Originally Posted by
SP03
I didn't want to make this too complicated. I was simply responding the post above that said all the hotels are too expensive for them to consider. My chart illustrated that here are plenty of hotels out there, even in cities like NYC, that you can save by booking through Chase or Amex Travel. I don't think you can book a comparable hotel in NYC for anywhere near the total price I paid (after the statement credit), so that saving should absolutely be factored into your AF decision.
im not questioning how you made your calculations. you know how you arrive at them, so you know what the numbers stand for
instead, my point is most likely readers will look at your daily cost column, which is after the fhr credits, to get a feel if the room rates are high/low. but that number is misleading. your daily cost subtracts the full credit amount, which isnt right if hotel credits are being counted against the AF. let me put it in some numbers
john applies for the card because he could use the lululemon, resy and fhr credits. he values them at $150, $300 and $445 respectively ($895 total), which offsets the af nicely. to be clear, the $445 includes the benefits (breakfast, $100 hotel credits, etc) that comes with fhr booking. throughout the year, john paid for 2 separate fhr stays that costed him $500 and $600 respectively, so his out of pocket cost is $500 after the fhr credits. however, the "real" cost of the rooms to john is $945 because he prepaid and set aside $445 for his hotel stay when paying his af
in your case, the value of all the credits are more than the af, so the amount above the af are savings, and a portion of the savings can be attributed to fhr stays. so the real cost of the rooms to you will be your out of pocket costs for the rooms minus the portion of the savings can be attributed to fhr stays