Originally Posted by
WasKnown
My point is two fold: you should not value FNCs at face value and your valuation of these points is too low for this spend to ever be worth it.
So in your opinion then, what is a fair value for the 85k cert, and how do you arrive at that value? You are also implying that the valuation for the 60k points at 0.6c/point is too high. So what value would you place on them? I'm honestly not being snarky with this question!
How much it costs to acquire the points is relevant to calculating one's return, but has no bearing on the value of the points when using them to buy a service. If the room I want costs $100 or 16,667 points, then the value of the points is 0.6c/point. How much I paid to acquire those 16k points doesn't change this. Of course in the ideal world I paid less than 0.6c/point to acquire them, or at least the same, so that I'm getting a good value for the money.
Originally Posted by
WasKnown
If you raise your valuation of these points, your alternative option (getting a Brilliant) becomes much more valuable. I realize you do not wish to go with this path because you are trying to streamline your account spend. However, you cannot ignore it as an option when valuing your return because it is what you could reasonably acquire the same benefits for in the open market. The context you provided does not change this. So long as you are looking at the return on this spend, you must look at what the alternate acquisition cost is for that return. Otherwise, you are using fake numbers that are not grounded in reality.
I understand where you're coming from, but fundamentally disagree with your position here. So let's agree to disagree on this point. I'm not sure there's any reason to keep going at it.
Originally Posted by
WasKnown
I think you have already received an answer to this question in this thread a few times. There is no reality where spending $60K on the Brilliant at a cost of $900 to you makes sense financially. People typically only play fees for credit card spend (3% is on the higher end) when they need help hitting the minimum spend requirement for a sign-up bonus as the return on spend here is significantly higher (typically double digits). Because you do not wish to churn (and churning doesn’t align with your goal here) there is little reason to pay this fee. The alternate options people provided you here all offer stronger returns than the Brilliant does (ie Hilton Surpass/Business, World of Hyatt, etc) but I still personally would not pay a 3% fee to spend on those cards.
Whether you’re willing to lose money on this spend to save time and effort for yourself is ultimately up to you. However, the financial rational you posted on the $60K spend is not accurate. You are certainly paying more than $30. By my estimates, you would be paying a few hundred dollars because that is your alternate scenario here.
Got it. Thank you for your perspective and time in responding to my question.