TravelinSperry

Good points in both cases. I have yet to analyze the Chase UR cards in detail and need to do so. It may very well be that the restaurant/airfare component would be better served via Chase UR leaving solely the SPG/Marriott spend for the Luxury Amex card. Unfortunately Hyatt's footprint is so small where I travel, that isn't the best option for me. But I assume Chase UR can be transferred to alternate places thus still making it a better option for that limited everyday spend (restaurant/air).

christianj

FYI, Ultimate Rewards Transfer partners:

Airlines

• 

• Aer Lingus AerClub

• Transfer Points

• 

• British Airways Executive Club

• Transfer Points

• 

• Flying Blue AIR FRANCE KLM

• Transfer Points

• 

• Iberia Plus

• Transfer Points

• 

• Korean Air SKYPASS

• Transfer Points

• 

• Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer

• Transfer Points

• 

• Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards®

• Transfer Points

• 

• United MileagePlus®

• Transfer Points

• 

• Virgin Atlantic Flying Club

• Transfer Points

Hotels

• 

• IHG® Rewards Club

• Transfer Points

• 

• Marriott Rewards®

• Transfer Points

• 

• The Ritz-Carlton Rewards®

• Transfer Points

• 

• World of Hyatt

• Transfer Points

TravelinSperry

Are these all 1:1 transfers?

christianj

I'm pretty sure they are.

ESpen36

It appears that the real question remains: where do we put NON-category, NON-bonus, everyday basic spend, once the SPG Amex is devalued? I haven't seen a good answer to this question. Like many here, I currently put ALL spend (except airfare) on my SPG Amex cards.

84fiero

I have always used SPG for airline transfers rather than hotel stays - with just a couple of minor exceptions. I have the CSR, Freedom Unlimited, and regular Freedom. I'll probably now focus more on the Freedom Unlimited for general daily use, the regular Freedom for the quarterly 5x categories, with CSR rounding out for travel purchases.

I have Citi Prestige but will probably be canceling this summer. I have gotten good use out of a couple of the transfer partners but the earning rate isn't all that strong compared to UR.

I've gotten away from Amex MR for awhile - the current crop of transfer partners hasn't really been that beneficial for me. Though perhaps I should at least re-look at MR while I'm at it.

That's the thing, SPG's cast of airline partners (and Amtrak which I use as well) can't be fully replicated elsewhere with UR or MR (or TYPs). But depending on the FFPs you use and your travel needs, that may or may not be so much of an issue.

christianj

What airlines that you transferred to aren't in an alliance that you can reach via another airline that is a transfer partner? Yes, I realize it might not be the best alternative to book via an alliance airline but I would think the number of those not attainable via UR and MR should be fairly low.

Moootz

Amex Blue Business Plus if that NON-category, NON-bonus, everyday basic spend is less than 50k a year.

Tatoosh

I currently have both the Marriott personal Visa and the SPG Business AMEX. I will be keeping both with the added free night on the SPG AMEX which will make up for the $95 annual fee. The added point per dollar spent on hotels (6 from 5) on the Marriott card is nice, along with the 4 points on gasoline on the SPG Business. I will continue to do most everyday spend on the Blue Business AMEX for 2x MR points, travel expenses go on AMEX Platinum and Sapphire card.

Hate losing the lounge access with the SPG Business card, but with Marriott nights and SPG nights combining in August I'll easily make Platinum on that date through January 2020 so it's not too much of a loss. I use the points for hotel stays, so the airline transfers aren't a primary concern.

Personally, I am happy with the switch especially being able to combine Marriott nights and SPG nights for status since the hotel network is now so much larger. Can stay with Marriott pretty much anywhere now.

artemis

And that's the problem - you can only book Saver awards via alliance partners. Booking more expensive Standard awards isn't an ideal use of points, but sometimes it's what you need to do to complete a trip using miles instead of cash.

th14

Sounds like you and I are in a similar situation with travel to similar places. I understand this discussion is about non bonus spend but I find its easier for me to value points currency based on how much it costs me to earn it and how much it costs me to spend it. For instance, I used the JPMR (3x) and Freedom Unlimited (1.5x). Only in bonus categories. Obviously, I have a lot more spend earned at 1.5x than 3x so on a weighted average, for one dollar spent on a Chase card, I earn 2 UR points. For Amex, I use BGR (3x shipping), Plat (1.5x over $5000). So similar story. A dollar spent at Amex earns me around 2 MR points.

