Originally Posted by
civico
Amex Platinum is $450 a year...They have no good Star Alliance transfer partners and their OneWorld transfer partner, BA,
$200 of the annual fee is refunded as statement credits each calendar year.
Membership Rewards has three transfer partners in each of the three alliances:
- SkyTeam: AF, AM, DL
- OneWorld: BA, CX, IB
- Star: AC, NH, SQ,
Chase Ultimate Rewards has one, and only one, partner in each. When that partner makes an unfavorable change to their program you are stuck. This may not be important if you redeem as you earn, but if you accumulate Membership Rewards is safer. Also, Membeship Rewards frequently offers bonuses on transfers to their partners, Ultimate Rewards does not.
awesome Star Alliance partner because you'll never pay fuel surcharges
Never is a very long time. All programs have some method of balancing award seat availability with demand.
SPG is certainly a strong card. One downside is that you'll pay the 3% foreign transaction fee when traveling abroad.
2.7%
Originally Posted by
direct
What's the downside of Skymiles?
Sparse availability of awards at the lowest redemption level on many routes.