I have 100k hilton points but looking at redemptions, it doesn't seem much to get excited about.

Wow, I now have a use for my Amtrak points!!

Hyatt actually has decent lower-tiered properties in Asia that I can use for leisure trips at 15k and under. Bali Hyatt is 5k a night, and that to me is a good value.

You can't do a lot with 1-100k UA that will present a better value than Hyatt, but those F trips on LH and others hold tremendous value.

I think having a chase 2 for 1 option to Hilton is nice for top offs -- you can do it with Amex Rewards too, by sending them through Virgin Atlantic. But it's really the 3 for 1 for Choice that makes me keep the Amtrak credit card, even with the 25k per year limit. It's a nice option have and choice are kind of tough to get otherwise.

There are also some pretty cool redemptions on Amtrak. Maybe you don't see yourself ever wanting a cross-country bedroom on an Amtrak train, but you can do it by transferring chase UR if you wanted to, which is sort of what I mean by options -- some day, you might!

quick question, can I transfer points from my Hyatt to UA 1:1?

-AND- you need to have spent $200 on Amtrak during the year to qualify using the credit card method. Holding the credit card alone is not sufficient to make transfers.

Yes, right. Though you can work around this.

If your home airport is something like CSG (Columbus GA) UA is a worthless transfer since the only airlines that fly there are Delta and AA :D

I have to agree with whoever posted saying UR points is best place for your points. I used apprx 120k UR points to purchase 2 roundtrip txs to VCE. Outbound, most important overnight segment, was in business and return in economy.
Each tix set me back just over $1k.
Econ booking alone would have been around $800.

Now I get a flat Swiss bed on the out bound, econ on the way back during the day when I don't need a bed anyway and I earn miles/status all the way!!

Not bad. I think... (someone is prob about to tell me they got a flight to SIN for $3 return in F...)

Keep Chase UR points as UR points ( or AMEX MR Points as MR Points ) have some risks though.

CHASE could cancel your card/cards unexpectedly and you will lose all your points.
( See the other thread that Chase suddenly close all his cards without forewarning )

You could also lose your points just by paying a bit late. ( Unlikely unless you are seriously late though )

While UA can also cancel your MP Account for no reason, we don't generally hear UA closing accounts unless you violate some major rules of UA.


But if your credit is excellent, you don't churn cards frequently, and believe Chase has no reason to suddenly review you or close your accounts, then I do agree that UR points are a better form as it gives you flexibility to use points towards the right program for the redemption you want.

Do the points have any value for redemption through Ultimate Rewards?

That is, instead of transferring to an airline program, use the points directly to book flights through Chase?

Do the points ever expire?

Yes. Please see this thread for a discussion of the fundamentals of Ultimate Rewards, but note that some specifics vary by card. Chase Sapphire vs Sapphire Preferred etc.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/credi...ts-thread.html

I just transferred 22K UR points to Hyatt, getting a $650 a night room in Paris.

In fairness though, I would never have actually PAID $650 a night to stay there. I would have paid $150 on Priceline for a $300 room. In fact, I only booked that Hyatt because I am booking 4 other nights there from the Hyatt card promotion (my wife and I each got a Hyatt card).

In general I think it's almost always better to use points for something other than hotels, and book hotels using Priceline's "Name Your Own Price."

I transferred 23k to Hyatt to get a $617 room in HK. I probably would have spent that much for the room, whereas for some of the F flights on UA, I never would have paid the list price. I think UA and Hyatt both represent great options for UR transfers.

23k points for one night in a hotel?