Let's see. I have:
74k in sky pesos (Delta)
62k in American miles
20k in Citi Thank You Points
500 Allegiant Miles (just cleaned that account out for free Vegas flight)
1400 SW points. I doubt I earn any new points here for the forseeable future.
My next target is Amex points.
I am using the Sky Pesos for a Round trip Korean Air flight to Thailand.
I have:
37k in Chase Sapphire Reserve, they are worth 125% if I use Chase Travel to book, although I've found Chase Travel is always more expensive and it's better to transfer the points to use them.
56k on Southwest Airlines.
We used all of our Chase Sapphire points for our trip to Japan last May, I was able to transfer 1 for 1 to Singapore Airlines to fly LAX to Tokyo. So we're a bit in the rebuilding mode.
We use Southwest a lot for Domestic flights.
On Chase Sapphire, you get 3X points on dining out, 2x points on travel, and pretty good travel insurance so we always use it for restaurants and travel.
We have the Southwest Priority credit card on which we put everything else.
We have
Delta - 85k in miles and 1 annual companion ticket
American - 76k
Jet Blue - 31k
Hilton Honors 474k in point plus 1 free room annually
Marriott - 109k in points plus 2 free rooms
Hyatt - 21k in points plus 1 free room annually
Max, How was your experience on Singapore Airlines? I have heard good things about them. Unfortunately, I don’t think they are an option with my current roster of points. Currently, the Delta points will take me to BKK from LAX, SFO and I have even found a few redemptions out of LAS at the same point cost. Korean Air has direct flights from LAS to Incheon for those who don’t know. My other options for that trip are JAL or Turkish Airlines through American.
Tom, do you find your Hotel cards worthwhile? (you seem to) Do you use those points for free rooms or do you transfer them somewhere else for air travel? Would you have a recommendation of a good card for someone that wants to get started earning points from the Hotel rewards cards?
Hilton Honors 653k- Diamond member
Originally posted by: Mark
Max, How was your experience on Singapore Airlines?
It was good, older Boeing 777-300ER, but I guess it's better to fly an older Boeing than a new one. Good leg room, and generous reclining on the seats, the service was excellent, and the food was good for airline food. All of the flight attendants were very good-looking, after we settled into our hotel room in Tokyo my wife commented on how attractive the flight attendants were, and I was like, "Hmmm, not that you mentioned it, I think I did notice that." Haha.
I have found it easier to cash in hotel points than miles.
I have the Hilton Amex card. They have several levels of cards; with varying levels of benfits. I have the Aspire card. I believe with any of the cards if you spend $40k per year you get upgraded to Diamond (their highest level).
Our goal is to maintain Diamond and we concentrate our card spending on the Hilton card.
With Diamond you get complimentary room upgrades, a free breakfast or a $15 person food credit, free or preferred parking. The staff works harder for you & is more accomodating when there is an issue. They are more apt to give you a dollar credit or point credit if there are problems.
With a Marriott affinity card we have Platinum status, without a spending goal.
One of these cards gets us National Car Rental Executive status, where we can pick any car on the lot (don't have to go the counter) at a mid car rate. You get free days based on the volume of rentals. Again Executive status gets us better service when there is a problem. We had a problem with one rental and wound up getting a full refund & a $200 credit on a future rental.
We have 1,880,774 points and miles which my Award Wallet app tells me are worth about $32,067. Most are Chase and Amex points. But we have a sign-up bonus plus a referral bonus for another 120,000 Chase points that are about to pop, and I just got approved for a Capital One Venture X that will bring in another 75,000 points, so I should be over two million soon. We have a Southwest Companion Pass that effectively doubles the value of our Southwest points - and the Chase points that we transfer to Southwest.
Without ANY gambling, our two Wyndham Business Earner cards have given each of us Caesars Diamond, which so far just this year has resulted in $850 in food comps (Caesars, Fontainebleau, Wynn), a free two-day stay at the Encore, and $400 in spa credit (Wynn, Fontainebleau). And we've been averaging four free or near-free cruises per year that would have never happened without the Wyndham card. Not bad for a $95 per year card.
Originally posted by: tom
I have found it easier to cash in hotel points than miles.
I have the Hilton Amex card. They have several levels of cards; with varying levels of benfits. I have the Aspire card. I believe with any of the cards if you spend $40k per year you get upgraded to Diamond (their highest level).
Our goal is to maintain Diamond and we concentrate our card spending on the Hilton card.
With Diamond you get complimentary room upgrades, a free breakfast or a $15 person food credit, free or preferred parking. The staff works harder for you & is more accomodating when there is an issue. They are more apt to give you a dollar credit or point credit if there are problems.
With a Marriott affinity card we have Platinum status, without a spending goal.
One of these cards gets us National Car Rental Executive status, where we can pick any car on the lot (don't have to go the counter) at a mid car rate. You get free days based on the volume of rentals. Again Executive status gets us better service when there is a problem. We had a problem with one rental and wound up getting a full refund & a $200 credit on a future rental.
We really like the Hilton AMEX card as well. We really like being able to use points for our relatives to stay free at various places, and yes, the staff experience is second to none. We are Diamond also, so those perks are nice.
Breeze Airways - 386 points
