topic Re: PRG Question in Credit Cards

PRG Question

icyhot — Mon, 08 Feb 2016 12:55:45 GMT

So I've met my spend bonus and my statement cuts on the 12th. I'm going to Atlanta on the 20th and need a car and hotel from 20th-21th. Anybody have a ballpark figure for how many points I should plan to use for that? I also have a friend coming with me and we're splitting the cost, what would be a reasonable amount to ask for her share for with MR? Also, I know you have to choose an airline for the statement credit, I've already charged a Delta incidental ($11.20 for award flight taxes) onto it but never picked my airline. How do I do that and will they still give me the credit?

Re: PRG Question

mongstradamus — Mon, 08 Feb 2016 14:17:14 GMT

I would just call in to Amex and ask about statement credit , they told me when i asked before that it would automatically be picked up. My american airlines taxes when i changed my flight last week are supposed to be picked up but i had already picked aa as my airline for statement credit. As far as hotel and car rental goes you can use amextravel.com to use your MR points to book hotels and the such, but it would not be an real good way to use your MR but you can still do it.

Re: PRG Question

takeshi74 — Mon, 08 Feb 2016 14:25:10 GMT

No idea on point cost. It depends on redemption method and that's something you should have considered before applying as redemption method will impact reward value. Generally, transferring offers best value so see what it would take with MR's hotel partners. I don't recall if there are car rental partners or not. As stated above, you can use the travel portal but vlau eis generally not as good. Gift cards may also be a possibility but they will also generally offer less value. Yet another option would be a credit for a chage but that's probably the worst use of MR points in terms of value.

As for the airline fee credit, you have to select the airline first. Your research should have covered this as well. See also the Flyertalk thread on the airline you intend to select.

@icyhot wrote:
I also have a friend coming with me and we're splitting the cost, what would be a reasonable amount to ask for her share for with MR?

I'd look at the dollar cost for the items for a comparison. Again, this should be part of your rewards value redemption considerations with programs like MR, UR, TY, etc prior to applying.

Re: PRG Question

Anonymous — Mon, 08 Feb 2016 15:57:32 GMT

@icyhot wrote:
So I've met my spend bonus and my statement cuts on the 12th. I'm going to Atlanta on the 20th and need a car and hotel from 20th-21th. Anybody have a ballpark figure for how many points I should plan to use for that? I also have a friend coming with me and we're splitting the cost, what would be a reasonable amount to ask for her share for with MR? Also, I know you have to choose an airline for the statement credit, I've already charged a Delta incidental ($11.20 for award flight taxes) onto it but never picked my airline. How do I do that and will they still give me the credit?

I'd be willing to join that trip in a heartbeat.

With that said, personally, I don't think it's worth using points for a single day's rental. I would let them accumulate further to use them on a bigger ticket item...

Re: PRG Question

Anonymous — Mon, 08 Feb 2016 17:08:45 GMT

unless you are rich, spend a ton, and therefore have 100's of thousands of MRs, I would save them if you can use them on delta flights in the next year or two. You will not get a good rate of return

Re: PRG Question

Anonymous — Mon, 08 Feb 2016 17:36:53 GMT

@icyhot wrote:
So I've met my spend bonus and my statement cuts on the 12th. I'm going to Atlanta on the 20th and need a car and hotel from 20th-21th. Anybody have a ballpark figure for how many points I should plan to use for that? I also have a friend coming with me and we're splitting the cost, what would be a reasonable amount to ask for her share for with MR? Also, I know you have to choose an airline for the statement credit, I've already charged a Delta incidental ($11.20 for award flight taxes) onto it but never picked my airline. How do I do that and will they still give me the credit?

Just a point of clarity, maybe for just me; have ou already received the bonus. I only ask this because, if you are planning on using those points for this trip, they might not be available yet. I've noticed there seems to be a single statement delay with Amex MR. If you have, please disregard this post, just wouldnt want you take make plans and then have them dashed.

Have fun, stay warm!!!

