Which travel points program/credit cards do you use?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Step 1: ignore the Points Guy. It’s just a website to get credit card referrals at this point.

10000% Yes yes yes. Quoting and replying because this needs more attention!

Eh, I don't find his recommendations much different than I see on other sites.

+1 and once you get more into it, you can sort of decide which cards you want on your own. It still serves as a good aggregator of current deals.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Marriott and Hilton redemptions are really bad. Upscale resort hotels in good areas can be easily over 100,000 points PER night. Hilton at least waives the resort fee but Marriott does not. They both make the 5th night free but you are still talking 400k points for a 5 night stay. Puts the co-branded credit card bonuses into perspective - they aren’t as big as they sound.

The benefit of the cobranded card is the annual free night. They are really worth it if you like to stay at high end places.

The Hilton Aspire is $450 annual free but gives you 1 free night at nearly any hotel worldwide. Plus a $250 resort credit which can go toward either the room rate or incidentals, plus a $250 annual airline credit which should be used for airline incidental fees but I've also had success buying southwest gift cards, lower priced southwest flights, or united travel bank reloads. I profit every year with this card.

The Marriott card that is now $650 annual fee - you get $300 year in restaurant charges credited back, so really it is $350 a year and you get 1 free night certificate for hotels that are 85k points. I am using it at the St Regis Bal Harbour for spring break and the regular rate is $1300/night. You're effectively paying for a free night at a high end hotel in advance for $350.

[Anonymous]

Forgot to mention that my DH and I each have one of these cards, so you are guaranteed at least a weekend somewhere and then can use points or cash for extra nights.

Again, if you like high end, it is worth it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I applied for Chase United Mileage and Chase Sapphire last year and received sign up bonuses totalling 110,000 points. Chase United has no fee the first year and it is $95 for the second year. It charges for an additional user. Sapphire has an annual fee (can't recall the exact amount) but doesn't charge to add an authorised user.

A big advantage of the Sapphire card is that each point is worth $1.20. For example, I can book a return flight to Australia at the moment for about $1700 but the same flight is available through Chase Travel for 140,000 points (ie $1400).

That savings isn’t worth it to me if I have to deal with Chase travel due to a schedule change, delay or flight cancellation. No way.

Correct- booking airfare through a 3rd party is asking for problems.

The optimal use of these kinds of points is finding award availability and transferring to partners to book award tickets. The "Pay Yourself Back" option with Chase is pretty good also.

I have had flights cancelled that I booked through Chase and it was pretty easy. They just converted it to a flight credit on the airline, so when I rebooked I just did it all directly through United.

[Anonymous]

I only fly jet blue, so I got a jet blue card. I know there are better ways to to earn value, but I don’t have the desire to pursue that hobby. In just over a year I acquired enough points for 3 rt tix to Puerto Rico.

[Anonymous]

I have both Amex membership rewards and Chase. Amex has historically been my go-to, but I'm branching out to Chase.

Posters have correctly advised that most of the points come from sign-up bonuses (not flying). I used to fly regularly for work in business class long haul, and in my busiest year I've accumulated maybe 120,000 airlines miles. While the same could have been had with a couple of credit cards.

The idea is to strategically acquire one card after another to collect reward bonuses.

In the last 9 months I've exhausted the rewards for Amex Platinum, and IHG Premier rewards. Currently spending down Chase Business Cash, and plan to apply for another Chase and IHG in a month or so. Read up on how often you should be doing this, I've made a couple of inexperienced mistakes.

This year's travel so far:

- going to Amsterdam with 2 kids for spring break (Air France saver awards, 34K round trip per person)

- going to Turkey with 2 kids in July (Air France saver awards, about 92K roundtrip for 3 )

- going to St. Augustine, FL in November for 5 days with the entire family (DH and I plus 3 kids)

- currently spending and saving points for a trip to London for all five of us next spring break. This will come from IHG rewards and from either Chase or Amex spend.

