UR points vs MR points

[Anonymous]

I have a question in which I really would like your guys opinions.
I currently have the Chase Freedom and the Saphire Prefered.
I am collecting UR points for travel which will probably only happen once or twice per year.
I am currently at 5/24 and cannot get any other UR cards.
I am debating on getting other cards other than Chase because of this 5/24 rule.
Should I dip my hand in Amex on cards that accumulate MR points, or just primarily stick with Chase due to the low amount of travel that me and my wife do, or get the Amex cards for points ?
The only Amex card that we currently have is the BCE card for cash back.
I am wanting to add more cards, but not sure of the smart path at this point.
I really dont want to spread myself too thin with points, but do love the offers that Amex is giving me on cards that earn MR points.

Thanks in advance !

[K-in-Boston]

The answer to your question really depends on where you are, where you want to go, how you want to get there, and where you want to stay when you get there. Both programs have their benefits. Signup bonuses are great but you should at least have some basic plan of what you want to use the points for.

[Anonymous]

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@K-in-Boston wrote:
The answer to your question really depends on where you are, where you want to go, how you want to get there, and where you want to stay when you get there. Both programs have their benefits. Signup bonuses are great but you should at least have some basic plan of what you want to use the points for.

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Right, and as OP said, spreading yourself too thin can be a real issue if your spend is not too high, where you end up with fairly useless amounts of points in two programs, as compared to "enough" in one.

[wasCB14]

I'm currently finding I have a useless balance in a few programs. Not fun.

Granted, I often had no convenient alternative to those hotels and airlines. But it's often best to try to avoid getting orphan points.

[K-in-Boston]

Orphan points are no fun.  Fortunately some of them (Wyndham, Le Club Accor, IHG) I was able to move to Delta.  My entire family has Alaskan miles (from Virgin America and/or Cathay Pacific) that we need to do something with before they disappear; I have Southwest points but keep those active by doing RapidRewards Shopping every now and then.  You mentioned Best Western never expiring, and I checked and still have a few thousand there from ages ago but not enough to transfer to Air France/KLM, Alitalia, or Aeromexico.

[Anonymous]

I do plan to start traveling more in the years to come.
But...I want to also get cards that are going to do the best for me at this point.
I would love to go on a cruise with my wife in the near future.
What points give you the most value when dealing with cruise lines ?

[SBR249]

I will preface this by saying only you know how you travel and what your situation is.

But if you rarely travel, then you may want to consider pursuing a purely cashback strategy as an alternative. While I know a lot of people get lots of value out of the UR/MR programs, it's hard to beat the simplicity and versatility of getting straight up cash to do with what you please. Of course, it may not be as lucrative as UR/MR if you are willing to wring every % out of those points but if you hardly travel, it may be easier. 

[K-in-Boston]

For a cruise, likely the best option would be to later upgrade your CSP to CSR to get 1.5 cents in the travel portal.  I'm not sure of ways to get better points redemption from cruises, other than possibly through cruise line cobranded credit cards.

[Anonymous]

One of the reasons that I am considering MR points is because Amex sent me an offer in the mail for 50000 MR points for signing up for the
PRG card, and making the spend, instead of the usual 25000.
If the MR points are worth a little travel, I could consider it.
But not sure at this point.

[Anonymous]

I got 50K on the PRG, plus my spend. Then I apped for the rarely seen 25K with the ED card, bringing my balance to over 80K MR. I also have an upcoming $10K charge I'm putting on the PRG and an $8K charge to ED, that will bring it to 98K MR points. Which I plan to use on ANA Budiness Class to Japan.  It will at least take the sting out of the hefty price. As for my lodging, I'm looking at getting either the SPG or Hilton. Still researchig those two. I don't expect to take this trip w/o spending any cash, just looking to reduce the expense of it so my Dollar goes further. As I'd also like to spend a coupe days in Seoul while I'm over there.

I also have over 60K UR points from my CSP Sub and spend, but am planning to use that for later rip. 

I think if done right you can get some nice trips just from SUBs alone.