With The Points Guy All points were not created equal Transferrable Points 101 Airline miles amp hotel points Fixedvalue points Transferrable points Flexibility flexibility flexibility ID: 273022
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Slide1
Maximizing Transferrable Points
With The Points GuySlide2
All points were not created equal!
Transferrable Points 101
Airline miles & hotel points
Fixed-value points
Transferrable
pointsSlide3
Flexibility, flexibility, flexibility!
Sharing points with family/friendsTransfer partners = optionsDon’t forget about partners of partners
Don’t put all of your eggs in one basket
The Case for Transferrable PointsSlide4
American Express Membership Rewards (+First)
Platinum, Premier Rewards Gold, Gold, Green and some corporate and business versionsMembership Rewards Express (Blah version)
Blue Card
Chase Ultimate Rewards
Sapphire Preferred and Ink Bold With Ultimate Rewards
The Main Credit Card Transferrable Point ProgramsSlide5
Earn 1 point per dollar spent (Premier Rewards is 3x on airfare and 2x on gas & groceries)
Points go into pending status for a month after statement close (can be expedited)Cannot combine Membership Rewards points
Membership Rewards BasicsSlide6
Transfer to anyone!Link (not enroll!) their account to your account
membershiprewards.com -> Points Summary -> Bottom right
Advance points for free, just earn them back
Up to 60,000 for Platinum
15,000 for most other cards (not corporate)
Buy points at 2.5 cents each, up to 500,000 a year!
FlexibilitySlide7
Airline transfer
partners (16):Star Alliance:
Air Canada
Aeroplan
,
Singapore, ANAOneworld: British Airways, Iberia
Skyteam
: Delta, Air France/KLM Flying Blue, Alitalia,
Aeromexico
Other
:
Airtran, Virgin Atlantic, El Al, Frontier, JetBlue, Hawaiian, Virgin America
* 6/10 cent excise fee on transfers to US airlines.
Membership Rewards- Airline TransfersSlide8
Aeroplan
- Positives
: Instant transfers, flexible routing, only
fuel surcharges on Air Canada
flights
Negatives: Recently inflated award chart, expensive one-ways
Good awards
- US to Western Europe 60/90/125
ANA-
Positives
:
Distance-based awards, great award engineNegatives~48-hour transfers, no holds, hefty fuel surcharges
Good
awards
-
NY to London in business class for 63,000.
Singapore-
-
Positives
: One-way awardsNegatives: ~48-hour transfer period, high surchargesGood awards- 25/40/60 for intra-North America. 55/95/135 Europe
Which Star Alliance Partner?Slide9
British Airways- Instant transfers, region-based awards. Unlimited en-route stopovers, but only one
Oneworld carrier for cheapest awardsIberia- Distance-based awards, ~48-hour transfers
After November 16, 2011 they will be one program,
Avios
. We still do not know the full details!
Which
Oneworld
Partner?Slide10
None of them (Just kidding!)
DeltaPositives
: Instant transfers, flexible routing,
only
fuel surcharges on
flights that start abroadNegatives: Broken website, inflated award tiers, no one-ways
Good
awards
- US to
Africa with a stopover in Europe for 120k in business, 150k in business to Australia on V Australia (plus $600)
Flying Blue
Positives:
50% off promo awards, one-ways, instant transfers
Negatives
~ Huge fuel
surcharges
Good awards
- Most promo awards, Israel (included as Europe). Nov-Dec promos from Chicago, Toronto, Calgary, Montreal, Miami, Orlando, Seattle, DC and Detroit.
Alitalia
Positives: Partners: Etihad, Jet, Malaysia, QantasNegatives: No one ways, sometimes flaky phone reservation agentsGood awards- 50/80 North America to Europe, 50/75 Deep South America, 50% off awards Nov 1-March 24, 2012.
Which
SkyTeam
Partner?Slide11
Airtran
: 1,500 points = 1 credit. No huge value, except if/when Airtran credits will convert to become Southwest companion pass qualifying points
Virgin Atlantic
: Generally huge fuel surcharges. Upgrades might make sense
El Al
: Huge amount of miles needed for awards Frontier:
Decent for expensive domestic awards like Aspen- no business/first
JetBlue
: 1: .8 transfer ratio. Fixed value miles worth only about a cent a piece. Not worth it.
Hawaiian
: Intra-island flights for as low as 7,500 miles. Partners with Delta, Virgin Atlantic, Continental (limited) and Korean.
Virgin America- Fixed value redemption- usually smarter to redeem Pay With Points instead so you earn points on the flights.
Non-Alliance PartnersSlide12
Recent bonus opportunities
Delta: 50% and 25,000 MQMs, 40%, 30%, 20%, 10%British Airways: 50%, 40%
Virgin
Atlantic
: 15%
El Al: 25%Air Tran: 25%
Iberia
: 20%
Aeromexico
: 25%
Starwood
: 50%Transfer BonusesSlide13
Choice: 1:1
Starwood 3:1Hilton 1: 1.5
Best
Western 1:1
Priority Club 1:1
Jumeirah 23:1
Membership Rewards- Hotel TransfersSlide14
Mercedes Benz Platinum- 50,000. $495 annual fee
Platinum- 25,000. $450 annual feePremier Rewards Gold- 15,000. $175 annual fee waived first yearGold- 10,000. $125 annual fee
Green- 0. $95 annual fee waived first year
Bumping bonuses debacle
Look out for targeted offers!
Current Sign-up OffersSlide15
Easy, but fixed value: 1 cent (1.25 for Platinum/Centurion)
A $5,000 business class ticket would require 500,000 points!Could be an okay decision for cheap domestic ticketsEarns elite status just like a purchased ticket
Pay With PointsSlide16
Bonuspointsmall.com
Extra points per dollar on popular merchants (4x points on Apple, 3x on Alaska Airlines)Bonus travel opportunities: 1,000 bonus points when you stay at a Sheraton, Aloft or Element and pay with your Amex MR card
Link Like Love
Connect with Foursquare for bonuses and discounts
Amex gift cards
Ways to Maximize EarningSlide17
1:1 transfer partners with Continental, United, British Airways, Korean, Hyatt, Marriott, Priority Club and Amtrak
You can combine points with anyone elseNo fees when transferring to airlines!
You can transfer to
anyone else
Points post right after statement closes
No transfer bonuses (yet)
Chase Ultimate RewardsSlide18
Current offers:
Sapphire Preferred: 50,000 after $3,000 spend within 3 months. $95 annual fee waived the first year. No foreign transaction fees.
Ink Bold: 50,000 after $5,000 spend within 3 months. $95 annual fee waived the first year.
Chase Ultimate Rewards