topic Re: Is this a good MR redemption? in Credit Cards

Is this a good MR redemption?

webhopper — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 00:41:55 GMT

I used 50k MR points... Transfered to Aeroplan, then used to book 2 roundtrip tickets through Air Canada for a friend and her daughter from New Oleans (MSY) to Tulsa (TUL) on United Airlines to come visit us for 6 days.

could I have gotten a better deal?

according to expedia, these tickets would have cost about 660 - 800 dollars on American Airlines.

Its already done, just wondering if I should look for a better deal next time??

Re: Is this a good MR redemption?

LS2982 — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 00:44:44 GMT

@webhopper wrote:
I used 50k MR points... Transfered to Aeroplan, then used to book 2 roundtrip tickets through Air Canada for a friend and her daughter from New Oleans (MSY) to Tulsa (TUL) on United Airlines to come visit us for 6 days.

could I have gotten a better deal?

according to expedia, these tickets would have cost about 660 - 800 dollars on American Airlines.

Its already done, just wondering if I should look for a better deal next time??

Sounds like a good deal!! Hell my 20,000 MRe points was only worth $143

Re: Is this a good MR redemption?

webhopper — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 00:56:36 GMT

I looked at it a couple of different ways... seems like it would have cost 80k points to transfer to Delta and pay with miles on Delta.

It would have used all of my available points, plus about $150 in cash to use the points to pay for travel booked at Amex website.

With Aeroplan, I transferred 50k points and then booked and it cost the 50k points plus $50 to book.

I could have waited to see if there was a transfer bonus I didn't want to risk waiting too long to book and missing out on being able to get them booked at a time that worked best for their travel schedule.

As it is, I'm left with about 15k points in my MR account, and I still have 12k points pending. So I will be able to redeem for travel again soon

Does anyone know what types of transfer bonuses I should be on the lookout for?

@LS I had 34k zync points... I had redeemed something like 10k MRE points for merchandise.. which I felt like was a good redemption because I ended up with an iHome system worth about $145 that my husband and daughter use about 3-4 times per week now. We have really enjoyed it

Re: Is this a good MR redemption?

Cdnewmanpac — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 03:37:06 GMT

If the tickets were 660, you got 1.3cpp. Not great, but not awful. If they were worth 800, you got 1.6cpp, which is ok for domestic awards. Could you have done better? Yes. One of the best redemptions for domestic travel is using BA Avios to book short haul flights on American. I did this quickly, so there may be better options, but: msy to Dfw 4500 each way per person. Then Dfw to tul 4500 each way per person. Total 36000 avios. Mr to avio 1:1, yielding (assuming 800 ticket cost) 2.2cpp.

Re: Is this a good MR redemption?

Anonymous — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 05:41:56 GMT

I am assuming BA in this usage = British Airways?

Re: Is this a good MR redemption?

webhopper — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 05:48:44 GMT

Ahh ok; so BA points have a higher value when redeeming for travel than aeroplan.
I didn't know avios could be used to book on american

Re: Is this a good MR redemption?

webhopper — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 05:50:58 GMT

Next time I will run the numbers on how many avios it would take for the flight vs aeroplan vs delta.

Re: Is this a good MR redemption?

winner88 — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 06:40:01 GMT

Yes BA Avios is always the best redemption for short haul flights, Always make it a point to refill Avios during 40% or 50% MR transfer bonus. if you are far from American hub, you may consider transfering to ANA (they use distance based award just like BA) for redeption on United or US Airways ..

Re: Is this a good MR redemption?

Open123 — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 14:06:39 GMT

@webhopper wrote:
Ahh ok; so BA points have a higher value when redeeming for travel than aeroplan.
I didn't know avios could be used to book on american

It really is predicated on where you're flying and cabin class.

For domestic flights, BA booking through AA has some tremendous values. Better value than SW, unless you use the "getaway" non refundable tickets.

The best values are gotten from international business class cabin flights. Aeroplan (before the high fuel charges) used to have a great business class route around the world for about 125K MR points. I used this for a flight from the US West Coast to Italy, then to Japan, and then finally back the US.

