When it comes to
buying hotel points I'm generally more positive than I am when I'm discussing the purchase of airline miles... and there's a very good reason for that.
Not exact matches
American Express Gold Card users can use their
points to shop (both through online vendors and Amazon),
buy gift cards, pay off a charge on your bill, book flights and
hotels, pay for Uber rides, and transfer
points for airline frequent flyer miles or
hotel points.
Many experienced travelers know that travel rewards miles (or
points) are like a currency all of their own that can
buy you airline tickets,
hotel reservations and even excursion and travel gear (among other perks) sometimes when you need them the most.
A variety of factors made this the best choice, including a steep
hotel tax in Indonesia on paid rooms, so the math might not always favor
buying points.
American Express Gold Card users can use their
points to shop (both through online vendors and Amazon),
buy gift cards, pay off a charge on your bill, book flights and
hotels, pay for Uber rides, and transfer
points for airline frequent flyer miles or
hotel points.
But you would have to be travelling and so
buying flights,
hotels, ect in the first place, to be able to earn any
points at all, is that right?
If you don't want to be tied to Delta and it's partners, or if you want to earn more
points towards travel on things you
buy every day, you'll want to consider a more general travel card (ie, not one that's tied to a specific airline or
hotel chain).
Cardholders also earn 5x
points when
buying airline tickets and paying for
hotel stays, as well as 1.5
points on other purchases totaling $ 5,000 or more.
Points can be converted into cash, transferred to loyalty programs, used to
buy airline tickets,
hotel stays, gift cards or merchandise.
The easiest way to get those extra
points is by transferring
hotel points or
buying items through the Southwest shopping portal.
You can
buy 20,000 Choice
hotel points for $ 220 ($ 11 for 1,000
points x 20)
Earn five
points per dollar spent at participating Marriott and SPG
hotels; 2
points per dollar spent on car rentals, restaurants and airline tickets
bought directly through the airline; and 1
point per dollar spent on all other purchases.
Just a few thousand Starpoints can
buy you a stay at Sheraton, Le Méridien, Four
Points by Sheraton properties, Element
Hotels and more.
Point worth depends a lot on what you use them for so don't fall for using them to
buy merchandise or transfer them to a
hotel.
Not only can you
buy airfare through Membership Awards, but you can also pay for car rentals,
hotels, entertainment and more with your
points.
So if you aren't getting a value of at least 1.25 cents per
point by transferring, it's better to just
buy your
hotel with
points.
That's because your big - box
buys could be earning you
points or miles toward free flights and
hotel stays, getting you that much closer to your dream vacation.
You can use the
points to erase the cost of travel you
buy with any airline or
hotel.
-- If you are just shy of the credit card
points you need to buy a plane ticket or a hotel room, there are options to get the points quickly, but you may be paying a premium... (See P
points you need to
buy a plane ticket or a
hotel room, there are options to get the
points quickly, but you may be paying a premium... (See P
points quickly, but you may be paying a premium... (See
PointsPoints)
It's the perfect balance for us who love to travel — SPG
points for FREE
hotel accommodations during our vacations and Aeroplan miles (converted from SPG
points) to
buy our flights.
Buy additional
points or Choice
Hotels gift cards and get 5x
points per dollar.
For each
points - eligible stay at a Cambria, you get a collectible coaster that can be redeemed for a
buy 1, get 1 free drink at the
hotel bar (or 250
points).
This is really the only time that you'll want to
buy points as we don't recommend stockpiling a specific airline or
hotel point as they're very prone to devaluation.
Booking
hotels is slightly better; 3,500
points will
buy you a $ 25 booking coupon, which makes your redemption worth about 0.7
points per dollar.
Juliette: No, that's not available through the Chase portal but there are some portal options for
buying gift card for Airbnb or for a
hotel website or rewards and you can then
buy gift cards with your
points to then use for your travel.
From gifts
bought with
points to free nights at certain
hotels, there are many ways to enjoy your credit card rewards.
Even if you don't plan on traveling with a particular airline or
hotel in the next year, they often offer several ways to earn
points without having to
buy an actual plane ticket or a
hotel night that can cost hundreds of dollars.
