mnscout

I believe the reason why you [normally] shouldn't buy travel on UR site is that transferring points to the airline and hotels represents much better values. When at times I had tried to find some hotels in some weird places with no chains like Hilton or Marriott or what have you, I found that 1) the number of properties was very few and between and 2) it was always more expensive than booking on other sites. I've always ended up just paying for the damn thing, because I can use UR for the niches where it really shines: flying and Hyatts.

philemer

I think the OP is talking about buying travel through the UR mall using cash/credit cards, not UR points. Please correct if I'm wrong.

Thunderroad

Yes, thanks, this is what I meant. Using my Sapphire credit card, in fact, though I guess that's not central to my query.

I guess my bottom line question and assumption is that I don't sacrifice any flexibility or perks with a hotel chain or airline if I buy through the mall (thereby generating at least one UR point per $ spent), do I? For example, if I buy an AA ticket, I still get the AA miles for the flight itself and still have the same chance of an upgrade due to my AA status. (I just might have to call AA to make sure my FF # is in the record and that I'm on the upgrade list.) Analogous question re, say, a Starwood or Hilton booking.

Perhaps this will become clearer if and when I use the mall, but I'm a bit unclear on gk17's point re Travelocity. If I buy an AA ticket via the UR mall, am I simply buying it from AA, not Travelocity, right? And in any event, I thought tickets from sites such as Travelocity generate the same perks and miles.

In asking this, I'm putting aside the legitimate considerations about whether I might get a better price if I don't buy through the UR mall or that sometimes using another cc than the Sapphire might make more sense for a given purchase.

Sorry if I was confusing in my OP!

gk17

I don't recall Starwood or Hilton being listed in the UR website. My guess is that you will be booking rooms for them via a third party website (ex: Travelocity, Expedia, etc.). Those will NOT earn you those extra points from what I have seen so far. You can try contacting SPG/Hilton support but I remember seeing in their terms and conditions that you must reserve on their official website. See here for more info from other FT members.

I didn't check, but if AA is listed on the UR Mall website, then yes, I don't see why your status and all the other perks won't follow that booking. As long as it redirects you to the official AA website, it shouldn't be an issue. You should get the extra point from Chase and receive all the benefits from AA. Booking through third party websites is a hit and miss at best. You can read from other threads here in FT where some members were able to get the points but there's no guarantee.

If you read the terms and conditions (AA, Hilton, etc.), they should have it buried somewhere in there mentioning this. Some even mention the sites that will not earn you extra points if you book through them.

Thunderroad

Thanks, gk, this is very useful.

alrvd83

Hello everyone,

Just a quick question, as I hope it hasnt been answered already

I have had this Chase Sapphire PReferred card for about a month now, and I manged to reach the 3k spend. So now that I have a good amount of pts, I was wondering:

If i use my UR pts to pay for a flight with lets say Delta, will I get the medallion miles flown during that flight in the same fashion as if I was paying for the flight normally?

Also, If i use UR pts for a night at lets say a Marriott, will I also get Marriott rewards pts for cost of the room?

Basically, will paying for flights/hotels with UR pts, be just like spending actual money, thus allowing me to reap the rewards like usual. I read somewhere that amex pts do work this way.

thanks in advance for the help!

kb_rembrandt

I have heard some people say that certain stays/flights didn't qualify for earning points, but my gf and I have never had an issue with Delta, US Air, Marriott and Hyatt when I booked them through UR.com and had them paid through the tool.

alrvd83

Interesting, so using those 4 hotel chains/airlines, you have been able to pay for flights/stays using your UR pts and you also earned points/miles as if you would have paid normally?

Sorry to reiterate myself..just making sure

mnscout

My bad. But I would still reiterate that in my [limited] experience with UR mall, I have consistently found their hotel rates to be higher than on other sites in general. YMMV. I also thought that flights were priced on par with others like Kayak or Travelocity.

kb_rembrandt

alrvd83 - Yes I used the portal to "purchase" these itineraries and I received the miles/points. Please keep in mind that sometimes the UR travel site jacks up their prices so it's not always the best way to use points. I'd compare the UR site to another travel site and ensure you are getting the same prices.
Results may vary, but I have never had an issue with the programs I participate in.

fly4red

Booked an international flight on United through Sapphire UR travel portal and charged it in full to Sapphire (cash). The cost of the ticket and the choice of flights was identical as with United directly. I was mostly motivated to have a comprehensive trip insurance which comes with Sapphire. I received 2 points/$ statement bonus as a standard Sapphire travel reward, but the UR mall transaction is still showing 0 points. I contacted Chase about it and learned that UR bonus points will post after my trip concludes - some 4 month later.... I hope it will, but not sure how many....

gk17

You can always use Excel to keep track of these things. Not the most convenient method to do this but at least you will be keeping track of this

alrvd83

Excellent...good to hear! Ill try it out one day!

Since I already received the 40k bonus, I was contemplating on even keeping this card. I also have a Marriott premier visa and a delta amex (those are the only 2 chains that I use for work).

I mainly got the CSP, so that I could get a quick 40k pts to transfer to Marriott. I may keep it longer to see if I end up using UR pts to redeem for anything, and when the time comes to renew, I will make a decision whether to keep it or not.

ThatAdamGuy

FWIW, my experience with the UR Mall is that airfares are competitively priced, but -- echoing others' sentiments here -- hotels specifically are priced poorly. I think (but cannot be sure) that this is because the travel agency behind the UR Mall system charges a booking fee for the hotels but not for airfares.

dc333

I'm batting 100% (2 for 2) with finding better cash pricing via the UR travel site than directly from the providers or even search sites.

I just booked a 1 week economy car rental in HI for January at $195 AI through the UR portal. The cheapest (and identical) rental from thrifty directly is $531, and all agencies on Kayak is $400+.

My second search for the Sheraton Keauhou Bay came in at $135/nt whereas sheraton directly wants $189. Not ready to book the hotel yet but this is a great sign.

One negative I've seen in both examples is little to no explanation of the specific rate policies. Only a generic fine print from the Chase travel provider that never changes. I do like being shown my booking options in both UR points (which I'd rarely be interested in using) and the cash rates.