re: Credit Card Rewards and Points Discussion

Not to mention you’ll earn miles booking through the portal

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So, do you transfer the points or just book thru the UR portal?

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I book through the UR portal because the 50% bonus for the CSR def is worth it

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how do you determine if that is a good valuation for the required points?

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Hard to say, because I don't know how Delta values their points... How much does the flight cost if you were to buy it?

With UR I go with the assumption that 10k pts equals out to $100 if you were to cash out for gift cards or pay down your credit card with points.

So using your Delta scenario, you're spending $800 worth of UR points for that flight. I'm guessing UR to Delta is a 1:1 transfer, so you would be transferring 120k pts or $1200 over to Delta for a flight you could book through UR for 80k. I'd def use the UR portal and keep 40k pts or $400.

I'm sure the experts on here will come with some deeper formula to figure it out, but thats how I look at it.

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So using your Delta scenario, you're spending $800 worth of UR points for that flight. I'm guessing UR to Delta is a 1:1 transfer, so you would be transferring 120k pts or $1200 over to Delta for a flight you could book through UR for 80k. I'd def use the UR portal and keep 40k pts or $400.

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Right, this is what I'm trying to determine. It makes sense that less UR points vs miles points is a "better" value, but I wasn't sure how the experts on here view that? Do you assume a 1:1 value and if you get better than that, good job, or are there more considerations.
I think with Delta, you are limited since they aren't a UR partner, but I wasn't sure. I did look at SW and AA, which are, and it looks like a similar result.

I also hate it because right now those tickets on Delta are $1400 for 2, and I've bought that flight for half that in the past.

I routinely find that you get better deals booking through the UR portal, at least when flying economy.

I always compare with the airline website and rarely do I find an instance when transferring directly to the airline gives a better deal.

I know that's not always true, but in my experiences it has been the case.

On the other hand, business and first class seats usually have better redemption through the airline.

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Does UR do point buys? Like SW is always offering "Buy rewards miles at x discount" which for them, isn't a deal whatsoever. 

But having the CSR and the 50% redemption bonus, I'm wondering, 1) If UR does do point buys

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Yeah those SW point "deals" are terrible.

I don't think UR does point buys, but unlike SW you can pay with points and cash. Every purchase you make on UR you have the option to use as many points as you want towards it, and just pay for the rest. It's useful in some cases.

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2) If you have CSR if you actually come out ahead ?

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If you mean is it worth the annual fee? Absolutely in my case. If you use it for travel and that 50% boost, you can rack up.

If your question is can you buy UR points from Chase the answer is no.

As for SW, SW points are worth about 1.4-1.6 cents.

Hence, when booking SW you are better off using CSR to book through the portal so you earn miles for flying as well.

As for domestic econ, most airlines are 12,500 miles one way, unless you're using something like British Avios to book short haul American. So your first measure is if the Chase Portal will cost you more than 12,500 one way.

A separate measure is how many cents per point are you getting on your redemption.

For example, if I use 10,000 Chase points for a $200 ticket, most points enthusiasts would consider that a "lose" or a push at best. Why? Because you got 2 cents of value per point, or what is equivalent to 2% cash back. And it's a whole lot easier to earn 2% cash back without the theatrics.

I would say if you are constantly redeeming for 2 cents, you may be better off with cash back cards. Now, the caveat is the bonus multipliers on spend. For example, a simple cash back may earn 1 point per dollar, while another card may earn 3. Obviously, if it takes you less time to earn 10,000 points spending less actual money, then you are doing better than the 2% redemption rate.

But that number should probably always be your floor in calculating quickly if you're getting a decent redemption.

As for me, I'm usually using them for international business where the tickets are worth 5 to $10,000 and that's what I like doing it for.

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As for domestic econ, most airlines are 12,500 miles one way, unless you're using something like British Avios to book short haul American. So your first measure is if the Chase Portal will cost you more than 12,500 one way.

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Is that from hub to hub? Living in Lexington, we have LEX/SDF/CVG and I'm mostly looking for flights to southern Florda (FLL/MIA,PBI,RSW) and I never see anything on rewards for Delta particularly for less than 50K points on Delta's website. Maybe flights to southern Florida are just more valuable because a lot of people are going there all the time?

Speaking of using points... Whats the best thing to do with American Express points?

I looked on their travel site and it was fing ridiculous to use points on there.

I compared the same as UR and maybe it was a glitch, but a flight via UR was like 80k points and on Amex was like 140k

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Yeah, but you don't get the 50% bonus on the cash you spend. 

So if booking through the UR portal, it pays to solely use points.

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Yeah, if you have the points use the points.

But those rare occasions where you're short a few points, you can use cash. I routinely get pissed when I'm like 500 points shy for a SW flight and there's no option to split the payment.

Also when booking multiple tickets and you want to use points for only one ticket.

I currently have the CSR but I am looking at something specifically for gas & groceries (we spend $1,000+ monthly).

I'm not getting good value from Chase on these purchases, anyone have any recommendations?