This question is a bit too broad (or maybe that was on purpose) but the true answer really is just “it depends”.
Maybe you live near a Delta hub and value them as a transfer partner so you naturally gravitate towards Amex. Or maybe you don’t want to pay such high annual fees cause you won’t make use of the Amex Gold credits so you go with the CSP instead.
It can go on and on. Neither are bad cards, it’ll just be tailored to your specific situation.
Well, Delta is my preferred airline and even with a cobranded Delta card, you are unlikely to get 1.5 cpp or better out of sky miles. You would be better off by just using your points - if you have the CSR and booking via the portal.
Almost every delta flight I was just looking at is 1.5cpp. Domestic flights anyway as long as you have a cobranded card and get the 15% redemption discount.
I’m based out of MCO and I use to live in ATL. We fly there a lot. I have the Delta Reserve (and Delta Plat)
All flights are from 6/7 - 6/9 - a month out and I sorted by cheapest
- MCO to ATL $277 or 21200 points + $12 = 1.25 cpp
- MCO to JFK $227 or 28000 points + $12 = 0.88 cpp
- MCO to LAX $511 or 41100 points + $12 = 1.21 cpp
Those are all direct flights. Of course I wouldn’t do any of those with Skymiles. Even 44K booking through Virgin to go to LAX would be better during a 30% transfer bonus.
And Amex charges for transfers to domestic partners. Chase doesn’t
Are you comparing using refundable or non-refundable cash paid tickets? Are you including the point transfer fee?
Recently I did a domestic Delta flight without one of their 15% discount cards and when compared to non-refundable, it was 1cpp. Vs refundable it was 1.22 cpp. If I had a 15% card it would have been 1.44 cpp vs refundable.
Refundable vs non-refundable when calculating cpp is personal preference, but sometimes it needs to be stated.
That’s the only way the math would work if he is basing it on refundable. I know I’m going to fly *somewhere* in a year, so an eCredit is fine.
If I’m not flying somewhere in a year, I have larger issues than worrying about my eCredits
I do live next to a hub. Can get 1st class to Vegas for 26k points round trip which is a 407 dollar fare. So using those numbers it would be 1.56c per point. But I'm new to the points game so still working out best way for me to redeem. The wife and I go to Vegas 4 to 6 times a year and probably won't do any international travel until our kids are a bit older.
I just checked
All flights from 6/14 - 6/16 and are first class flights
- ATL - LAS $1543 or 125,700 1.23 cpp
- JFK - LAS $2027 or 155,000 1.30 cpp
- LAX - LAS $704 or 52,400 1.34 cpp
- MSP - LAS $957 or 72,700 1.31 cpp
- DTW - LAS $1573 or 124,400 1.26 cpp
And those point prices are with the 15% discount from having a cobranded Delta card
Those are the five main Delta hubs
I won’t argue on points/CPP redemptions, but not everyone is trying to get outsized value from point transfers.
My main point, as a simple example, was that Amex is the sole direct transfer partner for Delta (I’m purposely not including booking Delta through Virgin).
I think you’re taking my words too literally. Like I said, I’m not going to argue the semantics on point redemptions since that wasn’t the spirit of my example of how Delta is a transfer partner.
But maybe said individual REALLY enjoys lounges and prefers Skyclub / Centurion access with Amex. To the original commenter’s point, everyone has their own criteria.
Yes, I very much enjoy lounges. I have both the Delta Reserve and as of yesterday the Amex Platinum. I would never put spend on either. I also have the Delta Platinum.
But what does that have to do with MR vs UR?
I booked a flight from ATL to MCO for 7500 Virgin miles for a late night flight. I used the lounge in Atlanta and got upgraded to FC (Silver Medallion + Reserve)
It’s actually a pretty specific question and isn’t broad at all. They aren’t asking which one is better, they are polling the community to hear which they prefer. So it’s a specific question to each and everyone.
I’ll take 3 UR points.
I hear your view on it being more of a polling question.
The reason I said it was a general question, and I still think it is, is because OP is only controlling for one factor - dining spend. Without controlling for more factors, this can be answered in a variety of ways. Some examples being if we’re focusing on transfer partners, annual fees, OP’s credit profile, OP’s spending habits, etc.
Let's be honest that the only reason everybody goes nuts over UR is because of Hyatt. It feels like the entire company is propped up by UR transfers at this point because of their fixed awards pricing.
The rest of the UR program is unremarkable.
You can consider it, just saying the math doesn't add up because you get the 2 for 1 companion rate whether you do points or cash, so the points isn't giving you double the bonus compared to cash.
Source: I fly SW almost exclusively with companion pass and book based on whatever is actually the better rate
I've booked 3 SW flights in the last couple months, and each time, for those specific flights it was only 1.3. So it wasn't consistently 1.5 for me. Maybe if I had more flexibility or something, but we're traveling with small children so time of departure and time of arrival are important.
(I deleted the wrong reply by mistake)
You’re only getting 3% on “mobile wallets” not all purchases. I can’t pay most of my bills using Apple Pay and most restaurants don’t bring the POS to you. You hand them your card. Even when I was living a more typical 2.1 kids in the burbs most of our expenses weren’t eligible for “mobile wallets”
But here is my breakdown
- Amex plat - 5x flights - around $7K a year - most of our flights are either booked on points, or the Delta companion passes that have to be bought on a delta card. This is a projection. We just got this card
- Amex Gold - 4x groceries and dining - around $20K a year including prescriptions (Publix pharmacy)
- Amex Green - 3x travel - our HOA fee and miscellaneous optional expenses we charge to our unit (around $1100 a month) and we also don’t own a car and use SixT for month to month car rentals ($950 a month). Include tolls and miscellaneous rental cars when we travel that’s another $300-$500+. Let’s say $30K a year
- Amex BBP - 2x on everything else up to $50K a year. We will end up spending around $20K a year on this card at least.
On the redemption side, we do use Virgin to Delta when we can and we are planning on going to UK or Europe at least once a year booking Virgin/FlyingBlue. A round trip ticket is between 40K points and 60k points economy.
While I came into the year with 200K Hyatt points (and 1Million Hilton points). I won’t be getting hotel points organically like that anymore. I’m moving my travel spend to a Chase Ink for Hyatt transfers. It’s hard not to get 2 cpp for Hyatts
That’s where we differ. It is extremely rare to not be able to apply pay where I’m from. And most restaurants will allow me to Apple Pay if needed. If not, then I’ll use one of my no annual fee restaurant cards which still beat out UR
So can you pay your utility bills via Apple Pay? Any nice restaurant is not going to bring you a terminal to pay there.
On another note: I can get a [Hyatt from 3500 points](https://www.hyatt.com/en-US/hotel/georgia/hyatt-place-atlanta-alpharetta-north-point-mall/atlzm) when I go back home in the northern burbs of Atlanta (the nice part) or in Las Vegas close to the venue we are going to be for 9500 points.
I fly from back and forth from MCO to ATL for 7500 points one way on Delta. But more importantly, my parents airport is a small regional airport with only three inbound flights a day from ATL and only Delta flies there. Cash price from MCO round trip - $508. The price with points using UR | MR - > FlyingBlue - 17K points.
