killerz298

I have about 200k Chase UR points that I can transfer out to airline partners. I don't take many flights however I do have some things coming up. I plan on taking 2 domestic Southwest flights in the near future. Does it make sense to use the UR points for this? The 2 flights I am looking at total around 30,000 points. Am I better off selling the UR points and paying for the flights in cash (about $265 each)? Should I wait for some international flight (perhaps next year) to use them on? Is that a more economical use of the points? Should I sign up for the Southwest 50,000 point offer for $69 annual fee and save the UR? I am still quite a noob to all this. Any advice would be appreciated.

Jaimito Cartero

I wouldn't convert to WN points at that price level.

The best things about points and miles is being able to take a trip you'd never pay cash out of pocket for at list price.

I used miles to "buy" my daughter a post graduation present of flights from Costa Rica, to Japan in First Class. A month in Japan, and then off to Indonesia, Hong Kong, US and returning to Costa Rica.

Given the number of UR points you have, I could almost do this trip for two people, if redeemed on the right airline. Sure, some flights we had to settle for Business class, but if you actually considered the retail prices, the trip would be $30,000.

Flying JAL F to Japan is a great experience.

jjmiller69

Becareful about selling points. Chase forum has threads about being shutdown and points taken away for selling points and doing MS spending. So using them for overseas usually has the best return value. After saying that I use them mostly for purchasing flights in the US. So each person has to decide what's best for them.

Thunderroad

I agree. Now, if you're really cash-strapped then that changes the calculation and saving some money on domestic flights you have to take by cashing in points can make sense. But if these points are at all "discretionary income" to you, then the best value and most enjoyable use is long-haul on a good airline in first class. And the best F one can fly, whether using URs or other kinds of points or cash for that matter is the Singapore A380 LAX-NRT-SIN. If you're not based in LAX, I believe you can book connecting flights to and from there on UA using as part of your SQ ticket. If you book online at SQ's site, you get a 15 percent discount.

Of course, before transferring your URs to SQ or any other airline, check to make sure the trip you desire is available using SQ points.

If you want to do more than simply fly in F round-trip, Singapore is a nice enough city in which to spend two or three days, and certainly perfectly safe, English-speaking and manageable for someone inexperienced with overseas travel. If you want to be more adventuresome, Thailand is one of many great destinations, continuing on from Singapore.

If you do decide to fly Singapore, the Singapore forum here at FT is a good source of information and of help if you have questions.

killerz298

I am a short dude and don't much mind coach flying. Money is not really an issue for me but I do like saving when I can. Does it make sense to use more of the points for a first class flight when I can get more use out of them for something else? I am based out of NY.

Jaimito Cartero

Have you flown real international F on a really good carrier? If not, try it at least once, and let me know if you think it's only about the seat width.

The other thing, is the difference between coach mileage and J or F FT'er isn't that great.

killerz298

I have only flown international twice and both times were coach. I'm trying to plan a trip for next year somewhere. Perhaps China or Japan.

84fiero

I also don't mind flying coach even for long trans-pacific flights and would rather take more trips in coach using X amount of miles than fewer in business or first. Well, that and my leisure trips are all with the family so I have two others to use the miles towards. Other folks like to only redeem for premium cabins. Do whatever you want - at the end of the day they're your miles and your travel experiences so do what makes you happy.

As for your Southwest trips... what I generally do is if paying cash out of pocket is affordable, and there isn't something else I would prefer to use those funds towards at the moment, I'll just buy the ticket. (On the other hand, never using miles/points [hoarding] isn't necessarily wise so at some point I'll redeem in any case.)

Getting the WN Visa may be worthwhile at some point if they suit some of your air travel needs - not sure if you'd have time to get the card, earn, and have the points deposited to your Rapid Rewards account depending how soon these upcoming trip(s) are. The flexibility of the Rapid Rewards program has come in handy for us, it definitely has some value for domestic trips.

Personally, I'd think about what other future trips you might want to take, particularly international flights where you'll likely realize greater value when transferring UR to one of the full service international airline FFPs. See how many points it would take and then if you want to save some out of pocket costs right now, do the math to decide if you'd rather save your UR points for those future trips or transfer some now. I'd err on the side of waiting unless the cash savings today is really important for you - just my two cents though.

