Hi:

I have enough frequent flier miles for 4 tix to Europe and about 500,000 AmEx points. Am thinking about planning a European trip (or something really fabulous) for our family of 5 at the end of August.

Does anyone have any tips on getting the most mileage out of my points? Either by cashing them in for hotel partners or checking out individual resorts/hotels, etc.

I am thinking about southern Italy but am open to anything - even non-European if it is cool and a good value.

Perhaps there is another forum where people discuss these things/

Thanks in advance!

Lisa

Not too many tips, but posting at frequentflier.com may help...

I've found transfering AmEX points to miles is a better value than transfering for hotel pts (starwood, at least).

I did find out that once you book coach tickets with points, you can't upgrade to business class by "adding points". You have to release the seats and try to find new ones. Perhaps this is common knowledge, but I was a bit disappointed, and thought I'd pass that along.

good luck!

As someone who uses FF mile often you really have to book travel very far in advance and I am finding that lately they really make it hard to get the flights - and they only have one or two seats available, rarely four. Sometimes they have the FFlyer seat for your departure but not for dates returning (or vise versa- so it requires flexibiity) - I had to use 75K miles instead of 50K for my upcoming trip to Istanbul. Also, for a trip to Italy in November '08 I was told to book it this past Christmas...I did it almost a year out and there were no seats for the dates I wanted - I had to transfer some miles and then I was able to get the flight again for 75K (wondering if there is a new trick going on by the airlines) but my flight over is in business class and returning in coach. I still saved money on the airfare, even with the cost of the milage transfer.

I rarely use miles for hotels so I am not much help there.

hmmm...I actually find I get more value from using starwood point than I ever could for flights....I'm good at finding well priced flights though ;-) so...If I can fly for $500 or so, it's silly to waste points when many of the hotels are that per night...and besides, I DO buy airfare...I'd never be able to make myself splurge on the Gritti Palace with cash with points it feels "free" !

Are your frequent flier miles and the AmEx points two different accounts or are you saying that it is ff miles through AmEx? If that is the case, you can go online at AmEx travel (do not log in to your points account)and book whatever flights you want through any airline. When you find the flights you want scroll down and there is a box to check that asks if you would like to use points to pay. As you continue through the process it will look up your account and then tell you how much you can use toward your purchase. You pay for the whole amount and then AmEx immediately credits your account in whatever dollar amount is available or whatever amount you decide to cash in. So you are actually cashing in your points for dollars on your credit card statement.

I did this last fall. I was having trouble finding a flight available to just use the points and when I called AmEx a very nice person explained to me how to do this and that way I could choose any airline and any flight times and dates that I wanted.

I was able to redeem $100 for each 1000 points.

Best of luck to you.

Thanks for the explanation bfrac. $100 for 1000 points seems to be very generous.

hopscotch, I thought so too but I took and flew off to Italy!

First off, do you have a regular Membership Rewards or the Platinum rewards? The rates may vary, and my advice is with regards to the regular program. At any rate, a couple of thoughts:

1) I am 99% certain that the conversion rate for using the points directly with Amex for flights is 1 penny per mile, or $100 per 10,000 points. I think bfrac may be missing a zero. This is not what I would consider good value, as I try to target at least 2 cents per mile or Amex point.

2) Regarding the SPG points being more valuable. This is true, but the issue is that the conversion rate from Amex isn't the best. At 3 MR points to 1 SPG point, you are not getting good value. Consider, the Sheraton Park Tower in London, which goes for 25k SPG points per night. At the Amex conversion rate, and valuing an Amex point at 1 cent, this values the room at over $750, which is out of line. I would sooner transfer to an airline partner at 1 to 1.

3) In general, I have been less than overwhelmed with the value that you get using the points for hotels. The only exception would be if you are considering some Hilton or Intercontinental hotels, where the point rate is 'cheap' compared to hotel rates for an area. This is rare, and I don't think there will be many of these in Europe.

4) If you really want to maximise the value, I would look into reward tickets farther afield. With 500k Amex points, you could (depending upon availability) get tickets to Asia. Heck, if the kids are old enough to ride "alone", book you and the wife/hubby up front and travel in style. If they aren't old enough, book the kids up front too, but you don't want to spoil them. Once there, you will likely find better value on lodging, food, and everything else.

5) I guess it also matters how you got the 500k Amex points. If you are a small business owner and just cycle all of your charges through and you will replace the 500k in a year, then you may not need to worry overly much about maximising your value and should just book where you want to go and use whatever points it takes to save some money.

