Card point management service for my 1 million AMEX points???

[bilwilvegas]

A friend of mine uses a small company to manage their credit card points, this company charges around $3,500 a year and handles all of his travel booking.  My first thought was NO WAY I would pay someone $3,500 a year to manage my credit card points . . .  BUT as I have been talking to him I am starting to see the value in having someone who knows all the ins and outs of the points game.  For example they know to transfer X number of AMEX points to a particular airline to get a multiplier for a particular flight and then transfer some other AMEX points to another program to get hotel credits, etc.  I earned just under 1.1 million AMEX points last year and expect to earn around the same each year (although some spend has shifted to my X1 card because I can utilize the points with one of their airline vendors that we travel on regularly and currently AMEX is not accepted in Belize due to some banking issue and we travel there multiple times a year so now my X1 card is used for all of our spend in Belize).  There is no way I can stay on top of all the different travel programs to know where to transfer my AMEX points to get the best bang for the buck.  

Does anyone on here utilize a management service like this that you are happy with?  Looking for feedback, good or bad, to help me decide if this is a worthwhile investment to maximize our point value.

Looking forward to any insight you guys can share to help guide us here.

Thanks in advance!

[babygirl1256]

Nope, not me as I'm not willing to pay that type of fee for any service . . . but it's certainly a great business idea for someone . . . with 30 clients at $3,500.00 per year equals a 6-figure salary . . . not bad at all . . . good thing I have a great boss and like/enjoy my job. 

[redpat]

You should look at a company called The Art of Vacationing and they will do the same for planning your trip.  Fee based and I think they start at $500.  They will maximize your MR points for all their transfer partners and other rewards you may have such as Marriott, Hilton, Airlines miles and Chase UR.

[wasCB14]

I'd pay for someone to forcibly extract a commitment from friends and family to specific travel dates, far enough in advance of the trip that attractively-priced award space actually exists. I'll handle the booking.

[bilwilvegas]

Thank you for the tip.  I am checking them out now.  It has been frustrating to find companies like this.  I can not seem to figure out the right search on Google to pull these up.  I appreciate you sharing this with me.

[GatorGuy]

I have no personal experience but I see many similar services offered on facebook for far less. I know one person who used 10X travel. You have to pay an upfront fee for them to do a search and then you pay additional if they find bookings that work for you. 

[Anonymous]

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@wasCB14 wrote:

I'd pay for someone to forcibly extract a commitment from friends and family to specific travel dates, far enough in advance of the trip that attractively-priced award space actually exists. I'll handle the booking.

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Well, we do offer such a service, but we don't yet have many repeat customers, as clients complain we were more coercive than desired.  Come on "I'm sure you would like the baby to keep most of her 6 remaining fingers by promising....", not THAT bad and gets peak time reward travel booked early

[jcooks]

Have you attempted to try to research it yourself?  There are plenty of youtube video, web articles, etc that show you how to.  I know it can be very cumbersome at the beginning, but once you get the hang of it, you can find the right redemptions for good value.  Also, are you looking for a lot of economy flights and modest accomodations?  Or are you looking for extravagent hotels with first/business class flights?  I know when I am looking for flights, first thing I google is how to book flight from "location a" to "location b" with Amex points.  Then from there, I search ONE WAY tickets for available dates within each program (this is the best way to search for award flights since not all flights are released to airline partners).  Then I see which one would cost less points and also see available flights to start planning out the vacation.  Hotels are much easier to book with points.  In my opinion, 1 mil accured each year, you can def get your money's worth even without getting the best possible redemptions.  If you think $3500 a year is worth that, then go for it.  

[cgn11963]

I'm usually around 750k Amex points give or take a 100. 

There is absolutely no need to pay someone to arrange your travel especially for 3500. I use thepointsguy. Has up to date info daily. A number of other services are available. pointsme is great to book business class airfare. about $10 a month. Numerous other servies out there for about the same price. 

Just a little research is all it takes.

[bilwilvegas]

Thanks for the feedback.  In response to your questions we usually fly first class or business.  We have not ever booked a private suite yet, but look forward to trying that sometime soon.

I follow ThePointsGuy but I don't read all of their stuff consistently . . . more of a time limit rather than a lack of interest.  I will try to read more of his stuff and see what I pick up.

Thanks!

Bill