I love credit cards so much!

[SouthFayetteFan]

I know people say stuff like this but I can't wrap my head around it. Maybe because you are calculating how much each point is worth or something? I never really do that for any points. All I know is our hilton points get us many, many free nights per year....and free nights on the beach make me quite happy.

It's kind of a longstanding joke.

• Hilton points have always seemingly been worth less than SPG, Hyatt, Marriott and IHG (and I probably valued them in that order - before SPG/Marriott became one).
• On the other hand Hilton hands out points like crazy...125k bonus...14x points for every dollar spent...You get points AND points on your stays...etc.
• Now, because they hand out points like crazy, they then do devaluations (but so do Marriott and IHG and others...)
• The real joke though is for example when CSR came out and people would ask - should I get the 100k CSR offer or the 100k Hilton card offer? Both are 100,000 points.
• That is why Hilton does it - they give away more points than anybody so people think they're getting more.
• I've used hundreds of thousands of Hilton points personally so I certainly have no issue with them
• That said - with 4 cards ALL with huge bonuses...it seems they are BEGGING for another devaluation
• AND the shady thing about Hilton is they don't have a firm award chart (at least that I know of) so they just charge however many points they want to in any situation (And that's the real issue I have with them)

EDIT: I'll add one thing...if somebody told me I could have 100k Marriott or 100k Hilton points...I'd take the 100k Marriott in a second! But I respect differing opinions.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

I think it's kind of a result of how easy they throw points at you... almost literally. If points were worth so much, why would they be so free with them? Cuz they know you still need way more to redeem than you earn. The 100k bonus looks great, but when you go to spend it each night is 30-50k. Whereas programs like Marriott and IHG I can get the same rooms for 10-20k. So yeah, I wouldn't calculate it down to the penny (although I probably should) but when you look at the valuations sometimes you're talking dollars to pesos. (not everywhere, but generally it seems so)

This past weekend we stayed in the Pittsburgh area. I looked at Hilton and Marriott in the same location with equivalent brands. Spent 12,500 a night at Marriott vs the 30,000 a night Hilton asked. Both Marriott and Hilton cards give you the same 100k so in this scenario we'd get many more nights with Marriott. So it's easy for Hilton to be the butt of a joke Doesn't mean we don't all grab the card and stay with them anyway. If there can be Skypesos there's bound to be a land equivalent, Hilton just seems to be "it" for now. I'm sure they'll tag someone sooner or later.

Thanks - this summed up my thoughts kinda too (although I just posted my thoughts for good measure before I read this )

Uh... you mean 15k? Max referral bonus is 55k/year. 1 self-referral and 2 support clicks maxes me out. I'm off to remove my SPG personal link!

Thanks tink1970! Whether another bonus credits or not, I really appreciate @tink1970 and @MrPTato for the thought and taking the extra time to go out of your way to use my link. I'm really humbled guys.

You SHOULD be humbled LOL!!! JK - congrats!!!!

Well, I have 125K MR, I have no idea what to do with them. I don't want to go the Schwab route, I'm not ready for the $550 fee. I need to figure out if we can use them to fly to Costa Rica next summer or Spain the following summer.

Do you have another MR card that will keep them active? If not you could get a Blue Biz+ which has no AF.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

oh, I see. It is diff for us b/c the earn rate is so huge with DH staying out multiple nights a week. He gets like 6k points /night for his little $100 rooms with all the promos and diamond earn rate and their CC. Then they have 10k bonus every 10 nights and he just got a 30k bonus on top of that for his 60th night. So there are incentives now for diamonds to stick around even after renewing status for the year. The 40k bonus he just got for his 60th night is enough for a night somewhere in itself. If you are just looking at points earned from credit card bonus/purchases then I can see where you would think the points aren't so valuable.

Oh yeah - if you're earning Hilton points the LEGIT way (i.e. staying in a room as a biz traveler) then they are a perfectly fine program. They are more a joke to churners because their cards in many ways can't compare to the value you get our of other competitors (but us churners don't pay for hotel rooms much, lol!)

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Have you been able to do it online since they merged? I'm sure most people probably haven't, since it's so recent. I don't even mind the $10 much, just the calling part, no way dh is going to do that.

