@K-in-Boston wrote:I don't dare calculate what I spend on dining, but I spend at least $2500 a year just at Dunkin' Donuts.
+1 and other 1k at 5bucks.....
@wasCB14 wrote:
@TheBoondocks wrote:I heard that you can also transfer indirectly, so I know with Virgin Atlantic, you could transfer to IHG at 1:1, if you do it directly than the fees will be charged. I don't know why they do it but everybody have to make money lol.
A couple things here...
MRs do not transfer to IHG. URs do but it's a poor value.
IHG points do transfer to Virgin Atlantic, but 10k IHG gives only 2k Virgin Atlantic.
I don't know if Virgin Atlantic transfers to IHG, but if it's 1:1 it seems wasteful.
URs and MRs both transfer to Virgin Atlantic directly. Since it's a British airline, neither Amex nor Chase pays an excise tax, so there's no tax for Amex to pass on to customers.
And there's no tax for transfers to hotels. And even if IHG was an airline, it's British and not domestic, so there would be no tax.
I am not aware of any airlines that allow you to transfer to hotels. Usually airlines are the end of the road for transfers. Most hotels do allow you to transfer to airlines though Marriott/SPG are the only ones that I can think of where this is even remotely a good idea. Thinking Hilton’s 10:1 ratio for example.
@wasCB14 wrote:
@K-in-Boston wrote:
@wasCB14 wrote:
@TheBoondocks wrote:I heard that you can also transfer indirectly, so I know with Virgin Atlantic, you could transfer to IHG at 1:1, if you do it directly than the fees will be charged. I don't know why they do it but everybody have to make money lol.
A couple things here...
MRs do not transfer to IHG. URs do but it's a poor value.
IHG points do transfer to Virgin Atlantic, but 10k IHG gives only 2k Virgin Atlantic.
I don't know if Virgin Atlantic transfers to IHG, but if it's 1:1 it seems wasteful.
URs and MRs both transfer to Virgin Atlantic directly. Since it's a British airline, neither Amex nor Chase pays an excise tax, so there's no tax for Amex to pass on to customers.
And there's no tax for transfers to hotels. And even if IHG was an airline, it's British and not domestic, so there would be no tax.
I am not aware of any airlines that allow you to transfer to hotels. Usually airlines are the end of the road for transfers. Most hotels do allow you to transfer to airlines though Marriott/SPG are the only ones that I can think of where this is even remotely a good idea. Thinking Hilton’s 10:1 ratio for example.
https://www.virginatlantic.com/gb/en/flying-club/partners/hotels/intercontinental.html
"Flying Club members can exchange their miles for IHG® Rewards Club points at a rate of 1 Flying Club mile for 1 IHG® Rewards Club point...Minimum Level: 10,000 miles and then in increments of 5,000. Just call your Flying Club Helpline with your IHG® Rewards Club account number."
Thanks for that! I hate speaking in absolutes, but usually once you have miles there's no moving them. Looks like Virgin is different in this way, as well as all of the other differences I knew about. Hilton looks to be 2 Virgin : 3 Hilton (which is much better than the other way around which is 10 Hilton : 1.5 Virgin). Kaligo would be the other one. So not something I would take advantage of (but might be good for someone who stays at Hilton or IHG properties and finds themselves with VS miles that they won't use), but I'll remember that the next time I call airline miles the "end of the road."
@Anonymous wrote:Looks Amex Travel Portal also charges $6.99 per domestic air ticket or $10.99 per international air ticket, only waived for Platinum Card.
That's true, but it's not an excise tax. That's a service fee just for using Amex Travel, which you'd pay no matter how you're actually paying for the flight (points or cash), and it's substantially less than the $39 per ticket they would charge if you called to book the flight(s).