bubu-SNA

I'm @ a quandary...I love collecting MR & and recently UR points through business spend. The amazing values on award airfares make me grin every time I redeem for a $25K F award based on $150K or $200k in spend. With that said, I'm sitting on 7 digit delta, ba, and united millage balances...not to mention 7 digit MR & UR.

What's worth more to you, 4 million points...or $80K (based on 2% cashback)? Keeping in mind you already sitting on more miles than you can reasonably use over the next 3+years. Does anyone know if card issuers 1099 you on credit card cash back rebates? I'm under the impression that cash rebates are not taxable but I could be wrong.

mia

No, but if you earn the rewards through business spending the cash rebate should reduce your deductible expense by 2%. (This aspect really should be decided after discussion with your accountant, not based on amateur opinions.)

bubu-SNA

...a very good point regarding the 2% decrease in deductible expenses. Will have to chat with my accountant this week.

garykung

In this instance, IRS tends to target toward cash rebates rather than points.

We all know that point carries no cash value in theory (but in fact it does).

I think you have nothing to worry about.

But I will weigh 4 Million MR is more than $80K (as it is difficult to get 4 million MRs).

mlad1101

I don't get why the belief that getting 4 million MR is difficult, would make them worth more



Back to OP. Of course with specific redemptions you can get way more than $80k out of them, but it really boils down to if you travel enough use that many and get a decent $ value out of them. If not, the cash which can be used on anything and everything may make more sense.

Landice

4 Mil for me please. It's worth more than $80K, but the issue is finding the time to spend it.

bubu-SNA

...well based on feedback and an e-mail from my accountant, I'm shifting spend to a newly opened 2% brokerage card for now. I'm subscribing to the thought that points devalue (be it MR, UR, or airline miles), where as the cash can be invested or spent .

It would take 3+ years traveling international J & F itineraries on a monthly basis to drain the current point balances. Its pointless to accumulate & hoard even more points when I can't spend them fast enough.

illinidad

With that many points, why not make substantial gifts to some of your favorite charities? Lots of folks could use them for otherwise unaffordable but needed medical trips. Make a Wish also comes to mind.

af fp

It is quite surprising that you managed to let millions of points and miles accumulate.

I have always acted based on the idea that points pay no interests and devaluate very fast. Also they often expire after a while. As a result, my awards being usually around 50-100,000 miles, I aim at not having more than 200,000 miles idle at a single time and use free flights when I can. Adding up all my accounts right now, I have about 200k.

Doing this, my miles seem really valuable to me. If you have millions of miles idle, make sure you never buy a ticket on your own dime (professional trips are different of course), unless the paid ticket is a huge bargain compared with the miles. Remember your MR points can also be used to pay for travel...

eastofthemississippi

I would worry less about MR (because they can be liquidated on amazon, watches and other things that hold value, albeit at a lower rate) and more about the miles in struggling airlines

like your ba balance just got hit 30% or so with avios. ON a 1.2mil balance that is upward of $4000 in value

garykung

In theory, if there is no bonus involved, a person would need to spend $4 million to get the MR.

So?

TommyC80

Since the OP is in MR First, he would also theoretically get 800K more MR points if he used them all for travel spend.

One of the nice features of using MR points for airline tickets/hotel stays (on top of the 20% bonus MR points) is that you continue to earn redeemable points/miles and elite credit in your air/hotel program.

That said, since the OP's issue was not having the time to use them all then it makes the point moot - but it's would be a great situation for someone with a lot of time on their hands!

redtop43

I have a 2% cashback card from Fidelity. In practice, my MR points are worth somewhere between 1.25 and 1.75 cents to me. Yes, I get some bonus categories, annual spend bonuses, etc. I'm on much smaller scale than the OP; I spend maybe $30-40K a year. Many of my points come from signup bonuses, but I could get those anyway.

In practice though, I know that if I spend $40K in a year, that $800 in cash will disappear. I won't notice it. But somehow the points seem like a nice goodie. You also never know what they will be useful for. Last summer I booked a trip on DL, and my wife's account was 13K miles short for her ticket. (I had enough in my account for both tickets, but I wanted to use hers up.) It was nice to have the MR points available. If I decide on the spur of the moment that I want a couple of J class tickets to Europe, I know I can get them. I mostly use my points on Air Canada, and I know that every year I will get a bonus during their year-end transfer promotion.

Now, if I had a one-time chance to get 4 million points or $80K in cash, it might be a different story. $80K is real money, something I'd notice. In this case, I might "fritter away" the 4M points.

I know that for me personally, with my spend/travel/redemption patterns, the points available as a "slush fund" are more meaningful to me than cash in the bank that I probably will not notice.

Kagehitokiri

uh, week at necker island worth $30K for 1MM
(and this year only you might be able to get branson's residence temple house)

plus RTW F and SQ suites (get 2 for double bed)

DelrayChris

Points, hands down.

You can convert your MR to *Wood and use those for your hotel stays that you will need while burning your current bucket of DL, UA, and BA FF points.

Enjoy!!