The
@Anonymous wrote:
@SpaceCityCCuser wrote:My priority is points for TRAVEL then cash back. With that in mind, spend goes on Chase UR cards (transfer to partners via Sapphire card) and SavorOne card (transfer to partners via VentureOne card ) first. I get 2-5 cpp via travel partners, so 10-25% back. I am an ecomony traveler so lower end hotel brands with Hyatt and economy class tickets on airlines.
Then everything else is cashback.
Just wondering how you are getting 2-5cpp on economy air travel. (I know that Hyatt can have good value though 5cpp seems very high!)
The lowest level hotels with Hyatt are Hyatt House/Place(1star), great hotels btw. The chart below is the points cost. These rooms range from $110 to $150ish in cash. That does not include taxes, that could be $15-40. So the math is 125/3500=.0357cpp or on the best 190/3500=0.0542cpp. I don't get 5cpp all the time but I do get it about 30-35% of the time. Also, when booking a room with points you do not have to pay the taxes. I do spend time researching to get the off peak one star rates so I guess there is a cost associated with that work as well.
@Anonymous wrote:
@SpaceCityCCuser wrote:So the math is 125/3500=.0357cpp or on the best 190/3500=0.0542cpp.
Fortunately that is $pp, otherwise that would be a really bad transfer!
But my question was more on the air travel side, what point value are you getting on economy.
Here is an example... I have not booked this flight but it is something similar to what I have found. I don't always get 5cpp (25% of the time) but it does require booking through a Alliance Partner usually.
United flight from Hou (IAH) to NYC (EWR)
Below is the flight using AirCanada Points. (travel partner with Chase UR, CapitalOne Miles, AMEX MR and even BILT)
Now points bookings can usually be canceled up to the day before the flight. Not sure about the day of. So, need to compare the full refund amount. 543/10k=.0543$pp. But to be fair the cheapest cash refund booking possible with united that day is $200 that day, 6am flight so I would not book that myself, 200/10k=.02$pp. That was a quick look but usually to get the best rates there are some sweet spot redemptions using Alliance partners to book with a different Alliance partner.
Below is if you went straight with United points so AirCanda saves you 5k points in this case.
I believe using Avianca Life Miles to book United is better...but I have not ventured down that path yet. It can get complicated.
This is a link to all the StarAlliance Airlines Partners.
My Current Lineup:
SavorOne 3% unlimited cashback on groceries and streaming services each month.
Target MasterCard: 5% off instantly at Target and Target.com free shipping
Truist 123 Enjoy: 3% Cashback at gas stations at pump or inside 1k monthly cap and unlimted 1% + cashback deals
Ally 2% Unlimited Cashback: Used for utilities and insurance
Quicksilver: VRBO purchases 1.5% instantly and additional 5-10% cashback in 3 months for 6.5% average cashback on each purchase.
PNC Points: Cashback deals (recently got 6% cashback at Big Lots and 5% cashack at gas station) and 0% interest BT offers
PenFed Gold: Lowest rate card 17.99% no cash fees or purchases.
CFNA Firestone MasterCard: 6 months no interest on Firestone or Tirerack purchases 149 and up. New addiitonal rewards forthcoming for MaterCard version.
@wasCB14 wrote:8:00 departure, IAH-BNA-EWR, Economy: $543
7:20 departure, IAH-EWR, Economy: $276
9:35 departure, IAH-EWR, Economy: $332
I get not wanting to fly at 6:00, but there are other United flights available. Cheaper ones at times close to 8:00...and without a stop at BNA.
I don't know the Spirit fee structure for extras, but they advertise a 7:55 departure for $63. Nonstop.
And depending on your ultimate destination, JFK and LGA may be worth a look.
You are completely correct. If I did find a better cash price, (for United) I would try to book it through the UR travel portal via the Sapphire card to earning 5% on the transaction. For the Spirit I would try to do the same if possible but less likely so I would book with my VentureOne card for 1.25cpp and then come back later and erase the transaction with Cap1 miles. That's earning points on the front end and 1cpp value on the back end. Sorry for the poor example.
@Rockysocks wrote:If memory serves me correctly, and 10 minutes of thread searching didn't fail me, the last time we had a similar thread was one year ago, SO what cards are in everyone's decks now??
-Chase Ink Biz Preferred Visa (biz purchases)
-Amex Biz Gold (biz purchases)
-Amex Schwab Platinum (daily driver + all flight purchases/cell phone/NYT subscription)
-Amex Blue Cash Preferred (grocery/streaming/gas)
-Amex Delta Reserve (catch-all for large purchases to reach Delta spend min and get 15K MQM boost)
-Amex Hilton Aspire (only use for Hilton property stays)
-Citi Custom Cash MC (dining (up to $500/month))
-Citi DoubleCash MC (generally use for balance transfer deals)
-Citi Best Buy Visa (Best Buy purchases)
-Discover It Cash Back (5% categories and balance transfer deals)
-Goldman Sachs Apple Card MC (Apple purchases, parking, and Apple-pay)
-CapOne Savor MC (entertainment, Uber) (and dining after hitting CustomCash max)
-CapOne Quicksilver MC (sock drawered/occassional utilities)
-Beneifical State Bank Aspiration Zero MC (art purchases - largely sock drawered)
-Synchrony Paypal MC (Paypal purchases)
-Synchrony Venmo Visa (Venmo purchases - largely sock drawered)