Of course if you don't fly much, there are some hotel transfer options for UR but I think in most cases the value won't be worth it compared to airline transfer options. I have also transferred UR to top off my Amtrak account as there are some good value redemptions on Amtrak, at least for me.

When you mention "selling" UR points, hopefully you're just talking about redeeming on the UR travel site for flights, etc. rather than some sort of sale to another person. While redeeming on the UR site is not a good value option compared to transferring to a good rewards program, it's at least part of the UR program. Selling your UR points to another person isn't, and can get your UR account shut down and your UR points forfeited. (Transfers to your spouse/domestic partner's UR account or to their rewards program, however, are permitted by Chase. But transferring to anyone else is not.)

killerz298

Thanks for the advice. My first trip on SW is February and the second is in April. The spend is $2k so I can do that easily. If I ordered the card and did the spend it would still take me a week or so and the price is really good right now for the February one. Is it possible to purchase with money but then apply points at a later date? Most likely not...

Another thought I had, I do have friends and family taking international flights not using points but with cash. I could always use my points and buy the tickets for them at the retail rate correct? No risk in that like flat out sale of the points right?

jjmiller69

If you decide to go to Thailand we've gone twice in the last 5 years. All in coach with no problem at 5'10". Last January we spent a week at the Sheraton in Hua Hin and loved it. Went to town for $5 and had about a 2# Lobster for 2 and 2 drinks for $19.00. Beach and hotels were great. Lots of great info plus people who live there in the Thailand (Asia) forum.

killerz298

I'd love to go there but am concerned about all the crap that has been going on there recently. Especially with those 2 tourists killed on the beach. I was probably going to wait it out before I went there.

So I did some pricing and using the points for my domestic SW flight would only get me 1.72 cents a point. On United for coach vs 1st class to China it looks like coach gets me about 2.44 cents a point while business class is 2.955 cents a point in value. I have seen people posting upwards of 4 or 5 cents a point for business travel to Europe/Asia. I assume they are through different partners?

aBroadAbroad

Since your query specifically concerns UR, your post has been relocated to the dedicated Chase forum for further feedback, where it is likely to be merged with one of the ongoing discussions.

If you've not already read it, you might check out the http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/chase...mes-rules.html sticky at the top of this forum.

Good luck.

~Moderator, Information Desk

killerz298

Thanks. I'll check out some of the posts in that forum.

flyer4512

UR newbie just planning ahead as I will close my INK card before the next AF is due and realize I need to transfer about 80K UR out prior to closing.

I have read some of the great value I can get on international flights using UR points but I only fly domestic and have no desire to just take a trip because I would be getting more bang for the point.

That being said is there any better value for me than transferring the UR points to Southwest as I have companion pass so 80K UR is worth 160K SW.

I don't see much value in any other transfer option but I want to make sure I'm not missing something.



Thnaks

rgdave

killerz, if you're thinking of going to China and you have 200,000 Chase UR points, the BEST use of your points is two first class tickets on Korean from JFK to Shanghai or Beijing. It's 80,000 per ticket one way. That will eat up most of your points. So between now and then, pick up some other card and make the minimum spend that will give you enough points for a coach class one way return. (the coach return on KE is 35,000 miles, so to do it with Korean you'd need to pick up another 30,000 Chase points.)

Chase points are VERY valuable. Yes, most people on here value points at about two cents. But they big payoff is for premium classes, something you'd probably never pay for. I used 80,000 Chase UR points for a first class ticket from JFk to Beijing next March. The actual ticket cost (if bought) was $10,780. So my points redemption was worth 13 cents per mile.

Or if you can't accrue more than your 200,000 Chase points, I'd suggest suggest redeeming for two KE business class tickets one way (62,500 miles each) and 2 economy returns (35,000 each). You'll still have the trip of a lifetime. And from JFK, you'll be flying on the A380. Redeeming on KE can be a little tricky, so feel free to PM me if you want me to walk you through it.