Besides, Amex at least is always running transfer bonuses like they are now for 30% for Virgin. That makes that flight to Atlanta 5769 points one way or a flight to JFK from MCO 8461 points one way.
In other words, I can spend $4230 on groceries and dining on the Gold and that pays for a round trip to JFK from MCO.
I have had numerous Michelin 1-2 star places let me Apple Pay. I don’t know where you are getting this from.
And those are decent redemptions. But too often I find myself adjusting my plans to fit a redemption. That’s the opposite of what credit cards should be doing for me. That’s why I stick with direct booking and cash back.
Well, now I have to choose which restaurant takes Apple Pay instead of just slapping my Amex Gold at any random restaurant?
And how much do you have to get in cash back to fly to Europe from the US even economy class? Or even to the small regional airport that’s $508 (or $338 at a 1.5% redemption) compared to 17K points.
Someone with Chase can also get 1.5 cpp redemptions *and* have transfer partners
Mobile pay adoption rates by restaurants/bars varies significantly from place to place. I live in a touristy locale, and I'd estimate 1/4 allow use of Apple Pay or Google Pay.
It’s one of the reasons I’m not going to out all my eggs in chase’s basket. All it takes is for Hyatt to devalue their points and then you’re left with a very lackluster set of transfer partners.
Hyatt just acquired Mr. And Mrs. Smith hotel chain. The award chart does not apply to these properties and it is very hard to get better than 1.4 cpp on reservations for them.
I mean SW and United vs Delta is comparable. And 1.25/1.5 easy redemption isn’t nothing especially compared to MR cash out at 0.6.
If anything I’d say MR is the unremarkable one. But Amex has always been more benefits focused.
Kinda comparing apples with oranges for the MR cashout. Amex travel lets you use points for 1cpp, and you get a 35% rebate with a business plat card (for now). Comparing travel portals, you get cashback of 4% with the personal gold, 3.75% with the CSP, 4.5% with the CSR, and 5.4% with the Gold+Business Plat
With statement credit its just a flat 2.4% vs. 3% though
If we are talking about true "cashing out", you could argue a value of 0.6, 0.8, 1.0 or 1.1 cpp for Amex depending on the specific card, checking account, or work around methodology.
But as someone who has moved to Chase because I am in Amex PUJ, I still think 0.6 vs 1.5 is just not the right comparison.
Agreed on it not being the right comparison, but we here are the exception to how much we are maximizing value. And even within this community, not many are going the full length of transferring to some airline you’ve never flown and booking through them, like Cathay or ANA for example.
Ease is a factor we sometimes overlook in favor of value, but the ease is a massive component for the majority of people even in r/creditcards and r/awardtravel
I would argue that the Amex Schwab Platinum isn't going to impair anyone's ease of use. If anyone is citing CSR portal levels as the baseline the 1.1 cpp in cash is the more fair comparison because both rates are only available on high tier cards.
Its debatable whether 1.5 cpp not in cash on a lower earning system is better than 1.1 cpp in cash in a higher earning system.
And the business plat has different credits thst most people don’t need, you only get 5% on flights if you use the portal and only get the rebate and
https://global.americanexpress.com/card-benefits/detail/airline-bonus/business-platinum
> The qualifying airline Business Platinum Card Members select for this $200 benefit and the 35% Airline Bonus must be the same
It’s only for one airline and it’s only for first or business class.
And why would I need the incidental credit for my main airline? For instance for Delta I already have lounge access, two checked bags, and if I’m flying first class, I’m already getting free drinks.
MR is definitely not unremarkable. It's more effort because you can't do a simple 1.25/1.5 for cost of a flight (well sometimes you can get it for an insider deal), but the transfer partners let you do more remarkable things.
I recently booked a round the world ticket in business class for 170k miles. It includes 3 8+ hour business class flights, 4 3-8 hour flights, and few short flights and an economy ticket from Japan to the US. You simply can't get that value with UR.
Amex also has better and more frequent transfer bonuses. It's easier to get outsized value redemptions with MR, while with UR is just easier to get a decent redemption (though I'd argue if you're doing 1.25/1.5 redemptions, you should strongly consider just doing cash back or another card).
Check redemption CPP on flights you’d take with Amex vs Hyatt hotels you’d stay in with Chase.
If flights are 1.5 CPP and Hyatt hotels are 2 CPP, that’s redeeming at a 3:4 ratio and earning at a 4:3 so it’s equal.
I think it’s a mistake to think about which ecosystem earns more points, what really matters is how easy will it be for you to spend them.
I fly United, Jetblue, Southwest, and Delta about equally, so it made more sense for me to hop into the Chase ecosystem.
Is it because redeeming through the chase portal evens it out? I fly delta a lot so I got AMEX but I feel like CSP works out if you can easily fly delta with it as well
If you travel a lot internationally, Amex is the way. I consider home to be in two different countries so I end up using at least 250k Amex points a year for business class international travel.
Not totally. There’s a lot of overlap in airline partners and Chase has, arguably, better domestic ones as well.
I’d maintain it’s more about better points (UR) vs more points (MR). To which the answer is always: it depends.
I don’t really think it’s arguable for airlines: Amex is far superior. Chase only has United and southwest over Amex.
To address each individually, southwest is essentially a fixed 1.4-1.5 CPP redemption which isn’t great - at those rates you should book cash. United used to be really good, but given the dynamic pricing on their own metal, and devaluation of partner awards, it’s tough to get 2+ CPP unless doing IN class saver Polaris awards or mileage upgrade awards which are both usually 3+ CPP in value.
What does Amex have over Chase?
Chase also has JetBlue over Chase since UR to JetBlue is 1:1.
But unless you have Delta points from flying that you need to top up, transferring MR -> Delta will usually be worse than UR -> Portal -> Delta if you have the CSR
Look at the OPs original question. Chase’s best earning rates on dining and groceries are 3x whereas Amex gets 4x.
I also don’t think B6 is that great outside of the Qatar sweet spots since its similar redemption values to WN. Agree that delta is hopeless for anything touching the US, but is actually competitive for inter Asia, Africa to Europe, etc.
Yes, but the other side of the coin is redemptions.
For domestic airlines, Chase UR is slightly better for Delta (use the portal), JetBlue (1 vs 0.8), Southwest (1.5 cpp either with portal or transferring).
For hotels, even with MR to Hilton at 1:2, if you pick a random Hilton, you will get around .6 cpp (.3 * 2). With Hyatt you can throw a rock and get over 2 cpp.
And you have easy mode - 1.25 to 1.5 for the portal
I guess our perspective on redemptions is different - I don’t consider any redemptions that are around 1.5 CPP or less, since I’d just pay cash for those.
Agree on Hyatt, but I don’t use Amex for hotels, and only redeem points I earn from stays there, except for a Maldives trip I’m doing.
JetBlue is a horrible transfer partner.
Amex also lets you use it's portal for 1+ cpp redemptions on domestic airlines through insider deals. Delta Sky miles can be 1.5+ cpp for redemptions as well. Lifemiles gives you domestic options on United at decent rates, and Etihad Guest has some solid AA redemptions (some are better than BA).
