Credit card points are useless if you have kids

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am really boring with points. I have an Amazon card and use the points earned to buy more on Amazon.

I have never understood how to use airline points from flights. ijust pay for flights.

And hotel points for free stays…I never seem to amass enough.

I am trying to concentrate hotels on one brand and flights on one carrier. Will see if this gets me anything.

My understanding of airline points is it pays to use a branded airline card and keep signing up for new cards to get the sign up bonus.

Generally the most effective for flights is transferring miles from AMEX, Chase, Capital One, Citi, Bilt etc to an airline. Then you can book a flight with that airline or its partners. You want to find reward or saver rates as these are discounted. Ideally you also take advantage of a transfer bonus from the credit card company to the airline. That’s how you end up with 80k round trip business flights to Europe or Asia.

80k roundtrip business to Europe or Asia is not a reasonable expectation - that's more like a unicorn. 150k to Europe and 180k to Asia is achievable if you know what you are doing and play the game well, but even those are hard now

150k to Europe + $1,000 in taxes and fees. People always leave the last part out. Biz class has much higher tax/fees surcharges than economy. Only United seems to bundle them into the points. That’s my experience after trying to play this game.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am really boring with points. I have an Amazon card and use the points earned to buy more on Amazon.

I have never understood how to use airline points from flights. ijust pay for flights.

And hotel points for free stays…I never seem to amass enough.

I am trying to concentrate hotels on one brand and flights on one carrier. Will see if this gets me anything.

My understanding of airline points is it pays to use a branded airline card and keep signing up for new cards to get the sign up bonus.

Generally the most effective for flights is transferring miles from AMEX, Chase, Capital One, Citi, Bilt etc to an airline. Then you can book a flight with that airline or its partners. You want to find reward or saver rates as these are discounted. Ideally you also take advantage of a transfer bonus from the credit card company to the airline. That’s how you end up with 80k round trip business flights to Europe or Asia.

80k roundtrip business to Europe or Asia is not a reasonable expectation - that's more like a unicorn. 150k to Europe and 180k to Asia is achievable if you know what you are doing and play the game well, but even those are hard now

150k to Europe + $1,000 in taxes and fees. People always leave the last part out. Biz class has much higher tax/fees surcharges than economy. Only United seems to bundle them into the points. That’s my experience after trying to play this game.

Depends entirely on airline and destination- and sometimes on who you book through. $1,000 in taxes/fees for a roundtrip business class ticket is close to worst case scenario- booking Virgin or BA to/from London. I'd say $500 is a reasonable estimate across multiple airlines/destinations. But truly dependent on both airline (some have zero surcharges and only pass on base taxes) and destination - the UK for example adds $400 in taxes for all long haul premium departures from the UK, along with US customs taxes of around $35.

But if you book a United business award roundtrip to Dublin it's $50 in taxes total.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One thing I hate about points is that all the good deals are for flight to Europe. I don't want to go to Europe. Hardly any deals for Latin America.

It's always Italy, Spain, Netherlands, the UK and repeat. Even most blog posts they are mostly discussing vacations to these countries using points.

Yep. Plus Maldives, Bangkok and the Far East. Frustrating.

I booked a trip for 2 from DC to Bali for Dec 2027 on Qatar Air in business class. I knew that flying at xmas time would be expensive in points but it was 169K plus about $300 each way. For Latin America I look at Lifemiles (Avianca)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Southwest points are typically easier to use and we qualify for a companion pass, which means one kid flies free.

You’re leaving out a lot of details about how much spending or work it requires to get a companion pass for an OP who can’t figure out…a lot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am really boring with points. I have an Amazon card and use the points earned to buy more on Amazon.

I have never understood how to use airline points from flights. ijust pay for flights.

And hotel points for free stays…I never seem to amass enough.

I am trying to concentrate hotels on one brand and flights on one carrier. Will see if this gets me anything.

My understanding of airline points is it pays to use a branded airline card and keep signing up for new cards to get the sign up bonus.

