Diners Club Club Rewards - Where to transfer my 250,000 DC points ASAP?

Husband's company notified us yesterday that they are discontinuing the DC corporate card. Suggested that employees apply for a personal card and transfer their points. Of course, DC is not taking new personal applications so we can't do that- which I have confirmed with DC (company didn't know that until we told them). I've been holding on to the points b/c of the flexibility to use them in different programs (my other card is an AMEX).

I'm steaming but bottom line is that I've got approx. 30-45 days to decide what to do with our 250,000 points. We fly several different airlines so could use them on most of the domestics at some undetermined future date. Also like to stay in Starwood properties, sometimes Marriot and Hilton. Next major trip expense is London and France in May which means hotel expenses in London and a rental car in France.

Does anyone have some quick and dirty suggestions on how/where to transfer them and retain as much value as possible?

1. Is your American Express card enrolled in Membership Rewards or in another rewards program?

2. If you fly American Airlines do you already have lifetime Gold or Platinum status? Lifetime status (unlike annual status) is based on the total miles that pass through your account. If you are near the 1 or 2 million mile mark a transfer from Diners could put you over the threshold.

3. Do you fly Southwest airlines?

Yes, Mia, I have membership rewards points which I like for the flexibility of transferring to most airlines. Recently picked up some business seats to London that way.

I'm not close enough to the status for American-don't fly them very often, but I do fly SW. Find them convenient, especially on leisure trips.

It depends on your preferences. I have around 150,000 and have also been considering moving them since I don't really use the card very much any more.

Sometimes they offer bonuses to transfer them. Currently there aren't any bonuses.

I'm far from an expert but from what I've read and heard about the various FF programs Air Canada Aeroplan has one of the most generous reward charts and seldom ever block rewards so that would be my first choice as far as FF programs go. Once they are transferred then you could use them for tickets on any Star Alliance airline.

If you don't have any plans to use them in the near future you never know what programs will change so it is a tough call.

Good Luck.

Yes ... membership rewards ...

In that case I would first look at transfer partners who do not participate in Membership Rewards. Two examples:

Alaska Airlines (http://www.alaskaair.com/as/mileageplan/MileagePartners_Airline.asp) offers great flexibility because miles can also be redeemed for travel on several OneWorld and SkyTeam airlines including AA, AF, BA, CX, DL.

Southwest Airlines - is in process of changing their frequent flyer program. Begin reading here:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/diners-club-club-rewards/1169961-changes-wn-rr-program.html

Whatever you do, be sure to understand the program's expiration policy.

Thank you for the suggestions. I hadn't thought of transferring to non MR partners but that certainly makes a lot of sense.

The expiration issue did occur to me, especially with the change in the SW program. I'm going to do some research to find out how they treat transferred points, i.e., when they exprire. Wondering if there is a difference in the old vs. new program and whether I should transfer before Mar. 1 or after.

You might also think about putting a chunk into gift cards. Amazon, Shell Gas, Best Buy, etc. The transfer ratio isn't great, a point per penny, but it does give you flexibility outside the normal Club Rewards products and airline/hotel loyalty point transfers. You can also buy AA gift cards for the same terms.

Note that 250,000 DC points ~ 167 WN credits, which in addition to 10 round-trip tickets gets you almost to two Companion Passes on them (if you deposit them in two separate accounts), assuming you have kids you travel with, that could be very lucrative for a family, with a little more help you could have one CP for dad and one CP for mom.

Actually, with the conversion rate with the new Rapid Rewards program, if you want to get two CP's, you'll probably be better off doing the conversion after March 1, you would get 200,000 of the 220,000 points you need for two CP's. In the new program 200,000 points will get you $3,333 in WGA fares on Southwest, which becomes even more valuable if you have a CP or two.

Note also the one-time opportunity to get a much longer CP with this transfer, any CP you earn this year will be good through December 31, 2012, if you transfer right after March 1, you'll have 21 months of validity on your CP.

Beckles, thank you for the suggestion. I was wondering about transferring to SW and whether it would be more advantageous to do so b/f or after the Mar. 1 date. If I wait until after Mar. 1, as you suggest, would I need to transfer to two different accounts? Thanks for your help-I'm still learning how all this works!

