Maximizing Transferrable Points

With The Points Guy

All points were not created equal!

Transferrable Points 101

- Airline miles & hotel points

- Fixed-value points

- Transferrable points

Flexibility, flexibility, flexibility! Sharing points with family/friends

Transfer partners = options Don’t forget about partners of partners

Don’t put all of your eggs in one basket

The Case for Transferrable Points

American Express Membership Rewards (+First) Platinum, Premier Rewards Gold, Gold, Green and

some corporate and business versions Membership Rewards Express (Blah version)

Blue Card

Chase Ultimate Rewards Sapphire Preferred and Ink Bold With Ultimate

Rewards

The Main Credit Card Transferrable Point Programs

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 Basics

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!

Flexibility

Airline transfer partners (16):Star Alliance: Air Canada Aeroplan, Singapore, ANAOneworld: British Airways, IberiaSkyteam: Delta, Air France/KLM Flying Blue, Alitalia, AeromexicoOther: Airtran, Virgin Atlantic, El Al, Frontier, JetBlue, Hawaiian, Virgin America

* 6/10 cent excise fee on transfers to US airlines.

Membership Rewards- Airline Transfers

Aeroplan- Positives: Instant transfers, flexible routing, only fuel surcharges on Air Canada flightsNegatives: Recently inflated award chart, expensive one-waysGood awards- US to Western Europe 60/90/125

ANA-Positives: Distance-based awards, great award engineNegatives~48-hour transfers, no holds, hefty fuel surchargesGood 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?

British Airways- Instant transfers, region-based awards. Unlimited en-route stopovers, but only one Oneworld carrier for cheapest awards

Iberia- 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?

None of them (Just kidding!) Delta

Positives: Instant transfers, flexible routing, only fuel surcharges on flights that start abroadNegatives: Broken website, inflated award tiers, no one-waysGood awards- US to Africa with a stopover in Europe for 120k in business, 150k in business to Australia on V Australia (plus $600)

Flying BluePositives: 50% off promo awards, one-ways, instant transfersNegatives~ Huge fuel surchargesGood awards- Most promo awards, Israel (included as Europe). Nov-Dec promos from Chicago, Toronto, Calgary, Montreal, Miami, Orlando, Seattle, DC and Detroit.

AlitaliaPositives: 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?

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 Partners

Recent bonus opportunitiesDelta: 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 Bonuses

Choice: 1:1Starwood 3:1Hilton 1: 1.5Best Western 1:1Priority Club 1:1Jumeirah 23:1

Membership Rewards- Hotel Transfers

Mercedes Benz Platinum- 50,000. $495 annual fee Platinum- 25,000. $450 annual fee Premier Rewards Gold- 15,000. $175 annual fee

waived first year Gold- 10,000. $125 annual fee Green- 0. $95 annual fee waived first year

Bumping bonuses debacle Look out for targeted offers!

Current Sign-up Offers

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

tickets Earns elite status just like a purchased ticket

Pay With Points

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 Earning

1:1 transfer partners with Continental, United, British Airways, Korean, Hyatt, Marriott, Priority Club and Amtrak

You can combine points with anyone else No fees when transferring to airlines! You can transfer to anyone else Points post right after statement closes No transfer bonuses (yet)

Chase Ultimate Rewards

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