elg26

I have a Morgan Stanley Amex Card that I was able to get since I have a separate brokerage account

They give the option of basically trading Points for $ that would be deposited into my Brokerage account.

You can do different denominations, but basically all are 1 point to $0.01. So basically I can trade in 100,000 points for $1000.

I see if I used my points for say GC to stores or restaurants, it is at this same 1 point to $0.01 ratio..... (hotels are worse ratios)....

So basically...is it worth it?

mia

Points are potentially worth twice that amount, or more, if transferred to airlines and redeemed for otherwise expensive tickets. See this thread:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...giftcards.html

richardinmotion

I have about 50,000 MR points. I don't know much about what I can do with them.... normally I would just transfer them 1:1 to my Delta Skymiles account. Is there a smarter alternative? I do book hotels and cars frequently, but I pay with MOM and typically seek out the best deals possible for the smallest cash out of pocket.

bajrbajr

I wouldn't transfer them anywhere until there was a use for them. Keep your options open by leaving them with AMEX until you have a need for them in some other program.

I keep them parked in Amex Until I have a need for them (usually at BA or DL) unless there is a transfer bonus I can't resist...

Totoro

The value derived from your MR points will depend on what you need from them. Transferring to BA for last-minute AA or AS short-haul redemption will yield one of the highest cents/point value. However, this advice is worthless for someone who needs premium cabin redemption from Asia to South America.

Without some sort of defined need, one cannot offer you good advice. Unless you have definite travel plans, I would urge you to refrain from transferring points anywhere as you cannot reverse the transfer.

darrvao777

I have a 30k purchase coming up

I can afford to pay in full but it would make finances a bit tight for a month or two

Would you guys recommend taking the offer of 0% financing for 12 months from the retailer or paying in full and getting 30000 MR points from using my Amex? Thanks!

Bigserver1

I don't personally value MR that highly, because I don't live in a Delta hub, and their hotel transfer options are awful.

Others say they value MR points at 2-2.5 cents per point, so it all depends on how you use them. If I could have 30,000 MR points, or 0% for 12 months, I'd take the year at 0%.

guear

If you fly alot of short distance flight on AA/US, BA miles is the best option usually. But with the occasional bonus like Jetblue right now, it can be close to or more than 2cpm.

mia

You may wish to review this recent thread which gives a range of values depending on how you redeem. My own thumbnail summary is in post 20:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/23369380-post20.html

Iridium7777

for some background:
i have a decent amount of amex points that i am/was saving up for 2 trips for 2 people; my idea was to go to Australia or somewhere around there and use a points service/adviser to get those elusive redemption rates of 5-15cent/mile.

typically for domestic points in coach -- which usually was always transferring to delta -- i was able to get around 2.2cent/mile.

now:
we're planning a vacation to mexico around thanksgiving and poking around while coach redemptions blow the first class ones are good @ 2.6c/mile, although they'll take up about 25% of my points.

what's your redemption threshold, would you take 2.6c/mile or hold out for something much much better?

mia

Yes.

This is probably the most frequently discussed issue on all of Flyertalk. I have never seen a redemption worth much more than this if the calculation is done rigorously. Dividing the MSRP of an airline ticket that I would never buy, by the number of miles redeemed, is a vast oversimplification which can allow people to convince themselves that they have realized $0.10 per mile.

Iridium7777

that's exactly what i was saving for: one of those $15000 tickets that i would never buy

i've placed my order, it actually came out closer to 2.7c/mile for the tickets, can't put a price on the memories is how i justified it

freyj6

I'm trying to decide whether it's worth getting into MR points or just sticking to UR.

After my current trip ends, I'll most likely be living in Austin, TX for the next few years and flying back and forth to Seattle a few times a year.

International travel is likely to include: Indonesia, Thailand, South America, Greece and maybe Japan or non-UK Europe. (In roughly that order of likeliness).

What's the best I can do with MR for this kind of travel? Are they worth focusing on vs UR?

Thanks!!

Daveyb101

This is still a bit of an incomplete hypothetical (though better than many we've seen).

A benefit of accruing MR in addition to UR would of course be to diversify your points collection and increase the number of different carriers/alliances from which you can search for available flights. If you value the flexibility of the increased options over getting the cheapest possible flights, or remaining loyal to a particular airline or alliance, then you should definitely include MR -- Assuming, of course, you plan to accrue enough points in each program to provide a large enough balance to actually do something with.

Your cheapest AUS-SEA option (i think) is to use BA avios to fly the nonstop AS flight (in Y). While BA is a transfer partner with both UR and MR, MR is devaluing its transfer ratio soon, and so you'll be better off with UR there. Adding MR will give you access to Virgin America and Delta for that route.

For the international travels, depending on your specific destinations and preference for coach vs. premium cabins, you might find that Air Canada's aeroplan program (via MR) comes in slightly ahead of United in many instances.

Quite frankly, the biggest consideration for me would be which program offers better earning potential based on my spend patterns. If most of your purchases are travel and dining, you'll get better value from the CSP. If you have a lot of gas and grocery spend, the Amex Everyday Preferred card would beat out the CSP. Non-bonus spend goes on my Everyday Preferred card as well. Utilize the different bonus categories to maximize your total points balance and you'll likely be miles ahead of where you'd be otherwise.

freyj6

Okay thanks that's really helpful. Let me clarify a bit more.

My spending is likely going to be very low for the next few years as I'll be doing a lot of budget living/travel. I'm big on eating healthy so I'll likely spend around $400 a month on groceries. Other than that, I likely won't drive for a while, will live close to city centers and won't taxi a ton, will likely occasionally eat out and pay for drinks, and then have some misc expenses like sports leagues, internet and random stuff.

My current card set up is Freedom, Discover It, CSP, Sallie Mae and BCE. Considering Every Day Preferred (like you mentioned). Because of my low spending, it makes no sense to have both CSP and EDP.

There are three major considerations here:

1. Can I get a value >1.5 or so. If that's the case the extra ~2% on groceries will make it worth the annual fee and it will be a better misc spending card that Double Cash.

2. Is it worth the hassle. 30 transactions monthly may be something that I have to actively think about.

3. Can I use all the points? Even with low spending I'm likely to accumulate at least $500 worth of travel per year. That's easily doable by itself, but I'll only be using points when I can get good value out of them. So if only occasional flights are valuable, it might not be worth it.

Finally, I just spent a bunch of time on Nomadlist.com sorting through possible cities. These aren't set in stone, but I've refined my possibilities. In rough likelihood of visiting (after current trip ends).

Chaing Mai/Phucket/Bangkok, Thailand
Cordoba/Buenos Aires, Argentina
Medellin, Colombia
Bali, Indonesia
Greece
Prague, Czek Republic