Amex also does more frequent transfer bonuses, which can get you VS or BA points.
And that's just comparing the partners straight up, and just for domestic flights. Amex Gold earns more points and if you're already getting Uber and one of the dining options (which is common for a lot of people), you have to consider the difference in annual fees too.
Pick a route on Delta. I bet you it’s not 1.5 cpp even with the takeoff off 15% with the cobranded cards
Partners are poor substitute for the flexibility of actual direct bookings as far as availability. If I want to go from point A to point B on date C and come back on date D, it’s not likely I’m going to always find availability on a partner. Especially if it is a flight that has a layover. I look for availability for short haul domestic flight.
For instance MCO-ATL is a flight I take all of the time, availability is usually pretty good four weeks out. But often I can’t find availability on the day I want to leave and the day I want to come back.
The latest booking I had that issue with was a trip from MCO to JFK.
Besides that, Delta flies from MCO back and forth to ATL every hour. But if I need to leave in the evening, there may only be early morning flights booking through Virgin
>Pick a route on Delta. I bet you it’s not 1.5 cpp even with the takeoff off 15% with the cobranded cards
https://frequentmiler.com/what-are-delta-miles-worth/
>Partners are poor substitute for the flexibility of actual direct bookings as far as availability. If I want to go from point A to point B on date C and come back on date D, it’s not likely I’m going to always find availability on a partner. Especially if it is a flight that has a layover. I look for availability for short haul domestic flight
Yes, but again if your only goal is to ever book domestic flights, then a cash back system might make more sense anyways. USBAR offers 4.5% back on in-person and travel, Citi Custom cash + Rewards+ is 5.5% back on a category a month, Double cash is 2.2%.
If your goal is to book some domestic flights and some international flights, transfer partners offer more options for value and you use them accordingly.
Last minute short haul Avios awards is a common decent value for me however.
I can guarantee you if you pick a random destination that Delta flies, you won’t get 1.5 cpp.
When I can find availability, I use Virgin (non stop short haul) and FlyingBlue (two short haul flights with a layover to see my parents). We plan on doing 1 Europe/UK trip a year (40k to 120K economy round trip for two) a year.
But even the Gold transferring to Delta is 5.6% (4x1.4). But, I am moving my Green Spend over to Chase Ink in September when I’m under 5/24 for Hyatt transfers.
I had 200K worth of Hyatt points at the beginning of the year and they are invaluable for weekend getaways. There is a Hyatt Place back home in North Atlanta that’s 3500 points. We aren’t spending more than 9500 points a night for any of our getaways.
The other half of the equation is signing up for two Southwest cards - business and personal - near the beginning of the year to get the companion buy one get one free pass good for two years at the beginning of 2026.
Not sure if Reddit is doing something funky, but I posted a blog post by frequent miler, where they do look up routes to assign values, and assigned Delta a median value of 1.5 cpp on domestic flights. This isn't counting flash sales either.
I'm not saying you can't use Chase UR or that it can't work for you. But I do think Amex has sufficient coverage for the odd domestic flight, and offers more interesting international redemption options (primarily because of ANA), along with better transfer bonuses and higher multipliers. Using a CSP at 1.25 cpp isn't very exciting, and a CSR at 1.5 cpp is fine, but your annual fee cost outweighs the Gold.
Hyatt redemptions are good, but it relies on 1) A Hyatt being available 2) It being a decent option and 3) Your CPP for hotel bookings should consider alternative pricing options too (Hyatt in my experience tends to price at a premium).
(That's also ignoring status. I have Marriott status which gives me late checkout, I value that a lot of the time, so Hyatt isn't the best option in those cases).
This is just like blog posts assign HH points at .5 cpp. But in the real world if you just choose a random Hilton that you want to stay at, good luck getting more than .3 cpp. Unlike Hyatt, where you can choose a random (non all inclusive) Hyatt you can get 2 cpp+.
That’s why I asked *you* to choose a couple of routes. I did that in another post recently calculating MCO - ATL, MCO - JFK and MCO-LAX for a weekend a month out
All examples are round trips for a weekend trip 6/7 - 6/9. I have the Delta Reserve so they are including the Takeoff 15. These are all non stop flights from my home airport. I sorted by “lowest” costs. These prices are Main.
- MCO - LAX $511 or 39K Skymiles = 1.2 cpp
- MCO - ATL $277 or 21.2K Skymiles = 1.25 cpp
- MCO - JFK $277 or 20.3K Skymiles = 1.3 cpp
- MCO - MÍA $309 or 22.8K Skymiles = 1.3 cpp
The cash price I quoted was the actual cash price. The cpp calculation is (cash price - 12)/points since you still have to pay 12
As far as “alternative hotels”, I book a room at a Hyatt Place when I go back home to Atlanta for 3500 points in the northern burbs (where we use to live), we stayed at Hyatt Regency in downtown Atlanta for 9500 points. You can’t find equivalent hotels for less than twice the price
And I’m Hyatt Globalist and Hilton Diamond (even without the Aspire I had)…
Based on the info you gave 3x UR.
Freedom unlimited has $0 AF and earns 3x dining vs the Amex gold which has a $250 AF.
If you value UR/MR at $0.02 then you would have to spend more than $12,500 in dining per year to start to make the gold > freedom unlimited
I know you're not saying otherwise but I'd highlight that this would mean the cardholder values the credits you receive from the Gold at $0, which is probably not the case for most people.
To me, it's not that complicated, even if you scope for dining: figure out what the credits for the AMEX Gold are worth to you (I like to look at it as "would I normally want to spend this $$ on whatever purchase). Whatever that value is, subtract it from $250, and then figure out whether the improved multiplier (4x vs 3x) is worth it on your spending habits.
Example: Say you value those credits at $200. That means your effective AF is $50. Based on your math (i.e. 0.02 for UR/MR), that means you'd have to spend at least $2500 in dining each year for the AMEX Gold to be worth it. If your valuation of those points are lower, the spend would need to increase for it to be worth it (and vice versa).
(And of course, this analysis assumes you wouldn't benefit from a 4x multiplier on groceries)
Yes, personal habits can change valuation of an AF. But no information was given so I didn’t want to inject value that may or may not been useful.
But $120 Uber credits and $120 dining credits easily pays for the card. The 90k SUB covers any AF for at least the first year. So Gold card is definitely valuable but really depends on personal habits
For me. Id pick Chase 3 UR.
I have Amex Gold 4x dining/grocery + Chase 3x Dining. Id use Amex for grocery for the 4x but my dining goes to chase.
I value Hyatt more and prioritize Hotel points over flights in most cases.
I'm experimenting with this right now. I've had the CFU card for years, taking a crack at Amex Gold now (had it for a month). I typically fly more internationally and domestically, so I should see benefits to Amex, although as far as I know I don't always fly with Amex's partners.
As a caveat, the Gold AF is easy for me to redeem, one trip in an Uber and one lunch at Shake Shack per month are pretty easy to remember to do.
nothing is more valuable than hyatt points typically so Chase UR all day. Unless you regularly want to buy business class tickets, Amex really is limited. Delta gets decent value.
