Originally Posted by
invisible
Do I understand correctly that in general, it is better to transfer points to the airline mileage account and book award ticket instead of booking that flight thru Chase UR portal?
I would summarize as:
UR:
- 1.5 cpm
- I haven't actually done any UR bookings myself but from reading the thread I get the idea they're not great to deal with if there are any issues post-booking
- functions as a paid ticket (earn elite-qualifying miles/points/spend/whatever), can still add FF# and get benefits
transfer to airline:
- may or may not be instant, and if your name doesn't match exactly on both sides then prepare for a world of fun
- variable cpm
- award travel is not elite-qualifying (except on VS, any others?)
- deal directly with the airline for any issues
- airline specific quirks? (e.g. con if there are benefits available on paid tickets but not award; or, pro if you have status that permits free redeposit flexibility)
so...
Transfer offers the potential for a higher monetary return, but this generally applies if you are redeeming for premium cabin long haul flights. It seldom applies on economy cabin domestic USA flights. There is no substitute for doing the arithmetic for each individual trip.
... you kinda have to weigh the factors on a case by case basis (cpm probably being the main one)