Beckles, thank you for the suggestion. I was wondering about transferring to SW and whether it would be more advantageous to do so b/f or after the Mar. 1 date. If I wait until after Mar. 1, as you suggest, would I need to transfer to two different accounts? Thanks for your help-I'm still learning how all this works!You don't need to transfer to two accounts, but if you wanted to try and get two Companion Passes instead of just one, that's what you'd want to do. Of course, you'd need to come up with the remaining 20,000 points (in the new program) to do so, but you should be able to do that.

When you travel with your family, how many of you are there?

Before or after totally depends on your travel pattern. Eg; long or short flights, last minute or plan ahead, etc.

[Moderator edit]

WN Companion is a nice alternative but think quick if you want to do the exchange before or after the WN change .... If you wait too they may post as points due to the timing of conversions over. I know Choice Priv. has a huge delay right now. SPG is about the same as previously (1-2wks). I haven't heard anything on Diners though (still quick or delayed like Choice Priv).


Beckles, thank you for the suggestion. I was wondering about transferring to SW and whether it would be more advantageous to do so b/f or after the Mar. 1 date. If I wait until after Mar. 1, as you suggest, would I need to transfer to two different accounts? Thanks for your help-I'm still learning how all this works!

Another thing to consider is that if you're totally unsure about at least some of the points, a hotel program will allow you (though with devaluation) to later transfer to an airline (if you have no use at the hotel program), while with the exception of AA (which can transfer to HHonors some each year), anything you put at an airline can only be used at that airline.

And, of course, keep "hard" expirations in mind: Southwest credits (if you transfer now) will expire eventually, while Southwest points (if you transfer after March 1) won't (with occasional "activity"). Choice Priveleges points can be a fantastic value if you plan to visit Scandinavia espeically outside the capitals (where most other hotel programs besides Choice and Best Western fall flat and even $200++ hotels are usually 16k Choice points/night), but Choice points transferred now will expire in 2.8 years, with no way to extend that.

On the other hand, legacy US-based airline miles and most other hotel programs points won't expire (as long as you have occasional "activity").

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.601 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/417)

Another thing to consider is that if you're totally unsure about at least some of the points, a hotel program will allow you (though with devaluation) to later transfer to an airline (if you have no use at the hotel program), while with the exception of AA (which can transfer to HHonors some each year), anything you put at an airline can only be used at that airline.

And, of course, keep "hard" expirations in mind: Southwest credits (if you transfer now) will expire eventually, while Southwest points (if you transfer after March 1) won't (with occasional "activity"). Choice Priveleges points can be a fantastic value if you plan to visit Scandinavia espeically outside the capitals (where most other hotel programs besides Choice and Best Western fall flat and even $200++ hotels are usually 16k Choice points/night), but Choice points transferred now will expire in 2.8 years, with no way to extend that.

On the other hand, legacy US-based airline miles and most other hotel programs points won't expire (as long as you have occasional "activity").

AA now permits AAdvantage miles to be used directly for hotel stays and car rentals, without transferring to other programs. Redemption value can vary widely. I recently used AA miles for a 5-night stay at the Westin Aruba, and figure I got about 1.5 cents value per mile.

250K DC will getcha 150K Starwood = 18 nights Cat. IV or 15.5 nights Cat. V.
Or 150K Hyatt = 10 nights Cat. IV or 8.33 Cat. V.
Or 300K Marriott = 15 Cat. V or 12 Cat. VI. Better yet, consider travel packages which include FF miles.

These Categories include most very nice resorts in desirable vacation destinations, but not over-the-top.

250K DC will getcha 150K Starwood = 18 nights Cat. IV or 15.5 nights Cat. V.
Or 150K Hyatt = 10 nights Cat. IV or 8.33 Cat. V.
Or 300K Marriott = 15 Cat. V or 12 Cat. VI. Better yet, consider travel packages which include FF miles.

These Categories include most very nice resorts in desirable vacation destinations, but not over-the-top.
Or 480K Choice = 30 nights at most (very nice) properties in Norway, including a resort or two on the fjords in western Norway. But like I said before, the downside is that there's a hard expiration at the end of 2013 for any Choice points you "earn" (through transfer or otherwise) right now, so this is only so much better than the above if you are going to take a vacation in Scandinavia within the next three summers. Also, if you never stay at Choice, you won't have elite status there, so you'll have a rather narrow booking window. (The higher your elite status there, the further in advance you can book reward stays.) Also, dining can be quite expensive in these resort hotels "out in the middle of nowhere" in the western fjords, so you do need to budget for that or figure out how you're going to get by with stuff from the grocery store without even a microwave in the typical European hotel room (the way there would be in the typical US motel).