Reply to Do I still need my Amex Platinum?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I am considering one of the new member offers which gives you 150,000 AmEx miles/points after you spend like $9000.

Just curious, does Amex provide any avenues such that these 150,000 points are worth more than $.01/point?

I get that worst case, the 150,000 can be used a $1,500 statement credit (so, you come out ahead $805 for the first year)...but just wondering if that 150,000 points has a higher value, and the way you get that higher value.

It seems like the $1,500, plus the $200 in online subscription credits, plus the $200 in Uber credits, etc. definitely makes it worth it if anything for the first year.[/quote]

Definitely worth it for the first year bonus. [b]The way to maximize that is through transferring the points to airline partners for booking award tickets. But it is a learning curve to figure out how to maximize that, and you need to think about which partners Amex has. Delta, British Airways and Air France are some.of the big ones.[/b]

If you are planning on holding for just one year, make sure it's open at least through the time the second year fee is charged. If you close before that they may rescind the bonus, they are getting stricter about that. You have a 30 day window after that fee posts to close the account and have the fee refunded.[/quote]

So, let's say I transfer 150,000 points to Delta.  Is that worth 6 airplane tickets (25,000 points/miles per RT) basically?

Just trying to understand how to translate the $$$ value by using with airlines.[/quote]

Just to give you an idea of a simple transfer benefit, I have scheduled four first class flights on Emirates next fall.  Total flight time is 43 hours.  Full first class fare on those flights would be close to 50,000 dollars.  Economy about 8,000 dollars.  I got them for a total of 343,000 points and 2200 dollars in fees and taxes.

To make this work, it takes planning and effort.  Not a huge amount, but it isn't just plug and play.[/quote]

Got it.  That's pretty cool.  The 150,000 points was worth about $21,000 ($48,000 * 150,000/343,000).[/quote]

Good for PP for getting those flights.  But that's unusual to be able to get that much value out of Amex points, and I would argue its really inflated, because in reality PP wouldn't pay that much for those flights if the only option was cash.  As a rule of thumb, if you utilize transfer partners well, you can expect to get between 1.5-2 cents of value per point.  If you beat that, it's a great redemption.  If you go under it, you might want to consider booking using cash and holding on to your points for the next trip.  But depends on a lot of specific info.  As said, this part has a learning curve.[/quote]

1.5 to 2 cents is paltry and something to ignore.  1.5 cents is what you would get using Chase points through the portal.  1.35 cents is AMex portal if you have an Amex business platinum.  1.1 is the money value if you have a Schwab platinum.   Most data points that I see are people using Amex points in the 3 to 5 cents per point.

There is a learning curve and it might not be for you.  Read up on it a bit.  Travel on Points, 10X Travel and sites like those.  And remember, there are services that will do the grunt work for you.  Pay a fee ($250 bucks?) and tell them Ï have X number of Amex/Chase/Cap One points and I want to go to [Insert Destination] during [whatever months] and I need 4 business class/economy/whatever seats".  They'll do the work.

It takes planning and flexibility too.  A year out and a willingness to go to a positioning airport.  For example, there may be nothing available DC to Paris when you want to go.  But there may be a lot available Boston to Paris.[/quote]

Trust me I have been in the award travel and churning game for more than a minute.  Have spent many a late night examining many, many flight options.  Been on 7 long haul flights in lie flat business class seats. I was quite careful in my estimated values statement of 1.5-2 cents/point being a reasonable expectation range.  I don't compare to one way inflated international fares, or to optimal routings that I would never pay for.  I compare to what a motivated deal seeker, who wanted to fly business class, would book.  You can often get roundtrip business class to say Paris for around $3.5k roundtrip, and I'd say you can reasonably expect to find some award availability on that route for around 150k points roundtrip, plus maybe $200-400 in fees.  So that equates back to around 2 cents per mile.  I have gotten 3-5 cents per mile value, but usually it's been in emergency situations where I had to get somewhere the next day or two for say a funeral, and cash fares were exceptionally high.  That's often the highest pure "value" use of points, and it has saved me a ton of cash over the years.

All this to say that I think when people say they consistently get 3-5 cents/point in value, they are usually inflating expectations of newbies.  In either case, it definitely takes a good amount of work and learning to figure out the best ways to maximize points value, and I do agree that it takes a lot of reading and searching to understand it. I find it sort of a game and fun, but many do not, and therefore it's not worth it for them, which I totally get.[/quote]

Sounds like you’re a low-level player at best. I was on 7 long haul flights in lie flat business class seats last month as well. What is your point?[/quote]

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