Re: PRG Question

NRB525 — Mon, 08 Feb 2016 20:30:00 GMT

@takeshi74 wrote:
No idea on point cost. It depends on redemption method and that's something you should have considered before applying as redemption method will impact reward value. Generally, transferring offers best value so see what it would take with MR's hotel partners. I don't recall if there are car rental partners or not. As stated above, you can use the travel portal but vlau eis generally not as good. Gift cards may also be a possibility but they will also generally offer less value. Yet another option would be a credit for a chage but that's probably the worst use of MR points in terms of value.

As for the airline fee credit, you have to select the airline first. Your research should have covered this as well. See also the Flyertalk thread on the airline you intend to select.

@icyhot wrote:
I also have a friend coming with me and we're splitting the cost, what would be a reasonable amount to ask for her share for with MR?
I'd look at the dollar cost for the items for a comparison. Again, this should be part of your rewards value redemption considerations with programs like MR, UR, TY, etc prior to applying.

Why do so many of your replies suggest the original poster (not just here but all over) should have thought before they applied? And then imply they should not have applied, when that app has already been completed?

The poster is trying to make sure they understand the best redemption option, a legitimate question to ask. Either provide constructive suggestions in that topic, or don't reply if you have nothing constructive to add.

Re: PRG Question

icyhot — Mon, 08 Feb 2016 21:54:32 GMT

gardeningTate: no I haven't recieved my points yet but in my experience with Amex I've always recieved the bonus after the statement cut. This was with cobranded cards tho. I just might pay for it outright and save the points. Does anyone know how exactly I select my airline?

Re: PRG Question

UncleB — Mon, 08 Feb 2016 23:43:49 GMT

@NRB525 wrote:
@takeshi74 wrote:
No idea on point cost. It depends on redemption method and that's something you should have considered before applying as redemption method will impact reward value. Generally, transferring offers best value so see what it would take with MR's hotel partners. I don't recall if there are car rental partners or not. As stated above, you can use the travel portal but vlau eis generally not as good. Gift cards may also be a possibility but they will also generally offer less value. Yet another option would be a credit for a chage but that's probably the worst use of MR points in terms of value.

As for the airline fee credit, you have to select the airline first. Your research should have covered this as well. See also the Flyertalk thread on the airline you intend to select.

@icyhot wrote:
I also have a friend coming with me and we're splitting the cost, what would be a reasonable amount to ask for her share for with MR?
I'd look at the dollar cost for the items for a comparison. Again, this should be part of your rewards value redemption considerations with programs like MR, UR, TY, etc prior to applying.
Why do so many of your replies suggest the original poster (not just here but all over) should have thought before they applied? And then imply they should not have applied, when that app has already been completed?
The poster is trying to make sure they understand the best redemption option, a legitimate question to ask. Either provide constructive suggestions in that topic, or don't reply if you have nothing constructive to add.

There seems to be quite a bit of this lately... folks don't come here for judgement, they come here for help and/or answers.

If one doesn't have something constructive and/or helpful to add to a thread, one really should refrain from posting.

Back to the topic, I would select Delta as your preferred airline ASAP (if you haven't already), and if the Delta incidental doesn't get credited automatically it's likely Amex will manually adjust it (even if they don't, since it's a small dollar amount it's not a huge loss, and you'll be set for future incidental credits).

In the past when I traveled with someone and points were involved, I would simply check the cash price of the ticket/hotel/etc. and use that as a basis for coming up with how much I was owed by the other person. The couple of times I've done this I've made sure the other person got a 'really good' deal as well (I didn't ask for an entire 'half' of the cash price) so when everything was said and done we were both happy.

I know the OP had other concerns as well, but this is the extent to which I'm qualified to speak; some others have had some great suggestions, and I'm sure even more will follow.

Re: PRG Question

Anonymous — Tue, 09 Feb 2016 01:40:13 GMT

@icyhot wrote:

Does anyone know how exactly I select my airline?

Benefits -> Airline Fee Credit ->Lear More -> Get Started

Re: PRG Question

Anonymous — Tue, 09 Feb 2016 03:11:58 GMT

Have a fun trip!