comptalk

Debatable.

mikesyr18

Indeed. I would say 1 cpp is about average at this time.

Delta miles are useless and transfer 1:1; AMEX has the worst Jet Blue transfer ratio at 4:3, and neither Marriott or Hilton have points worth anything when transferred from a card.

Unless you're some kind of guru who flies internationally often (not most of us), the points are worth .07-1.0 cpp each.

halamadrid

If you are unable to get > $0.01 p/MR point or your travel/spending/lifestyle do not allow you to get >$0.01 then I'd say that's a clear indication that you are in the wrong rewards ecosystem and that is perhaps the root of your dilemma. Card companies are focused on profitability and that requires them to tinker with what customer behavior they decide to reward (one can agree or disagree with this of course and I'm not saying I support this). Depending on where you fall within this varying behavior spectrum will determine how rewarding a particular rewards ecosystem is for you. When the changes to Marriott happened my initial reaction was that I was now misaligned and needed to leave the ecosystem, but then I took a second look to see if I could realign and still get value from the program. When I did this, I found that by realigning I could indeed get really good value so I sort of doubled down. The Amex realignment that you mention really worked for me on the Gold side, but not on the Platinum side so I dropped that one.

As a side note, I constantly do the same evaluation with Hilton and haven't found a good alignment so I stay away from that ecosystem. However, I read plenty of people here that are getting great value from Hilton and I believe them and in some ways feel a sense of benign envy and congratulate them for being in the Hilton sweet spot. I'd say just keep evaluating and find your sweet spot in terms of rewards value for each ecosystem. You can also always park temporarily in the cash back ecosystem while you evaluate to maintain a certain sense of certainty on your returns.

mia

I am . I explain what I do, which is based on the value of the points for me.

mikesyr18

Right, but that's not most people, which is what I also stated in my point.

JHake10

• JetBlue is a revenue based program and you'll rarely get out sized value. Unless you're topping off an account why would you transfer? Might as well book through CSR portal which is a revenue ticket where you'll get more TrueBlue points on that ticket.
• I agree Hyatt is a better hotel program than anything AMEX offers. I would never want to transfer Chase or AMEX points 1:1 to Marriott. Or transfer AMEX points 1:1 to Hilton. Hyatt is the best transfer partner Chase has in my opinion.
• Delta is weak. However, Chase until recently never offered any transfer bonuses (1 so far with BA). I rather transfer my points to VS (more so with a 30% bonus ongoing) and book Delta One from USA-Asia for 47k (60k without the transfer bonus). Or ANA Round trip F 86k (110k without the transfer bonus). United charges 110K ONE WAY.
  • Southwest like JetBlue is a revenue based program. You'll rarely get out sized value. You can just use your points to book a revenue ticket and then collect points (you can actually book WN through the Chase/Expedia by calling).
  • I agree, United is a solid option. However, with the recent devaluation they no longer have an award chart (partner rates are unaffected ... for now). At this rate United will be just like Delta.
• I agree, Hilton is a weak option and a waste of transferring points (unless you're topping off an account).

Chase lost Korean which was an amazing option.

mikesyr18

Even with the 2:1 MR to Hilton, it's still a weak transfer partner (It's not 1:1 anymore).

You can book SW and JB through the Chase portal at 1.25 cpp or 1.50 cpp, but I'm not aware of any portal you can book through with AMEX that gives increased point value.

Unless you're flying internationally, AMEX's goal is for you to get < 1 cpp on any transfers... Even if you're transferring to Delta or Jet Blue, you still have to pay the dumb excise tax that no other program passes on to their cardholders, lessening the value more.

JHake10

I agree. AMEX Points get out sized value when redeeming for international business and first class trough transfer partners (and their hotel options are weak). With the exclusion of Mint on select routes, JetBlue and Southwest are economy flights. As mentioned, booking economy awards with Chase is much better.

Adelphos

1) If you are primarily looking to book for domestic travel, and you are ignoring international transfer partners (like mikesyr18 seems to be), then MR is a definitely a weaker program than Chase, which allows you to transfer to United, to Hyatt and to book via the portal (though I value Delta at 1.2 cents per mile). Very few people would argue this

2) Amex points are still worth a minimum of 1.25 cents per point as you can cash them out to a brokerage account via the Schwab Platinum.

3) For domestic travel, you may be better off with a "Cash Trifeca" of Citi Double Cash (2% cashback on everything), Capital One Savor or Uber Visa (4% cash back on dining) and the Amex Blue Cash Preferred (6% back on groceries, 3% back on Uber/Lyft, etc).

Adelphos

If you don't travel much with points or miles, the obvious answer here is to open up a Charles Schwab Platinum and transfer your 2 million AMEX points to $25,000 in cash

Beltway2A

4x on Membership Rewards gets me significantly more international F/J than 5% cash back. Based on my travel patterns, I'd be getting, at best, half as much value with simple cash back.

Gig103

The Costco Anywhere Visa card is another excellent cash back card. $0 AF if you belong to Costco, 3% travel/restaurants cash back, 4% fuel cash back. It also has the added bonuses of having no FTF and tap-to-pay.

Adelphos

On the broader point, I am focusing on Chase right now as I can earn at least 3x UR points basically on all spend
- 3x on dining, which is substantial for me
- 3x on "travel", which for me is substantial monthly Uber/lyft/taxi spend
- 5x on Freedom bonus categories
- 3x on all other spend via the Chase Freedom Unlimited as I am in the first year on that card

The travel category is big for me, AMEX doesn't offer anything as broad

I do keep the AMEX platinum primarily for the perks (SkyClubs as a regular Delta flier for work, Uber Credits, concierge, occasional PP/Centurion Club), which pay for themselves. I also use it for airfare spend and occasional regular spend.

IMO the Amex Platinum and CSR are good complements instead of substitutes

I will explore the AMEX Gold at some point, but both of these ecosystems offer something for everyone if you are into earning and redeeming points for travel

zorbachs

I use it for gas. The only downside is that you can only cash out your cash back once a year. I use the BofA duo (cash rewards and premium rewards) if I want to focus on cash back, which I may start doing at this point. I'm sitting on over 600k MR points without a large trip planned anytime soon.

Kacee

They're worth .02 to me. Love the flexibility.