Why Are Credit Card Points So Hard to Use?

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[@awoods910]

Bro you and Chads money are the only real KZbinrs in the game. KZbinrs kind of straight up lie on some of these redemptions

[@cagenazariah]

No, most credible people in the space make the caveat that the good to great redemptions are only feasible if you’re flexible with travel plans. Understandably, most people have rigid travel plans, but those people need to discern whether credit cards make sense instead of falling into the hype of aspirational travel.

[@awoods910]

@@cagenazariah a lot of times that caveat is very much buried or omitted. I've been following this space for years now, and there are a lot of , I got a Emeritaes business class flight for 40,000 points. without those aforementioned caveats. If you dont know better you'd start to believed that these redemptions are extremely common place. Because like Jake says, those are the videos that gets clicks. No one clicks on a video where you spent 400,000 points on a business class flight

[@jakemercure]

We keep it real like that

[@manny5848]

Booking flights with points is so inconvenient you have to book ahead of time on random dates definitely not on or around the holidays and their is always blackouts dates

[@_iErik]

Exactly! Taking a random flight to the Maldives either tomorrow or on a random Tuesday in monsoon season 2025 does not really bring me any value….

[@CreditOneSux]

Redeeming credit card points is actually pretty easy for the most part, it's the getting outsized and tremendous value is where it gets a little tricky, of course by design, because these banks don't want to foot the bill for fancy hotel rooms and first class flights 😅

[@newagain9964]

Banks don’t foot bill. The businesses u redeem at are. Which is y they all make it difficult to not just get outsized value but sometimes just to redeem pts.

[@MasonsTurtle]

I agree with you here. People say they got a great deal getting a $4000 business class seat for $2000 worth of points. BUT you could have gotten three economy flights with those points. And you normally fly economy.

[@newagain9964]

I only care about biz class if flight is 12+ hrs straight. Other than that, no problem.

[@JazzyMarineVet]

250K miles can = 4 trips in a year (hit a college or pro game, attend wedding/gradudation, visit mom/pops and maybe hit bike week at dayton beach or something. Rather than just blowing 250k on a one trick poney to the Maldives/Bora Bora

[@vincentchase1234]

Agreed. I basically did just that. Ended up needing to cancel 2 Qatar qsuites business class tickets and turned the points into 2 domestic and 2 international trips in economy.

[@newagain9964]

Uhhhh Yeah. I’m def not doing none of the 4 things u mentioned (5 with Maldives). Ever. lol. But I agree. Lmao.

[@chancezachary5500]

Honestly when I was earning these all these points I had planned to do some extravagant trip to Europe or Asia. Unexpectedly though, my father was diagnosed with a terminal illness and these points allowed me to get him to see family that we otherwise probably couldn’t afford. So the points and miles game is honestly priceless for me, and all this to say that if you are earning points and spending them for something that is worth it to you. The CPP value is honestly irrelevant.

[@isaiahlaufenberg]

great point about declining in value, banks are always reducing value slowly rather than increasing value. not to mention with inflation prices just continue to rise overtime, also devaluing points.

[@calebwharton3007]

Love turkish. Booked a round trip flight from east coast to honolulu for 15,000 miles before the devaluation. Still a good redemption

[@vincentchase1234]

People should definetly think about credit card points as discounted travel vs. free. Even just through subs you still likely have to spend thousands of dollars to get a decent amount of points and then spend time researching how you can use the points. Definetly agree people should think about where they want to go first then get the cards that will give them the points to take them there. No worse feeling then having 100k / 200k points and not being able to go anywhere and then you find out certain airlines are raising redemption prices by 20/30%

[@j.p.denoyer7377]

Spending money in pursuit of earning points is stupid and inefficient. You should put the money you would spend in an interest bearing savings account

[@mkwaku]

Dude, you are hilarious and real at the same time. Kudos to your new sponsor Kudos😊😅👏👏👏👏👏

[@shawn.credit]

Biggest tip do not go into the credit card game looking to get rich or have tons of points. It takes a lot of spend to build up points and cash back, only spend what you already intend to spend monthly on a credit card and pay in full monthly. Debt is bad and overspending to meet said points or cash back is not worth it spend responsible.

