@nachoslibres wrote:So, my current setup is a Chase Freedom w/ Chase Checking (so 5.5 UR/$ on bonus categories), Ink Bold (5 UR/$ on bonus categories and 2 UR/$ gas), and then a Barclaycard Arrival Plus for all other spend. I usually use hotels.com to book hotel stays since I'm not loyal to any chain.
With that said - I have always like Hyatt and I already know having the Chase Hyatt Visa with just the AF alone pays for itself each year due to the free night - not counting the sweet sign-up bonus which I would likely use for when I end up booking a trip to Paris or something along those lines.
I ended up doing some calculations (and my math may be off) for various scenarios on what would be the best route to go with for booking hotels - using different cards and booking online through hotels.com and the card's portal or booking directly with the hotel. I used a $300 hotel booking for the examples and on hotels.com use the 10th night free as the basis for the 10% back (I currently have 7 nights accumulated). Here are my figures and the results:
Hotels.com w/ Arrival Plus
2.22% back with 4 additional miles/$ (current Barclaycard mall promotion) = 6.22% back + 10% stay credit ($30). So for $300 hotel you get $48.66 worth of rewards.
Hotels.com w/ Chase Bold
1 UR + 3 additional UR/$ (current UR mall promotion) = 4 UR/$ + 10% stay credit. So for $300 hotel you get 1200 UR and at $0.02/UR this comes to $24. With the 10% stay credit this is $54 worth of rewards.
Hotels.com w/ CSP
2 UR + 3 additional UR/$ = 5 UR/$. Dividend bonus = 5.35 UR/$ + 10% stay credit. So for $300 hotel you get 1605 UR and at $0.02/UR this comes to $32.10. With the 10% stay credit this is $62.10 worth of rewards.
Hyatt w/ Chase Bold
2 UR (convert to GP) + 5 GP/$ = 7 GP/$. So for $300 hotel you get 2100 GP and at $0.02/GP this comes to $42 worth of rewards.
Hyatt w/ Hyatt Visa
3 GP + 5.75 GP/$ (15% bonus with Platinum) = 8.75 GP/$. So for $300 hotel you get 2625 GP and at $0.02/GP this comes to $52.50 worth of rewards.
@Anonymous - it honestly looks like CSP booked through hotels.com on the UR portal would give the most bang for the buck, with the Ink Bold coming in 2nd. I currently don't have the CSP and probably wouldn't get one over the Bold because of the 4 yearly lounge passes the Bold provides between my wife and I. I also know I may be valuing the GP @ $0.02 either too high or too low depending on what location you plan to use it on - but I feel that $0.02/GP was a good rate for what I would spend it on.
The only thing I feel I'm not considering with the Hyatt is the ability to earn stays toward Diamond - though I don't travel enough in a year for that to be a factor anyway. I also know that this year Hyatt offers 20% lower rates to Platinum members (at least I think that is what I read) which I would be able to get if I had the Hyatt Visa which if this is the case may give the upper hand to the Hyatt.
Do any Chase Hyatt or Ink or CSP holders any feedback regarding this strategy and if one strategy is better than the other? I still plan on eventually getting the Hyatt card no matter what because as said earlier the AF should pay for itself with the free stay but it seems like it would be better to book through hotels.com on the Chase UR portal with the Bold than it would be to book directly with Hyatt with the Hyatt card.
Looks reasonable. Like you said, there are other considerations too. Platinum members can get space available upgrades and late checkout, which is worth something to me, but maybe not others. Also, Hyatt has promotions from time to time that give it an edge. I recently got an email to get 5k bonus points the next time I stay with them. Like most hotel companies, they usually have at least one point promo going on at all times, but you usually can't use discount travel sites to qualify. But if you are solely concerned with point value, the above looks about right.
On a side note, you've got the right idea with those free night certs. The rooms at the Paris Hyatt are frequently over $1000 a night.
@nachoslibres wrote:@-NewGuy- wrote:
Looks reasonable. Like you said, there are other considerations too. Platinum members can get space available upgrades and late checkout, which is worth something to me, but maybe not others. Also, Hyatt has promotions from time to time that give it an edge. I recently got an email to get 5k bonus points the next time I stay with them. Like most hotel companies, they usually have at least one point promo going on at all times, but you usually can't use discount travel sites to qualify. But if you are solely concerned with point value, the above looks about right.
On a side note, you've got the right idea with those free night certs. The rooms at the Paris Hyatt are frequently over $1000 a night.
Thanks for the reply, that really helps me out. I also saw that depending on what category hotel you want to stay at some of the pay for points are really good deals. I think some of the categories you can buy the points for around $0.0125 a point which means I may go that route as well.
Hyatt Points and Cash can have some excellent deals as well.