Fair points - except for Point 4, I might never pay $1000+ a night to stay at a hotel, but if that's what a property I want to stay at always costs, then that's the CPP calculation I'll have to use. Why would anyone only use points to stay at hotels they can already afford with cash?

Although I love switching hotels to try out new properties, I couldn't agree more with this philosophy. It should be about the joy of travel, not the joy of getting a good deal (unless the deal is really all a person cares about). I care about the experience of being in a hotel, so that's what I focus on.

This has been debated many a time on each Hotel Thread. Basically say theres a Hyatt for 25K or $1100 yet theres a Marriott near by thats $229 then alot of folks would say you saved $229 using your 25K. And we would say unless you HAD to be at that $1100 Hyatt if you used 25K to stay there you didnt save $1100

Now last week I used my Cert 1-7 at a hotel that was charging $1100 when I booked yet the day I stayed it was down to $749, the cheapest room in town was just over $500 any where , in the end I see my cert saved me just over $500. Really even less since I usually drive to that place and drive back after sunset so I could have been in a hotel for alot less then $500, not that great of a return for a Cat7 cert but it was to exp on 3/26. If I didnt have that cert I never would have stayed there and there was no reason I had to be at that Hotel other then to use my Cert before it expired. And at $500+ no way would I stay at a Hampton,Fairfiled , Courtyard etc unless I Needed and Had to be there. Do a search of my past posts you wont a mention anywhere that I saved $1100 on a cert redemption, cause I never see it that way unless I HAD to be at that Hotel on that date which wasnt the case

I respect that, and have seen on FT that a lot of people generally have a stronger aversion to staying in one place too long than I have, and I have a stronger aversion to the 'transient' aspects of the travel experience than most people have.

Yes, all fair points - personally, I travel to stay in hotels (I even like to stay in hotels in the city I live in). The other aspects (seeing new sights, trying new foods) are all just a big bonus for me. You all can see in my volume of trip reports that I rarely stay in one hotel for more than one night at a time, which I know isn't most people's cup of tea.

Frankly, the CPP calculations should be done on a more personal level. I do them, like MarkOK said, in order to decide whether cash or points makes more sense for the specific hotel I want to stay at on a given night. Sure, I'll move things around based on prices, but if I have a hotel I want to stay at again or try out for the first time, my criteria really is more along the lines of whether or not rates seem reasonable based on what that hotel usually costs (not what other hotels around are charging).

Answer to your question: charging $24k to a card with $25k limit coincides with what people maxing out their credit once and for all would do, so banks are very sensitive to it. A friend of mine got shutdown by Chase exactly for this reason, and even though it was an honest transaction and he explained everything to the bank, they still wouldn't do any more business with him. Sometimes, when people have lots of debts elsewhere or are simply leaving the country, they just max out all their cards and never pay back. To the banks, because of how big the loss it would be, it's the opposite of "guilty until proven". I'm not saying what OP suggested would definitely lead to shutdowns, but it's always a possibility, especially when your usual spending is nowhere near that amount.

The worst part is when you pay the 24k in full less than a week after the transaction then you�re shut down. That�s what baffles me that you�ve shown the ability to pay it in full with no issues and still get shutdown with no recourse.

It�s just an internal formula and 9/10 of the time they won�t even manually review or intervene. The 1/10 is pretty much only if you have a checking account with them with hundreds of thousands or more without that (even if you have an account with another bank with hundreds of thousands) you�re done with Chase.

- Hyatt charges on Hyatt credit cards, both personal and business, earn 4x; it�s possible to lose sight of that tree in the forest.

- Occasional Chase temporary targeted bonuses, currently until the end of this month, 5x on Amazon, grocery stores and restaurants on (some) Hyatt personal cards; stay on top of Chase temporary offers

- Hyatt personal card and Hyatt business card are both Chase and both application pages state: �This product is available to you if you do not have this card and have not received a new cardmember bonus for this card in the past 24 months.� and �The product is not available to either (i) current Cardmembers of the World of Hyatt Credit Card, or (ii) previous Cardmembers of any Hyatt Credit Card who received a new Cardmember bonus within the last 24 months.� Theoretically it�s possible to churn each card every 25 months and earn a SUB every 12.5 months. Must maintain less than 5/24 and keep one 4/24 spot open for the Hyatt personal card. (Whether someone can legitimately apply for a business card is a separate issue.) Not sure I agree that an Alaska card is related to optimizing Hyatt earning but for those who do agree, suggest the Alaska business card, which can be churned multiple times per year. (Post # 1778) Better yet, go to medical school and then use the Hyatt Healthcare Friends and Family rate (although one should have a stronger motivation for medical school). Please elaborate. Should �worth it� perhaps be �attainable� or �available�?

I meant worth it as in, not worth the annual fee and opportunity cost of other cards. But yes, attainable/available are also valid points.

Understood, thank you.

BREAK

MS in general, MS for a specific card and �worth it� (for any card) are all highly debatable and ultimately different strokes for different folks, an individual decision for which one size does not fit all.

I agree with the posters who claim that 3c+ is overly optimistic (especially since as you rack up more points you usually have to lower your standards or have them rack up unused) but my limit is 2c per pt net (meaning that I include the points I would have gotten from paying cash in the cost, and I include waived taxes/service fees etc in the redemption value). I will not redeem at below 2c, and I am usually in the 2.5c range and occasionally the 3-3.5c range, which makes me happy I never stay at hotels that I wouldn't pay cash for (at least at the 2c rate... meaning that if I'm not willing to pay $600 / night then I will not redeem at 30k pts) so I think that, for me, a 2c valuation is reasonable. I get a little more value than that (2c is more like a floor) but it works well. That also keeps my earn/burn rate more or less balanced (I'm consistently over 100k pts and under 500k)

I don't MS but I will do things like buy gift cards through a shopping portal using my Hyatt card (the GC are liquidated normally; not for cash or cash equivalents so that's not MS). I don't go near my credit limit on any of my Chase cards (I currently have 3 -- CSR and Amazon Prime in addition to Hyatt).

I use my Hyatt card as my main card for "unbonused" spend because I see it as 2% back + qualifying nights.

Did your friend tell them in advance he would be making large charges? We have had major home renovations the past couple of years, almost maxing out several cards, and there has never been a problem. Our credit score dipped....for a very short time...which I thought was ridiculous...why not wait to see if the customer does NOT pay in full? also several years ago we paid cash for our car, again almost maxing out our cards (and paying it off right away) and there was no problem.

They know your income, your assets, how long you've been a good risk...there has to be something more when you are shut down just for making large purchases.

If you want to put a ton of unbonused or even fee-triggering spend on a Chase card like the WoH card, make sure to check for spend bonuses at chase.com/my bonus

My card currently offers this:

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No offense, but I don't understand this at all. If a hotel costs 30K points or $1000 a night and another hotel in the same area costs 30K points or $600 a night, why would you limit yourself to the $600 a night hotel?

That's not what I said.

What I said was that if I was not willing to pay $600 (regardless of the actual rate) then I would also not be willing to pay 30k pts. If I was, then I'd be incorrect when I claimed to value hyatt pts at 2c.

In other words, I'm indifferent to spending $600 vs redeeming 30k pts. I view them as being worth the same.