Generally the most effective for flights is transferring miles from AMEX, Chase, Capital One, Citi, Bilt etc to an airline. Then you can book a flight with that airline or its partners. You want to find reward or saver rates as these are discounted. Ideally you also take advantage of a transfer bonus from the credit card company to the airline. That’s how you end up with 80k round trip business flights to Europe or Asia.

80k roundtrip business to Europe or Asia is not a reasonable expectation - that's more like a unicorn. 150k to Europe and 180k to Asia is achievable if you know what you are doing and play the game well, but even those are hard now

150k to Europe + $1,000 in taxes and fees. People always leave the last part out. Biz class has much higher tax/fees surcharges than economy. Only United seems to bundle them into the points. That’s my experience after trying to play this game.

Just book through a program that doesn’t pass along fuel costs and you’ll usually pay $50-$70.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am really boring with points. I have an Amazon card and use the points earned to buy more on Amazon.

I have never understood how to use airline points from flights. ijust pay for flights.

And hotel points for free stays…I never seem to amass enough.

I am trying to concentrate hotels on one brand and flights on one carrier. Will see if this gets me anything.

My understanding of airline points is it pays to use a branded airline card and keep signing up for new cards to get the sign up bonus.

Generally the most effective for flights is transferring miles from AMEX, Chase, Capital One, Citi, Bilt etc to an airline. Then you can book a flight with that airline or its partners. You want to find reward or saver rates as these are discounted. Ideally you also take advantage of a transfer bonus from the credit card company to the airline. That’s how you end up with 80k round trip business flights to Europe or Asia.

80k roundtrip business to Europe or Asia is not a reasonable expectation - that's more like a unicorn. 150k to Europe and 180k to Asia is achievable if you know what you are doing and play the game well, but even those are hard now

150k to Europe + $1,000 in taxes and fees. People always leave the last part out. Biz class has much higher tax/fees surcharges than economy. Only United seems to bundle them into the points. That’s my experience after trying to play this game.

Just book through a program that doesn’t pass along fuel costs and you’ll usually pay $50-$70.

That's easier said than done. Many airlines like Air France have surcharges and don't often make their awards available to partners. Others actually have higher surcharges if booking through partners (like booking a BA flight through AA). The game is complicated, nothing is usually as simple as "just book..."

[Anonymous]

You could spend hours with the neurodivergent folk on FlyerTalk and figure it all out, if your time is worth nothing to you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Huh?

Last spring break, we flew to France for 120K points and $1K in taxes. 4 tickets on KLM.

This spring break, we are flying to Zurich. 140K points and $1K in taxes. 4 tickets again.

We stayed 4 nights in a suite in NYC with the kids for Veterans Day weekend. All the holiday decor is already up. It was 90K points total, I booked it one month out.

Booking 5 days out for a holiday weekend? Of course there is NOTHING left.

But really it’s $1200 for 4 tickets… 300 each + tax so $550/ticket.

How is it different than just retrieving your points for money and paying $550/ticket.

It’s just really cash back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You could spend hours with the neurodivergent folk on FlyerTalk and figure it all out, if your time is worth nothing to you.

Ha, some significant truth there. That's why many people refer to it as a hobby or game.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am really boring with points. I have an Amazon card and use the points earned to buy more on Amazon.

I have never understood how to use airline points from flights. ijust pay for flights.

And hotel points for free stays…I never seem to amass enough.

I am trying to concentrate hotels on one brand and flights on one carrier. Will see if this gets me anything.

My understanding of airline points is it pays to use a branded airline card and keep signing up for new cards to get the sign up bonus.

Generally the most effective for flights is transferring miles from AMEX, Chase, Capital One, Citi, Bilt etc to an airline. Then you can book a flight with that airline or its partners. You want to find reward or saver rates as these are discounted. Ideally you also take advantage of a transfer bonus from the credit card company to the airline. That’s how you end up with 80k round trip business flights to Europe or Asia.

80k roundtrip business to Europe or Asia is not a reasonable expectation - that's more like a unicorn. 150k to Europe and 180k to Asia is achievable if you know what you are doing and play the game well, but even those are hard now

150k to Europe + $1,000 in taxes and fees. People always leave the last part out. Biz class has much higher tax/fees surcharges than economy. Only United seems to bundle them into the points. That’s my experience after trying to play this game.

