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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OP, the points/miles travel hacking stopped being worthwhile a decade ago once most airlines and hotel chains largely moved from award charts to dynamic pricing.

It's still possible to accumulate lots of points and miles but redeeming them efficiently is way harder now. Better to get cash back and pay for the seats/upgrades that you want.[/quote]

It is demonstrably better to pay for seats with points than with cashback.[/quote]

Not consistently. It depends on the airline and traveler profile including preferences like fare class and direct vs indirect flight, as well as flexibility regarding destination, timing, and need for cancellability.

I can travel to London on direct flights 1-15 Aug for $995 for basic economy or 102,000 mileage points plus $216. Terrible value for the points although the award fare is cancellable whereas basic economy is not.

Even if I book further out now for 1-15 May 2026, a basic economy fare is $689, economy is $889 and fully refundable is $1,089. The same award fare is 76,700 + $232 taxes. If I don’t need the flexibility then it makes far more sense to buy basic economy or economy. Even paying for fully refundable economy probably makes more sense than using points.

If I’m prepared to travel somewhere other than London then the calculation changes. 
[/quote]

Right, it really depends, on a lot of factors. Knowing those factors, and how to use transferable points and bonuses and such, is where you get real value, but also takes real time and effort to learn how it all works.

You can go on Virgin in August for as low as 24k+$435 in economy, for instance. Or on BA at some times for similar points cost with an Amex transfer bonus.

That's why most people really in the game keep their points in Amex or Chase,who have a lot of transfer partners and give you the most flexibility. Then you book each ticket (even each direction) as its own flight, assessing the best options. On our last trips to Europe we flew Virgin out, United back, and then American out, Air France back, and then American out, United back.

The Virgin flight was booked with Air France miles (much lower cash fees, and had a big Amex transfer bonus), and one of the United flights was booked through Air Canada (had a huge stash of Amex points, and United isn't an Amex partner, but Air Canada is).

Just an example of how folks maximize, and the complexity it can take on. It's kind of fun once you figure it out, but it definitely has a big learning curve [/quote]

How did you manage to synchronise all the transfers and bookings? Did you have accounts with Air Canada, Air France, Virgin and American that you checked to identify all the flights? Did you then transfer all the points to each airline and were you lucky that there were transfer bonuses at the time that you wanted to book? I would love to understand the steps if you’re happy to share. [/quote]

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