POINTS PROVISIONS

I just redeemed an 85K Marriott Free Night Award (FNA) Certificate for a night at The Ritz-Carlton, Kyoto.  In my opinion this is a great use of this certificate.  Cash rates for this property are over $1,000 per night.  I received the 85K FNA Certificate since I hold the Chase Ritz-Carlton credit card.  Each year on your account anniversary you receive an 85K FNA Certificate.  Other notable benefits you receive with this credit card are automatic Marriott Gold status, 15 elite night credits, Priority Pass membership and a $300 annual travel credit that can be used for airline incidental purchases such as lounge passes, seat upgrades, baggage fees, in-flight entertainment and in-flight meals.  The annual fee for this credit card is steep at $450, but I believe the benefits plus the FNA Certificate you receive in return make the fee well worth it. In order to use the FNA Certificate I had the choice between a Deluxe Guest Room, 1 King, with either a City Vie...

Since the new iPhone 15 was recently released, I thought it would be a good time to compare the value you could get with your points by redeeming for Flights or redeeming for a new iPhone.  They both sound like great ideas right?  It would be nice to not have to spend any cash on either of these pricey items, but in this post I will illustrate why it could be a better idea to use your points on flights instead of a brand new iPhone as tempting as that may be. The lowest cost option for a new iPhone 15 Pro is $999.00 through the Apple website or any mobile carrier.   Chase is charging 99,000 Ultimate Rewards points to buy a new iPhone 15 Pro.  This is a redemption value of $0.01 per point.  Not bad, but you could probably do better. American Express is charging a whopping 164,003 Membership Rewards points for the same new iPhone 15 Pro.  This is a redemption value of $0.006 per point, which is obviously worse than redeeming through Chase. So, if you were to ...

  A great use for Wyndham Rewards points is to redeem them for stays on Vacasa Vacation Rentals .  Vacasa Vacation Rentals is a site similar to Airbnb or Vrbo.  These sites are basically management companies that condo or home owners use to rent their properties.   Wyndham rewards charges 15,000 points per night per bedroom.  So if you were looking at a 1-bedroom property it would cost 15,000 points per night, a 2-bedroom property would cost 30,000 points per night, and so on.  The only limitation it seems is that the average cost per night after taxes and fees has to be less than $500 per bedroom in order to use Wyndham Rewards points.  If the average cost per bedroom is more, you won't be able to use your points.  It also seems like there could be blackout dates for certain properties.   This is important to note since you can transfer Citi points to Wyndham , but before you do, it would be a good idea to call Vacasa to make ...

EARNING CITI THANKYOU POINTS You can earn Citi ThankYou points with any of the following credit cards. PERSONAL CARDS No Annual Fee Credit Cards Citi Rewards+ -  2 points at supermarkets and gas stations, up to $6K per calendar year -  1 point everywhere else - Round up to the nearest 10 points in every purchase Citi Custom Cash -  5 points per $1 in your top eligible category each billing cycle, up to the first $500 -  1 point everywhere else Citi Double Cash -  2 points on purchases, 1 point when you buy, plus an additional 1 point when you pay Annual Fee Credit Cards Citi Premier ($95/year) -  3 points on restaurants, supermarkets, gas stations, air travel, and hotels -  1 point everywhere else USING YOUR POINTS You can use your points for cash back, redeeming for gift cards, shopping, and booking travel through the Citi Travel portal for a maximum of 1 cent per point and sometimes less depending on how you choose to redeem them.  The best use ...

Like the title of this post states, I believe you should value your credit card points as another form of currency.  Credit card points enable you to purchase flights and book hotel rooms as well as possibly making other redemptions like exchanging for cash or stuff like a new iPad.   My point of this post is to just put the thought in your head when you redeem your credit card points.  It's always nice to feel like we get something for "free" when we use our points, but we also don't want to waste our hard earned points on a bad redemption.  This is the reason, why I've mentioned before about looking at the value you get per point when you are looking at redemptions.  You can use the basic formula of (Redemption Value/Points Required = Per Point Redemption Value). Of course, using your credit card points the way you want is your prerogative and I will never judge anyone on the way they use their points, but this post is meant to just keep the thought in your he...

EARNING AMERICAN EXPRESS MEMBERSHIP REWARDS POINTS You can earn Amex points with any of the following credit cards. PERSONAL CARDS No Annual Fee Credit Cards Amex Everyday -  2 points on U.S. supermarkets, up to $6K per calendar year -  1 point everywhere else Annual Fee Credit Cards Amex Everyday Preferred ($95/year) - 3  points on U.S. supermarkets, up to $6K per calendar year - 2 points on U.S. gas stations -  1 point everywhere else American Express Green Card ($150/year) - 3 points on restaurants, travel, and transit -  1 point everywhere else American Express Gold Card ($250/year) - 4  points on U.S. supermarkets, up to $25K per calendar year - 4 points on restaurants - 3 points on flights -  1 point everywhere else The Platinum Card ($695/year) - 5 points on flights and prepaid hotels purchased through AmexTravel -  1 point everywhere else The Platinum Card for Morgan Stanley ($695/year) - 5 points on flights and prepaid hotels purchas...