Originally Posted by
sethMCOflyer
First, I call BS on there being a difference. That poster seems to be using a very small sample size and isn't actually comparing to Expedia (read their previous posts) except in one instance when they were comparing pretax costs at a hotel, they should get the after tax prices and compare.
Second, if there is a 10% discount we're still at 0.0136 cents per point compared to Amex at half of that.
The first comment you are dead wrong.
What you see on the first showing of UR pricing is also PRE TAX. You just need to compare that with what Expedia shows - apple to apple so to speak - before select your choice - THEN you will see what your REAL INCLUSIVE PRICE on the UR booking - Guess what? In a hotel booking, it not only adds Taxes, but often inexplicable %, even for similar properties at literally the same street, at less than $5 difference, the UR portal's tax charges could be quite varied on these 2 properties. I am talking straightly on UR site itself.
Note that in some locales in foreign countries, the taxes are based on "stars" the city regulatory agencies governed the lodging industry - so that might be part of it. I cannot explain this scenario on properties in Japan though - because the local taxes while based by on the level of hotel rate (below or above 10000 JPY) - said taxes are to be paid separately at the property, NOT incl in the UR pricing. There are even not so small prints to inform you such.
Just by comparing the rates between what UR shows and what Expedia shows - both BEFORE taxes, there are padding all around at over 90% of the international stuff I have checked.
Domestically, the padding is much smaller because large padding not only is much easier to avoid, BUT also much more noticeable by far many users due to by and large, people travel far more domestically than internationally.
As for sample size? How about properties in 3 Continents? Asia, Australia and Europe - would that broad enough for you? And not just for hotels, but also foreign airlines, from the well-known to the much unknown to an ordinary US-based customer, and finally cruises. Are these samples across products and geographic locations are still too small to you?
The bottom line is, there is a SYSTEMATIC APPROACH to pad the pricing shown on UR portal. Good for you if you feel it is good enough to accept that deceptive pricing, but not good for many who are more educated and informed.
Here is an example on 2 cruises I booked 4 weeks ago, for upcoming sailings both in April - back to back but with different lines.
The Celebrity Millemium Apr 27 from Tokyo to Vancouver - UR phone booking dept gave me identical prices as Celebrity so I booked with UR. Incidentally, the booking NEVER shows up in My Trip on UR portal, but the minute the UR phone agent booked it, he gave me the Celebrity booking number and it could be pulled up BEFORE I even got Chase confirmation email. The agent said it would show up under My Trip in a few hours. IT NEVER DOES. I dont care as long as Celebrity sees the fully paid booking.
The Diamond Princess Circle Japan cruise Apr 19 - UR phone agent gave me a price almost 20% higher than what Princess site showed. On top of that, our cruise agent has $100 OBC for each passenger that UR does not. Further on top of that, AMEX has a $100 statement credit on $500 or more booking made directly with one of the 5 or 6 brands under Carnival Corp. All added together, there is simply Zero advantage to use the UR pts to pay for this cruise. So I booked thru our cruise agent paid with 2 AMEX cards and got back 2x $100 statement credit, plus 2x $100 OBC.
Oh, just for the record - our upcoming flight to Japan is on AA award flying JL First class JFK-NRT and that has absolutely Zero relationship with UR pts nor the transfer.
Finally, a trip consists MANY Parts, not just the cross ocean J/F flights which actually are the easiest part if you are engaged enough and know how to do it.
On the second point, you are correct - you would still get 1.3ish on that redemption, just not as ADVERTISED BENEFIT of the CSR card or what Chase wants all CSR customers to believe. The % of occasions you get 100% benefit is very small.
But I would still advise you and anyone who want to use the so-called 1.5x benefit to book travel - DO HARD CALCULATION to see if your savings are good enough to use UR. That is not even accounted for the HASSLE you would encounter, should you have flight schedule changes or hotel not find your booking or any kind of mishap. Good luck to get things sorted with UR.
For immediate, simple trips, when the padding is acceptable to you, sure, use the UR to get your 1.3x or whatever. However cardholders should know the perils and not just blindly take what Chase advertises, as it is really just In Theory Only. Of course YMMV as always.