MyPoints cash-out suggestions needed

[TradersMom]

It looks like MyPoints is catching up with their points crediting from the Holidays, and I'm excited to see more than 7000 points in my account (I've NEVER let it go that high before, but I did A LOT of Christmas shopping!). I would appreciate suggestions on how to best maximize my points.

Just a little background, I typically cash out for Target GC ($10 for 1,500 pts). Before the Holiday rush I cashed out for a Chili's/Mac Grille card ($25 for only 3,000) and I felt like I was getting "more for my money" if that makes sense. We used the card this past weekend - nice treat to eat out and have most of the bill covered!

Are there other "deals" like that that any of you would recommend? I would probably stick with either a Target-type store (for household/family basics) or a restaurant (for a treat/special occassion), but I hoping for some other suggestions as well.

Thanks in advance,
Sheila
(aka "TradersMom")

 

[mad4themouse]

Congratulations! That's a lot of points! Now, what you get for them will depend upon what you find valuable. I would suggest that you think about what you would like your rewards to do for you and how they would serve you best.

I cash out at MyPoints for webbies because I like their flexibility. But at PCHPoints and LuckyPoints, I prefer the Supercertificates so that I can order restaurant GCs. At CR and CTTM, I get Disney Dollars because they cost fewer points than webbies do and they spend the same way at WDW.

As far as MyPoints is concerned:
One of your best values would be the Macy's $50 GC for 5,250 points.

You could get 2 RFC $25 GC for 3,250 each (total = 6,500 pts).

2 $25 webbies would go for 3,500 each (total=7,000 pts).

Do you like Target, Wal-mart, Kmart or JCPenney? $10 GCs are 1,500 points. Kmart and JCPenney have larger denominations for $25 (3500 pts) and $50 (6500 pts).

Gas cards are 1400 pts for $10 (Citgo, Shell, or ExxonMobile).

A $25 Marriott Gift Check goes for 3,000 pts. and for a $50 GC, you need 5,750 pts. Hyatt is 3,500 and 6,500 for the same denominations.

Of course, these rewards are only valuable to you if they fit into your own plans. Visit the "Spend Points" area and checkout what they have. Don't just look at the Quicklist by Partner or Quicklist by Points. Not everything is listed. Once you've been through all the categories, you may find something else that interests you.

 

[Travelingmice]

What I did was make a list of the things I was interested in getting in a spreadsheet as follows (you can do it without a spreadsheet, but then you need to do the math and may want to pick less items)


name $value points % recovery

macy's 50 5250 0.9524%

on the border 25 3000 0.8333%
barnes & noble 25 2750 0.9091%
macys 25 2750 0.9091%
toys r us 25 2650 0.9434%

as you can see the higer the recover % the more money you are getting for your points.

I also use this logic when deciding where to purchase something. We buy Atkins products at vitacost. I picked the highest value prize i was aiming for at each rp site (such as macys card above - i used all $50 gc) then divided the points i needed by the number of points per dollar spent they were offering to determine the total dollars i would have to spend to get my prize at each. turns out at mypoints i would have to spend $1750 at vitacost to get 5250 pts. at memolink and lucky points i would have to spend $1500 to get a $50 uno gc. at CR, i only have to spend $1000 at vitacost to get $50 into paypal (guess where i'll be shopping thru on this one!!

 

[Luvdancink]

I get Barnes and Noble $25 for 2750 points. That works for me because I'm a college student and can use them to buy textbooks. I recomend trying to get whatever you can that's not many points for the $$. However, if you wont use the gc then its not a great value, so only you can decide... hope I made sense...

~Kristy

 

[Eilonwy]

Originally posted by Travelingmice
What I did was make a list of the things I was interested in getting in a spreadsheet as follows (you can do it without a spreadsheet, but then you need to do the math and may want to pick less items)


name $value points % recovery

macy's 50 5250 0.9524%

on the border 25 3000 0.8333%
barnes & noble 25 2750 0.9091%
macys 25 2750 0.9091%
toys r us 25 2650 0.9434%

as you can see the higer the recover % the more money you are getting for your points.

I used a slightly different method in my spreadsheet. But basically the same idea. I calculated the number of points needed per $ of redemption value. So a $10 GC that needs 1400 points would be 140 pts/$. This is the "average" cashout, at least for the things I was interested in. So I try to look for things that are better (less) that 140 pts/$. The $25 Webbies are 140/$. But Rainforest GCs are 130/$. The best deal out of things I'm interested in is the Barnes and Noble $25 GC at 110/$--but I only do that one if I really need the books. Not sure what I'll cashout for this time. I did Webbies the past few times only because I wanted them for the trip--but then I ended up not using all of them, so I used them for things when I got back, like clothes at Old Navy for Baby #2. I'm thinking maybe JCPenney for more clothes this time.

 

[CajunDixie]

At MyPoints I generally cash out for a restaurant or WalMart card. The WalMart card "costs" more points but it also allows me to save $.03 per gallon of gas....and sometimes their station is lower anyway. If I am saving for something specific I use it to pay for my groceries then "pay" myself the amount of the cards used.

The restaurant GCs I usually save for roadtrips and vacations. Although I did give away $35 in Chili's this year for a Christmas present. And on that note think about where you do your holiday and birthday shopping when cashing out.