Originally Posted by
emcampbe
So with Chase Travel seemingly charging more than booking direct for hotels, trying to figure out how to get the most value out of the hotel credits for booking via Chase Travel.
As an example, I’ve got a two night stay in LA area in Feb. there’s a very conveniently located [non-Edit] Kimpton where I was thinking I could use the 2026 $250 credit, which should work as it’s an IHG hotel. I can also stack the $100 off $600 on Chase Travel, and it’s a .02 cent point boost also, so figure I could pay the amount above that using points.
That said, I have a rate direct through IHG that is ~$185 less (AAA rate) then Chase Travel wants for the same room, and even the general rate (non-member, non-AAA) is $143 less. These rates are all flexible, ie, cancel available until 2 days before. So presuming I’m using both hotel credit and Chase Travel offer, it’s really only $165 less than credits that should be $350 in value. I don’t foresee another $600 booking before the end of the month where I’ll be able to use the Chase Travel offer. While I will likely have other stays where I can use the $250 credit, it’s hard to know if value will be better elsewhere, as how would one know if the next eligible hotel one might book has a rate closer to the direct booking rate (or for that matter, whether the difference might be more).
Wondering what other people’s thinking is on using these kinds of credits and when it might be ideal, given it seems that Chase seems to frequently charge more than the direct rates. Airfare might be a more slam dunk use of the $100 off $600, but obviously the hotel credit can’t be used that way.
I think I'd approach it as you mentioned. Use the $600 on airfare to get $100 back. I fly UA so it's easy to use the flight credits if I need to cancel/ change destinations. As for the Edit credit, I say use it on something worth of value for you later this year. The cash rate seems better for your 2 day stay. The new perk of the $500 Edit credit now is that we can use it all year long and not bound to every 6 months. I'm sure you can find better value on a property to use them on.