Really great info on the Chase options…I have never looked into any of these redemption possibilities. Truly original and informative info. This gives me another “tool” in award booking. Nice to read about something other than an encouragement to sign up for a new card. Thank you!
I have a question about why one would choose to redeem points/miles at 1.25 cents per point. Isn’t it better to hang onto the points/miles until such time as you travel without blackout dates? Then on that future trip, you may be able to redeem the 25,000 miles/points for a $450 flight (at a rate of 1.8 cents per point) as you had originally planned to before discovering all the dates were blacked out.
Great question! I completely understand your point of view but I’ve never been a purist when it comes to redeeming miles for a certain value. I only can take a certain amount of vacation each year, however I know there are always new credit card offers to earn miles in the future. So even if I burn 50,000 here, I can always get another 50,000 by getting another Credit Card. At the end of the day, the miles in my account don’t have any real value until I redeem them, whereas the cash in my bank account does. If I can save close to $800 by redeeming miles for these trips, that is money I am ultimately saving.
Ah, I understand now. I moved from cashback cards to points/miles cards, so I’m conscious of exactly how much I would have earned on a cashback card. I averaged 1.5% back on most things and 3% on dining so I have to get about 1.5 cents per mile just to break even. Otherwise, the cash cards and the flexibility of cash beats miles/points.
Really great info on the Chase options…I have never looked into any of these redemption possibilities. Truly original and informative info. This gives me another “tool” in award booking. Nice to read about something other than an encouragement to sign up for a new card. Thank you!
I have a question about why one would choose to redeem points/miles at 1.25 cents per point. Isn’t it better to hang onto the points/miles until such time as you travel without blackout dates? Then on that future trip, you may be able to redeem the 25,000 miles/points for a $450 flight (at a rate of 1.8 cents per point) as you had originally planned to before discovering all the dates were blacked out.
Glad to hear! Thanks for the support!
Great question! I completely understand your point of view but I’ve never been a purist when it comes to redeeming miles for a certain value. I only can take a certain amount of vacation each year, however I know there are always new credit card offers to earn miles in the future. So even if I burn 50,000 here, I can always get another 50,000 by getting another Credit Card. At the end of the day, the miles in my account don’t have any real value until I redeem them, whereas the cash in my bank account does. If I can save close to $800 by redeeming miles for these trips, that is money I am ultimately saving.
Ah, I understand now. I moved from cashback cards to points/miles cards, so I’m conscious of exactly how much I would have earned on a cashback card. I averaged 1.5% back on most things and 3% on dining so I have to get about 1.5 cents per mile just to break even. Otherwise, the cash cards and the flexibility of cash beats miles/points.
Great post, by the way. It really got me thinking about options I normally wouldn’t have thought about and that’s what a lot of this is all about.
[…] something new from this post and next time you see an offer for 1,000 free points (like this Priority Club one), don’t blow it […]