MR vs UR vs TYP. Which do you favor? Why?

[grillandwinemaster]

It was interesting to note the majority of responders seem to favor Chases UR program for flexibility and ease of use.  

There we're a couple of posts that each favored Amex's MR and Citis TYP for various logistical reasons.  

Of course, this diversity was expected since no two people spend, charge, and travel the exact same way. 

Now I'm curious as to how the SPG program stacks up to these other programs. I've heard the point valuations make them some of the most valuable points to date. 

Of course, I would imagine that SPG points are not as flexible as some of the other points travel programs. 

I have zero hands on experience with any of the travel programs, so I greatly appreciate all the input received thus far. very interesting points from the various schools of thoughts!

Any input on SPG??

[Anonymous]

I like MRs as i've always earned them from my amex Gold. the MR pgm has the most travel partners so its more flexible. Right now i'm in my building up pts phase again b4 i decide on where to transfer or redeem pts to. 

However URs seem to be easier to earn per CSP and CSR etc and they also have good travel partners but i dont have much experience w them. 

I dont kno much about TYPs but they dont have any appealing cards i would want to use... 

[iced]

IMO SPG is a bit overrated. It's ridiculously easy to get status with them and the points are valuable in the program, but their hotels aren't my style (Aloft is about as pretentious and hipster as they come). The locations are also limited, and it was this reason I ultimately walked away from them long ago.

The Marriott merger is actually the reason I'll even consider them again (hey, even more places to stay) though truth be told I've yet to link my Marriott account to SPG. It's a rare day you go somewhere there's a SPG property but not a Marriott.

If you do go to the same places regularly that have a SPG hotel you like, great. If you're a random globetrotter like me though, you'll be disappointed at their spread.

[longtimelurker]

The view on the SPG program is that the points are probably the most valuable, but they were difficult to earn outside of hotel stays (so no cards with great bonus categories for example).   So while very flexible to redeem, harder to acquire, as compared to some others where it is easy to rack up lots of low-value points.

[SkyCommander]

For me it's MR. With a basic no fee Amex card you can turn those points into airline miles or hotel.

[red259]

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@grillandwinemaster wrote:

The transition from rebuilder cards such as Capital1 platinum, and secured credit cards that are used strictly for rebuilding purposes to more elite travel cards is a worthy goal for most of us.

I'm getting close to "graduating" to the more rewarding, no pun intended, credit cards. However, I don't necessarily want to participate in all the different programs available for two main reasons.

1-i don't want to dilute points over various programs, 2- I don't want to open up more than 2 or 3 new cards because I Don't want to manage them, and I Don't want to destroy My AAofA.

Having said that, I've narrowed it down to three programs,

Chase- Ultimate Rewards

Amex- Membership Rewards

Citi- Thank You Points 

I'd like to discuss which program YOU prefer and why. I'm hoping some of you veterans can shed some light on us recent "graduates!" 

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What works for someone else won't necessarily work for you. How do you want to use the points? I assume travel partners because for cash back the whole thing would be a waste. What airlines do you fly? Where do you want to go? What hotels would you stay in? Then compare this to which travel partners each program has. Also, look at what you spend money on and what categories cards have. You may be able to earn a lot more points with certain cards based on your spend pattern than with others. You should also factor in signup offers, AFs and synergy between the cards you get (for example, a pairing of the freedom and CSP can work really well for building up points. Sometimes there will be a massive signup offer where with two cards you could earn enough points for an amazing redemption. Also, in certain cases you can cobine points from different programs for a particular travel partner redemption. I combined citi ty points with amex MRs for a signapore airlines redemption. You really have to research what you are doing though and also keep in mind programs can deval so point valuations can change drastically over the course of a year. 

Personally, I use all three programs in addition to the Amex SPG. You should also consider the card benefits in addition the the points program. Some cards may have benefits that will suit you muich better than other cards. As to my personal preference I am starting to move away from TY points because of the changes to the prestige. I put a lot into amex spg because you get bonuses when transferring spg points to airlines and i also like to use the points for spg stays. I have a decent number of Amex MR points which I have used to redeem flights in the past. I'm not really thrilled with my amex MR redemption choices at this time so I really only use my amex everyday card for grocery shopping. I am in the process of rebuilding up my Chase UR points as well. I like to use these for Hyatt redemptions and there are some airline options if you have enough of them. With the ink cards, freedom, CS I am able to earn URs at a decent rate.

[Anonymous]

Once I got out of the whole rebuilding phase, I grabbed a Discover, Barclay, and an Amex my first year. AmEx gained my attention with a few other cards so I went down that path and never looked back. I have 10 cards with AmEx and now, so I'm pretty sure I'll be stuck with them FOR LIFE. I gain MR points at an accelerated rate... and redeem for airline at a great value. With the way I spend, I don't believe UR points would be of any help to me. I looked at them before I went full AmEx. Their partners were not who I would fly/stay with, so the points were of low value to me. 

And I love starpoints. I only stay at SPG hotels. Absolutely love them. Went from Preferred to Platinum real fast last year and I don't even travel for work. Also gained a little north of 100k Starpoints... and that's without the 60k in bonuses. Redeemed a good amount of them, and always redeemed them for more than $0.030 per point netting me at least $3000 in savings. SPG points are a steal... they give so many good promos that they make it easy to gain points. The Marriot merger just made me consider Marriot hotels now. For the places I travel, I don't have an issue finding SPG hotels. 

Like I said... I don't daddle with Chase or Citi (besides a BT for Citi), but that's my opnion on MR/SPG from my standpoint. 

[Anonymous]

UR all the way for me. United Airlines is a much better program than Delta (MR), you get Hyatt for hotels, British Airways for short haul partner travel on American (availability sucks though), and plenty of top notch international airlines to round it out. And if THAT isn't enough, 1.5 cpp on anything through the UR portal.

The only appeal of MR that stands out to me is if you fly Delta. Otherwise I can't find an area where MR exceeds UR in my book.

TYP have never been appealing to me. Airline transfer partners aren't great, and only Hilton for hotels which has a crappy award program.

[Anonymous]

I haven't gotten into any of these programs yet as I currently only have co-branded cards, but it'll definitely be MR. The travel partners on UR and TYP don't really interest me, so I'd really only get those cards for the sign up bonus and not to collect. I'd definitely fly on some of the UR airlines for an international trip, but again I'm not going to go out of my way to collect those. I fly Delta and JetBlue and rarely stay in hotels. I'd like to get the AmEx EveryDay card soon.

[sillykitty1]

A few people have mentioned the Delta partnership as being a selling point for the MR program.  For me, the fact that 1 MR = 0.75 Skymiles is a huge turn off.