Miles for a holiday party

 
Old Dec 5, 2012, 2:04 pm
  #1  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: NYC
Programs: Airline independent, Hilton Diamond, IHG Plat
Posts: 170
Miles for a holiday party

Hi there (I feel like I'm writing an email to the world),

I have a chance to put our work holiday party on a credit card (will be about $1k spend).

I have:

Ink Bold, SPG Amex, Chase Priority Club, and Barclays US Air card.

And, 75k UR points. I'm halfway to meeting SPG spend, no other spend recs to meet.

Saving up miles and points to book soon for a trip to SE asia in about a year (UR to United for flight, SPG for hotels). Should I just use the SPG Amex? (I know I wish I had the sapphire, next round) This is not a chain restaurant so no gift cards... unless I did a generic visa from OD with the bold. I haven't found ice creams anywhere around (if you're in DC and can help there, feel free!)

Any help is appreciated!
unifer is offline  
Old Dec 5, 2012, 2:11 pm
  #2  
 
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: LAX
Programs: AAdvantage, MileagePlus
Posts: 84
If you need help meeting the spend for the SPG, use that. If not, your idea to buy generic Visa GCs is a good way to net ~5K UR points.
frozyn is offline  
Old Dec 9, 2012, 5:59 am
  #3  
Moderator, Marriott Bonvoy & FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: McKinney, TX, USA
Programs: United Silver; AA Plat/2MM; Marriott LT Titanium; IHG Plat; Hilton Diamond
Posts: 11,721
The big question is will you be able to get your required spend for SPG if you don't put this charge on it? If the answer is no, then putting the spend there is an easy answer.

If the answer is yes, then I would consider the following:

1. Do you normally stay at Starwood hotels and earn points? If not, then I would focus on getting just the required points for your specific hotel stay and then focus my earnings elsewhere.

2. In general, an SPG point is quite often considered to be worth more than $.01. So if you don't have any bonus opportunities with your other cards, the SPG Amex may get you your best bang for each $ spent. (But if you don't really stay at Starwood hotels, you may be better off using your other cards once you get your minimum spend in for the Amex.)

3. If you are earning one "point" for every $ spent on any of your cards, note that (at 20K increments) you can get 1.25 airline miles for each $ spent using the Amex. So you can actually earn more miles per $ spent using it than either of the other two. Of course if you have double point options with your other cards, that would trump the extra earning on the Amex.

So if earning airline miles is your top priority, once you get your minimum spend requirements in, I would probably use the Amex at most places and the other cards only when there are bonus point options. Then every time you get 20K SPG points, I'd transfer them over to your airline of choice for 25K miles.
hhoope01 is offline  

Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

This site is owned, operated, and maintained by MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Designated trademarks are the property of their respective owners.