Large Expenses coming up. Which card should I use for best value for basic spend

[Shadowfactor]

I have some large expenses coming up. About 4000.

All which can be put onto a credit card with no additonal fees. It will be paid off soon as it posts.

It will all be standard non bonus spend. So just 1 point per dollar.

Ive read the TPG valuations and Chase is the highest valuation on there. But when looking at the transfer partners valuation. The highest one was 1.7 CPP for airlines. So I don't quite understand where he's obtaining the 2.1 CPP the valuation is set at.

I plan to go on vacation with these points. No idea yet. Maybe the Galapagos islands, maybe southeast asia. Most likely in early 2019. I need to bank my PTO with work so I have more then a week.

Looking to accumlate the largest value out of this spend point wise.

The three cards I was looking at using :

Amex PRG

Chase CSP

US bank Altitude Reserve.

Which card would you pick ? and why ?

[Anonymous]

Depends on a lot of factors. 4000$ even at 2 point per dollar isn't gonna take you anywhere. One consideration would be where do you bank your points. If you'll go with chase why not get the freedom unlimited for 1,5 points per dollar.

If you're just starting out or that doesn't matter to you another thing to look at is whether you can make NFC payments for those purchases. If you do the 3points per dollar or 4.5 redemption rate of altitude reserve definetely come on top here. 

[Shadowfactor]

I didn’t mean that I planned on taking a vacation with just these points. They were meant to add to my considerable amount of points already banked. I have about 270K points banked across 4 programs.

I will not be opening any other accounts just for this spend. It’s basically the 3 cards I listed. I don’t want to open any new credit. I need to garden for atleast a year.

Delta : 90K miles
Amex: 33K
US bank : 83K
Chase : 59K
BoA : 22K

Plus some other smaller amounts of miles in various programs.

There will be no bonus points. It’s all bills. Like taxes, insurance, various different things. No way to get anything higher then 1X per dollar.

Simply looking/asking what points program will give me the highest value per point.

[Anonymous]

I started a really, really long post, then thought better of it. Short version: 

I found it frustrating having points strewn all over and am trying to consolidate to UR's. I had been saving MR's but find I'm happier with Chase's portal, etc. and doubt I'll make transferring my major use. I'll more likely book via the portal at 1.5x with my CSR. Since you have a couple big potential destinations you might want to see if there is a particular method of redemption that will work best for the major rocks and plan based on that. 

[longtimelurker]

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wrote:
I didn’t mean that I planned on taking a vacation with just these points. They were meant to add to my considerable amount of points already banked. I have about 270K points banked across 4 programs.

I will not be opening any other accounts just for this spend. It’s basically the 3 cards I listed. I don’t want to open any new credit. I need to garden for atleast a year.

Delta : 90K miles
Amex: 33K
US bank : 83K
Chase : 59K
BoA : 22K

Plus some other smaller amounts of miles in various programs.

There will be no bonus points. It’s all bills. Like taxes, insurance, various different things. No way to get anything higher then 1X per dollar.

Simply looking/asking what points program will give me the highest value per point.

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If you are looking at adding just 4000 points, I don't think it matters all that much.   Consider your possible destinations, see who flies there and the cost in dollars and in miles.    Then see if adding 4000 points to any of those programs makes a big difference towards the goal.   If there is no obvious winner there, consider flexibility, so e.g. Chase with the CSP will give you $500 booking through their portal, plus whatever transfer opportunities there are.

[Shadowfactor]

I guess my question is

According to The Points Guy.

Why is Chase valued at 2.1 CPP when if you use the travel Portal they are worth 1.25/1.5 CPP and the highest transfer partner is valued at 1.7CPP.

Similaraly Amex points are only worth 1CPP if booked through Amex Travel. Amex has a much larger transfer partner program so I could see getting 1.9CPP ( which is what TPG valuation of MR points is)

Maybe Im missing something, but why is Ultimate rewards more highly regarded and valued at a higher CPP then the rest of them if their highest travel partner is valued at 1.7CPP.

[AverageJoesCredit]

Altitude Reserve.....

Only because it sounds the coolest