Recently, I start with booking the flight first, then work around it. Reason is the extreme lack of availability of seats, especially in business class. I had to double the miles used to "Sky Choice" on Delta in order to secure a seat atl/ fco last September. Good luck and start planning (securing seats) as early as you can.

Oh dear, I am sorry, there is a zero missing so travelgourmet is correct. Thank you for pointing it out, I don't want to be discredited.

Nonetheless, I was still pleased with the use of points because I was still able to fly when I wanted, on the airline of my choice, at times that I chose. Also, I only booked it 6 weeks in advance. For me it was worth it.

Yes, we are business owners so we do accumualte a lot of miles that way and it is not always possible to be locked into airline tickets many months in advance.

I would book your plane tickets first. Usually 331 days before your trip. You call at midnight for the most desirable locations and the most desirable time periods, holidays, summer,etc.. Then after you get the tickets booked, then you can take the 500,000amex points and see which areas have which hotels and if the location is desirable. Hilton is a direct transfer, but require more points than Marriotts, which I think you have to call and confirm and then get a certificate. We don't do Starwood, but I am sure they are direct transfers as well.
Oh and I think Hilton has a transfer of 1000 amex = 1300 Hilton points. You may want to check that out.
Let's say you want Rome, I would then look and see which big chains are in Rome. Then see their locations and which is the nicest hotel offered. Hold the reservation, and then transfer points. Families of 5 will have difficulty staying in one room. I would think you will need two rooms.
You can also pad up your frequent flyer points to get business class tickets. I would fly coach and stay free if I could though. Big savings.
We take trips like this all the time. We are flying free to Europe this summer and staying free for 3 of our nights. The other small towns we are paying to stay in. All in all, it makes the trip a lot more affordable. Good luck!

"Hilton has a transfer of 1000 amex = 1300 Hilton points. You may want to check that out."

This is correct. The problem is when you assign a dollar value to these points. The Hilton in Rome, for instance runs at 40k points per night. Therefore, 100k Amex points will get you just over 3 nights in a room there. Since you can likely get an upscale+ hotel (even if not the Hilton) for $300 per night or so, this would value those 100k points at just around $1,000.

Considering that those same 100k points can net you a biz class ticket to Europe or maybe even Asia, and that those tickets can cost upwards of $3,000, this would, on paper be better value.

By my calculations, FF points get the most value with air tickets, and most with business or first seats.

I suspect that when you can get any flight on any airline on any date, the cost in FF points is outrageous.

<Usually 331 days before your trip. You call at midnight>

I have never been sure which 'midnight' this means. Is it the 'midnight' where the airline is based (which is what I imagine), or some other?

Thanks so much for all of your comments. I have always used the AmEx points for airline transfers - but thought since we already had ample FF points separate from the AmEx points, I would try to use them for lodging.

I had hoped there was some favorable exchange rate with one of the hotel partners. . .

Thanks again!

We recently bought airline tickets (transferred them from AMEX to Continental miles) for a trip to Rome in May. As Continental was a little stingy on their miles (100K for a round trip ticket between Houston and Rome); Continental partners with Air France, and we were able to get two round trip tickets for the same miles. So I would check with whatever airline you choose to see what kind of partner deals you could get.

Hello:

Has anyone had experience with the Capital One card program? the B of A seems to have a similar program, points for card charges, etc., and the offer of the use of the points (I presume converted into dollars) without restrictions.

TIA

The Capital One-style programs are good for folks that want to use the points for coach tickets and do not earn a lot of FF miles through flying.

If you earn a lot of FF miles through flying, then you are better off finding a card that lets you top up that balance.

If you want to fly in premium cabins, which is, on paper, the best 'value' for miles, then they are similarly not very good. You can't use the points to upgrade, like with regular miles and, as the redemption is tied to the ticket cost, you will use more miles than with a mileage redemption.

I would never use the Capital One card, because of the issues above. Indeed, you can never get more than 1 cent per mile with Capital One, and often you will get less. I try to target at least 2 cents per point or mile in other programs, and can often exceed that by quite a bit. My most recent redemption of Continental miles netted me 2 tickets worth over $5k each for 100k miles per ticket. This is 5 cents per mile. On that same trip, I used 10k SPG points (equivalent to 10k miles) to save $750 in hotel charges, or 7.5 cents per point. Capital One can't come close to that.

Indeed, if you are looking for the best travel perk card, then the SPG card is the way to go.

Thx...what a great reply!...is there some way to determine best values with these cards...seems like loading up on one airline is very tough to make work out for non-business travelers. I travel about six, seven times a year on business but in every which direction and have to use various airlines. Finally, is there a source of info on how to go about handling the whole issue? BTW, I've always found the Starwood program to be terrific for value and ease of use, as well.