Flexible
points currencies like Chase Ultimate Rewards offer more protection against airline and hotel award program changes.
Another highlight of Singapore Airlines» program is that they are transfer partners of all of the major transferable
points currencies like American Express Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi ThankYou Rewards, and Starwood Preferred Guest.
Similar to transferring points to airline partners in other flexible
point currencies like Amex Membership Rewards, you'll need to select the transfer partner and enter your loyalty program membership details.
Not exact matches
Bitcoin,
like most other digital
currencies, is anonymous (but not untraceable)-- which was one of its key selling
points in the early days when it was perhaps best - known for buying drugs on the dark web.
Although each Hilton
point isn't as valuable as one
point from another
currency,
like Chase Ultimate Rewards, the card's high earning rate makes up for it.
Here are the main
points: The IRS has decided that, for tax purposes, it will not treat Bitcoin
like currency, which similarly depreciates or increases in value.
This could be
currency or something else
like points that you can redeem them for things within the Facebook ecosystem,
like premium content.»
And as Forde
points out, companies
like UBS and Intel have opened labs to search for opportunities in the realm of digital
currency.
Ken Dickson, investment director for
currencies at Standard Life Investments,
points out that over the longer term,
like two or three years, markets have always broken pegs.
Nevertheless, select
currency ETFs such as $ EUO or commodity ETFs
like $ DZZ (both
pointed out as potential pullback entries in the May 21 issue of our newsletter) could be nice plays because they have a low correlation to the direction of the overall equities markets.
At one
point, virtual
currencies were just viewed as something to be consumed by underground actors
like hackers and those on the dark web.
Typically, a
currency decline
like this at some
point spurs depositors to pull their cash out of banks and try to find some sort of asset to put it in.
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.
The
like - for -
like growth takes out the effects of
currency translation into the Swiss franc and the results from the company's Brach consumer business in North America, which together had a negative effect of two percentage
points on sales.
There are also two types of
currency — zenny and research
points — which you can sometimes use to purchase the same things (
like meals at the canteen, which are a must before every hunt), but for the most part you'll spend the different
currencies on specific, separate items.
Ideas work more
like currency there, but as you
point out (and I think this is common), someone else's execution of the idea often falls short.
He acknowledges that in the computer games industry, other companies are already offering their own
currencies (
like the Microsoft
Points available for XBox systems).
From Mike in NOLa — With respect to protectionism, Michael Pettis has
pointed out that China today is much
like the US was in the late 1920's, with huge foreign
currency reserves and manufacturing overcapacity.
The following types of transactions won't count and won't earn
points: travelers checks, foreign
currency, money orders, wire transfers or similar cash -
like transactions, lottery tickets, casino gaming chips, race track wagers or similar betting transactions, any checks that access your account, interest, unauthorized or fraudulent charges, and fees of any kind, including an annual fee, if applicable.
By that
point, the hopelessness of Federal social insurance programs
like Social Security and Medicare, plus underfunded Federal and state retirement plans, will force benefit reductions and tax increases on the US, and crimp borrowing capacity, unless they borrow in a
currency other than dollars.
Not interested in fake
currencies like travel
points.
One commenter
pointed out that what matters to Canadian investors is the performance of a
currency - neutral fund such as XSP compared to the returns in Canadian dollars of a direct holding in a fund
like IVV, not dry discussions of tracking error.
Terry Ritchie, co-author of The Canadian Snowbird in America and a cross-border financial expert with Cardinal
Point Wealth Management Inc., also recommends specialized
currency exchange services provided by firms
like Knightsbridge Foreign Exchange, Canadian Forex, Western Union Business Solutions and AFEX.
I didn't think the «normal» sapphire was still being offered, but anyways I would not recommend it as the Sapphire preferred is so much superior and well worth the $ 95 / annual fee, which you can get back with the ability to make freedom
points (either unlimited at 1.5 X's or regular) into Ultimate rewards
points, the no foreign transaction fees (remember not to go for the trick: would you
like this in
currency x or in dollars - it's tempting to go for a dollar dominated transaction, but in essence, the way I understand it, you get charged a «transaction fee» to go from the home foreign
currency into dollars, whereas the CSP card already pays for this transaction fee, so it's really a tricky semi-scam in my opinion.