When I merged Marriott points in the past I always did it over the phone. (That is until the whole SPG thing happened recently)

 

[Albort]

If I buy gcs at Best Buy will it be a problem for my AMEX MSR?

should work. Would still recommend to do something else if u can. add something small to the amount to make it not an even #.

 

[amalone1013]

My boss left without approving my PTO
Guess who's getting a text at home...

 

[Lain]

@amalone1013 @Lain I know off the top of my head you both have the card...do we get a free night now with the Lux card or is it after the first anniversary? Trying to figure my game plan pre/post cruise.

I’m really behind on this thread today, so don’t mind me if this has already been answered, but you get a 50k FN certificate after your first anniversary. The terms say it’ll be deposited into your Marriott account 8-12 weeks after your anniversary, but I don’t think we’ve seen any DPs of how long it actually takes to get the FN. If it does take as long as 8-12 weeks, they’re probably trying to discourage cancellations before the FN posts, but I’m not up to speed on whether or how Amex prorated a renewed AF.

 

[DisneyMandC]

I was just at BB and the cashier was clueless...she was very hesitant about scanning anything that I gave her. Tried giving her my phone number for my rewards account but she kept insisting that was what she had scanned. She also kept entering my phone number wrong...I think she was clueless that my area code didn't match the area I was in and asked me where I was visiting from. Finally made it out of there with my loot.

None of the cashiers I’ve had have said anything except for this one and one other girl who asked if it was Shopkicks. I have the offer on DH’s delta gold too but need to start on this SPG Biz so I don’t think I’m going to make another 6 trips to BBY. I figured I could use those GCs for in park spending in November, but by that point we’ll hopefully be in the midst of our double dip so I’ll need to put some money on those cards!

 

[GlamMistress]

Booked a nice deal for my anniversary weekend in Vegas this December. Got Fri/Sat nights at Aria with breakfast for 2 each day + $100 food voucher, room upgrade and guaranteed early check-in and late check-out for $321. I used the Luxury Resort program via my United card (chase). I didn't even have to pay for it up front (or even a deposit).

I might switch over to Hilton points but this deal seems really nice.

Got DH's Aviator card today so I need to activate that and make my one swipe spend, too.

And I need to find a cheap rental card for my Disney trip in October. (RIP Name Your Own Price).

 

[DisneyMandC]

If I buy gcs at Best Buy will it be a problem for my AMEX MSR?

Just met my Hilton Biz with $200 worth of GCs from there with no issues. And I only did like $5020 for MSR, so it’s not like I had a ton of cushion.

 

[amalone1013]

Just texted my boss. I feel a bit like she didn't want to answer, usually she responds very quickly...

Spoiler: Annoying work details

Yesterday I told her how my cousin had her baby, and joked I'd have to plan around football season to go visit. She asked when that would be... um not planned yet, just joking around. Since I'm going to be out of town the 31st-4th, and 13th-23rd, probably not this month plus I don't want to bother someone with a newborn! And she was kind of like, no more vacation! It was like half-jokey... basically I lost my boss in Feb and this lady got promoted in our dept... I immediately shared all dept issues, she basically sat on them... now we are about 6 weeks out from a corporate audit so I think a lot of it is she is finally feeling the pressure to get the stuff done and is already worried about my time off since she has been leaving heavily on me. It just makes the raise thing even more insulting

Basically me at work this entire time:

ETA: I really wish I could hang this up by my computer

 

[kidsfirsttrip]

@Judique i meant to chime in on your NE trip. I’ve lived in the Boston area my whole life. As far as the city goes you can’t go wrong. It’s small and everything is relatively close or accessible via uber, public transport etc. Hotel inventory can be low and Sept is extremely busy with all the colleges having family weekends and fall events. I like the Long Wharf Harbor area there are some great Marriotts there. If you like shopping consider Copley Sq.- there is a Westin and Sheraton. I like the Seaport area too and that’s close to the airport.

As far as the Cape it’s beautiful in September. Much quieter but really popular for weddings. You won’t see much for foliage it’s still early. Also not many chain hotel options. If you want Oceanside and some foliage I’d recommend heading up to Maine or NH. The oqunquit/ Wells/ kennenunk area is about 90 min North and beautiful. Good luck!!

 

[kidsfirsttrip]

should work. Would still recommend to do something else if u can. add something small to the amount to make it not an even #.

