Have questions about a specific
credit card points currency or perks?
Here's my overall ranking and valuation of several common airline, hotel, and
credit card points currencies.
Not exact matches
The
card earns Membership Rewards
points, the
currency in Amex's loyalty program, which can be exchanged for statement
credits or cash back, used to book travel through Amex's travel website, or, to get the most value, transferred to any of 17 airline and three hotel transfer partners (transferable
points are among the best).
The
currency of the site,
points, is either earned through on - site activity or can be purchased via a
credit card.
The combined benefits of these
cards provide just about everything a travel hacker could want in their
credit card portfolio — high
points earning rates on everyday spend, a valuable transferable
points currency, and a wide variety of luxury travel benefits and purchase protections.
The combined benefits of this combo provide just about everything a travel hacker could want in their
credit card portfolio — high
points earning rates, a very valuable
currency, a diversified array of travel benefits and purchase protections, and
point transferability.
Part of your
credit card strategy also involves signing up for the
points currencies that will give you the best value in terms of the sign up bonus, annual fees and rewards.
Chase Ultimate Reward
points can also be used for statement
credits, gifts
cards, and a wide variety of other products through the Chase shopping portal, but that only offers a value of 1 cent per
point, which is definitely not the best use of this valuable
point currency.
Chase Ultimate Rewards
points are one of our favorite rewards program
currencies, for a combination of reasons: Ultimate Rewards
points are far more valuable than the average rewards
point, you have many options for racking up bonus
points — including several
credit cards that offer generous sign - up bonuses and a diverse array of bonus categories — and your redemption options are extremely flexible.
Points are a
currency earned when you utilize certain business services with a
credit card or open a loyalty account open with them.
Foreign transaction fees (where the
credit card company charges an additional few percentage
points on the purchase to convert
currencies) are actually where
credit card companies do make money off me; something sadly unavoidable since no Canadian travel
credit cards offer free foreign transaction fees.
Their Gold
Points aren't the most lucrative travel
currency out there, but the value of the
credit card far outweighs the nominal cost to keep it.
Some of the other exciting facilities include modem
points in all rooms, separate spa bath and shower, complimentary on site parking and shuttle service, audio visual equipment, secretarial service, wheelchair access, security door lock system, in room safe, daily newspapers, dry cleaning service, foreign
currency exchange, tour and rental car bookings and of course all major
credit cards accepted.
Finally, it's important to have estimations for award
currencies like Ultimate Rewards, Membership Rewards, and Citi ThankYou
Points because with
credit cards always changing you'll be constantly re-evaluating which
cards to get and which
cards to put your spend on.
On top of getting money back via TopCashback I can pay with my rewards
credit card (so I earn
points in my preferred
currency), I have my status recognised at the hotels I book at and I earn further
points in the hotel's loyalty program too.
In the US
credit card companies like Amex, Chase and Citi will also offer their own
points programs whose
currencies can be converted into miles and
points and these can be a great fit for anyone not wedded to a single airline or hotel chain.
Starpoints earned on the SPG
credit card are the single most valuable
points currency in the world.
None of the major
credit card currencies convert to Starpoints — which means that Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi ThankYou
points and Amex Membership Rewards are of no help if you're looking to build up a Starpoints balance.
The way I try to protect myself from airline devaluations is by concentrating my
credit card earnings on transferable
currencies like Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi ThankYou
Points, American Express Membership Rewards
Points and Starwood Preferred Guest Starpoints.
Most importantly, all the
credit cards I've listed above earn transferable
currencies (they can be moved to a number of other loyalty programs) while the
points earned thought the Marriott Rewards
credit card are really only of any use at Marriott properties....
The ability to earn a fixed two
points per dollar in a valuable transferable rewards
currency is unique in the rewards
credit card industry.
This could be useful for spend in categories where none of your other
credit cards offers a bonus — 2 Membership Rewards
points are generally more valuable than one
point / mile in any other major loyalty
currency.
If you already «collect» certain
currencies, like Membership Rewards
points, Ultimate Rewards
points or others, it's perfectly fine to top up your
points / miles with a lesser bonus from another
credit card.
Most blogs, bloggers,
credit card websites, etc. value
credit card currencies, such as
points and miles, at a certain amount based on what they think you can squeeze out of them.
Point: A
currency used by
credit cards and some airlines in the place of miles.
And I also recommend to revisit how you collect
points & miles — the safest bet is to earn miles in a
credit card currency, like ThankYou
points (Citibank) or American Express Rewards, or to stick with the large network carriers that have solid financials!
Not only can you put how you value perks that a
credit card may give you, but you also can put how much you value each
points currency.
Furthermore, Omni doesn't offer a branded
credit card and isn't a transfer partner with any other
points currencies.
What this means is that anyone can get these
points when the time comes by opening a few different
credit cards with good signup bonuses and the
points will all transfer over — as long as it's one of the transferable
currencies I mentioned.
Credit Card Sign - Up Bonuses: This is the absolute fastest way to accumulate rewards
currencies; if you do it right, the miles and
points come very cheaply.
Bank
Points — Most major
credit card issuers have their own
currency, such as Chase Ultimate Rewards or American Express Membership Rewards.
One reason I increasingly value
credit card rewards
points is the «transferable» nature of these
currencies.
ThankYou
Points are a bit different than the other cards I have mentioned in that they are a credit card currency, not miles or hotel p
Points are a bit different than the other
cards I have mentioned in that they are a
credit card currency, not miles or hotel
pointspoints.
With the Ink Plus ® Business
Credit Card, you earn the ultimate travel
currency: Chase Ultimate Rewards
points.
The rewards
currency on the Ink Business Preferred ℠
Credit Card is Chase Ultimate Rewards
points.
In the past six months, we have completely changed the travel
credit cards we use, moving over to Chase Ultimate Rewards
Points as our primary travel
currency.
I also noted which
credit cards out there can help you rack
points up fastest, in case you decide you want to focus in on a loyalty
currency you haven't considered previously.
Accrue rewards in a
currency that works for you Many hoteliers now partner with airlines, retailers and
credit card companies to offer multiple ways to earn
points toward free travel.
If you plan wisely, you can be like Renee Manuel and accomplish those goals using your
credit card points as
currency.
This could be
cards like the Chase Sapphire Preferred ®
Card (because Ultimate Rewards
points are valuable) or the Starwood Preferred Guest ®
Credit Card from American Express (because I'd argue a Starpoint is the single most valuable
points currency per unit).
I do not write about all
credit cards that are available — instead focusing on miles,
points, and cash back (and
currencies that can be converted into the same).
In an interview with Lawrence.com, REAL dollar creator Boog Highberger
pointed out two practical obstacles all such
currency have to face: 1) Modern businesses don't have as much use for cash as they once did — how many places don't accept
credit or debit
cards?
With Danske bank not prohibiting buying the virtual
currencies using
credit cards, do you think at some
point they will resume offering full services in the cryptocurrency market?