[@Matt_Lopez]

Story of my life right now - trying to get to Cabo and St Kitts with AMEX points ; wishing I stacked Bilt points instead 😭😭😭

[@jpknowledge8852]

You're doing better than most with your redemptions. Trying and making mistakes is how we learn. The more you practice redeeming points, the easier it becomes. That business class to Italy should be pretty dope 🇮🇹✈️

[@jakemercure]

Mistakes are part of the game it seems

[@TheDjim49]

Enjoy the realism. I use most of my points for economy domestic flights to visit family and for hotel stays when it makes sense. You don’t have to book the big ticket trips to get value with points. Nice to see somebody mention Miles and Smiles too. Great value, terrible interface.

[@KeyKEYadventures]

In opinion CPP, is just made up math or ego math. Just use the points. That’s it. However you want, it’s your life and if you’re happy with it. Book it

[@johnytran1856]

It aint hard to use bruh just redeem for cash. People that uses for travel perks for 2/3x more is nothing special man. Traveling takes alot of planning its a headache honestly.

[@_iErik]

Preach! KZbinrs place too much monetary value on travel they wouldn’t have taken if they weren’t looking for clickbait trips to spend referral points on.

[@maxicanamerican2023]

Transfer to Schwab, it’s so easy

[@MoneyMace]

Congrats on getting a sponsor!

[@jakemercure]

Thank you!

[@AP_808]

Preach! It takes a lot of knowledge, work and flexibility.

[@JB-pk1jx]

I’ve gotten 4 round trips to Europe with capital one miles at the 20k saver rate. Airfrance is great.

[@fuge511]

Fuck I am all for domestic redemptions!!! But also want to go to Asia more often lol

[@digantvyas2664]

Keeping it real 👍🏻

[@benchoflemons398]

Transfer partners are easier now with tools like seats aero

[@newagain9964]

True, Shouldn’t redeem in portal. But 20k pts on $400 domestic tix is fine. It’s not a must to redeem only for 1st class around world. ✌️

[@De_Guatemala]

The Maldives hold zero interest for me or my wife. So, please, everyone go to the Maldives, so we can enjoy the rest of the world. We have been to 73 countries so far, heading to Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay in a few weeks.

[@MrHawaiiboy510]

So on average what cent per point should you be aiming for with flights and hotels ?

[@LK_EBM]

As long as I get more than the cash-out or travel portal equivalent, I'm good.

[@newagain9964]

Nothing wrong with 2 cents. And I agree with comment above mine.

[@jakemercure]

Im fine with 1.5 or higher

[@jayray202]

Would love to see a video on how the new Department of Transportation laws about airlines having to reimburse for delayed and cancelled flights might have an impact on how people who use credit cards for the travel insurances might rethink that strategy.

[@jakemercure]

I haven’t heard about that law yet. Seems interesting though

[@_iErik]

Travel insurance is going to be more important than before, because airlines are now able to refund your ticket and strand you, rather than being required to rebook you and compensate you for the delay time up to 6x of your ticket price like before.

[@jayray202]

@@_iErik what’s your source saying that they can leave you stranded?

[@_iErik]

With the new ruling, they have to be able to give you a refund of your initial ticket price. They do not have to guarantee your refund will be enough to cover the cost of booking another same-day flight out, or a next-day flight plus hotel and meals. They used to be required to rebook you and cover your living expenses if applicable up to 6x what you initially paid. Every time I’ve been delayed or cancelled, prices for same-day or next-day flights quadruple. In none of my cases would my refund have covered my rebooking. If there’s only a single cancellation at that airport that day, maybe you’ll end up fine with the new ruling. But expect to need trip delay insurance for weather delays and point-to-point carrier issues and potentially pandemic related policies around testing or vaccine-mandating pilots.

[@geraldalves9107]

Redeeming points are going to become harder and harder each year in the foreseeable future as banks and airlines alike are trying to tighten up the award spaces and there are point devaluations every year. No bank really wants someone to know the ins and outs of transfer partners but they are definitely catching on as evidenced by the Turkish devaluation for example. It all just means that for someone that is in the game, you'll just have to become more and more sophisticated in order to continually get good outsized value for your points and do your research. And yes, totally agree that nothing is actually free. CC points are just a means to SAVE on costs for traveling. If you're a normal frugal spender, you may only do one to two trips a year. With CC points suddenly, you're able to travel 3-4 times a year instead which makes a big difference so that you have the opportunity to do it more often. I hate when major CC influencers try to advertise free travel. It's just not factual. Great content as always!

[@newagain9964]

Businesses lose money on award redemptions. It’s why they make it hard to not only get outsized value, but even just making redemptions at times.

[@newagain9964]

But also consider, by traveling that 1-2x extra, you’re likely spending money u wouldn’t have as part of trip. That’s one way ppl overspend playing this game. Just gotta manage it to low levels.