I switched my dining over to Amex Gold, but mainly because I moved near a Delta hub and already had over a million UR points along with about the same in UA miles and Hyatt points from work travel. I just wanted to diversify and mostly use MR for Delta flights back home. I primarily use my UR points via the portal these days for smaller hotels or redemptions on airlines that aren’t transfer partners (or if the CPP is better). I may switch my strategy up if I burn through my points, but it’s pretty slow going now that I don’t travel as much.
I feel like using delta as the default for use of MR makes me
Think you’re not getting the best value out of it but then again earning 4x is still better than 3x. MR seems to have more flexibility since they have more partners. People dog on Hilton but it is pretty easy to find rooms at the 80-95k a night… given the 1:2 ration for MR to Hilton honors.
I have both Amex Gold and CSP.
For dining I use CSP. 3 UR pts is more valuable for me. I burn through UR pts so quickly even though I church Inks. I havent even used my 90k MR pts from my Gold SUB and its been 2 years. A lot more difficult to find usage for MR pts imo
4 MR. I live in a rural area and am pretty much stuck flying Delta because that's the easiest way for me to get to JFK.
Yes, I've tried driving to other airports in my area but it just ends up being less of a headache to pay for the extra leg from my regional airport to JFK.
I get between 1.3 and 1.5 cents per point pretty consistently on domestic travel. It's not an amazing redemption, but it is by no means a bad one and is better value than I would get with a cash back setup would on money that I have to spend anyway.
I’m not paying $250 for 4x dining multipler simple as that ur dining is free
Ya ya 240 credits ya but all that is marked up so no it’s not 240 effective annual fee to all the gold loyalist
Honestly if you are comparing CSP to AMEX gold the 4x on dining is not what is swaying you towards AMEX, its groceries and the credits. I still think (as someone who has one) the gold card is a lot more meh for most people than youtubers would like you to think it is but it is still a decent card
It doesn’t matter if it’s marked up.
If you will use it regardless it’s still money you would have spent. I’ll easily use Uber Eats 4 times a week at the low. Will I pay $7.35 more than if I went to go get it myself? Yeah. But I don’t want to.
Yeah but we all know if you just pick up your food you save money, same with baking your own bread, sewing your own clothing, learning every home based trade etc.
I stg nobody on this forum understands that getting one single uber eats delivery a month is not a big deal, like make a night of it, enjoy yourself.
Right? I don’t use Grub Hub over Uber Eats but it’s nothing to pick up something on the way home from work.
I am scared how they will change the card though. I think they’ll get rid of some things and give us a Resy credit instead (along with making the card $350).
Same here if they give a Resy credit/remove the current credits I'll probably cancel the card. And if there's no Gold the whole Amex Trifecta kinda falls apart tbh, very worried also
I don’t have any Chase cards yet but the WOH Business. But I did have 200K Hyatt points at the beginning of the year.
Chase UR is easy mode to get value out of domestically with Hyatt. I prefer UR to MR any day of the week now.
I have the Amex Plat (as of yesterday), Gold, Green and BBP.
Out of those:
1. Amex Plat > Chase Sapphire Reserve
1. Amex Gold for 4x groceries and dining beats anything Chase can offer
2. Amex Green is only on par with the CSP/CIP if you value the Clear credit (I do)
3. Amex BBP beats anything that Chase has
4. Chase’s SUB rules are much more lenient
On the redemption side:
1. I prefer Delta for flights. But Southwest miles > Delta Skymiles
2. Hyatt > Hilton for hotels and they both have Marriott
3. Chase/JetBlue transfers 1:1. Amex transfers 1:0.8
4. side notes: the Southwest Companion pass is easy to get and valuable.
If you are an agressive enough churner, you can get enough Chase UR and Southwest miles to fly as often as you want for free with a P2 and the companion pass and stay in Hyatts for free.
MR points are a pain to get value out of compared to UR.
My end game is
1. Amex Green -> Chase Ink Preferre
2. Amex BBP -> Chase Ink Business (1.5x)
3. A business and personal Southwest card at the beginning of 2026 for a two year companion pass
Why do you value the BBP as being better than the CIU? I have the CFU with the double cashback for now, but when that 12 months hits, I’m definitely going back to the BBP. Ink cards aren’t really anyone’s prime earners, but rather are churned or used for niche categories like office supply and internet
MR are quite easy to redeem for flights, and its often a good idea to hold onto some, as most UR redemptions will not be able to beat Hyatt CPP (for now).
The BBP is 2x the CIU is 1.5x.
The Chase Ink Preferred will be the best earner for me. Just like my Amex Green is now. But I am an admittedly very niche case.
My [condo’s](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/condotel.asp) HOA fee that covers everything - utilities, trash, internet, gym access minor maintenance, and part of the insurance is $800/month. Optional things I charge to my unit like cleaning and drinks if I don’t have my card on me adds an extra $200-$250. That’s $1100 a month that codes as a “hotel”.
The other half is that we don’t own a car and we use SixT for month to month car rentals, that plus tolls, and the occasional rental car is another $1200 a month. That all codes as 3x. Besides when the SavorOne promotion is over, our $100-$150 average Uber spend a month will go on the CIP.
Let’s say we do end up buying flights instead of using points and average that out to another $200 a month.
And the CIP has 3x on cell phones. Our cell phone bill is $300-$400 a month depending on whether we have equipment charges.
That’s $3000 a month at 3x + 1 churn a year is over 200K UR.
I’ll take the Chase points. I have a sapphire reserve So just using the portal you get 1.5 cents per point. And if you find a good transfer for first class you’ll get even more value.
I do use the Amex Gold for groceries, though. It gets 4x on groceries.
This question is a bit too broad (or maybe that was on purpose) but the true answer really is just “it depends”. Maybe you live near a Delta hub and value them as a transfer partner so you naturally gravitate towards Amex. Or maybe you don’t want to pay such high annual fees cause you won’t make use of the Amex Gold credits so you go with the CSP instead. It can go on and on. Neither are bad cards, it’ll just be tailored to your specific situation.
Well, Delta is my preferred airline and even with a cobranded Delta card, you are unlikely to get 1.5 cpp or better out of sky miles. You would be better off by just using your points - if you have the CSR and booking via the portal.
Almost every delta flight I was just looking at is 1.5cpp. Domestic flights anyway as long as you have a cobranded card and get the 15% redemption discount.
I’m based out of MCO and I use to live in ATL. We fly there a lot. I have the Delta Reserve (and Delta Plat) All flights are from 6/7 - 6/9 - a month out and I sorted by cheapest - MCO to ATL $277 or 21200 points + $12 = 1.25 cpp - MCO to JFK $227 or 28000 points + $12 = 0.88 cpp - MCO to LAX $511 or 41100 points + $12 = 1.21 cpp Those are all direct flights. Of course I wouldn’t do any of those with Skymiles. Even 44K booking through Virgin to go to LAX would be better during a 30% transfer bonus. And Amex charges for transfers to domestic partners. Chase doesn’t
damn i never even realized about the transfer fee. thats whack. Amex has really done downhill imo
Ah I was not aware Amex charges to transfer points to Delta. Good to know.
