Chase Ultimate Rewards - 118K Chase Sapph. Pref. Ultimate Rewards points / best use guidance

(note: please relocate if posted in wrong section)

Is there ongoing thread on topic of most efficient ways to make use of Chase Sapphire Preferred UltRew pts? Newbie wants to know. Not clear if 1:1 pts for miles or 20% off card charge is best, or is it case-by-case?

My priorities as travel stock shooter: economy international travel &/or "3*" international overnights, in other words, prefer more travel vs. higher class. Have 20K Avios pts, 35K AA miles; how many UltRew pts for Korean Air MIA--Seoul rt? 20% off card charge better? Need to downgrade my Sapph. Pref. card in Sept. to avoid annual fee.

Not asking anyone to do my busywork, but if you already know this off top-of-head, thanks in advance!

I would almost always suggest booking hotels on Priceline in preference to using points; I think points are not a good value compared to Priceline rates.

I still think you will get better value with miles than using points to buy travel at 1.25 cents. For example, if you can get a 60K international ticket, can you buy the same ticket for $750? Doubtful.

If you have specific dates though, it would be great to find availability on those dates before transferring your points.

I really don't think you will find many people on FT advocating using points for gift cards or a 20% CC reduction you mention. Most of us use points for high-end travel we normally would not pay for.

Considering your situation, I suggest you either transfer the points to an airline partner that might have economy seating to a destintation you plan on going to (United and Korean might be best here to avoid BAs high surcharges...unless you use the Avios for AA or other partner flights) or to a hotel partner that has hotels in the areas you want to go to.

Not personally what I would do but I have other preference. I would move them to Hyatt and use the points to book high-end hotels or to an airline partner that offers decent Business Class redemptions to my choice destination. If played right you could get a free RT Business Class ticket and one to two nights at a Hyatt with those UR points.

(note: please relocate if posted in wrong section)

Is there ongoing thread on topic of most efficient ways to make use of Chase Sapphire Preferred UltRew pts? Newbie wants to know. Not clear if 1:1 pts for miles or 20% off card charge is best, or is it case-by-case?

My priorities: economy international travel & "3*" overnights, in other words, prefer more travel vs. higher class. Have 20K Avios pts, 35K AA miles; how many UltRew pts for Korean Air MIA--Soeul rt? 20% off card charge better? Need to downgrade my Sapph. Pref. card in Sept. to avoid annual fee.

Not asking anyone to do my busywork, but if you already know this off top-of-head, thanks in advance!

Always best to use miles vs points like it has already been stated. You will get best value though using it directly with miles, here's the transfer partners:

British Airways Executive Club (1:1)
Korean Air SkyPass(1:1)
Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards (1:1)
United Airlines Mileage Plus (1:1)
Hyatt Gold Passport (1:1)
Marriott Rewards (1:1)
Intercontinental Priority Club (1:1)
Ritz-Carlton Rewards (1:1)
Amtrak Guest Rewards (1:1)

Anyway to ICN:

Korean Air
Round trip in Economy 70,000
Round trip in Prestige 105,000
Round trip in First Class 140,000

United:
Round trip in Economy 65,000
Round trip in Business 120,000
Round trip in First Class 140,000

Thanks for responses! Will drop idea of cred card 20% off! No specific dates, just prefer Asia/Europe due to recent Avios C.A./S.A. trips. Does United almost always require lower miles to Asia vs. Korean Air? Do United/KoreanAir never have fuel surcharge & always have similar taxes to BritAir Asia/Europe? Am also accumulating hotel pts via cred card bonuses -- hotel via Sapph Pref not necessary.

You are a photographer yet your use of "light blue" color font is hurting my eyes ;-)

Anyways, to compare United vs. Koren Air, you'll need study award travel rules, award flight availability in addition to the numeric charts (as someone has extracted general info for you). If your redemption is generally a simple round trip then its relatively easy to compare across programs, but if you want/could take advantage of stopovers and/or open jaws etc, then you need invest sometime to study the airline program rules in order to gain best redemption value. For example, using United miles, for a round trip you could fly out from USA to Asia via Europe (i.e., have a free stopover in Europe) and pay the same amount of miles required for USA-Asia round trip.

Your other question about fuel charge etc., keep in mind that if you fly out of LHR (en-route or otherwise) you get charged for a fee required by UK government (not by airline choice).

(multi-colored posts an "advertising" basic)

Whereas, this:

using United miles, for a round trip you could fly out from USA
to Asia via Europe (i.e., have a free stopover in Europe) and
pay the same amount of miles required for USA-Asia round trip

is exactly the kind of valuable off-top-of-head-for-some
info newbies like me want... ^ THANKS! ^