Compare that to Starwood where a dollar spent earned a single point. Pretty much no matter what. Now a dollar spent will earn 2/3 of a point. Throw in a business bonus category like shipping (which I'll likely use) and we're talking about 1.3 points per dollar.

Moving on to one example on the spend side. First class from JFK to Tokyo is 150,000 points on NH vs 140,000 on JAL. Using my math, I would have needed to spend $75,000 on Amex to get 150,000 MR point to pay for this trip to Tokyo on NH. Whereas I would have needed to spend $112,000 on Starwood for the same trip to JAL ($112,000 *.25 transfer bonus = 140,000 points). The math was always bad for Starwood. But now its even worse. I will now have to spend $168,000.

To really drive this point home. I had a one way in F on Cathay and I could either book it using 105k JAL miles of 120k Asia Miles, I transferred the 120k MR miles to Asia Miles rather than burn the Starpoints at JAL even though it was 15% more MR points. The math becomes less compelling for say Avios where it's even more Avios to get the same redemption. Best example might be SQ which is transfer partners with all 3. Which do you use to transfer into SQ. For me its MR with UR a close second. I would never transfer Starpoints into SQ b/c we've all talked about how hard they are to get.

Even getting some of the SPG bonus categories and averaging it to say 9/10 instead of 2/3 of a point, its still not great.

For those of you wondering why I'd ever use JL, instead of a parent like Avios, you can only waitlist directly with JL and those waitlists do clear occasionally. Also, NH requires roundtrip to book directly with them and I've had much more trouble with their waitlist clearing.

I'm fortunate enough that our business can generate enough spend to get UR, MR, and SPG points. I use all three currencies to improve my chances of getting any kind of space on my last minute travel. For instance, I flew home yesterday from Asia and was waitlisted on CX, JL, and SQ for the day I wanted. Ultimately, JL and SQ cleared for me but CX did not. Without Starpoints, I don't have the option for JL redemption.

Based on this devaluation, if I had limited choices, I'd probably use a combo of the CSR and Freedom Unlimited to generate a lot of UR points. Or BGR (assign travel as 3x) and EDP and get a bunch of Amex Points. As you can see from the math above, Starpoints were luxury currency before and are now ultra luxury currency as it related to airline transfers for premium cabin redemptions.

Still may be value in hotel redemptions and I haven't done the math for economy redemptions.

UA-NYC

I think the answer for me is, sadly...the same Marriwood AmEx. I know i'm taking a haircut, which sucks, but I am still getting 2 points per dollar of a ~.8 cent currency. Or I could use the CSR and get 1 point per dollar of a...~1.6 cent currency. Given my balance of URs, and getting a ton of that generally with other non-flight travel expenditures, I will want to balance out Marriott points.

mikesyr18

I'm just glad I received the USAA Limitless when I did (before it was dropped). 2.5% cash on everything is better than what the SPG card will offer for all spend except through their/Marriott's hotels.

zorbachs

I'm moving it all to the Bank of America Premium Rewards card for 2.6% back on everything. I also have the BBP Amex if I need more MR points, but I'm currently sitting on well over 400k.

Martellus

I'm likely planning on keeping all the cards - the free night awards each card offers will outweigh the annual fee each card charges me. Someone please sanity-check me?


My current portfolio of old/legacy cards:
Marriott Premier - 25,000 point hotel per anniversary year
Marriott Business Premier - 25,000 point hotel per anniversary year
Ritz-Carlton Credit Card - Unknown as of yet
SPG Credit Card - 35,000 point hotel per anniversary year
SPG Business Credit card - 35,000 point hotel per anniversary year

New Credit cards and application patterns:
Marriot Premier - 35,000 point hotel per anniversary year
I'm not eligible for the new Marriott credit card, and since it's under 5/24 I won't be able to actually apply for it. I guess I'll just upgrade to it when the time comes?
SPG Luxury Credit card - 50,000 point hotel per anniversary year
Can anyone confirm that I'll holding the regular SPG credit card makes me ineligible for this one? Do I have to upgrade to it or would I be able to apply for it?