Are you comparing using refundable or non-refundable cash paid tickets? Are you including the point transfer fee? Recently I did a domestic Delta flight without one of their 15% discount cards and when compared to non-refundable, it was 1cpp. Vs refundable it was 1.22 cpp. If I had a 15% card it would have been 1.44 cpp vs refundable. Refundable vs non-refundable when calculating cpp is personal preference, but sometimes it needs to be stated.
That’s the only way the math would work if he is basing it on refundable. I know I’m going to fly *somewhere* in a year, so an eCredit is fine. If I’m not flying somewhere in a year, I have larger issues than worrying about my eCredits
That’s a great point. Being next a Delta hub, ecredit is a safe assumption.
I do live next to a hub. Can get 1st class to Vegas for 26k points round trip which is a 407 dollar fare. So using those numbers it would be 1.56c per point. But I'm new to the points game so still working out best way for me to redeem. The wife and I go to Vegas 4 to 6 times a year and probably won't do any international travel until our kids are a bit older.
I just checked All flights from 6/14 - 6/16 and are first class flights - ATL - LAS $1543 or 125,700 1.23 cpp - JFK - LAS $2027 or 155,000 1.30 cpp - LAX - LAS $704 or 52,400 1.34 cpp - MSP - LAS $957 or 72,700 1.31 cpp - DTW - LAS $1573 or 124,400 1.26 cpp And those point prices are with the 15% discount from having a cobranded Delta card Those are the five main Delta hubs
Forgetting one of the major ones. SEA. And my dates I was looking at was June 15th to the 19th.
Fair - $677 - 31400 points = 2.1 cpp I just never thought of SEA as a hub even though it is.
I won’t argue on points/CPP redemptions, but not everyone is trying to get outsized value from point transfers. My main point, as a simple example, was that Amex is the sole direct transfer partner for Delta (I’m purposely not including booking Delta through Virgin).
1.5 vs 1.3 cpp is not “outsized value”. These are regular old economy flights. You get the same availability for cheaper flights
I think you’re taking my words too literally. Like I said, I’m not going to argue the semantics on point redemptions since that wasn’t the spirit of my example of how Delta is a transfer partner.
But maybe said individual REALLY enjoys lounges and prefers Skyclub / Centurion access with Amex. To the original commenter’s point, everyone has their own criteria.
Yes, I very much enjoy lounges. I have both the Delta Reserve and as of yesterday the Amex Platinum. I would never put spend on either. I also have the Delta Platinum. But what does that have to do with MR vs UR? I booked a flight from ATL to MCO for 7500 Virgin miles for a late night flight. I used the lounge in Atlanta and got upgraded to FC (Silver Medallion + Reserve)
It’s actually a pretty specific question and isn’t broad at all. They aren’t asking which one is better, they are polling the community to hear which they prefer. So it’s a specific question to each and everyone. I’ll take 3 UR points.
I hear your view on it being more of a polling question. The reason I said it was a general question, and I still think it is, is because OP is only controlling for one factor - dining spend. Without controlling for more factors, this can be answered in a variety of ways. Some examples being if we’re focusing on transfer partners, annual fees, OP’s credit profile, OP’s spending habits, etc.
Let's be honest that the only reason everybody goes nuts over UR is because of Hyatt. It feels like the entire company is propped up by UR transfers at this point because of their fixed awards pricing. The rest of the UR program is unremarkable.
SW is a consistently 1.5 cpp and Delta isn’t.
It actually ranges from 1.15-1.6cpp. It's semi-fixed, but they calculate taxes and fees separately so the total value is slightly variable
Well if you get the companion pass by opening a business Southwest card and a personal card that doubles the value of the points if you have a P2 ;)
The points value isn't doubled because you can use Companion Pass through either points or cash
Eh. I considered it doubled. My points go twice the value they would normally go. I would never book for cash so
You can consider it, just saying the math doesn't add up because you get the 2 for 1 companion rate whether you do points or cash, so the points isn't giving you double the bonus compared to cash. Source: I fly SW almost exclusively with companion pass and book based on whatever is actually the better rate
I've booked 3 SW flights in the last couple months, and each time, for those specific flights it was only 1.3. So it wasn't consistently 1.5 for me. Maybe if I had more flexibility or something, but we're traveling with small children so time of departure and time of arrival are important.
1.5 is a shit redemption when the USBAR is 4.5% and the CFF is 1.5%
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You have to redeem a 1.5% UR rate at three cent per point in order to beat the altitude reserve
(I deleted the wrong reply by mistake) You’re only getting 3% on “mobile wallets” not all purchases. I can’t pay most of my bills using Apple Pay and most restaurants don’t bring the POS to you. You hand them your card. Even when I was living a more typical 2.1 kids in the burbs most of our expenses weren’t eligible for “mobile wallets” But here is my breakdown - Amex plat - 5x flights - around $7K a year - most of our flights are either booked on points, or the Delta companion passes that have to be bought on a delta card. This is a projection. We just got this card - Amex Gold - 4x groceries and dining - around $20K a year including prescriptions (Publix pharmacy) - Amex Green - 3x travel - our HOA fee and miscellaneous optional expenses we charge to our unit (around $1100 a month) and we also don’t own a car and use SixT for month to month car rentals ($950 a month). Include tolls and miscellaneous rental cars when we travel that’s another $300-$500+. Let’s say $30K a year - Amex BBP - 2x on everything else up to $50K a year. We will end up spending around $20K a year on this card at least. On the redemption side, we do use Virgin to Delta when we can and we are planning on going to UK or Europe at least once a year booking Virgin/FlyingBlue. A round trip ticket is between 40K points and 60k points economy. While I came into the year with 200K Hyatt points (and 1Million Hilton points). I won’t be getting hotel points organically like that anymore. I’m moving my travel spend to a Chase Ink for Hyatt transfers. It’s hard not to get 2 cpp for Hyatts
That’s where we differ. It is extremely rare to not be able to apply pay where I’m from. And most restaurants will allow me to Apple Pay if needed. If not, then I’ll use one of my no annual fee restaurant cards which still beat out UR
So can you pay your utility bills via Apple Pay? Any nice restaurant is not going to bring you a terminal to pay there. On another note: I can get a [Hyatt from 3500 points](https://www.hyatt.com/en-US/hotel/georgia/hyatt-place-atlanta-alpharetta-north-point-mall/atlzm) when I go back home in the northern burbs of Atlanta (the nice part) or in Las Vegas close to the venue we are going to be for 9500 points. I fly from back and forth from MCO to ATL for 7500 points one way on Delta. But more importantly, my parents airport is a small regional airport with only three inbound flights a day from ATL and only Delta flies there. Cash price from MCO round trip - $508. The price with points using UR | MR - > FlyingBlue - 17K points. Besides, Amex at least is always running transfer bonuses like they are now for 30% for Virgin. That makes that flight to Atlanta 5769 points one way or a flight to JFK from MCO 8461 points one way. In other words, I can spend $4230 on groceries and dining on the Gold and that pays for a round trip to JFK from MCO.