It's more powerful if both spouses play this game.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Marriott and Hilton redemptions are really bad. Upscale resort hotels in good areas can be easily over 100,000 points PER night. Hilton at least waives the resort fee but Marriott does not. They both make the 5th night free but you are still talking 400k points for a 5 night stay. Puts the co-branded credit card bonuses into perspective - they aren’t as big as they sound.

The benefit of the cobranded card is the annual free night. They are really worth it if you like to stay at high end places.

The Hilton Aspire is $450 annual free but gives you 1 free night at nearly any hotel worldwide. Plus a $250 resort credit which can go toward either the room rate or incidentals, plus a $250 annual airline credit which should be used for airline incidental fees but I've also had success buying southwest gift cards, lower priced southwest flights, or united travel bank reloads. I profit every year with this card.

The Marriott card that is now $650 annual fee - you get $300 year in restaurant charges credited back, so really it is $350 a year and you get 1 free night certificate for hotels that are 85k points. I am using it at the St Regis Bal Harbour for spring break and the regular rate is $1300/night. You're effectively paying for a free night at a high end hotel in advance for $350.

All of that is true. But the actual points you earn, including the signup bonus, are practically worthless.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Marriott and Hilton redemptions are really bad. Upscale resort hotels in good areas can be easily over 100,000 points PER night. Hilton at least waives the resort fee but Marriott does not. They both make the 5th night free but you are still talking 400k points for a 5 night stay. Puts the co-branded credit card bonuses into perspective - they aren’t as big as they sound.

The benefit of the cobranded card is the annual free night. They are really worth it if you like to stay at high end places.

The Hilton Aspire is $450 annual free but gives you 1 free night at nearly any hotel worldwide. Plus a $250 resort credit which can go toward either the room rate or incidentals, plus a $250 annual airline credit which should be used for airline incidental fees but I've also had success buying southwest gift cards, lower priced southwest flights, or united travel bank reloads. I profit every year with this card.

The Marriott card that is now $650 annual fee - you get $300 year in restaurant charges credited back, so really it is $350 a year and you get 1 free night certificate for hotels that are 85k points. I am using it at the St Regis Bal Harbour for spring break and the regular rate is $1300/night. You're effectively paying for a free night at a high end hotel in advance for $350.

All of that is true. But the actual points you earn, including the signup bonus, are practically worthless.

Not sure what you mean? I just got the Hilton Amex business card, signup bonus around 180k Hilton points after all the spend is done (165k direct bonus, plus 15k for the points from the spending). I used those for 3 nights at a Doubletree in London for 50k/night, cash rate for those nights was around $1000. And I still have 30k left over, which is enough for say an airport hotel stay next time we have a 6 AM flight, probably worth around say $150. So $1150 in points value for a $99 annual fee for the first year. Seems worth it to me, at least for the first year.

[Anonymous]

Job now has loads of travel (3x a month) paying with my cards. I use multiple airlines depending on destination (delta, southwest, sometimes United). I mostly stay Hilton and rent a car.
I have and paid for Amex platinum - been worth it for the lounges.
From here, seems I should get chase sapphire.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Marriott and Hilton redemptions are really bad. Upscale resort hotels in good areas can be easily over 100,000 points PER night. Hilton at least waives the resort fee but Marriott does not. They both make the 5th night free but you are still talking 400k points for a 5 night stay. Puts the co-branded credit card bonuses into perspective - they aren’t as big as they sound.

The benefit of the cobranded card is the annual free night. They are really worth it if you like to stay at high end places.

The Hilton Aspire is $450 annual free but gives you 1 free night at nearly any hotel worldwide. Plus a $250 resort credit which can go toward either the room rate or incidentals, plus a $250 annual airline credit which should be used for airline incidental fees but I've also had success buying southwest gift cards, lower priced southwest flights, or united travel bank reloads. I profit every year with this card.

The Marriott card that is now $650 annual fee - you get $300 year in restaurant charges credited back, so really it is $350 a year and you get 1 free night certificate for hotels that are 85k points. I am using it at the St Regis Bal Harbour for spring break and the regular rate is $1300/night. You're effectively paying for a free night at a high end hotel in advance for $350.

All of that is true. But the actual points you earn, including the signup bonus, are practically worthless.

