Fixed value points don't get as much attention in the blogosphere and aren't as useful for super glamorous redemptions, but they can still serve a very valuable purpose in your overall rewards strategy.
Not exact matches
Membership Rewards
points don't have a
fixed value, so it's a bit tricky to figure out how much they're worth.
You can get more
value out of 58k UR
points than 89k Venture
points, since they don't have a
fixed value.
The best that we can
do is
fix a
point at which we feel that we a more likely to be right than wrong about the
value but will also have enough opportunities to invest to make the exercise worthwhile.
We concluded that, given our inability to actually
value any given asset or class of assets, the best that we could
do is
fix a
point at which we feel that we are more likely to be right than wrong about a stock's
value but would also have enough opportunities to invest.
A handful of awards don't have a
fixed cash
value, but they max out at two cents per
point.
JetBlue miles don't have a
fixed value, but according to our calculations they have an average
value of 1.2 cents per
point.
When it comes to cards offering
fixed -
value rewards, which are those that don't have transferrable
points or miles, it won't really make a difference.
The
value of these Fixed Value Closed System points can also change, as Citi recently did, dropping the value of one TYP from 1.33 cents to 1.25 for travel redemp
value of these
Fixed Value Closed System points can also change, as Citi recently did, dropping the value of one TYP from 1.33 cents to 1.25 for travel redemp
Value Closed System
points can also change, as Citi recently
did, dropping the
value of one TYP from 1.33 cents to 1.25 for travel redemp
value of one TYP from 1.33 cents to 1.25 for travel redemption.
A handful of awards don't have a
fixed cash
value, but they max out at two cents per
point.
The real
value is using transferable
points like Amex Membership or Chase Ultimate Rewards
points because you can use them for premium flights and hotels, and they don't have a
fixed value.
JetBlue miles don't have a
fixed value, but according to our calculations they have an average
value of 1.2 cents per
point.
You
do not earn airline miles with this card, you earn
fixed -
value points (the aforementioned
points that act like money).
If you don't have much flexibility and aren't finding the flights you need to get home for the holidays with traditional airline miles, then turn to your credit card
points that can be used at a
fixed value toward travel.
Though Virgin doesn't have an official
fixed value for its
points, and in practice they come out to a
value of 2.1 - 2.6 cents per
point.
A
fixed value of 1.5 cents is a nice floor
value for
point redemptions, and as a
fixed -
value currency you don't have to worry about finding award availability.
By
doing so, you can redeem your
points at a higher
fixed value toward travel through the Ultimate Rewards website or potentially transfer
points to one of Chase's many travel partners where you can extract much more
value than one cent each.
If all programs
did is increasingly bonus higher revenue fares (United already
did this with changes to their program for 2012) and provide the option to book any seat desired with
points at a
fixed -
value per
point based on fare (in parallel to the award chart) this would be no big deal.
This is where American Express shines as a company — The
Fixed Points Program at Amex does exactly what it says: your points have a fixed value, pe
Fixed Points Program at Amex does exactly what it says: your points have a fixed value, p
Points Program at Amex
does exactly what it says: your
points have a fixed value, p
points have a
fixed value, pe
fixed value, period.
Do not collect
fixed -
value bank
points like Arrival miles or ThankYou Points for international premium cabin t
points like Arrival miles or ThankYou
Points for international premium cabin t
Points for international premium cabin travel.
Sometimes (hopefully more often than not) I save money compared to a cash back or
fixed -
value points card and sometimes I don't, but I don't have sudden Delta flight expenses as long as I have enough
points to cover my flights.
I didn't include them because they are a
fixed value, whereas all these miles and
points can vary wildly depending on how they are used.
But it
does provide a general framework that at least lets you calculate, within general parameters, what the tradeoff is between
fixed -
value and flexible rewards
points, between hotel
points and airline miles, and between manufactured spend and signup bonuses.
Fixed value points can serve a purpose, and I
do collect them, but for beginners who want to travel internationally and / or in business / first class, it's important that you start earning transferrable
points, or airline miles, first.