Originally Posted by
rogo
Saving money is only true if you were going to book that stay anyway.
If you talk yourself into a more expensive stay because you have the credit, you didn't save money. This is so basic and it's the very fallacy they're exploiting.
Originally Posted by
happy10345
yes!!
so for a really small subset of people they legitimately would stay at ultra luxury hotels…but for most it is going to cost them more. My point is that Chase can’t possibly make this card profitable with that tiny subset. Amex is totally different since Resy is very easy to use and the hotels on there are way cheaper
Very key points and a much more sober reflection on how to value the benefits.
The way I mostly approach these credits (including the Amex Plat ones) are as a "bonus" if I can get a nicer stay for the same or less money.
i.e. -Trip to London next month. I know where I would stay and at what price. Then checking FHR/THC on Amex, I saw a nicer hotel for the same money I would have paid anyway., once the credit is applied. That makes the credit valuable for me. But it is NOT a complete value of $300 in my mind.
I have found that occasionally both can be true - a nicer experience and a real savings over what I would have paid. Weekends in DC in off seasons can be great. But again, these are for trips I would take anyway.
Similarly, if I use the $100 credit for dinner at the hotel, I value it at whatever I would have otherwise spent at dinner. And I don't often have $100 dinners. So the real value is more like $30-$40.