Value of ThankYou vs. Chase UR
Apr 17, 2018, 9:23 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: NY
Programs: AA, KLM, United, Amex, Chase, Hilton
Posts: 262
Value of ThankYou vs. Chase UR
I am deciding if I should use Chase UR points (I have a sapphire reserve) or ThankYou points (I have a no fee ThankYou card) to book a hotel in Athens for 3 nights. Currently, Citi is running a promo that if you stay 2 nights or more, you can get $50 off your booking. With ChaseUR, I get a 33% discount bc of the Sapphire reserve, however with ThankYou points, there's no discount so 100 points = $1. The hotel I'm looking would come out to 44k ThankYou points + $30 in taxes (this includes the $50 promo, bc taxes were $80). The same hotel would be 30k Chase UR points. What do you guys think?
Apr 17, 2018, 10:00 am
#2
Join Date: Mar 2017
Programs: HHonors, TrueBlue, Delta SkyMiles, Hyatt Discoverist, Starwood Preferred Guest, American Airlines.
Posts: 2,035
When Citi does something, it's the cheapest way possible. Experienced Citi customers know what I'm talking about. It's no surprise TY rewards are not only the least valuable, but also it appears as if Citi has given up in general because it's too much for them to spend more than 1 penny on doing something for their customers.
Apr 17, 2018, 10:07 am
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: NY
Programs: AA, KLM, United, Amex, Chase, Hilton
Posts: 262
When Citi does something, it's the cheapest way possible. Experienced Citi customers know what I'm talking about. It's no surprise TY rewards are not only the least valuable, but also it appears as if Citi has given up in general because it's too much for them to spend more than 1 penny on doing something for their customers.
Apr 17, 2018, 10:27 am
#5
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Location: Miami, Mpls & London
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This depends on your redemption pattern.
If you want to Pay with Points (as in your hotel example) Chase is better because the points are worth $0.015 each (for Reserve cardholders), while the maximum Citi value is $0.0125 (with a Premier or Prestige card). They both use the same travel agency, Connexions, which often does not actually place hotel reservations with the property until very shortly before arrival.
However, if you were to transfer to airline partners the base transfer rate (to most airlines) is the same 1000:1000, and Citi sometimes offers bonuses, which Chase does not.
If you want to Pay with Points (as in your hotel example) Chase is better because the points are worth $0.015 each (for Reserve cardholders), while the maximum Citi value is $0.0125 (with a Premier or Prestige card). They both use the same travel agency, Connexions, which often does not actually place hotel reservations with the property until very shortly before arrival.
However, if you were to transfer to airline partners the base transfer rate (to most airlines) is the same 1000:1000, and Citi sometimes offers bonuses, which Chase does not.
Apr 17, 2018, 10:38 am
#6
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: NY
Programs: AA, KLM, United, Amex, Chase, Hilton
Posts: 262
This depends on your redemption pattern.
If you want to Pay with Points (as in your hotel example) Chase is better because the points are worth $0.015 each (for Reserve cardholders), while the maximum Citi value is $0.0125 (with a Premier or Prestige card). They both use the same travel agency, Connexions, which often does not actually place hotel reservations with the property until very shortly before arrival.
However, if you were to transfer to airline partners the base transfer rate (to most airlines) is the same 1000:1000, and Citi sometimes offers bonuses, which Chase does not.
If you want to Pay with Points (as in your hotel example) Chase is better because the points are worth $0.015 each (for Reserve cardholders), while the maximum Citi value is $0.0125 (with a Premier or Prestige card). They both use the same travel agency, Connexions, which often does not actually place hotel reservations with the property until very shortly before arrival.
However, if you were to transfer to airline partners the base transfer rate (to most airlines) is the same 1000:1000, and Citi sometimes offers bonuses, which Chase does not.
I don't have a fee paying TY card, so I can only transfer TY points to JetBlue; the other transfer partners don't show up. I know Citi is now running a JetBlue promo, but I don't need any JetBlue points. So for me, those TY points are really only useful to book hotels (i'm also not interested in gift cards).
