My wife and I plan to go to Europe in the spring of next year. We both got the CSR when it provided a 100,000 point signing bonus. We also have the Freedom as well the United Mileage Plus card. In total we've accumulated around 235,000 UR points and another 30,000 united miles. When I evaluated the transfer options and the airline options I have available through Newark it seems like United makes the most sense. I came to this conclusion by looking at the transfer ratios I found online. All my options seems to be a 1:1 ratio and given United allows for a free stop over in London on our way to Paris it seems to make sense. Am I doing this right? We'd like to fly business or first, but it seems we only have enough points to fly economy which is fine. Also, how far out would you suggest I book the flights?

Finally, I just received an offer from Chase for 100,000 points if I were to get the Marriott card. Is this a good deal? We'd like to pay for as much as we can with points and I stay with Marriott for work multiple times a year, so it doesn't seem like a bad idea.

Thanks in advance for the help. I'm still somewhat new to this and I'm hoping to avoid any significant mistakes in using my points.