PC Points or Airline Miles?
Feb 27, 2009, 3:33 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2004
Programs: Amex Plat; IHG Spire Elite; AZ Freccia Alata, SPG Gold; ClubCarlson Gold; Accor Plat; BA Bronze.
Posts: 457
PC Points or Airline Miles?
Staying around 200 nights in hotels every year generates a lot of points. I've earnt about 120K so far this year, which is possibly enough for all the ICHG stays I'll be needing for now (most redemptions this year will be SPG).
So now I want to maximise the value of my earnings.
Is it better to earn miles, with all the miles promos? Or is it better to earn points, with all the points promos, with the 50% extra as a Platinum, then either transfer them to my BAEC account, or trade them via the CC for SPG points (1:1.25 BA Miles)?
What are the implications of switching to miles earning? What do you do with your 250K extra points per year? How best to maximise earning through PC?
So now I want to maximise the value of my earnings.
Is it better to earn miles, with all the miles promos? Or is it better to earn points, with all the points promos, with the 50% extra as a Platinum, then either transfer them to my BAEC account, or trade them via the CC for SPG points (1:1.25 BA Miles)?
What are the implications of switching to miles earning? What do you do with your 250K extra points per year? How best to maximise earning through PC?
Feb 27, 2009, 10:16 am
#2
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: London
Programs: BA, VS, HH, IHG, MB, MR
Posts: 26,882
Best to take points. 3 reasons:
a) you take advantage of all the promotions, most of which do not have miles alternatives
and
b) you can transfer points to miles anyway (10k = 2k on BA) so you have absolutely nothing to lose
and
c) you'll earn PC status more quickly - 60k for Platinum can be got in under 10 stays very easily at the moment. Simply using all the New Member and Welcome Back bonus codes in the promos thread will get you 20,000+ for just 1 stay.
Even if you don't want to redeem your points for PC hotel stays, you can also cash out your points for cash-equivalents - M&S, Waitrose, John Lewis vouchers or the Amex 'anyhotel, anywhere' gift cards which can be used at any hotel, any chain that accepts Amex. These aren't the best use of points but they are not terrible either - 82,000 points = 200 Amex gift card, and given the nights you stay you'd rack up quite a few over a year. (If you use your own credit card to pay for work stays, you are effectively getting cash for these because you can pay for work trips with the cards and reclaim it from your employer.) Since 80,000 points only gets you 16,000 BA Miles, you'll see that the cards aren't such a bad deal.
a) you take advantage of all the promotions, most of which do not have miles alternatives
and
b) you can transfer points to miles anyway (10k = 2k on BA) so you have absolutely nothing to lose
and
c) you'll earn PC status more quickly - 60k for Platinum can be got in under 10 stays very easily at the moment. Simply using all the New Member and Welcome Back bonus codes in the promos thread will get you 20,000+ for just 1 stay.
Even if you don't want to redeem your points for PC hotel stays, you can also cash out your points for cash-equivalents - M&S, Waitrose, John Lewis vouchers or the Amex 'anyhotel, anywhere' gift cards which can be used at any hotel, any chain that accepts Amex. These aren't the best use of points but they are not terrible either - 82,000 points = 200 Amex gift card, and given the nights you stay you'd rack up quite a few over a year. (If you use your own credit card to pay for work stays, you are effectively getting cash for these because you can pay for work trips with the cards and reclaim it from your employer.) Since 80,000 points only gets you 16,000 BA Miles, you'll see that the cards aren't such a bad deal.
Mar 1, 2009, 12:24 am
#3
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Beijing, China
Programs: Hyatt Diamond, Marriott Plat, IHG Plat Ambo, HH Gold, Marriott VC AP Owner, AA Plat, UA Silver
Posts: 123
Actually, you do have something to lose miles-wise if you choose to earn points with Priority Club Rewards. 10,000 points do transfer to 2000 miles with most airlines, but the current Quarterly promotion gives you 3000 points OR 1000 miles.
If you choose to earn miles, the current promotion will give you 1000 miles after 3 stays (instead of 3000 points), but normally you would need to earn 5000 points to earn 1000 miles.
Therefore, with regard to Reason B by Raffles, you can lose by transferring points - in the current quarterly promotion, you lose out on extra miles by simply earning points and transferring them at a rate of 10,000 points to 2,000 miles, snce the promotion offers 1000 miles OR 3000 points (not 1000 miles or 5000 points).
If you choose to earn miles, the current promotion will give you 1000 miles after 3 stays (instead of 3000 points), but normally you would need to earn 5000 points to earn 1000 miles.
Therefore, with regard to Reason B by Raffles, you can lose by transferring points - in the current quarterly promotion, you lose out on extra miles by simply earning points and transferring them at a rate of 10,000 points to 2,000 miles, snce the promotion offers 1000 miles OR 3000 points (not 1000 miles or 5000 points).
Mar 1, 2009, 11:55 am
#4
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: home = LAX
Posts: 25,949
It also depends on how many one-night inexpensive stays you do. On those, especially if they're not at Express locations, given that you collect BAEC, the 500 flat (unrelated to spend amount) BA miles you get for any stay (except at Express, where it's only 100) can easily trump points converted to miles especially when you've used up most of the points promos for a while.
And of course it depends on if you have time to change between miles and points back and forth at just the right time. The right time is just after a stay posts (eg, if you want points on stay X and miles on stay Y and points on stay Z, the moment stay X posts switch to miles earning, then the moment stay Y posts switch back to points earning). Of course, if you're staying back to back at hotels where you want to earn different things, it may be tricky, because some hotels post a day sooner than others, and so you could potentially have X and Y or Y and Z both post at the very same time!
And of course it depends on if you have time to change between miles and points back and forth at just the right time. The right time is just after a stay posts (eg, if you want points on stay X and miles on stay Y and points on stay Z, the moment stay X posts switch to miles earning, then the moment stay Y posts switch back to points earning). Of course, if you're staying back to back at hotels where you want to earn different things, it may be tricky, because some hotels post a day sooner than others, and so you could potentially have X and Y or Y and Z both post at the very same time!