I have waffled on this issue, but I have settled for now on the idea that most free nights are used for aspirational travel — the kind you would never buy — and so the increased
cost of points redemptions is less important.
Not exact matches
If you're making Tasmania part
of a longer trip down under and just making a short jump to Hobart, transfer Ultimate Rewards
points earned on your Chase Sapphire Reserve to British Airways Avios for a lower
cost Qantas partner
redemption.
Each ticket
cost about 7,750 Rapid Rewards
Points, which wasn't a
redemption I was particularly fond
of making.
The above analysis incorporates those «unearned»
points as a
cost of redemption.
When doing an anlysis it is important to bear those «unearned»
points as a
cost of redemption.
While I generally can't recommend Ritz - Carlton
redemptions for most travelers, PointSavers nights at The Ritz - Carlton Orlando would
cost just 30,000
points per night, which would be a good value compared to many
of the other premium hotels in Mickeytown.
Personally, I'd rather simply pay the $ 115 cash fare on AtlasJet or use
points from an Arrival card in order to cover the cash
cost, but that's only because this many
points are a relatively poor
redemption value when compared to the obscene value Donna can attain with the rest
of her itinerary.
3 nights would
cost 150,000 HHonors
points and I'd be saving $ 492 for those three nights, a
redemption rate
of just 0.32 cents each.
My favorite hotel
redemption last year was the Andaz Costa Rica at a
cost of just 15,000 Hyatt
points per night.
The
point redemptions on Southwest flights are mostly dependent on the exact
cost of flights, and over the years Southwest has become increasingly less transparent in this regard.
These fees help offset the
cost of higher value
redemption options, including transferring
points to airlines and hotels.
Since the highest
redemption tier
costs 30,000
points, this can be the equivalent
of a 60,000
point signup bonus — as long as you plan on redeeming the nights at those tier 7 properties.
You'll have to research the
cost of specific
redemptions with each partner, but you should be able to get a value
of at least 1.81 cents per
point.
The ticket would have
cost right at $ 18,000, so I subtract $ 104 from $ 18,000 to get $ 17,896 and then divide that by 180,000 miles to get a
redemption of 9.9 cents per
point.
Generally speaking, revenue - based award
redemption programs like Southwest, JetBlue, and VirginAmerica have good availability but this is only because the number
of points it
costs for an award seat are a function
of how much the seat
costs.
Because Southwest ties their award
redemptions to the
cost of the flight at the time
of booking, its
points function like the no blackout date credit card programs
of Barclays Arrival and Capital One Venture.
We can go from Cincinnati to Denver in 2 Amtrak family bedrooms (sleeps 8) for only 50,000 Chase / Amtrak
points, which is half the
cost of one - way standard domestic airline
redemptions (8 tickets * 12,500 miles one - way = 100,000).
While this is a great option for those that might need to top up their account, keep in mind that JetBlue's
redemption program is based upon the
cost of a ticket so you might fare better just using your Citi ThankYou
points to book the ticket directly, since it would be eligible to earn TrueBlue
points with JetBlue (instead
of transferring them).
They do, however, offer a really great Cash &
Points option that reduces the nightly redemption cost of points by half (or more) and allows you to pay the remainder in cash, adding flexibility for people that don't have enough p
Points option that reduces the nightly
redemption cost of points by half (or more) and allows you to pay the remainder in cash, adding flexibility for people that don't have enough p
points by half (or more) and allows you to pay the remainder in cash, adding flexibility for people that don't have enough
pointspoints.
From a customer
point of view this new partnership could open up some nice
redemption options providing the airlines aren't too conservative when they agree on award
costs.
While all
of the cards we're comparing earn
points or miles that can help you secure free or reduced -
cost travel, comparing earning potential and
redemption options is also important when selecting the right card.
While the brand isn't flawless by any means and while room rates can be high, the fact that the most an award night can
cost you is 30,000
points (at the time
of writing) makes these properties great for award
redemptions.
It
costs only 12,500 Avios
points each way in economy, which is one
of the best
redemption options if you're already in South America.
As you can see from the table above, the Category 1 and Category 7 hotels are clearly the worst value for money when it comes to cash and
point redemptions (at a
cost of $ 0.02 /
point) while the other properties are reasonably similar in
cost ($ 0.012 — $ 0.014 /
point).
It removed the chart from the Hilton Honors program, so we don't know anymore how many
points we should expect to pay, and it devalued the
redemption rate for most
of its popular properties to the
point of utter absurdity, charging sometimes 70,000 to 80,000
points for a hotel that
costs below $ 200 per night.
Like the US Bank FlexPerks Visa, this card offers travel
redemptions in fixed tiers, so the amount
of value
of your
points will depend entirely on the
cost of the flights you redeem them for.
For any
cost of that ticket above $ 500, the
redemption value
of the
points goes down to 1 cent per
point.
All additional
costs, including but not limited to, travel
redemption fees, or expediting shipping are the responsibility
of the client and must be charged on an RBC Bank credit card or against available
points within the Program.
That's a ton
of points for each
redemption, and by far the highest
cost of any Hyatt hotel.
With a typical
redemption value
of 1.8 cents per
point, if you make $ 5,278 in purchases a year, you'll cover the
cost of the card.
Pay with Scotia Rewards
points (minimum 20 %
of the total
cost of your
redemption) and cover the remaining balance with your Program Card1.
-LSB--] There is an annual fee
of $ 49 -LSB--] You have to call in advance to tell them you are going to spend abroad -LSB--]
Points redemption isn't as even or fair as it should be -LSB--] You could end up spending too many points for a stay at a lower cost
Points redemption isn't as even or fair as it should be -LSB--] You could end up spending too many
points for a stay at a lower cost
points for a stay at a lower
cost hotel
You earn Southwest Rapid Rewards
points based on how much your flight
costs and flight
redemptions cost more or less
points based on the cash price
of a ticket for the same flight.
Chase will be discontinuing the
redemption of points for airline tickets based on fixed amounts, instead all travel
redemptions will
cost an amount
of points relative to the
cost of the itinerary.
I'll also
point out that these flights
cost about $ 450 as well, which is (sort
of) a
redemption of around 3.5 cents per
point, which is not bad!
But this is also a crude way
of calculating the value
of points; it doesn't take into account sign - up bonuses, credit card annual fees, and other factors that skew your
cost to attain each mile; not to mention the taxes and
redemption fees that increase the
cost of the reward itself.
After all, if you treat a 25,000 -
point Hyatt
redemption as «free,» instead
of costing as it does $ 250 in transferred Ultimate Rewards
points, you might travel more than you really, objectively speaking, can afford to.
So far I've put together a collection
of data on the
cost of my manufactured spend, my fixed - value
points redemptions (i.e. Citi ThankYou student loan rebate checks), and airline and hotel
redemptions.
This does not include estimated or anticipated
costs that have not yet been paid, deposits (unless non-refundable), or trips purchased by the
redemption of points or miles programs.