Originally Posted by
moe8555
And since you're using Expedia as the base case, I'll just add that you can usually do even better than that via other OTAs stacked with coupons, cashback portals, other OTA loyalty programs and/or discounted gift cards. Also many less-known or foreign OTAs may offer even greater discounts. And that's before even taking into account a direct booking, which in some cases may also be the best deal.
In other words, booking via AmexTravel for 5X is very rarely the "best deal," unless you typically find yourself redeeming MR at 4cpp+ or are close to a redemption threshold and need to top off.
With that said, their best-price guarantee does seem to be quite robust (I believe you can even apply the guarantee against a price reduction on Amex Travel itself).
Interesting points.
1) I was not aware Amex Travel had a best price guarantee. So if I can find a better price for the hotel room on a different website, they will honor it? Does this require a painstaking process of reaching out and filing a claim?
2) Can you let me know which other OTAs you are referring to that tend to have better discounts than Expedia plus stacking? I know Hotels.com gives back 10% but only if you book 10 nights, which I do not anticipate doing in the 2021 calendar year so it is kind of useless for me. Mind dropping some names/ideas so I can look into these other OTAs?
Originally Posted by
gengar
That's not what OP was basing calculations on - he was substituting his personal redemption use case (again, presumably 3URs x 1.5cpp) into the effective rate calculation for his travel purchases via expedia. I'm not going to continue to speak for OP and sidetrack this on a discussion of individualized valuations though, if OP wants to respond to this he can.
Thanks for speaking on my behalf =). Indeed, I was using the 4.5x since with a CSR you get 3.0x back on travel, worth 1.5x when redeeming for travel/hotels directly which is what I end up using UR for.