to the card you can find out on the website. The CSP is tied to the chase ultimate rewards program which is a very good cash back program. I don't believe the chase marriots is tied to this so the CSP would be better if you wanted cash back. The marriots premier rewards would be better if you stay at hotels often


I really wouldn't categorize Ultimate Rewards as Cash Back!  Perhaps the major selling point is that those with transfer cards (CSP, Ink etc) can transfer UR points to frequent flier and hotel loyalty programs.   THe Chase Marriott is not an Ultimate Rewards card, but with the CSP etc, points can be transferred to Marriott (although this is considered a poor-value redemption)


I'm not married to the idea of staying at a Marriot.  I have been researching "travel" cards and CSP always comes up.  It just seemed to make sense because I already have Freedom and currently have 21,691 UR points.  This winter when it comes time to pay off my balance at school before graduation the bill will come close to the initial spend required to get the 40k signup bonus on the CSP if I apply at this time and then I believe adding an AU would get me another 5k UR points.  So not counting whatever I earn on Freedom throughout the year I would have at least 66,691+ UR points.

 

This feels like my best option, but I just wanted to make sure and I am unclear on exactly how it works.  In order to trasnfer the UR points to a hotel loyalty program would I need to "join" a hotel loyalty program?  If Marriott is considered a poor-value redemption, can you suggest which hotel chain would be a better choice?


I think technically would be 69,691 since you have to 3k spending go get the extra 40k

 


Good point!  That is a minimum also.  I intend to use Freedom as much as possible between now and the time I app for CSP this winter so I will earn additional points.  Surely 69,691+ would get me a least 4 nights at Myrtle beach.  That is ultimately the goal.  The biggest drawback is that it will likely be July 4th week which is a busy week and I will not be able to make reservations till this winter at the earliest.


If you have any free hp to use i would think about Marriott or SPG hotel card. Ur points to me aren't very valuable for hotel redemptions. Hyatt just don't have as many locations and IHG and marriot don't give the best value imo. I guess the best you probably could get is 1.25 for booking via marriot thru UR is that correct?



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Message 26 of 27
nachoslibres
Established Contributor

Re: Best card for hotels


@wacdenney wrote:

@mongstradamus wrote:

CSP is nice if you have hyatts to transfer if not you are kind of SOL when it comes to hotel transfers. You are better of using points via UR mall if you want to use them for hotels then going thru marriot i think. I would have to look at the numbers but usually not the best value. I would want to get at least 1.5 per point anything less is pretty meh. 


Yes, Hyatt has been the most recommended.  Unfortunately there is no Hyatt in Myrtle Beach.


wacdenney,

 

Here's what I would do:  Get the CSP and go ahead and hit the minimum spend to get the bonus offer.  Save these points for airfare on something like United or a Hyatt hotel.  This also gives you the capability of transferring your Freedom UR's to the CSP to transfer out to partners in order to earn maximum return on those.

 

Several months before your trip next year go ahead and get the Marriott Chase card IF you will stay at Marriotts a couple of times a year (heck, some people will tell you to keep it just for the free room they offer each year - which can easily cost more than the AF).  Use this card strictly for staying at Marriott's since it does give 5x points/$ on Marriott purchases (which if we value a Marriott point at $0.01/point means you are getting 2.5% back on top of the 10x points/$ you earn through Marriott rewards regularly).  You could then use your initial sign on bonus offer on the Marriott card to pay for a couple of nights for your trip AND you could transfer your UR points to Marriott for additional nights - even if they aren't the best redemption of points - the points are worth nothing really until you redeem them.

 

Of course all of this is considering that your annual spend is worth the $95 AF on the CSP and the AF on the Marriott card.

Message 27 of 27
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