Right now I have a drawer full of cards, debating what to do.
I have: - 2 Marriott Visas. They sit in drawers, generating 2 annual Cat 5 free nights for $85 each. My instinct is to upgrade them to the $95 versions when I can, simply to get better hotels for my free nights. - 1 SPG Amex. My general spend card, which I love. Still debating what to do with it: keep it as-is or upgrade to the $450 version? - 1 Citi Thank You Prestige card. This is my current $450 card, which nets at $200 after a simple travel credit once a year. Its "unique" benefit is 4th Hotel Night Free with some limitations. Usually nets out as pay about 3.5 nights,, get half a night free. - 1 Hyatt Visa. My card for places that don't take Amex. - 2 Hilton Amexes (Ascend level). Currently using one to quickly reset my Diamond status through 2019, but will likely drop one. Main two questions I have now is whether to kill the Prestige card and upgrade the SPG Amex. I use Priority Pass a *lot* (probably 8-10 total person-visits per months if not more), so I need one unlimited PP card with good guest privileges. I find myself struggling to find good applications of the 4th Hotel Night benefit. I have not been a CSR player yet at all. If I got into the Chase world I'd be eligible for signup bonuses, but I've also been rejected by them in the past because I used to churn the crap out of their products before they cracked down on total cards/applications. They're still tight on credit limits with me, making me think I'm not 100% out of their doghouse. |
Originally Posted by pinniped
(Post 29700640)
- 1 SPG Amex. My general spend card, which I love. Still debating what to do with it: keep it as-is or upgrade to the $450 version?.
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Originally Posted by xooz
(Post 29700305)
SO, this is 35K "MARRIOTT" points after Aug 1, so the equivalent of 11,666 SPG points as of today as I read it. That's not particularly compelling for a $95 AF. A Hilton free weekend night is more valuable to me for a similar annual fee.
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Is Chase likely to keep Marriott as a transfer partner for UR?
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Originally Posted by ESpen36
(Post 29700798)
Is Chase likely to keep Marriott as a transfer partner for UR?
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Originally Posted by bgriff
(Post 29682638)
If it's anything like any other points promotion I've ever seen Chase do, you'll actually be able to tell if it's working before your first statement even closes -- Chase shows how many points you've earned on each transaction on your account online as soon as the transaction posts; you don't have to wait for your statement to close like how Amex does it. (The points earned shown per transaction have always included all bonuses for me, including extra one-off bonuses like when they've had special bonuses for using Chase Pay or Apple Pay, so I would be very surprised if this 3x CFU bonus didn't also show up the same way.)
Needless to say, my first experience has not been positive. We'll see how it goes from here. |
Looking into CSR. I don't see American as a partner, but I guess that I can transfer to Marriott then to American? Is UR to MR 1:1?
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Originally Posted by ckelly14
(Post 29702358)
Looking into CSR. I don't see American as a partner, but I guess that I can transfer to Marriott then to American? Is UR to MR 1:1?
Yes...UR to MR is 1:1. |
Originally Posted by pinniped
(Post 29700640)
Right now I have a drawer full of cards, debating what to do.
I have: - 2 Marriott Visas. They sit in drawers, generating 2 annual Cat 5 free nights for $85 each. My instinct is to upgrade them to the $95 versions when I can, simply to get better hotels for my free nights. - 1 SPG Amex. My general spend card, which I love. Still debating what to do with it: keep it as-is or upgrade to the $450 version? - 1 Citi Thank You Prestige card. This is my current $450 card, which nets at $200 after a simple travel credit once a year. Its "unique" benefit is 4th Hotel Night Free with some limitations. Usually nets out as pay about 3.5 nights,, get half a night free. - 1 Hyatt Visa. My card for places that don't take Amex. - 2 Hilton Amexes (Ascend level). Currently using one to quickly reset my Diamond status through 2019, but will likely drop one. Main two questions I have now is whether to kill the Prestige card and upgrade the SPG Amex. I use Priority Pass a *lot* (probably 8-10 total person-visits per months if not more), so I need one unlimited PP card with good guest privileges. I find myself struggling to find good applications of the 4th Hotel Night benefit. I have not been a CSR player yet at all. If I got into the Chase world I'd be eligible for signup bonuses, but I've also been rejected by them in the past because I used to churn the crap out of their products before they cracked down on total cards/applications. They're still tight on credit limits with me, making me think I'm not 100% out of their doghouse. |
Originally Posted by TravelinSperry
(Post 29702686)
What about the Hilton Aspire card instead of your Ascend cards? At $450 it grants Diamond without spend req of Ascend and gives you unlimited PP. Easily can get $450 back with their credits at resorts/air. Plus their spend for air/restaurant is 7x, amazing return on those categories and in-hotel as well.
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Originally Posted by Need
(Post 29703164)
I think the Hilton Aspire is a great card, but 7x HH points on air/restaurant is not "amazing return". Since they devalued HH points, it is pretty much a fixed value at about $0.045 per points. I don't think anyone with CSR or Amex Plat will go purchase airfare with Hilton Aspire.
A quick perusal in Paris France shows a redemption in June available well over .6 cents per. Not sure why you are saying it is a fixed value. Although I do see many poor redemptions as well. But clearly it's not a fixed value when you can find some redemptions over .6. |
Originally Posted by HPN-HRL
(Post 29700781)
Just as a reminder, SPG points are clearly (currently) worth over 2 cents each. 10000 SPG points will easily get you a $200+ room, which seems like a reasonably good return on a $95 AF. Of course, YMMV...
Maybe.. Let's assume I booked using points right now. 35K Marriott points used in Manhattan gets me a couple of Fairfield Inns, one Courtyard and one Residence Inn, almost all near the WTC end of the island. That point value at current Starwood rates (less than 12K) gets me no hotel on Manhattan. A weekend night at a Hilton gets me a night at virtually every property in Manhattan. London would be a worse deal again for getting a Starriott property compared to Hilton. These are where I usually spend my points... in large expensive cities. Thus I think a Hilton free weekend night has a good likelihood of holding value past Aug 1, and I do not yet have confidence that there will be some revaluation at Starriott that will cause hotels currently out of reach to somehow drift down into the 35K point range. And a hotel in the $200 range I would likely pay for with cash rather than use points. All a crap shoot at this point however.... |
It looks like Amex must be getting worried about losing customers. I just got an offer from SPG Amex that gives me $150 for every $10k I spend up to $250. Ironically the offer expires in August. Maybe SPG is buying some time to tweak their offering. All it would take for me to stay would be for them to change their everyday spend points from 2 back to 3. otherwise the program is worthless.
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Originally Posted by digimon
(Post 29705544)
It looks like Amex must be getting worried about losing customers. I just got an offer from SPG Amex that gives me $150 for every $10k I spend up to $250. Ironically the offer expires in August. Maybe SPG is buying some time to tweak their offering. All it would take for me to stay would be for them to change their everyday spend points from 2 back to 3. otherwise the program is worthless.
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Originally Posted by TravelinSperry
(Post 29706395)
How was this offer delivered to you? Email, snail mail, within Amex Offers?
************************************************** **************************** We have an exclusive offer for you. Earn twice and receive up to a $250 statement credit. HERE’S HOW: 1.Register your Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express by May 31, 2018. 2.Make $10,000 in eligible purchases using your Card by August 10, 2018. 3.Earn your $125 statement credit. And remember to take advantage of this offer again to earn up to a https://ci4.googleusercontent.com/pr...N_credit04.gif |
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