You just need to search around for the best value. Here's what I do. Move 1000 MR points to your ANA account and utilize their ANA tool which searches for the best valued Star Alliance bookings. You can then transfer the MR points to the Star Alliance member to book that flight.

If you try and find the right value, these points are easily worth around 3.0 - 3.5 cents.

PS - Currently US Air has some great deals - 90K for business class to SE Asia - 100K for business class to Aus - 140K for First Class to Aus!

Re: Is this a good MR redemption?

jsucool76 — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 14:44:28 GMT

You didnt have to pay for the tickets, so it sounds like a win to me. XD

Re: Is this a good MR redemption?

distantarray — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 15:57:21 GMT

it's average for flights, but domestic flights aren't good use of points, international trips you would've have gotten much more. Amex to Aeroplan to fly United 75k points from Florida to Japan/Korea/Vietnam ticket price around $2,800 in the summer.

Re: Is this a good MR redemption?

Anonymous — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 16:19:58 GMT

I have 100k MR points. Any suggestiveness for bookings? Looking for something first or business with the best value. Pretty much open to any travel to a decent destination.

I think you did pretty well for domestic travel. If the price you gave was per ticket, then you did rather well. I have used 25k alaska miles on an $800 domestic flight. So, it's possible the prices you gave were per ticket. If so, that is about 3 cents per point.

Re: Is this a good MR redemption?

distantarray — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 16:25:24 GMT

yea book a brother up for a ticket to Vietnam in May 75k points will offer 1.33 cpm lol jk =)

@Anonymous wrote:
I have 100k MR points. Any suggestiveness for bookings? Looking for something first or business with the best value. Pretty much open to any travel to a decent destination.

I think you did pretty well for domestic travel. If the price you gave was per ticket, then you did rather well. I have used 25k alaska miles on an $800 domestic flight. So, it's possible the prices you gave were per ticket. If so, that is about 3 cents per point.

Re: Is this a good MR redemption?

Anonymous — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 18:02:58 GMT

@distantarray wrote:
yea book a brother up for a ticket to Vietnam in May 75k points will offer 1.33 cpm lol jk =)
@Anonymous wrote:
I have 100k MR points. Any suggestiveness for bookings? Looking for something first or business with the best value. Pretty much open to any travel to a decent destination.

I think you did pretty well for domestic travel. If the price you gave was per ticket, then you did rather well. I have used 25k alaska miles on an $800 domestic flight. So, it's possible the prices you gave were per ticket. If so, that is about 3 cents per point.

Sorry, those points cost me $450. Now I have to suffer through a year of airport lounges and reimbursements..haha

Re: Is this a good MR redemption?

distantarray — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 18:24:16 GMT

that's

@Anonymous wrote:
@distantarray wrote:
yea book a brother up for a ticket to Vietnam in May 75k points will offer 1.33 cpm lol jk =)
@Anonymous wrote:
I have 100k MR points. Any suggestiveness for bookings? Looking for something first or business with the best value. Pretty much open to any travel to a decent destination.

I think you did pretty well for domestic travel. If the price you gave was per ticket, then you did rather well. I have used 25k alaska miles on an $800 domestic flight. So, it's possible the prices you gave were per ticket. If so, that is about 3 cents per point.

Sorry, those points cost me $450. Now I have to suffer through a year of airport lounges and reimbursements..haha

that's not $450 that's $997.50 =x

Re: Is this a good MR redemption?

webhopper — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 19:10:00 GMT

So I checked out British airways and tried to do a flight search from msy to tul and kept getting error message. Am I doing something wrong?

I purchase a lot of tickets from msy to tul round trip throughout the year, for my daughter to fly to her dads it would be nice to use points for some of these flights.

Re: Is this a good MR redemption?

Cdnewmanpac — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 20:51:32 GMT

The avios calculator only works by segment. So if the flight is MSY to TUL direct, it should work. But if it connects anywhere, you need to book each segment. That's why I showed you MSY-->DFW, then DFW-->TUL. 4500 avios per segment. I usually use the aa website first to figure out my route (and confirm available tix), then check BA using the exact route on the day I'm looking for.