Just book through a program that doesn’t pass along fuel costs and you’ll usually pay $50-$70.

That's easier said than done. Many airlines like Air France have surcharges and don't often make their awards available to partners. Others actually have higher surcharges if booking through partners (like booking a BA flight through AA). The game is complicated, nothing is usually as simple as "just book..."

Air France is typically $200 to $370 in taxes. At round trip that’s still a fraction of what the other poster is suggesting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am really boring with points. I have an Amazon card and use the points earned to buy more on Amazon.

I have never understood how to use airline points from flights. ijust pay for flights.

And hotel points for free stays…I never seem to amass enough.

I am trying to concentrate hotels on one brand and flights on one carrier. Will see if this gets me anything.

My understanding of airline points is it pays to use a branded airline card and keep signing up for new cards to get the sign up bonus.

Generally the most effective for flights is transferring miles from AMEX, Chase, Capital One, Citi, Bilt etc to an airline. Then you can book a flight with that airline or its partners. You want to find reward or saver rates as these are discounted. Ideally you also take advantage of a transfer bonus from the credit card company to the airline. That’s how you end up with 80k round trip business flights to Europe or Asia.

80k roundtrip business to Europe or Asia is not a reasonable expectation - that's more like a unicorn. 150k to Europe and 180k to Asia is achievable if you know what you are doing and play the game well, but even those are hard now

150k to Europe + $1,000 in taxes and fees. People always leave the last part out. Biz class has much higher tax/fees surcharges than economy. Only United seems to bundle them into the points. That’s my experience after trying to play this game.

Just book through a program that doesn’t pass along fuel costs and you’ll usually pay $50-$70.

That's easier said than done. Many airlines like Air France have surcharges and don't often make their awards available to partners. Others actually have higher surcharges if booking through partners (like booking a BA flight through AA). The game is complicated, nothing is usually as simple as "just book..."

Air France is typically $200 to $370 in taxes. At round trip that’s still a fraction of what the other poster is suggesting.

AF business roundtrip IAD-CDG would be $740 in taxes/fees on an award ticket, and $340 for an economy award ticket. They raised their surcharges significantly in 2025.

[Anonymous]

Confirming I paid $500 in taxes booking an Air France business flight on points (one way). At least with Air France kids award flights cost 25% less.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You could spend hours with the neurodivergent folk on FlyerTalk and figure it all out, if your time is worth nothing to you.

Ha, some significant truth there. That's why many people refer to it as a hobby or game.

That was my point way earlier in this thread - I'm sure there are some one off amazing deals, but airline miles have absolutely been devalued several times. It's been about 15 years since I was a United 1k flyer and even then it wasn't great, but there were far more options. If you want to game the system for a business class ticket somewhere you might make it out ahead of a standard 1-5% CC with bonuses. Otherwise, that ship has sailed a while ago.

[Anonymous]

Inflation in these points programs has long outpaced real inflation.

Once in a while you can find a deal.

Hotel points are better than airline points.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Huh?

Last spring break, we flew to France for 120K points and $1K in taxes. 4 tickets on KLM.

This spring break, we are flying to Zurich. 140K points and $1K in taxes. 4 tickets again.

We stayed 4 nights in a suite in NYC with the kids for Veterans Day weekend. All the holiday decor is already up. It was 90K points total, I booked it one month out.

Booking 5 days out for a holiday weekend? Of course there is NOTHING left.

But really it’s $1200 for 4 tickets… 300 each + tax so $550/ticket.

How is it different than just retrieving your points for money and paying $550/ticket.

It’s just really cash back.

You're not paying $550/ticket during Easter week or summer.

Like I said: RT was 35,000 points plus $250/taxes per seat. I booked it out a year in advance. At the time, the same itinerary was $1200/ticket in straight cash. That's 2.7 cents per point of value when you deduct for the taxes I did pay. It was a good deal when it was booked.

I cannot control what the airline may be charging today for the same itinerary during Easter week to Europe. Sunk cost.