Points/miles vs cash- Am I off base?

[medcinmn]

Maybe my thinking is off, or I am unfamiliar with the programs. I am now considering changing to points/miles from cash. As per a previous post, we only fly once per year but maybe I'm better off using points. Here's my thinking, these are guesstimates: my BCP pays  6% x $6k/yr for groceries then 1% for probably another $6k= $420. 3% x $3000/yr for gas = $90 plus another $30k/yr x 1% miscellaneous totaling $810 for just gas/groceries/miscellaneous.    

is there a way I would make out better using a miles/points card?  Or am I better with this and simply using the cash to offset airfare?

[chwebb1]

There's nothing that says you can't have multiple credit cards and earn miles/points in addition to cash back. I personally use whatever card is more lucrative for me (ie the most cash back). One of the best travel cards that I know of, the annual fee Barclaycard Arrival, has a rewards rate of 2.2%. So you're still better off using your BCP for gas and groceries. But you could move your everyday spend to the Arrival (or another travel card).

[longtimelurker]

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@medcinmn wrote:

Maybe my thinking is off, or I am unfamiliar with the programs. I am now considering changing to points/miles from cash. As per a previous post, we only fly once per year but maybe I'm better off using points. Here's my thinking, these are guesstimates: my BCP pays  6% x $6k/yr for groceries then 1% for probably another $6k= $420. 3% x $3000/yr for gas = $90 plus another $30k/yr x 1% miscellaneous totaling $810 for just gas/groceries/miscellaneous.    

is there a way I would make out better using a miles/points card?  Or am I better with this and simply using the cash to offset airfare?

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So you are spending ~ $45K a year.   With the Barclays Arrival with AF you would earn $900 for travel redemption and actually a little more because you get to keep 10% of the redemption.

But as I said in the other thread, it depends on how you fly.   In a program like CSP or an airline card, you would earn 45K points, and, depending when and where you went, that might be enough for a flight that costs more than $900, or a class upgrade which would likely cost more.   

[medcinmn]

Flights are all domestic, NE or Midwest.  Family of 4, coach/economy. 

[DavidZeng]

In my roughly calculation, I think points/miles are much more valuable when you started travel more. From transferring UR or MR points to airlines like United or ANA, I can easily double the value from 1 point 1 cent to 1 point at least 2 cents when fly International economy class or 1 point at 4 cents when fly business class 1 point at 10 cents when fly first class.

@medcinmn wrote:

Maybe my thinking is off, or I am unfamiliar with the programs. I am now considering changing to points/miles from cash. As per a previous post, we only fly once per year but maybe I'm better off using points. Here's my thinking, these are guesstimates: my BCP pays  6% x $6k/yr for groceries then 1% for probably another $6k= $420. 3% x $3000/yr for gas = $90 plus another $30k/yr x 1% miscellaneous totaling $810 for just gas/groceries/miscellaneous.    

is there a way I would make out better using a miles/points card?  Or am I better with this and simply using the cash to offset airfare?

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[Creditaddict]

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@medcinmn wrote:

Flights are all domestic, NE or Midwest.  Family of 4, coach/economy. 

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My partner and I only fly a few times a year domestic also and after aquiring Navy Federal Signature for 2% travel, USAirways 40k points and AA 30k points I have come to realize that besides the free ticket (still haven't been able to use AA or USAir because of costs of actual tickets I have needed to buy or availability, the cars are good for the free bag and otherwise I want CASH!

We now use Fidelity Amex at 2% to be able to invest and Capital One Quicksilver for the fallout of of who doesn't take Amex at 1.5% cash that auto converts to statement credits every $25 dollars.

We also have the Amex BCP for gorcery but have switched about 99% of our grocery to the new Amazon Fresh which was being tested in a couple markets so an Amazon Visa might be in the near future now.

I rotate Chase Freedom and Discover it for the 5% categories but if I was a person that didn't want to use more than 1 or 2 cards it would be Fidelity and Quicksilver ALL THE WAY... I like cash way more than travel cards just because I can never seem to plan far enough out on travel to use 1 airline or 1 way to purchase the flights that works out good with points vs. just using one of the discount travel sites or sometimes a special direct at the airline site.

[longtimelurker]

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@DavidZeng wrote:

In my roughly calculation, I think points/miles are much more valuable when you started travel more. From transferring UR or MR points to airlines like United or ANA, I can easily double the value from 1 point 1 cent to 1 point at least 2 cents when fly International economy class or 1 point at 4 cents when fly business class 1 point at 10 cents when fly first class.

@medcinmn wrote:

Maybe my thinking is off, or I am unfamiliar with the programs. I am now considering changing to points/miles from cash. As per a previous post, we only fly once per year but maybe I'm better off using points. Here's my thinking, these are guesstimates: my BCP pays  6% x $6k/yr for groceries then 1% for probably another $6k= $420. 3% x $3000/yr for gas = $90 plus another $30k/yr x 1% miscellaneous totaling $810 for just gas/groceries/miscellaneous.    

is there a way I would make out better using a miles/points card?  Or am I better with this and simply using the cash to offset airfare?

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Right, which is why I asked (I guess in the other thread!) about class and destination, but the OP has just said coach and domestic, which usually have less valuable redemptions for point transfer.   You also need to take into account earning structure: cashback cards like Fidelity Amex and Arrival earn 2%+ on everything (Arrival when redeemed for travel), and others earn 1% but more in special categories.  Similarly, most airline/transfer cards are 1% with special categories, so it partly depends how much spend you have in these categories.

[DavidZeng]

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@longtimelurker wrote:

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@DavidZeng wrote:

In my roughly calculation, I think points/miles are much more valuable when you started travel more. From transferring UR or MR points to airlines like United or ANA, I can easily double the value from 1 point 1 cent to 1 point at least 2 cents when fly International economy class or 1 point at 4 cents when fly business class 1 point at 10 cents when fly first class.

@medcinmn wrote:

Maybe my thinking is off, or I am unfamiliar with the programs. I am now considering changing to points/miles from cash. As per a previous post, we only fly once per year but maybe I'm better off using points. Here's my thinking, these are guesstimates: my BCP pays  6% x $6k/yr for groceries then 1% for probably another $6k= $420. 3% x $3000/yr for gas = $90 plus another $30k/yr x 1% miscellaneous totaling $810 for just gas/groceries/miscellaneous.    

is there a way I would make out better using a miles/points card?  Or am I better with this and simply using the cash to offset airfare?

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Right, which is why I asked (I guess in the other thread!) about class and destination, but the OP has just said coach and domestic, which usually have less valuable redemptions for point transfer.   You also need to take into account earning structure: cashback cards like Fidelity Amex and Arrival earn 2%+ on everything (Arrival when redeemed for travel), and others earn 1% but more in special categories.  Similarly, most airline/transfer cards are 1% with special categories, so it partly depends how much spend you have in these categories.

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+10010, so in my opinion, Freedom is the ideal card for my need, when combined with Premeir chase card, I can either cash the points or reedeem them for travel. I did the caculation about using PRG and BCP, my conclusion is put at least put 10K dollars on air tickets (can compensate the AF), or put all gas and food purchase on PRG and put at least 30K in total on PRG, then it can generate better reward than BCP. But with Cash back, the reward is more flexible than simply redeem for travel.