Although it would cost me less in points to book the hotel in Athens (30k Chase UR points vs. 44k ThankYou points + $30 in taxes), I'm more protective of my Chase UR points. Do you think I should I conserve my UR points and use my TY points in to book the hotel?
Apr 17, 2018, 10:49 am
#7
Join Date: Mar 2017
Programs: HHonors, TrueBlue, Delta SkyMiles, Hyatt Discoverist, Starwood Preferred Guest, American Airlines.
Posts: 2,035
I don't have a fee paying TY card, so I can only transfer TY points to JetBlue; the other transfer partners don't show up. I know Citi is now running a JetBlue promo, but I don't need any JetBlue points. So for me, those TY points are really only useful to book hotels (i'm also not interested in gift cards).
With the TY Preferred, it's 1000:500 instead of 1000:800. So at a Jet Blue point value of 1.6 cpp, it's still not a great reward redemption.
Apr 17, 2018, 10:52 am
#8
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Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: NY
Programs: AA, KLM, United, Amex, Chase, Hilton
Posts: 262
oh for sure, thanks for sharing, but I don't need any JetBlue points
Apr 17, 2018, 11:55 am
#9
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Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,952
If you have no plan to apply for a Citi Premier or Prestige card, $0.01 is the maximum monetary value that you can extract from ThankYou points. If the hotel redemption works out to $0.01, I would use them now rather than the Chase points.
Apr 17, 2018, 1:21 pm
#10
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: TYS/BNA/ATL
Programs: UR, TYP, MR, C1, AA, UA, WN, BA, AS, AV, AC, Choice, Hyatt, IHG, Hilton, Wyndham, Marriott
Posts: 1,970
This depends on your redemption pattern.
If you want to Pay with Points (as in your hotel example) Chase is better because the points are worth $0.015 each (for Reserve cardholders), while the maximum Citi value is $0.0125 (with a Premier or Prestige card). They both use the same travel agency, Connexions, which often does not actually place hotel reservations with the property until very shortly before arrival.
However, if you were to transfer to airline partners the base transfer rate (to most airlines) is the same 1000:1000, and Citi sometimes offers bonuses, which Chase does not.
If you want to Pay with Points (as in your hotel example) Chase is better because the points are worth $0.015 each (for Reserve cardholders), while the maximum Citi value is $0.0125 (with a Premier or Prestige card). They both use the same travel agency, Connexions, which often does not actually place hotel reservations with the property until very shortly before arrival.
However, if you were to transfer to airline partners the base transfer rate (to most airlines) is the same 1000:1000, and Citi sometimes offers bonuses, which Chase does not.
Apr 17, 2018, 1:37 pm
#11
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: PHX
Programs: AA EXP, IHG Diamond, IC Amb
Posts: 5,508
To me, the point values are equal.
I use all of my UR and TY points to transfer to Singapore Airlines.
The only thing I could use the UR points for only would be transfer to British Airways....but I haven't needed any Avios.
I use all of my UR and TY points to transfer to Singapore Airlines.
The only thing I could use the UR points for only would be transfer to British Airways....but I haven't needed any Avios.
Apr 17, 2018, 1:42 pm
#12
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
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Apr 17, 2018, 2:18 pm
#13
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: TYS/BNA/ATL
Programs: UR, TYP, MR, C1, AA, UA, WN, BA, AS, AV, AC, Choice, Hyatt, IHG, Hilton, Wyndham, Marriott
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Apr 17, 2018, 3:18 pm
#14
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Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
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Posts: 48,952
Thank you for the clarification. When I was in graduate school I wouldn't have been interested in a combination like Prestige + Premier due to the fees, but this strategy may be useful for others.
Apr 17, 2018, 5:59 pm
#15
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: TYS/BNA/ATL
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Citi gives me a retention offer every time I try to cancel Premier, so I keep it. My Prestige fee is $350, so effectively $100.