Yes, Marriott Flight and
Hotel Packages can be good value and, yes, «
buying» airline miles /
points at a 1:1 ratio with Marriott Rewards
points can be a very good deal....
IHG Rewards club members can book these
hotels for just 5,000
points / night for stays between Jan 30,2017 and Apr 30, 2017 You can
buy 5,000
points for $ 35 by following the steps in this post IHG PointBreaks.
Each day for four weeks there is a new travel deal from a selected merchant (sometimes with multiple price
points, like a choice between
buying 10K, 20K, 50K, or 100K
hotel points).
All the
points you
buy are going towards airline miles — none are being used for a
hotel that you may or may not need.
The normal earn rate on the site is 1 Fly
Buys point per dollar spent on flight,
hotel or car bookings made.
Similarly, I
bought a few Wyndham Rewards
points not because I planned to stay at a Wyndham
hotel but because I figured I might need a few
points for the US Airways Grand Slam.
Each person can
buy only one of each offer, but in the case of some offers, like
hotel points, there may be multiple offers of different amounts.
IHG — the world's biggest
hotel loyalty program — is running a special promotion through Friday when you
buy additional
points.
Rather than pay for a
hotel directly, you can
buy points and... [Read more...] about Daily Getaways (April 12): Buy IHG Points for 5.76 Ce
buy points and... [Read more...] about Daily Getaways (April 12): Buy IHG Points for 5.76
points and... [Read more...] about Daily Getaways (April 12):
Buy IHG Points for 5.76 Ce
Buy IHG
Points for 5.76
Points for 5.76 Cents
I won't be
buying Choice Privileges
points in this sale as I have no immediate need for them for
hotel bookings, I'm not going for the Southwest companion pass and I can wait to see what airline transfers come up.
What can travel insurance do if you
bought your plane tickets with miles and booked your
hotel on
points?
While SPG members can
buy Starpoints to use to book award nights at upscale
hotels, better uses may be to convert the Starpoints to airline miles or to convert them to Marriott Rewards
points and then use those to book Flight &
Hotel packages.
Buying points in this promotion and applying them to a reservation like the one in the image above would net you two nights at a fantastic InterContinental
hotel for $ 575 and would save you over $ 400 once you account for taxes.
I made the most of a recent Choice
points sale when United Airlines was offering a bonus for transfers of
hotel points to Mileage Plus and I ended up effectively
buying United Miles for just 1.13 cents each.
If you're going to
buy miles or
points from one of these airline or
hotel partners, make sure you use a credit card that will get you the best return for your purchase.
But if you use the
points to
buy nights at a more premium
hotel then you could find yourself with a great deal.
In case you are new to the miles /
points world of travel rewards programs, Marriott has
bought out Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) and will fold that
hotel rewards program into theirs probably sometime in 2019.
As 150,000 Marriott Rewards
points would buy you 7 nights in a Category 5 hotel anyway you would have essentially traded the other 120,000 Marriott Rewards Points (270,000 — 150,000) for 120,000 airline miles /
points would
buy you 7 nights in a Category 5
hotel anyway you would have essentially traded the other 120,000 Marriott Rewards
Points (270,000 — 150,000) for 120,000 airline miles /
Points (270,000 — 150,000) for 120,000 airline miles / Avios.
No one can say when IHG will decide to move
hotels up a category or change the number of
points needed for awards so only
buy points that you know you'll be using in the near future.
Usually I book such
hotels through Hotwire, Priceline, or other discounted third parties because I already have the status I need through other channels and I'm unlikely to accumulate many
points (or I can transfer or
buy the
points I need).
So, if you were to
buy enough
points for a full award, this is how much you'd end up paying for each category of
hotel:
Category 2 - 6
hotels are a particularly good deal when booking
Points + Cash awards because you're essentially buying the other half of the points at a discounted rate using the cash c
Points + Cash awards because you're essentially
buying the other half of the
points at a discounted rate using the cash c
points at a discounted rate using the cash co-pay.
The easiest way to look a this is to see how much it would cost to
buy enough
points for an award night at a
hotel you're likely to want to stay at.