STS-134

I stopped by a Chase branch a couple days ago to enroll in CPC. Interestingly, I started chatting with the Chase rep about Amex and about the article that is the topic of this thread, and he told me that when he called Amex to cancel his Plat shortly after the release of the CSR, Amex seemed entirely clueless about what was going on and what they were up against. To the Amex rep he spoke with, it seemed like it was just business as usual.

eajusa

Not knowing the particulars of his conversation I can't comment. However, when I cancelled the retention rep did everything by the book to try to keep me. He offered the best retention offer that Amex ever tried to entice me with...but I had made up my mind. I wasn't renewing unless I was offered enough points to completely offset the $450 AF without doing another required spend on the card. I was offered only $150 or if I spent $3K 20,000 MR points. I just finished spending $4K for the CSR and $2.5K on another new card.

GeorgeLopez

Absolutely. WN miles are worth more than skypesos. That is irrefutable.

GeorgeLopez

The subject of the thread is about the decline of AMEX. So it's just me who's not using them, it's apparently a lot of folks, and I'm providing reasons why that might be occurring.

I mean if you're an AMEX fanboy, obviously nothing I'm going to say is going to change that.

Explorer789

It has nothing to do with fanboyism. Like the other guy said, I think it is important to realize there are sweet spots in every program. Even if Skypesos are worthless compared to WN and other program, it doesn't mean they carry no value. It seems quite evident based on your previous comments that you are in a minority that are struggling to find good uses for MR, while the majority does not seem to have this same problem.

With regards to the topic, this more of a discussion on whether the prestige and benefits of the card justifies paying the high AF. The use of MR is simply a byproduct of having these cards.

GeorgeLopez

Not at all. It's about 50/50. Several people agreed with my comments, several didn't.

Troopers

Similarly, if you're a hater, you're going to hate and nothing is going to change that.


This.

In addition, I value Amex's 20 transfer partners. I have only transferred to a few of them but I value the flexibility/options because this "hobby" is very dynamic. I hate to be UR (or MR) point rich and then my preferred airline/hotel suddenly devalues it's program. Also, my travel criteria or goals may change. I aim for healthy point balances across the various programs. More transfer partners the better.

GeorgeLopez

I'm not necessarily a hater, I'm just pointing out the flaws. Earlier I posted that I've used the program to accumulate some KF miles. That being said, it's not as useful as the Chase UR program.

The posts that refuse to acknowledge the problems with MR and are just rah rah rah, are the posts that newbies should trust the least.

Troopers

Correct me if I'm wrong...my recollection is that you think many of Amex's 20 transfer partners are awful*. What flaw did you point out?

*to you for your needs

GeorgeLopez

That most of the travel partners and redemption rates are awful. That's a flaw in the program wouldn't you say? El Al Israel? If you can tell me with a straight face that you've transferred MR to El Al Israel I will concede the debate to you.

Troopers

Unfortunately, I know nothing about El Al Israel so no comment there.

And you don't think most of the UR travel partners and redemption rates are awful? Are you transferring to IHG?

GeorgeLopez

Chase UR partners are a SIGNIFICANT upgrade over AMEX MR. While I'm not transferring to IHG, I certainly am transferring to Hyatt. I just transferred in 100k UR to book the Park Hyatt Maldives for 8 nights on C&P. Tell me how you plan to get anywhere near that value by transferring AMEX MR to their hotel partners.

As far as airlines go, Chase UR clearly has AMEX MR beat.

Domestic Partners: Southwest, United (HUGE upgrade over Delta, Virgin America, and Jetblue)

International: It has KF just like AMEX but it also has Korean Air which has AWESOME redemptions.

Even TPG values Chase UR at a higher clip than AMEX MR.

Drop da mic!

kb9522

I think it depends on your earning style. For me, an overwhelming majority of my airline/hotel/car points come from flights/stays/rentals. Credit card bonuses are just that, bonuses. I have no expectation of value here. I use my airline cobranded card to earn AA miles and my AMEX to earn Hilton points. I'm just glad that there is way to earn bonus miles for my everyday purchases, bills, business meals/incidentals, etc. I don't think that expecting to be able to book an entire week long vacation with points earned solely through credit card spend is a reasonable expectation.

conde

I cannot agree that Chase UR Rewards partners are better than Amex MR. I have both CSR and the Amex Platinum card, and I am more likely to cancel CSR when the annual fee is due. I will concede that Chase UR has better hotel transfer options such as Hyatt. But even Hyatt, they are probably worth $.014-.018 per point (I think on average $.015-$.016 is fair). There are some opportunities, but it takes special planning to find the sweet spots. In your case, redemption for the Park Hyatt Maldives is an excellent way to make use of Hyatt points.

For airlines, Amex MR Asia Miles is a better transfer option than Korean Airlines or any other Chase UR transfer partner if traveling from North America to Southeast Asia. ANA also offers redemptions for fewer miles in business class if traveling on similar itineraries.

CSR may be have an advantage to some who want to redeem air or hotels at $.015, however I am not impressed with the value for that. There are much better redemption opportunities for premium carrier air travel through the transfer partners.

It really isn't important what bloggers value points at; most are just guestimates without much methodology. I value Chase UR points and Amex MR points the same (for use on airline transfer partners).

It really comes down to preference on issuer transfer partner options. Chase UR might be better for some; Amex MR will be better for others.

Troopers

It's awesome that you have found sweet spot redemption with Hyatt (but as you said, it's not always about inspiration travel a la WN) but that's not a consistent redemption. And you deflected my question, doesn't UR have awful transfer partners? UR having good travel partners doesn't preclude UR from having awful partners. What about the other UR transfer partners that you fail to mention? Wouldn't you say IHG, Marriott and others are awful?

Note, I don't think IHG and Marriott are awful transfer...I'm applying your MR logic to UR.

IHG? If you can tell me with a straight face that you've transferred UR to IHG I will concede the debate to you.

Does anyone, I mean anyone, transfer to Marriott? That is seriously awful.

See what I'm doing here...

Btw, ANA via MR is awesome too!

TPG values UR 0.2 CPP (or 10%) more than MR...I wouldn't classify that as SIGNIFICANT.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a MR fanboy nor am I a UR hater. I'm a CPC with many UR earning cards. As I said, I find UR and MR to be complementary. Both programs have their strengths and weaknesses.