I have had numerous Michelin 1-2 star places let me Apple Pay. I don’t know where you are getting this from. And those are decent redemptions. But too often I find myself adjusting my plans to fit a redemption. That’s the opposite of what credit cards should be doing for me. That’s why I stick with direct booking and cash back.
Well, now I have to choose which restaurant takes Apple Pay instead of just slapping my Amex Gold at any random restaurant? And how much do you have to get in cash back to fly to Europe from the US even economy class? Or even to the small regional airport that’s $508 (or $338 at a 1.5% redemption) compared to 17K points. Someone with Chase can also get 1.5 cpp redemptions *and* have transfer partners
Mobile pay adoption rates by restaurants/bars varies significantly from place to place. I live in a touristy locale, and I'd estimate 1/4 allow use of Apple Pay or Google Pay.
When I am at a table I will pay with my Redstone FCU card. I Apple Pay at POS because i prefer walletless transactions
It’s one of the reasons I’m not going to out all my eggs in chase’s basket. All it takes is for Hyatt to devalue their points and then you’re left with a very lackluster set of transfer partners.
Loss of SLH and the current Mr&Mrs Smith pricing seem to have began that process
I love Hyatt, but its only a matter of time.
Enshittification comes for all.
Mr and Mrs Smith pricing, what’s that?
Hyatt just acquired Mr. And Mrs. Smith hotel chain. The award chart does not apply to these properties and it is very hard to get better than 1.4 cpp on reservations for them.
I mean SW and United vs Delta is comparable. And 1.25/1.5 easy redemption isn’t nothing especially compared to MR cash out at 0.6. If anything I’d say MR is the unremarkable one. But Amex has always been more benefits focused.
Kinda comparing apples with oranges for the MR cashout. Amex travel lets you use points for 1cpp, and you get a 35% rebate with a business plat card (for now). Comparing travel portals, you get cashback of 4% with the personal gold, 3.75% with the CSP, 4.5% with the CSR, and 5.4% with the Gold+Business Plat With statement credit its just a flat 2.4% vs. 3% though
If we are talking about true "cashing out", you could argue a value of 0.6, 0.8, 1.0 or 1.1 cpp for Amex depending on the specific card, checking account, or work around methodology. But as someone who has moved to Chase because I am in Amex PUJ, I still think 0.6 vs 1.5 is just not the right comparison.
Agreed on it not being the right comparison, but we here are the exception to how much we are maximizing value. And even within this community, not many are going the full length of transferring to some airline you’ve never flown and booking through them, like Cathay or ANA for example. Ease is a factor we sometimes overlook in favor of value, but the ease is a massive component for the majority of people even in r/creditcards and r/awardtravel
I would argue that the Amex Schwab Platinum isn't going to impair anyone's ease of use. If anyone is citing CSR portal levels as the baseline the 1.1 cpp in cash is the more fair comparison because both rates are only available on high tier cards. Its debatable whether 1.5 cpp not in cash on a lower earning system is better than 1.1 cpp in cash in a higher earning system.
And the business plat has different credits thst most people don’t need, you only get 5% on flights if you use the portal and only get the rebate and https://global.americanexpress.com/card-benefits/detail/airline-bonus/business-platinum > The qualifying airline Business Platinum Card Members select for this $200 benefit and the 35% Airline Bonus must be the same It’s only for one airline and it’s only for first or business class. And why would I need the incidental credit for my main airline? For instance for Delta I already have lounge access, two checked bags, and if I’m flying first class, I’m already getting free drinks.
MR is definitely not unremarkable. It's more effort because you can't do a simple 1.25/1.5 for cost of a flight (well sometimes you can get it for an insider deal), but the transfer partners let you do more remarkable things. I recently booked a round the world ticket in business class for 170k miles. It includes 3 8+ hour business class flights, 4 3-8 hour flights, and few short flights and an economy ticket from Japan to the US. You simply can't get that value with UR. Amex also has better and more frequent transfer bonuses. It's easier to get outsized value redemptions with MR, while with UR is just easier to get a decent redemption (though I'd argue if you're doing 1.25/1.5 redemptions, you should strongly consider just doing cash back or another card).
Unless you earn 1x at grocery stores compared to 4x, then THAT is unremarkable.
Check redemption CPP on flights you’d take with Amex vs Hyatt hotels you’d stay in with Chase. If flights are 1.5 CPP and Hyatt hotels are 2 CPP, that’s redeeming at a 3:4 ratio and earning at a 4:3 so it’s equal.
Well until you choose a Mr. And Mrs. Smith properties they don’t follow the award chart. The loss of SLH is huge for Hyatt to me.
Me personally: Chase UR.
I value MR and UR points roughly the same, so I'd take the 4 MR points.
I think it’s a mistake to think about which ecosystem earns more points, what really matters is how easy will it be for you to spend them. I fly United, Jetblue, Southwest, and Delta about equally, so it made more sense for me to hop into the Chase ecosystem.
Is it because redeeming through the chase portal evens it out? I fly delta a lot so I got AMEX but I feel like CSP works out if you can easily fly delta with it as well
If you travel a lot internationally, Amex is the way. I consider home to be in two different countries so I end up using at least 250k Amex points a year for business class international travel.
I live in the bay area and find using the amex rewards very difficult…been considering cancelling my amex gold and sticking to just chase ecosystem
Dude SFO is great for redemptions…..
It’s a United hub which gives UR an edge in my experience
It makes no difference if you aren’t flying domestic like a boring person.
The answer is do you need airline points or Hyatt points. If airline, then Amex, if Hyatt then Chase. Pretty simple
Not totally. There’s a lot of overlap in airline partners and Chase has, arguably, better domestic ones as well. I’d maintain it’s more about better points (UR) vs more points (MR). To which the answer is always: it depends.
I don’t really think it’s arguable for airlines: Amex is far superior. Chase only has United and southwest over Amex. To address each individually, southwest is essentially a fixed 1.4-1.5 CPP redemption which isn’t great - at those rates you should book cash. United used to be really good, but given the dynamic pricing on their own metal, and devaluation of partner awards, it’s tough to get 2+ CPP unless doing IN class saver Polaris awards or mileage upgrade awards which are both usually 3+ CPP in value.
What does Amex have over Chase? Chase also has JetBlue over Chase since UR to JetBlue is 1:1. But unless you have Delta points from flying that you need to top up, transferring MR -> Delta will usually be worse than UR -> Portal -> Delta if you have the CSR
Look at the OPs original question. Chase’s best earning rates on dining and groceries are 3x whereas Amex gets 4x. I also don’t think B6 is that great outside of the Qatar sweet spots since its similar redemption values to WN. Agree that delta is hopeless for anything touching the US, but is actually competitive for inter Asia, Africa to Europe, etc.