The beauty of these cards is that you don't necessarily need to put spend on them. Just the minimum to get the various credits. We put the rest on our chase sapphire.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Marriott and Hilton redemptions are really bad. Upscale resort hotels in good areas can be easily over 100,000 points PER night. Hilton at least waives the resort fee but Marriott does not. They both make the 5th night free but you are still talking 400k points for a 5 night stay. Puts the co-branded credit card bonuses into perspective - they aren’t as big as they sound.

The benefit of the cobranded card is the annual free night. They are really worth it if you like to stay at high end places.

The Hilton Aspire is $450 annual free but gives you 1 free night at nearly any hotel worldwide. Plus a $250 resort credit which can go toward either the room rate or incidentals, plus a $250 annual airline credit which should be used for airline incidental fees but I've also had success buying southwest gift cards, lower priced southwest flights, or united travel bank reloads. I profit every year with this card.

The Marriott card that is now $650 annual fee - you get $300 year in restaurant charges credited back, so really it is $350 a year and you get 1 free night certificate for hotels that are 85k points. I am using it at the St Regis Bal Harbour for spring break and the regular rate is $1300/night. You're effectively paying for a free night at a high end hotel in advance for $350.

All of that is true. But the actual points you earn, including the signup bonus, are practically worthless.

The beauty of these cards is that you don't necessarily need to put spend on them. Just the minimum to get the various credits. We put the rest on our chase sapphire.

Ok. 150k Hilton points is 3 nights in a random Hampton inn. That’s just not that valuable to me, when I can be earning bonuses on better cards, but if it works for you, great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Marriott and Hilton redemptions are really bad. Upscale resort hotels in good areas can be easily over 100,000 points PER night. Hilton at least waives the resort fee but Marriott does not. They both make the 5th night free but you are still talking 400k points for a 5 night stay. Puts the co-branded credit card bonuses into perspective - they aren’t as big as they sound.

The benefit of the cobranded card is the annual free night. They are really worth it if you like to stay at high end places.

The Hilton Aspire is $450 annual free but gives you 1 free night at nearly any hotel worldwide. Plus a $250 resort credit which can go toward either the room rate or incidentals, plus a $250 annual airline credit which should be used for airline incidental fees but I've also had success buying southwest gift cards, lower priced southwest flights, or united travel bank reloads. I profit every year with this card.

The Marriott card that is now $650 annual fee - you get $300 year in restaurant charges credited back, so really it is $350 a year and you get 1 free night certificate for hotels that are 85k points. I am using it at the St Regis Bal Harbour for spring break and the regular rate is $1300/night. You're effectively paying for a free night at a high end hotel in advance for $350.

All of that is true. But the actual points you earn, including the signup bonus, are practically worthless.

The beauty of these cards is that you don't necessarily need to put spend on them. Just the minimum to get the various credits. We put the rest on our chase sapphire.

Ok. 150k Hilton points is 3 nights in a random Hampton inn. That’s just not that valuable to me, when I can be earning bonuses on better cards, but if it works for you, great.

Instead I could be earning 90k chase points which is 2 round trips to Hawaii. Worth a lot more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Marriott and Hilton redemptions are really bad. Upscale resort hotels in good areas can be easily over 100,000 points PER night. Hilton at least waives the resort fee but Marriott does not. They both make the 5th night free but you are still talking 400k points for a 5 night stay. Puts the co-branded credit card bonuses into perspective - they aren’t as big as they sound.

The benefit of the cobranded card is the annual free night. They are really worth it if you like to stay at high end places.

The Hilton Aspire is $450 annual free but gives you 1 free night at nearly any hotel worldwide. Plus a $250 resort credit which can go toward either the room rate or incidentals, plus a $250 annual airline credit which should be used for airline incidental fees but I've also had success buying southwest gift cards, lower priced southwest flights, or united travel bank reloads. I profit every year with this card.

The Marriott card that is now $650 annual fee - you get $300 year in restaurant charges credited back, so really it is $350 a year and you get 1 free night certificate for hotels that are 85k points. I am using it at the St Regis Bal Harbour for spring break and the regular rate is $1300/night. You're effectively paying for a free night at a high end hotel in advance for $350.

