Question about hording points

[darkfrosty]

These are the points I have accumuated:

UR - 175k

MR - 79K

AA - 155k

I have been toying with cashing the points in for money to pay off some CC debt I have. I have read about Chase just closing cards and people losing their points and people are saying you have to be crazy to horde points with them. I have no plans for travel in the next year. SHould I just hold onto the points or cash them in ? I know cashing them in is a horrible way to spend them. What do you guys and girls do? Do you horde points ?

[Anonymous]

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@darkfrosty wrote:

These are the points I have accumuated:

UR - 175k

MR - 79K

AA - 155k

I have been toying with cashing the points in for money to pay off some CC debt I have. I have read about Chase just closing cards and people losing their points and people are saying you have to be crazy to horde points with them. I have no plans for travel in the next year. SHould I just hold onto the points or cash them in ? I know cashing them in is a horrible way to spend them. What do you guys and girls do? Do you horde points ?

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In most cases, you actually have to do something "bad" to get the cards closed and points taken, including things like Manufactured Spend, transferring points outside of the program rules etc (and with Chase, if you have banking with them, stuff they don't like on the banking side).

The major argument against hording is devaluation, the points may become worth (much) less when you transfer them because of changes in the partner programs.

So cashing them in is fine, if you don't see you being able to use them in the nearish future, especially if you the money would allow you to do something useful now.

(If you wish to take a slight risk, you can also sell them through a broker, you will get more than cashing them in, but you can in theory lose your cards.)

ETA: If you are paying interest on your credit card debt (i.e. more than 0% APR) then cashing them in makes more sense.   The loss of value by cashing in vs transferring one day is more than made up by paying less interest.  

[darkfrosty]

Yea selling to a broker is a big no no. I like my relationship with Chase. They have been nothing but good to me. I bank with them and have 2 personal and 1 business card with them. I am tempted to open up a USAA bank account though since I am a full member and have not yet used any of their services

[nachoslibres]

If I had credit card and wouldn't get out of it within a month then I would be closing cards (especially those with AFs) and just cashing out the points because honestly applying that amount against your CC debt is going to save you more money in interest than saving those points and redeeming for travel.

With that said - you could move your UR points to a card that doesn't have an AF (like the Freedom or Ink Cash) and move your MR points to the no AF Amex Everyday card. I don't know how long AA miles last if you don't have an AA CC so you might just have to figure out which is worth more to you - saving the AF or saving the miles.

[Anonymous]

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@darkfrosty wrote:

Yea selling to a broker is a big no no. I like my relationship with Chase. They have been nothing but good to me. I bank with them and have 2 personal and 1 business card with them. I am tempted to open up a USAA bank account though since I am a full member and have not yet used any of their services

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Then, if you are paying interest, I would cash them in.   But it raises the question, why are you getting these points if you don't intend to use them for travel?  There are usually better cashback choices!

[Anonymous]

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@nachoslibres wrote:

If I had credit card and wouldn't get out of it within a month then I would be closing cards (especially those with AFs) and just cashing out the points because honestly applying that amount against your CC debt is going to save you more money in interest than saving those points and redeeming for travel.

With that said - you could move your UR points to a card that doesn't have an AF (like the Freedom or Ink Cash) and move your MR points to the no AF Amex Everyday card. I don't know how long AA miles last if you don't have an AA CC so you might just have to figure out which is worth more to you - saving the AF or saving the miles.

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AA points last 18 months without use.  You don't need a card though, anyone can use the AA Shopping mall and buy something every 17 months

[darkfrosty]

the AA shopping mall and using a non aa card ? If so that is great cuz I plan on ditching the card before the annual fee hits again

[darkfrosty]

As far as why I use these cards when I dont travel often because I do plan on traveling just not within the next year. The Citi AA card was because of the bonus. I have never really been into cash back or redeeming for cash. I like UR points because I can redeem for cash, use it for purchases for Amazon or for airlines or hotels. Discover I am using for a balance on 0%

[Anonymous]

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@darkfrosty wrote:

the AA shopping mall and using a non aa card ? If so that is great cuz I plan on ditching the card before the annual fee hits again

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Yes, works fine.  https://www.aadvantageeshopping.com/

[nachoslibres]

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@darkfrosty wrote:

As far as why I use these cards when I dont travel often because I do plan on traveling just not within the next year. The Citi AA card was because of the bonus. I have never really been into cash back or redeeming for cash. I like UR points because I can redeem for cash, use it for purchases for Amazon or for airlines or hotels. Discover I am using for a balance on 0%

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Then I would just ditch them all and keep the Freedom.  You would need some serious spend to make up for the AF's on the Chase cards if redeeming strictly for cash.