I just redeemed 30k Hyatt points via CSP transfer for two nights in a Hyatt that would have cost 900 bucks if I just paid for the room. That's awesome for me.
Honestly, these things don't happen over night. Unless we are talking about a sign up bonus, it's takes a combination of time and spending for rewards to accumulate. But if you are going to spend the money anyway, why not get a little something for your troubles? Maybe you spend 5k on a 2% cash back card over the course of a year. That's still a hundred bucks that you didn't have before. I think that a lot of people want to take an all expense paid vacation after six months of light to modest use and it just isn't feasible. However, something is better than nothing and it's all money that would have been lost if all expenses were paid with a debit card.
@Anonymous wrote:It's an interesting question as to the "real" value vs costs of rewards. In the outside world, someone might have say a Quicksilver, use it for everything, and maybe end up with a hundred dollars or so at the end of the year, depending on spend. This really is free money.
Whereas here: hours spent researching cards, hours spent tracking utilization and due dates, paying early to reduce utilization thus losing float etc. If you calculate the extra effort to do it properly, vs the additional value of the rewards, might not be so great!
Similar questions were raised in manufactured spending forums. Yes, you can get a few thousand cash back per month, but if you are spending hours going to 8 different drug stores and supermarkets, then on to 4 different walmarts, and finally to 5 banks to deposit money orders, the time and gas cost may make clipping coupons from newspapers have a better $ per hour rate!
I agree. I'm very analytical and so I'm trying to make sure I'm always getting the best redemption value. But like you say, MS is a losing proposition for me because it takes time to go do that and keep up on research (which costs money, especially since I value my time very highly), it is hard to track expenses and budget when doing MS, and it isn't looked upon favorably by CC companies - especially Chase (and I don't want to bite the hand that feeds).
Honestly, if you calculate the time we spend on here researching CCs vs what we would have earned if we spent that time working we probably wouldn't make as much back on our purchases as we think we do. But that's where one should just determine what is right for them. I used to just use a debit card - which gave really no rewards - for every thing and that worked for me then because it made it to where I could only spend what I had in the bank account. If I was using a rewards card then - I might have gained more rewards - but I probably would have spent more than I needed and ended up spending more on interest than I would have received on interest.
That's why I think it just depends on the person and what they want to do. If one feels like the QS is what is best for them and they are content with earning a flat 1.5% cash back without having to worry about anything else then more power to them (of course we know that the Amex Fidelity is better. 
)
Unfortunately, I realized rather late in the game that cash back is more valiable to me than MR points.
So guess what I pissed away 26,000 MR points on. 
@Anonymous wrote:It's an interesting question as to the "real" value vs costs of rewards. In the outside world, someone might have say a Quicksilver, use it for everything, and maybe end up with a hundred dollars or so at the end of the year, depending on spend. This really is free money.
Whereas here: hours spent researching cards, hours spent tracking utilization and due dates, paying early to reduce utilization thus losing float etc. If you calculate the extra effort to do it properly, vs the additional value of the rewards, might not be so great!
Similar questions were raised in manufactured spending forums. Yes, you can get a few thousand cash back per month, but if you are spending hours going to 8 different drug stores and supermarkets, then on to 4 different walmarts, and finally to 5 banks to deposit money orders, the time and gas cost may make clipping coupons from newspapers have a better $ per hour rate!
Great points, longtime! Sometimes I think we forget how small some of these amounts are (1%, 2%, even 5%). When you actually sit down adn do the math (and figure in opportunity cost), putting all that extra effort for a few extra bucks seems like a waste. Even with MS, one really needs to churn A LOT to see any real profit.
Better to use our cards "organically" and cash in on the benefits as they come.
@Dw4250 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:It's an interesting question as to the "real" value vs costs of rewards. In the outside world, someone might have say a Quicksilver, use it for everything, and maybe end up with a hundred dollars or so at the end of the year, depending on spend. This really is free money.
Whereas here: hours spent researching cards, hours spent tracking utilization and due dates, paying early to reduce utilization thus losing float etc. If you calculate the extra effort to do it properly, vs the additional value of the rewards, might not be so great!
Similar questions were raised in manufactured spending forums. Yes, you can get a few thousand cash back per month, but if you are spending hours going to 8 different drug stores and supermarkets, then on to 4 different walmarts, and finally to 5 banks to deposit money orders, the time and gas cost may make clipping coupons from newspapers have a better $ per hour rate!
Great points, longtime! Sometimes I think we forget how small some of these amounts are (1%, 2%, even 5%). When you actually sit down adn do the math (and figure in opportunity cost), putting all that extra effort for a few extra bucks seems like a waste. Even with MS, one really needs to churn A LOT to see any real profit.
Better to use our cards "organically" and cash in on the benefits as they come.
+1
