gloreglabert

Fully agree.

Unfortunately, "shouldn't" is very different from "don't".

amolkold

Or just get a Citi Reserve card. If you put $10K, you get a free weekend night anywhere, and the free night certs seem to be more valuable than points for higher category redemptions.

OHijAAzi73

50 VR/month ...for 4 BB accounts ,1 MVD, 6 Amex PP.

tsmith12

With Reserve, it's $95 each year to keep Gold. I think with $20K spend, once you meet the spend (which I did this month), I'll be Gold till 3/15 (if I have it right) So, that in itself saves you like $200. And, you get enough points after $20K spend to stay one or two nights at an expensive property..depends on each individual, but I'm quite happy spending points at a Hampton Inn if the rates in a particular city/time are outrageous during my stay.

So, $20K spend got me Gold for 2 years, enough points to stay 2+ nights in a mid-tier hotel and the card can collect dust once you're done with it being that it's a no-fee card.

iqbalt80

Current winner.. ding ding ding.... pretty impressive

ThereYaGo

I did....

Kadence

Just curious... do you all still think paying a fee for the VR card is worth it now that Hilton has devalued their points?

chemist661

+1

farwest101

Quick answer is no. Hiltonpesos were bad enough before the recent devaluation. But at 1x, they are a complete joke. Hilton are now worth 0.3 cpm imo, so using VR at CVS at only 1x (cost of ~0.8 cpm), you are paying ~2.5x what they are worth. Come May, forget about that Hilton Amex for VR purchases.

hawkandhoo

For $48 I can get 36,000 points -- enough for a room that would otherwise cost $200+ per night.

lkar

There are cards other than Hilton. Liquidating 10k a month in VR is close to effortless. For a year, the cost is $948. Here's what I can get over the year for that $120,000 spend:

1) 45k Amex (30k in spend on PRG)
2) 10k Hilton plus a free weeknd night anywhere in the chain except a few WAs (10k spend)
3) A free night at any Fairmont in the the world plus $120 in gift cards (12k in spend)
4) 25k Usairways miles of which 10k are EQM (25k in spend)
5) 23,540 Chase UR (22k in spend x 1.07)
6) 23k SPG

That's a pretty good haul. Or mix and match. If a person can't get enough value out of all that sufficient to justify $948 and a few CVS stops each month, why is he or she a Flyertalker?

But even just considering Hilton, even after the devaluation I value the points highly enough that, until Amex stops 6x, earning points at a rate of 3,000 for $3.95 is well worth it.

jm38750n

You forgot to mention if it's the Business version, add 7k and you've got yourself SPG Gold.

lkar

Good point. I'm sort of figuring anyone who has as many cards already has SPG gold by virtue of the Amex Plat!

Also:

Should have said 30k Hilton, since the card is 3x on every day spend.

kryton2005

How do you have 4bb account? They cant possibly belong all to you correct?

arsenalman

what card are you using? I hope its not Amex