Will do. My kids keep losing charging cables....

Just met my Hilton Biz with $200 worth of GCs from there with no issues. And I only did like $5020 for MSR, so it’s not like I had a ton of cushion.

perfect! I can use my swashbuckle code too

 

[Lain]

I know people say stuff like this but I can't wrap my head around it. Maybe because you are calculating how much each point is worth or something? I never really do that for any points. All I know is our hilton points get us many, many free nights per year....and free nights on the beach make me quite happy.

Seriously! At what other hotel chain but Hilton can you earn 54x points per dollar!?!

 

[SBWB48]

@SBWB48 and @platamama -

I bought 2x $100 MCGCs and 2x $50 MCGCs last night at Safeway to take advantage of the deal at Albertsons-owned grocery stores, going through 9/8/18, where you get $15 off 2x $100 MCGCs (each with a $5.95 activation fee) and $10 off 2x $50 MCGCs (each with a $4.95 fee), and work on my Biz Plat MSR. The MCGCs are US Bank-issued with registration at the prepaidgiftbalance site. I registered the cards with my info first. Then logged into Plastiq incognito, clicked on the card to Add New Card, clicked on +More Ways to Add, which caused the generic Masterpass button to show up, logged into Masterpass, selected generic Masterpass again, added the $100 MCGCs to my Masterpass wallet, selected the MCGC I wanted to use, went back to Plastiq to pay a student loan -- AND IT WORKED! NO ERROR, NO FEE!

As if payments in $250 increments weren't terrible enough. I've sent 2x $100 payments so far. I've yet to try the $50s, but will tonight. I still have the Safeway deal on my wife's account, so we'll have her grab another $300 worth and chip away a little more at those student loans and MSR.

THIS. It's painful and while it's easy for me to run these through Plastiq , I can only imagine the people on the receiving end seeing endless checks...

Going to keep going the variable load MCGCs route for our car payments now that CIP-Plastiq is dead.

 

[Happy814]

So, how do you decide where to go/what to do? Are there resources you use for trip inspiration with points/miles?

I feel like we have so many options opened up to us now. There's so much I want to do! See all 50 states, travel internationally!

Now I'm torn, do I try to hoard my points for an international trip in 3ish years? Utilize points to travel more frequently to cheaper places in the U.S.? Use points to help a good friend and her children experience WDW?

Oh the decisions!!!

 

[Happy814]

Just texted my boss. I feel a bit like she didn't want to answer, usually she responds very quickly...

Spoiler: Annoying work details

Yesterday I told her how my cousin had her baby, and joked I'd have to plan around football season to go visit. She asked when that would be... um not planned yet, just joking around. Since I'm going to be out of town the 31st-4th, and 13th-23rd, probably not this month plus I don't want to bother someone with a newborn! And she was kind of like, no more vacation! It was like half-jokey... basically I lost my boss in Feb and this lady got promoted in our dept... I immediately shared all dept issues, she basically sat on them... now we are about 6 weeks out from a corporate audit so I think a lot of it is she is finally feeling the pressure to get the stuff done and is already worried about my time off since she has been leaving heavily on me. It just makes the raise thing even more insulting

Basically me at work this entire time:

ETA: I really wish I could hang this up by my computer

I'm sorry, this sound frustrating and stressful. It's tough working in an environment like that.

 

[amalone1013]

Just went to Best Buy. So glad that’s over. I unfortunately got the nice but clueless elderly man as my cashier. He didn’t understand what the “swashbuckler” (Swagbucks) code was I wanted him to scan. Then for some reason the $50 Disney GC rang up as a variable red lobster gift card, which he insisted must be because of my “swashbuckler” code. I went out to the parking lot and immediately put the code into the Disney gift card website and it worked though. I also got an email from Amex immediately thanking me for using my offer.

perfect! I can use my swashbuckle code too

From now on, the BB swagbucks code deal will be known as:

 

[amalone1013]

I'm sorry, this sound frustrating and stressful. It's tough working in an environment like that.

I am super laid back and have finally hit the end of my rope with this place I'm counting down the days until my 401k match is vested - 16 days!

 

[Limes96]

From now on, the BB swagbucks code deal will be known as:

Love it! Aaaarrrgh!