@longtimelurker wrote:
@-NewGuy- wrote:Just to be clear, this doesn't cover the loyalty program's normal accrual from staying at hotels, the card's elevated earning at hotels, secondary benefits, etc, simply general spend on a hotel card.
Also, the statement "The value in cards is not the points" would be better stated as "Points aren't the ONLY value of a card".
Right, but for some cards, you really don't consider general spend at all, e.g. Amex Plat. The earning value is very poor (especially if you redeem for cash!) so it looks pretty bad to pay for a card with such a high AF is you just look at the earning potential. I think the poster was viewing these cards the same way, pay the AF just for the free night, and the earning potential doesn't matter at all.
Agreed, then the value doesn't lie in the spending. The secondary benefits are the bread and butter. I was only talking about the cards in regard to gen spend. Those benefits make the card great to have, but not necessarily to spend on. I wouldn't be putting my gen spend on an AMEX plat either for the same reason. I would, however, use the heck out of the benefits like lounge access, etc. The IHG card is another great example. The annual free night alone could be worth over $500 depending on where you use it.
@Closingracer99 wrote:
@-NewGuy- wrote:Continued from above...
Yes, if you do ALL those things you will reap the rewards, no doubt. However, as stated in my above two posts, my point was ONLY in regards to general spend on a hotel card, which as stated, is a bad value for most hotel cards. General spend, not at hotels.
I certainly agree with your statement that Marriott and IHG cards are great to have if you frequently spend at their hotels.
Also,speaking strictly from a value standpoint, I wouldn't be transferring those 52,000 points from your example to any hotel UR partner besides Hyatt, due to their extremely high redemption requirements.
I wouldn't transfer and I said to use points through UR mall which is much better
Assuming that you are talking about booking travel through the UR travel portal, you will get 1.25 cents per point. Transferring those 52k points would get you a much better value, assuming that you can use the transfer partners.
@-NewGuy- wrote:
@Closingracer99 wrote:
@-NewGuy- wrote:Continued from above...
Yes, if you do ALL those things you will reap the rewards, no doubt. However, as stated in my above two posts, my point was ONLY in regards to general spend on a hotel card, which as stated, is a bad value for most hotel cards. General spend, not at hotels.
I certainly agree with your statement that Marriott and IHG cards are great to have if you frequently spend at their hotels.
Also,speaking strictly from a value standpoint, I wouldn't be transferring those 52,000 points from your example to any hotel UR partner besides Hyatt, due to their extremely high redemption requirements.
I wouldn't transfer and I said to use points through UR mall which is much better
Assuming that you are talking about booking travel through the UR travel portal, you will get 1.25 cents per point. Transferring those 52k points would get you a much better value, assuming that you can use the transfer partners.
Using the 52k points to book a room through UR portal vs transferring them to the Marriott is dumb. 52,000 will get you more nights on Chase then transferring them to Marriott.
@Closingracer99 wrote:
@-NewGuy- wrote:
@Closingracer99 wrote:
@-NewGuy- wrote:Continued from above...
Yes, if you do ALL those things you will reap the rewards, no doubt. However, as stated in my above two posts, my point was ONLY in regards to general spend on a hotel card, which as stated, is a bad value for most hotel cards. General spend, not at hotels.
I certainly agree with your statement that Marriott and IHG cards are great to have if you frequently spend at their hotels.
Also,speaking strictly from a value standpoint, I wouldn't be transferring those 52,000 points from your example to any hotel UR partner besides Hyatt, due to their extremely high redemption requirements.
I wouldn't transfer and I said to use points through UR mall which is much better
Assuming that you are talking about booking travel through the UR travel portal, you will get 1.25 cents per point. Transferring those 52k points would get you a much better value, assuming that you can use the transfer partners.
Using the 52k points to book a room through UR portal vs transferring them to the Marriott is dumb. 52,000 will get you more nights on Chase then transferring them to Marriott.
As stated above I woudn't transfer them to Marriott. Ever. But Hyatt, United, Southwest can all easily get you more than 1.25 cents per point in value.
@-NewGuy- wrote:
@Closingracer99 wrote:
@-NewGuy- wrote:
@Closingracer99 wrote:
@-NewGuy- wrote:Continued from above...
Yes, if you do ALL those things you will reap the rewards, no doubt. However, as stated in my above two posts, my point was ONLY in regards to general spend on a hotel card, which as stated, is a bad value for most hotel cards. General spend, not at hotels.
I certainly agree with your statement that Marriott and IHG cards are great to have if you frequently spend at their hotels.
Also,speaking strictly from a value standpoint, I wouldn't be transferring those 52,000 points from your example to any hotel UR partner besides Hyatt, due to their extremely high redemption requirements.
I wouldn't transfer and I said to use points through UR mall which is much better
Assuming that you are talking about booking travel through the UR travel portal, you will get 1.25 cents per point. Transferring those 52k points would get you a much better value, assuming that you can use the transfer partners.
Using the 52k points to book a room through UR portal vs transferring them to the Marriott is dumb. 52,000 will get you more nights on Chase then transferring them to Marriott.
As stated above I woudn't transfer them to Marriott. Ever. But Hyatt, United, Southwest can all easily get you more than 1.25 cents per point in value.
Yes But your assuming the person wants to stay at a Hyatt or Fly United or Southwest.
Personally I am more of an AA or Delta person but don't fly at all recently to matter
@Closingracer99 wrote:
@-NewGuy- wrote:
@Closingracer99 wrote:
@-NewGuy- wrote:
@Closingracer99 wrote:
@-NewGuy- wrote:Continued from above...
Yes, if you do ALL those things you will reap the rewards, no doubt. However, as stated in my above two posts, my point was ONLY in regards to general spend on a hotel card, which as stated, is a bad value for most hotel cards. General spend, not at hotels.
I certainly agree with your statement that Marriott and IHG cards are great to have if you frequently spend at their hotels.
Also,speaking strictly from a value standpoint, I wouldn't be transferring those 52,000 points from your example to any hotel UR partner besides Hyatt, due to their extremely high redemption requirements.
I wouldn't transfer and I said to use points through UR mall which is much better
Assuming that you are talking about booking travel through the UR travel portal, you will get 1.25 cents per point. Transferring those 52k points would get you a much better value, assuming that you can use the transfer partners.
Using the 52k points to book a room through UR portal vs transferring them to the Marriott is dumb. 52,000 will get you more nights on Chase then transferring them to Marriott.
As stated above I woudn't transfer them to Marriott. Ever. But Hyatt, United, Southwest can all easily get you more than 1.25 cents per point in value.
Yes But your assuming the person wants to stay at a Hyatt or Fly United or Southwest.
Yes indeed, this is very true. Using them through the portal at other places gives you significantly more flexibility, at the cost of value. Just depends on your needs I guess.
In this situation, a Fid AMEX would be a better bet with a 2% return and no annual fee to boot.
It all really about value you place with UR points.For me i probably won't use points for anything under 1.5 points per cent. For me UAL, BA domestically, SQ for certain flights and southwest are all very good values. I would use my UR points for those. As has been stated before transferring to marriot or something like that is pretty horrible way to spend UR points. I will lump in most hotel programs , the value is under 1.25. If anything is under 1.25 why not just book thru UR portal.
Its all really comes down to personal preference. I don't like telling people how to use their UR points because its their money,
@Josh2942 wrote:
That's funny I live in Meriden CT and hate having to commute to New haven to make deposits. But there is like 5 wells fargos around me but I switched from them.
thats strange down in lower fairfield county, there an tons of every bank of the big 3 Boa, chase and WF. At least 4 of each in my little town.