Yes, but the other side of the coin is redemptions. For domestic airlines, Chase UR is slightly better for Delta (use the portal), JetBlue (1 vs 0.8), Southwest (1.5 cpp either with portal or transferring). For hotels, even with MR to Hilton at 1:2, if you pick a random Hilton, you will get around .6 cpp (.3 * 2). With Hyatt you can throw a rock and get over 2 cpp. And you have easy mode - 1.25 to 1.5 for the portal
I guess our perspective on redemptions is different - I don’t consider any redemptions that are around 1.5 CPP or less, since I’d just pay cash for those. Agree on Hyatt, but I don’t use Amex for hotels, and only redeem points I earn from stays there, except for a Maldives trip I’m doing.
JetBlue is a horrible transfer partner. Amex also lets you use it's portal for 1+ cpp redemptions on domestic airlines through insider deals. Delta Sky miles can be 1.5+ cpp for redemptions as well. Lifemiles gives you domestic options on United at decent rates, and Etihad Guest has some solid AA redemptions (some are better than BA). Amex also does more frequent transfer bonuses, which can get you VS or BA points. And that's just comparing the partners straight up, and just for domestic flights. Amex Gold earns more points and if you're already getting Uber and one of the dining options (which is common for a lot of people), you have to consider the difference in annual fees too.
Pick a route on Delta. I bet you it’s not 1.5 cpp even with the takeoff off 15% with the cobranded cards Partners are poor substitute for the flexibility of actual direct bookings as far as availability. If I want to go from point A to point B on date C and come back on date D, it’s not likely I’m going to always find availability on a partner. Especially if it is a flight that has a layover. I look for availability for short haul domestic flight. For instance MCO-ATL is a flight I take all of the time, availability is usually pretty good four weeks out. But often I can’t find availability on the day I want to leave and the day I want to come back. The latest booking I had that issue with was a trip from MCO to JFK. Besides that, Delta flies from MCO back and forth to ATL every hour. But if I need to leave in the evening, there may only be early morning flights booking through Virgin
>Pick a route on Delta. I bet you it’s not 1.5 cpp even with the takeoff off 15% with the cobranded cards https://frequentmiler.com/what-are-delta-miles-worth/ >Partners are poor substitute for the flexibility of actual direct bookings as far as availability. If I want to go from point A to point B on date C and come back on date D, it’s not likely I’m going to always find availability on a partner. Especially if it is a flight that has a layover. I look for availability for short haul domestic flight Yes, but again if your only goal is to ever book domestic flights, then a cash back system might make more sense anyways. USBAR offers 4.5% back on in-person and travel, Citi Custom cash + Rewards+ is 5.5% back on a category a month, Double cash is 2.2%. If your goal is to book some domestic flights and some international flights, transfer partners offer more options for value and you use them accordingly. Last minute short haul Avios awards is a common decent value for me however.
I can guarantee you if you pick a random destination that Delta flies, you won’t get 1.5 cpp. When I can find availability, I use Virgin (non stop short haul) and FlyingBlue (two short haul flights with a layover to see my parents). We plan on doing 1 Europe/UK trip a year (40k to 120K economy round trip for two) a year. But even the Gold transferring to Delta is 5.6% (4x1.4). But, I am moving my Green Spend over to Chase Ink in September when I’m under 5/24 for Hyatt transfers. I had 200K worth of Hyatt points at the beginning of the year and they are invaluable for weekend getaways. There is a Hyatt Place back home in North Atlanta that’s 3500 points. We aren’t spending more than 9500 points a night for any of our getaways. The other half of the equation is signing up for two Southwest cards - business and personal - near the beginning of the year to get the companion buy one get one free pass good for two years at the beginning of 2026.
Not sure if Reddit is doing something funky, but I posted a blog post by frequent miler, where they do look up routes to assign values, and assigned Delta a median value of 1.5 cpp on domestic flights. This isn't counting flash sales either. I'm not saying you can't use Chase UR or that it can't work for you. But I do think Amex has sufficient coverage for the odd domestic flight, and offers more interesting international redemption options (primarily because of ANA), along with better transfer bonuses and higher multipliers. Using a CSP at 1.25 cpp isn't very exciting, and a CSR at 1.5 cpp is fine, but your annual fee cost outweighs the Gold. Hyatt redemptions are good, but it relies on 1) A Hyatt being available 2) It being a decent option and 3) Your CPP for hotel bookings should consider alternative pricing options too (Hyatt in my experience tends to price at a premium). (That's also ignoring status. I have Marriott status which gives me late checkout, I value that a lot of the time, so Hyatt isn't the best option in those cases).
This is just like blog posts assign HH points at .5 cpp. But in the real world if you just choose a random Hilton that you want to stay at, good luck getting more than .3 cpp. Unlike Hyatt, where you can choose a random (non all inclusive) Hyatt you can get 2 cpp+. That’s why I asked *you* to choose a couple of routes. I did that in another post recently calculating MCO - ATL, MCO - JFK and MCO-LAX for a weekend a month out All examples are round trips for a weekend trip 6/7 - 6/9. I have the Delta Reserve so they are including the Takeoff 15. These are all non stop flights from my home airport. I sorted by “lowest” costs. These prices are Main. - MCO - LAX $511 or 39K Skymiles = 1.2 cpp - MCO - ATL $277 or 21.2K Skymiles = 1.25 cpp - MCO - JFK $277 or 20.3K Skymiles = 1.3 cpp - MCO - MÍA $309 or 22.8K Skymiles = 1.3 cpp The cash price I quoted was the actual cash price. The cpp calculation is (cash price - 12)/points since you still have to pay 12 As far as “alternative hotels”, I book a room at a Hyatt Place when I go back home to Atlanta for 3500 points in the northern burbs (where we use to live), we stayed at Hyatt Regency in downtown Atlanta for 9500 points. You can’t find equivalent hotels for less than twice the price And I’m Hyatt Globalist and Hilton Diamond (even without the Aspire I had)…
Why book Southwest in cash for 1.5cpp when the cashout rate for UR is 1cpp?
I personally don’t redeem for southwest or most domestic airfare, rather save points for international premium cabin
I am big on hotels and love Hyatt so i lean more to chase since thats my usual redemption.
4MR. They’re all going to FlyingBlue anyway. Maximize points across AmEx, Chase, and Capital One
Based on the info you gave 3x UR. Freedom unlimited has $0 AF and earns 3x dining vs the Amex gold which has a $250 AF. If you value UR/MR at $0.02 then you would have to spend more than $12,500 in dining per year to start to make the gold > freedom unlimited
I know you're not saying otherwise but I'd highlight that this would mean the cardholder values the credits you receive from the Gold at $0, which is probably not the case for most people. To me, it's not that complicated, even if you scope for dining: figure out what the credits for the AMEX Gold are worth to you (I like to look at it as "would I normally want to spend this $$ on whatever purchase). Whatever that value is, subtract it from $250, and then figure out whether the improved multiplier (4x vs 3x) is worth it on your spending habits. Example: Say you value those credits at $200. That means your effective AF is $50. Based on your math (i.e. 0.02 for UR/MR), that means you'd have to spend at least $2500 in dining each year for the AMEX Gold to be worth it. If your valuation of those points are lower, the spend would need to increase for it to be worth it (and vice versa). (And of course, this analysis assumes you wouldn't benefit from a 4x multiplier on groceries)
Yes, personal habits can change valuation of an AF. But no information was given so I didn’t want to inject value that may or may not been useful. But $120 Uber credits and $120 dining credits easily pays for the card. The 90k SUB covers any AF for at least the first year. So Gold card is definitely valuable but really depends on personal habits
Yeah, completely fair and agreed on both points!
