FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - Best use of Ultimate Rewards points [Consolidated]
Old Aug 8, 2015 | 4:20 pm
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guv1976
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Originally Posted by bmwclubracer
Originally Posted by guv1976
You just have to compare the award redemption rates for various properties with the cost of booking through the UR portal. There is no one approach that will yield the best value for each and every hotel stay.
Ugh...what a pain. So doing this the csp is worth keeping?
Only you can decide that.
If you are amenable to getting your hotels from Hotwire or Priceline bidding, then you might be better with the Fidelity Amex or the Barclay Arrival+ card, each of which is essentially a 2% cash-back-on-all-spending card. (The Arrival+ card only yields 2% if you redeem its points for a credit on travel charges posted to the card.)

The cheapest way of getting hotel stays is to churn the cards that give free nights or bonus points. Most of these are Chase-issued cards (Marriott, IHG, Hyatt, Fairmont). Citi and Amex issue Hilton cards. Amex issues the Starwood card. Not sure who does Best Western or Choice Hotels.

Amex cards are not churnable; Chase and Citi cards are, subject to waiting periods.
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