Originally Posted by DeaconY

I think you need to relook at your math....You only get the 1% cash back from CSR (or whatever card) if you actually cash in those points instead of using them for travel or transferring to a partner.

In your scenario you are paying $5.14 for a total of 504.44 in URs. This means you have a total cost of $.0102 per UR. This is a horrible MS scheme in the long run. This is fine if you are only trying to meet the min on a new card spend, or there is some promotion above and beyond.

"Purchasing" URs through other means can easily get your cost down to $.005 or lower per point.