We fly out of SFO and UA is almost always the most convenient, non-stop and one of the lower cost options. I have small children so direct flights trump lounges on layovers. Other than Hilton at Waikiki (see above kids), we have no loyalty to particular hotel brand (although I previously had family with Hyatt discount, and have booked with my Chase UR transfers). We usually fly economy+, 2x/year for family of 4, and 3x solo, and stay at reasonable 4* hotels.

Our current spending is split between my Chase trifecta (CSP+CF+CFU), my wife's AMEX Gold for grocery & dining, AND various cash back cards such as US Bank Cash+ for utilities, Target, Costco, and Citi DC. I have found UR to be easier to redeem than MR. I know about using MR transfer to Aeroplan for UA flights, but it sounds like work and unreliable availability (see kids and school breaks). I became Team Rewards when CSR offer 100K, but other than a business class seat to Asia (pre-kids), the points have not been that mind-blowing. I have done a lot of "research" on the CC rewards topic, but I never come across our situation. But there are a lot of us, family with kids, so maybe this game is not for us?

Is AMEX MR a good fit for our circumstances? Should I leave Team Travel Rewards (i.e. Chase) altogether? However, I'm also considering United Quest because of the 2 free luggage round trip + airline credit cover the AF. Thanks.

Hilton honors is Amex and could be great when you start to stay at the grand Wailea in Maui via UA nonstop. AF ranges based on reward level and I have the free card so I earn fewer Hilton points.

also if you choose UA loyalty, then free luggage helps. You’ll tote more gear on travels as the kids grow. We fly AS out of sfo a lot and the AS card has 1 free bag per pax in pnr when not flying F.

Go here:

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/citi...syw-cards.html

And stop worrying about points and miles. I recommend getting 2, one for you and for your spouse.

Hilton points is worth less than 1cpp, and for some reason my brain stops working when I try to think about this. People claim its 0.5cpp, but it is less than for my laziness. My experience searching for nights at HHV using points is always met with premium night award that asked for insane number of points. I assume that will be the same case for the Grand Wailea, so I'm not sure Hilton cards are for me.

I think I will get Unite Quest. I just found out the 90-day grace period for free checked bags when opening a new card without paying for the flights.

HH AMEX has a good Sub.

Sure, but one may want to look at how many points it takes to redeem

(1) In your situation, I would definitely have a United card for the free checked bags, and for slightly early boarding when solo. You can pick your poison of which card as long as it has free bags, the Quest should be fine. (2) Since you like Hilton Hawaiian Village, I would seriously consider an Aspire or Surpass Hilton card. Hilton points aren’t high value but you can rake in masses of them from Hilton stays between the card earning bonus, the status, and the occasional Hilton bonus offer. Enhanced chance of early or late check in can also be useful. (3) You don’t seem enchanted with United points, but unless you want to focus strictly on earning Hilton points, or go to Team Cash Back, I don’t see a better choice in your situation. (4) Your AMEX Gold would seem an excellent choice for groceries and the occasional restaurant, but I don’t see a really good way for you to spend the MR it earns. Maybe it should go in favor of a Hilton Surpass for groceries.

I was initially turned off by the quarterly/ semi-annual credits, but I decided to look into these two cards again. So it seems that I can get 30x points per dollar with Surpass and 34x using Aspire with hilton booking, correct? This definitely makes them more attractive.

with the Aspire, you will definitely be a Diamond member, so you will get a 34 Hilton points/dollar plus any promotional bonus at most hotels. Some of the residential properties pay less, I believe it would be 24 points/dollar.

with the Surpass, I believe that if you have the Gold status given by the card it is 30 points/dollar at mainline hotels as you say. And now the Surpass will get a $50 coupon book credit on your first stay each quarter. I agree Hilton points are not highly valuable, but when you earn so many, quantity can beat quality!

Thanks for the confirmation. I don't understand why Hilton AMEX don't advertise this as clearly. There is a HUGE difference between 14x and 34x. I think I will give them a try for my next trip to HI.

As a Hilton Diamond member you get 20x from Hilton when you book direct regardless of your payment method on a paid stay (10x base plus 100% bonus from Diamond), and then if you pay with the Amex Aspire you get an additional 14x points from the card over and above what you get from Hilton.

If you paid for the Hilton stay on a card like the Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards w/ Platinum Honors status you could earn 5.25% cash back. Since Hilton regularly sells their points at 0.5c each that cash back could buy you 10.5 Hilton points. While this is not as good as the 14x from the Aspire card, it gives you the flexibility of cash to use that value somewhere else besides Hilton if you want.

If you're willing to lock yourself in to a program you can eek out a little more value.