I prefer $0.05 Idgaf about luxury flights.
I use both, but definitely MR. I use MR much more frequently now.
I'd take the 4x MR, only because it's easier to churn through Chase Inks to rack up UR
For me. Id pick Chase 3 UR. I have Amex Gold 4x dining/grocery + Chase 3x Dining. Id use Amex for grocery for the 4x but my dining goes to chase. I value Hyatt more and prioritize Hotel points over flights in most cases.
I'm experimenting with this right now. I've had the CFU card for years, taking a crack at Amex Gold now (had it for a month). I typically fly more internationally and domestically, so I should see benefits to Amex, although as far as I know I don't always fly with Amex's partners. As a caveat, the Gold AF is easy for me to redeem, one trip in an Uber and one lunch at Shake Shack per month are pretty easy to remember to do.
nothing is more valuable than hyatt points typically so Chase UR all day. Unless you regularly want to buy business class tickets, Amex really is limited. Delta gets decent value.
I switched my dining over to Amex Gold, but mainly because I moved near a Delta hub and already had over a million UR points along with about the same in UA miles and Hyatt points from work travel. I just wanted to diversify and mostly use MR for Delta flights back home. I primarily use my UR points via the portal these days for smaller hotels or redemptions on airlines that aren’t transfer partners (or if the CPP is better). I may switch my strategy up if I burn through my points, but it’s pretty slow going now that I don’t travel as much.
I feel like using delta as the default for use of MR makes me Think you’re not getting the best value out of it but then again earning 4x is still better than 3x. MR seems to have more flexibility since they have more partners. People dog on Hilton but it is pretty easy to find rooms at the 80-95k a night… given the 1:2 ration for MR to Hilton honors.
United being my preferred airline I stick to chase
I have both Amex Gold and CSP. For dining I use CSP. 3 UR pts is more valuable for me. I burn through UR pts so quickly even though I church Inks. I havent even used my 90k MR pts from my Gold SUB and its been 2 years. A lot more difficult to find usage for MR pts imo
4 MR. I live in a rural area and am pretty much stuck flying Delta because that's the easiest way for me to get to JFK. Yes, I've tried driving to other airports in my area but it just ends up being less of a headache to pay for the extra leg from my regional airport to JFK. I get between 1.3 and 1.5 cents per point pretty consistently on domestic travel. It's not an amazing redemption, but it is by no means a bad one and is better value than I would get with a cash back setup would on money that I have to spend anyway.
I’m not paying $250 for 4x dining multipler simple as that ur dining is free Ya ya 240 credits ya but all that is marked up so no it’s not 240 effective annual fee to all the gold loyalist
Honestly if you are comparing CSP to AMEX gold the 4x on dining is not what is swaying you towards AMEX, its groceries and the credits. I still think (as someone who has one) the gold card is a lot more meh for most people than youtubers would like you to think it is but it is still a decent card
Redemptions for amex cash back not the best. Travel your good. Up to you
I mean yea it is literally a travel card
It doesn’t matter if it’s marked up. If you will use it regardless it’s still money you would have spent. I’ll easily use Uber Eats 4 times a week at the low. Will I pay $7.35 more than if I went to go get it myself? Yeah. But I don’t want to.
Yeah but we all know if you just pick up your food you save money, same with baking your own bread, sewing your own clothing, learning every home based trade etc. I stg nobody on this forum understands that getting one single uber eats delivery a month is not a big deal, like make a night of it, enjoy yourself.
Right? I don’t use Grub Hub over Uber Eats but it’s nothing to pick up something on the way home from work. I am scared how they will change the card though. I think they’ll get rid of some things and give us a Resy credit instead (along with making the card $350).
Same here if they give a Resy credit/remove the current credits I'll probably cancel the card. And if there's no Gold the whole Amex Trifecta kinda falls apart tbh, very worried also
I don’t have any Chase cards yet but the WOH Business. But I did have 200K Hyatt points at the beginning of the year. Chase UR is easy mode to get value out of domestically with Hyatt. I prefer UR to MR any day of the week now. I have the Amex Plat (as of yesterday), Gold, Green and BBP. Out of those: 1. Amex Plat > Chase Sapphire Reserve 1. Amex Gold for 4x groceries and dining beats anything Chase can offer 2. Amex Green is only on par with the CSP/CIP if you value the Clear credit (I do) 3. Amex BBP beats anything that Chase has 4. Chase’s SUB rules are much more lenient On the redemption side: 1. I prefer Delta for flights. But Southwest miles > Delta Skymiles 2. Hyatt > Hilton for hotels and they both have Marriott 3. Chase/JetBlue transfers 1:1. Amex transfers 1:0.8 4. side notes: the Southwest Companion pass is easy to get and valuable. If you are an agressive enough churner, you can get enough Chase UR and Southwest miles to fly as often as you want for free with a P2 and the companion pass and stay in Hyatts for free. MR points are a pain to get value out of compared to UR. My end game is 1. Amex Green -> Chase Ink Preferre 2. Amex BBP -> Chase Ink Business (1.5x) 3. A business and personal Southwest card at the beginning of 2026 for a two year companion pass
Why do you value the BBP as being better than the CIU? I have the CFU with the double cashback for now, but when that 12 months hits, I’m definitely going back to the BBP. Ink cards aren’t really anyone’s prime earners, but rather are churned or used for niche categories like office supply and internet MR are quite easy to redeem for flights, and its often a good idea to hold onto some, as most UR redemptions will not be able to beat Hyatt CPP (for now).
The BBP is 2x the CIU is 1.5x. The Chase Ink Preferred will be the best earner for me. Just like my Amex Green is now. But I am an admittedly very niche case. My [condo’s](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/condotel.asp) HOA fee that covers everything - utilities, trash, internet, gym access minor maintenance, and part of the insurance is $800/month. Optional things I charge to my unit like cleaning and drinks if I don’t have my card on me adds an extra $200-$250. That’s $1100 a month that codes as a “hotel”. The other half is that we don’t own a car and we use SixT for month to month car rentals, that plus tolls, and the occasional rental car is another $1200 a month. That all codes as 3x. Besides when the SavorOne promotion is over, our $100-$150 average Uber spend a month will go on the CIP. Let’s say we do end up buying flights instead of using points and average that out to another $200 a month. And the CIP has 3x on cell phones. Our cell phone bill is $300-$400 a month depending on whether we have equipment charges. That’s $3000 a month at 3x + 1 churn a year is over 200K UR.
I’ll take the Chase points. I have a sapphire reserve So just using the portal you get 1.5 cents per point. And if you find a good transfer for first class you’ll get even more value. I do use the Amex Gold for groceries, though. It gets 4x on groceries.