Originally Posted by
lleung1980
I have never booked travel via the chase portal; I always transfer my point to either UA, AF, or other airlines for booking. Am I doing this wrong? Often, the point is so much higher with the portal for the same flight. I do have the CSR card
it really depends. Often yes. Always, no. There are definitely situations where the portal can make more sense.
I’ve used the portal for situations where I want to reduce expense of a flight (ie, thought it cost too much) and awards were high - and also in cases (sometimes combined) when I knew I need the PQP that I wouldn’t get if I booked as an award (latter not really an issue with United now that awards earn PQP).
it can also be beneficial when booking independent hotels, where you can sometimes find lower prices and also earn higher rewards. And just today - I actually booked via the portal. It was a 1 night reservation at a Hilton that was ~$300 for the night - but Hilton was asking for 135K (yes, you read that right!). Booked through the portal at a bit under 20K. Not even close call today where the portal was the right way to go in this case.