Like other flexible
currencies, ThankYou
points can also be redeemed directly for airfare instead of transferring them to partners.
And taking the analysis even further, is it ever worth transferring a flexible bank
currency to a hotel chain
like Hilton or Marriott or IHG when their
points are usually worth less than 1 cent each at best?
I'd rather store them elsewhere where I can get better value on my redemptions — or even earn
points with a transferable
currency like Citi, Chase, or American Express» reward programs, so I can transfer them to any carrier where I can get a fantastic first or business class award.
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.
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.
Loyalty
points (in this case Chase Ultimate Rewards
points) are a
currency and Chase is printing their
currency like there's no tomorrow.
If someone reads a comment
like the one I've highlighted (or a similar one elsewhere) and gets the idea that
points can be worth 21 cents each, then there's a chance that they'll end up over valuing a
currency and therefore overpaying in one of the many «sales» that airlines and hotels offer on their
points.
Buying products and services with your card, in most cases, will count as a purchase; however, the following types of transactions won't count and won't earn Rewards
points: balance transfers, cash advances, travelers checks, foreign
currency, money orders, wire transfers or similar cash -
like transactions, lottery tickets, casino gaming chips, race track wagers or similar betting transactions, any checks that access your account, interest, unauthorized or fraudulent charges, and fees of any kind, including an annual fee, if applicable.
Buying products and services with your card, in most cases, will count as a purchase; however, the following types of transactions won't count and won't earn
points: balance transfers, cash advances, travelers checks, foreign
currency, money orders, wire transfers or similar cash -
like transactions, lottery tickets, casino gaming chips, race track wagers or similar betting transactions, any checks that access your account, interest, unauthorized or fraudulent charges, and fees of any kind, including an annual fee, if applicable.
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.
I suppose you could «buy» the fare with
currencies like Thank You
points.
Most travel hackers take advantage of the loyalty programs of foreign airlines through flexible
points currencies,
like transfers of Chase Ultimate Rewards
points to British Airways Executive Club Avios, American Express Membership Rewards
points to Singapore KrisFlyer, or Citi ThankYou
points to Air France KLM Flying Blue.
With the new Rapid Rewards program, you use your
points like currency to «buy» any available seat listed on Southwest.com — there are no blackouts or availability issues.
Like Flying Blue, KrisFlyer is also a transfer partner of the 3 major
points currencies (Ultimate Rewards, Citi Thank You, and American Express Membership Rewards).
but that's in comparison to what they're
like today and not in comparison to transferable
currencies like Membership Rewards, ThankYou
points or Ultimate Rewards.
Virgin America's Elevate rewards program has a fixed - value
currency in which
points are treated
like they have cash value: more
points for more expensive tickets.
It can allow members
like me to keep our
points in the form of transferable
currencies until we're 100 % sure that our plans are not going to change while at the same time locking up award space that may otherwise disappear.
While it's always good news to see a transferable
currency like ThankYou
Points get another transfer partner I can't get excited about this.
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.
One common strategy is to have one go - to card that offers rewards in a
currency you
like, such as a particular airline's miles, cash back or bank - reward
points.
Cash and cash -
like transactions including but not limited to cash advances, ATM withdrawals, convenience checks, unauthorized charges, betting track, casino transactions, lottery tickets, money orders, money travelers» checks from a non-financial institution, foreign
currency cash purchases, bail bonds, debit cancellation charges,
points purchased and fees of any kind are excluded.
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!
But the reality of miles and
points is that they are
like other
currencies that become less valuable over time.
If you want to use your
points just
like another
currency and without a lot of effort, Hilton Honors will work better for you than ever!
Citi also has some solid transfer partners
like Singapore Airlines which makes ThankYou
Points a worthwhile
currency to accumulate.
The
points option will offer you more flexibility but keep in mind that Club Carlson
points are some of the weakest hotel
currencies, often valued
like Hilton Honors
points around.4 cents per
point.