All of that is true. But the actual points you earn, including the signup bonus, are practically worthless.

The beauty of these cards is that you don't necessarily need to put spend on them. Just the minimum to get the various credits. We put the rest on our chase sapphire.

Ok. 150k Hilton points is 3 nights in a random Hampton inn. That’s just not that valuable to me, when I can be earning bonuses on better cards, but if it works for you, great.

Instead I could be earning 90k chase points which is 2 round trips to Hawaii. Worth a lot more.

Why "instead"? YES AND

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Marriott and Hilton redemptions are really bad. Upscale resort hotels in good areas can be easily over 100,000 points PER night. Hilton at least waives the resort fee but Marriott does not. They both make the 5th night free but you are still talking 400k points for a 5 night stay. Puts the co-branded credit card bonuses into perspective - they aren’t as big as they sound.

The benefit of the cobranded card is the annual free night. They are really worth it if you like to stay at high end places.

The Hilton Aspire is $450 annual free but gives you 1 free night at nearly any hotel worldwide. Plus a $250 resort credit which can go toward either the room rate or incidentals, plus a $250 annual airline credit which should be used for airline incidental fees but I've also had success buying southwest gift cards, lower priced southwest flights, or united travel bank reloads. I profit every year with this card.

The Marriott card that is now $650 annual fee - you get $300 year in restaurant charges credited back, so really it is $350 a year and you get 1 free night certificate for hotels that are 85k points. I am using it at the St Regis Bal Harbour for spring break and the regular rate is $1300/night. You're effectively paying for a free night at a high end hotel in advance for $350.

All of that is true. But the actual points you earn, including the signup bonus, are practically worthless.

The beauty of these cards is that you don't necessarily need to put spend on them. Just the minimum to get the various credits. We put the rest on our chase sapphire.

Ok. 150k Hilton points is 3 nights in a random Hampton inn. That’s just not that valuable to me, when I can be earning bonuses on better cards, but if it works for you, great.

Instead I could be earning 90k chase points which is 2 round trips to Hawaii. Worth a lot more.

Why "instead"? YES AND

I’m below 5/24 so I’d never waste a slot on a non-Chase card, which Hilton is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Marriott and Hilton redemptions are really bad. Upscale resort hotels in good areas can be easily over 100,000 points PER night. Hilton at least waives the resort fee but Marriott does not. They both make the 5th night free but you are still talking 400k points for a 5 night stay. Puts the co-branded credit card bonuses into perspective - they aren’t as big as they sound.

The benefit of the cobranded card is the annual free night. They are really worth it if you like to stay at high end places.

The Hilton Aspire is $450 annual free but gives you 1 free night at nearly any hotel worldwide. Plus a $250 resort credit which can go toward either the room rate or incidentals, plus a $250 annual airline credit which should be used for airline incidental fees but I've also had success buying southwest gift cards, lower priced southwest flights, or united travel bank reloads. I profit every year with this card.

The Marriott card that is now $650 annual fee - you get $300 year in restaurant charges credited back, so really it is $350 a year and you get 1 free night certificate for hotels that are 85k points. I am using it at the St Regis Bal Harbour for spring break and the regular rate is $1300/night. You're effectively paying for a free night at a high end hotel in advance for $350.

All of that is true. But the actual points you earn, including the signup bonus, are practically worthless.

The beauty of these cards is that you don't necessarily need to put spend on them. Just the minimum to get the various credits. We put the rest on our chase sapphire.

Ok. 150k Hilton points is 3 nights in a random Hampton inn. That’s just not that valuable to me, when I can be earning bonuses on better cards, but if it works for you, great.

Instead I could be earning 90k chase points which is 2 round trips to Hawaii. Worth a lot more.

Why "instead"? YES AND

I’m below 5/24 so I’d never waste a slot on a non-Chase card, which Hilton is.

Amex business cards don't add to 5/24. And as stated in another post, used 150k Hilton points for 3 nights in London worth about $1k. Definitely ways to get a lot of value.