Points Consulting/Booking Services

[NutsAboutGolf]

1 hour ago, Steerpike58 said:

I see a few references to this; could you possibly give me a quick overview of what exactly this means? I've never heard of it! 

 

You have to have a specific credit card that allows you to transfer points/miles.  But I'll do you one better, don't worry about any of this.  If you want a "travel" credit card with generous rewards look no further than the Costco Credit card which offers straight cash back.  As long as you have a Costco membership there's no annual fee

 

[FlyerTalker]

On 11/20/2023 at 12:27 PM, Steerpike58 said:

I see a few references to this; could you possibly give me a quick overview of what exactly this means? I've never heard of it! 

 

It means that you can transfer points from the issuing company's points to airline partners.  The major ones for this are:

 

American Express - Membership Rewards

Chase - Ultimate Rewards

Citi - Thank You Rewards

Capital One - Capital One Rewards

Marriott - Marriott Rewards

 

If you have points in these "currencies", you can transfer them to now get points in specific airline programs.  For example, if you wanted to have some AirFrance Flying Blue points, you could transfer them from whatever program they have a relationship with.  So your Amex points could become about 18 other currencies through a transfer.

 

Now, not all airlines have this, and not all cards transfer to all programs.  Interestingly, it is Marriott points that have the most number of transfer partners.

 

So, if you find a great award on  ANA to Asia, it is unlikely that a USA resident would have built up points in the ANA program.  However, you could use your AMEX points by transfering them to ANA, then using the ANA program to book the flights.

 

This is why credit card program points are worth more than specific airline points....because you can use them in many more ways.  For example....if you have a Chase card that is co-branded with United, you will earn United miles.  Which can only be redeemed through United Mileage Plus.  OTOH, if you have a Chase UR card, you can use those points to transfer to United, plus at least a dozen other carriers.  Far more flexible.

 

This is a very deep and broad subject, so just skimming the surface.  Lots of available info out there on the Internet.

 

 

[FlyerTalker]

On 11/20/2023 at 2:00 PM, NutsAboutGolf said:

You have to have a specific credit card that allows you to transfer points/miles.  But I'll do you one better, don't worry about any of this.  If you want a "travel" credit card with generous rewards look no further than the Costco Credit card which offers straight cash back.  As long as you have a Costco membership there's no annual fee

 

That's poor return.  Unless you drive for a living, you don't buy enough gas for the 4% to be significant.  Other cards can give you 4x on Restaurants and that 1% on most everything is a lousy return when there are plenty of ways to be getting at least 2% as a baseline.

 

And zero signup bonus, aside from some little token "prize" like a soft cooler that's worth about five bucks of less.

 

 

[GeezerCouple]

To get a quick start about how to transfer to airline partners, use Google for whichever card/award/points you have plus "airline partners".

That won't show all the possible ways to shift and use points, but it will show the major ways to do this.  Then click through to see how many points would be needed for each partner.

 

Many of the cards are actually airline-affiliated cards, such as the American Airlines linked AAdvantage CitiCard Visa charge card.  Those points are already logged with AA.

However, when one gets points with Amex Membership Rewards, those aren't yet with any specific airline; those can be transferred to Amex's partner airlines.

 

Note that in a some cases, one has more choice of use of points if they were gathered via that airline itself rather than transferred over (airlines might want to reward travelers who regularly fly with *them*).

 

But you can get a very good starting overview just looking for the partners.

 

One other trick (and this could change) is that at least with AAdvantage awards, one could sometimes fly on a partner airline in the same class (e.g., Business class) for *fewer* AA points than one would need to fly that class on American Airlines itself.

Given that we much prefer the top international airlines anyway, this has been a win/win for us in the past! 🙂 

 

GC

Edited November 22, 2023 by GeezerCouple

[NutsAboutGolf]

3 hours ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

That's poor return.  Unless you drive for a living, you don't buy enough gas for the 4% to be significant.  Other cards can give you 4x on Restaurants and that 1% on most everything is a lousy return when there are plenty of ways to be getting at least 2% as a baseline.

 

And zero signup bonus, aside from some little token "prize" like a soft cooler that's worth about five bucks of less.

 

 

 

You failed to provide any helpful recommendations of your own.  If one wants no AF, the citi double cash or chase freedom unlimited are usually recommended.  With that being said, the person I quoted asked on here asked how to transfer credit points to partner miles/points.  The Costco card is a great easy card that you don't have to worry about redemptions, I standby this recommendation.  This also doesn't mean I don't recommend other cards but will need more info to determine what best suits their spending habits in addition to ones willingness to hunt for favorable point redemptions.  If you live in an airline hub city like Atlanta with Delta, newark with united, etc, and find yourself checking bags often but don't make the minimum requirements for status, their best bet would probably be an airline credit card which gives them and one companion free checked bags and possibly free access to better coach seats like exit rows or the front

[dabear]

Interesting point. We have a Chase United card which gives us free bags and an annual one-time pass to the UA club, but no preferred seats. Other than Delta any other airline cards that give preferred seats. We fly mostly out of ORD.