If you only charge a few thousand a year to a credit card then this isn't worth it. But I do wonder why only a few thousand per year. Do you not use a credit card for regular personal expenses?

Anonymous wrote:So I am experimenting myself and so far I have done worse buying tickets with points than I would have with cash back for travel on my Cap1 Venture card. It was hard to calculate upfront because the points ticket had two hundred dollars in fees that didn’t seem to be disclosed up ahead of transferring the points. I think the learning curve is maybe not worth it for me.

There are lots of free online resources to teach you but it will still requires tens of hours of your time. I've been doing the "points game" for over two years now and still consider myself AT BEST an intermediate user. If you aren't willing to put in at least 10+ hours of time learning and practicing, then no it's definitely not for you.

Cap1 is not the first or even second best bank for travel points. Chase is #1. Amex is #2. Debatable if Cap1 or Citi is #3.

Anonymous wrote:So I am experimenting myself and so far I have done worse buying tickets with points than I would have with cash back for travel on my Cap1 Venture card. It was hard to calculate upfront because the points ticket had two hundred dollars in fees that didn’t seem to be disclosed up ahead of transferring the points. I think the learning curve is maybe not worth it for me.

Good example- let me guess it was for British Airways or Air France economy? They do disclose their fees, but I'll bet it was in a way you weren't used to seeing, and if you had booked say a United or Delta miles ticket in the past, at most it had a $11 fee, so you reasonably expected something similar. In general, international economy isn't the best deal for award tickets because these fees are pretty common. Not all the time, but in general. So yes, learning curve. Many people call it a hobby, and that description is apt.

So I am experimenting myself and so far I have done worse buying tickets with points than I would have with cash back for travel on my Cap1 Venture card. It was hard to calculate upfront because the points ticket had two hundred dollars in fees that didn’t seem to be disclosed up ahead of transferring the points. I think the learning curve is maybe not worth it for me.

Anonymous wrote:People who don’t understand transfer partners don’t understand travel points. If all you want is cash back there are better cards.

Exactly- there is a good sized learning curve on maximizing travel points, and there is nothing wrong with deciding you aren't interested in the hassle/effort. For those people (probably most people), cash back cards are best.

People who don’t understand transfer partners don’t understand travel points. If all you want is cash back there are better cards.

Chase Ink cards are the play. They don’t transfer to American but do to just about most airlines as well as Hyatt hotels.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Doing "points" is a fool's errand. Just find the best cash back rate possible and bank the money.

This is genuinely advice.

I assume you missed the word "bad".

You can get significantly greater value with points cards than with cash back rates, but it also depends on how you travel.

You are correct I meant to type awful but was apparently too busy laughing at how wrong that person was to post it correctly.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Doing "points" is a fool's errand. Just find the best cash back rate possible and bank the money.

This is genuinely advice.

I assume you missed the word "bad".

You can get significantly greater value with points cards than with cash back rates, but it also depends on how you travel.

Anonymous wrote:Doing "points" is a fool's errand. Just find the best cash back rate possible and bank the money.

This is genuinely advice.

You can meet the minimum spend requirement by putting all your expenses on it (eg, groceries, gas, etc.— it’s not limited to travel expenses, op).

Then you get the big influx of points.

Fwiw, DH and I plus our college kid all have the same CC and pool points. It’s the Hilton Honors Amex. No fee. And we essentially get tons of free hotel stays each year.

I also have the American Airlines card that you pay a fee for. I got it for two reasons: lounge access plus free checked bags. We are a big family that always checks luggage. The cc fee is offset entirely by what we would pay for checked luggage. My college kid has used the points to fly to/from college multiple times a year.

The problem with the cash back cc is that my DH just puts that money back in the checking account. He still keeps his old cash back card for certain things. When you have hotel points and DON’T need to pay for rooms, it feels like you are winning ;0)

Find the card that gives you the most money back and forget about points. There are too points in the system and the airlines can devalue them at anytime.

“ Lounges are full as more people travel in premium cabins and burn points built up during the pandemic, while travellers have also learnt methods to earn points and status without doing too much flying.

Amid concerns that the balance of power has shifted too far towards the frequent flyer, some airlines including British Airways in the UK and Delta in the US have introduced changes to make it more difficult to reach their elite frequent-flyer tiers.

These have polarised customers. In London, enraged frequent flyers have written open letters to BA’s chief executive, threatened to move to its rivals and even drawn up plans to hold a “wake” for the old scheme in central London when the changes come into force in April.”
https://www.ft.com/content/85ddff1e-9552-4ff9-ae59-b688e2984d20

I would get Chase Ink Business Preferred as that is that one that allows transfers to travel partners. If you aren’t going to transfer to partners you wont get the outsized value.

Doing "points" is a fool's errand. Just find the best cash back rate possible and bank the money.

I'm baby-stepping my way into trying to be savvier about using points and miles. I am a consultant w/my own single member LLC, but only need to put a few thousand a year on a credit card, usually for travel. I think it would still be worth it to get points for those purchases (currently just have a BofA MC linked to my business account), but I'm not sure what deal would be best. Because of where I live I am basically stuck with American for airlines and I don't like being blocked into a single hotel brand, but the AA business CC offer isn't great -- you only get the bonus miles after 4 months if you spend 4k during that time (doubt I would - my travel tends to be all Q3/Q4) and it's $1/1 mile. Any suggestions for a better deal, or should I just stick with BofA?