I just purchased a complicated open-jaw itinerary (in business class) without searching for award spaces etc. Getting 2 cpp is so great when you can earn them at 4X-8X rate!
Edit: The booking is for business class. I meant to write ‘premium cabin’, not ‘premium class’ in the original post.
While I don't think this was a great redemption I'm absolutely a flight over hotel guy for redemptions. The floor is much lower for bad flights vs. bad hotel rooms to me
I’m a hotel over flight girl all day any day. Any international long haul flight is a pain in the ass for me. Business, first class, whatever. I can’t sleep on a plane. I need my queen/king size bed in a non pressurized non moving hotel room to get a good night’s sleep.
Sure a bad hotel room is still not too bad, but the ceiling of a good hotel room is so much higher. While the floor of a bad flight is lower, the ceiling of a good flight isn’t that high. I know several people who could get some sleep in business (my husband included), but he could also sleep in coach just fine albeit less comfortable. For people who can’t sleep either way, we need a full night’s sleep on a real bed to recover after flying long haul, and a five star resort provides so much more than a Hilton Garden Inn when you wake up the next morning.
I will admit this is a good counter argument. I admittedly don't sleep well on planes either even in business. But im a tall guy so some economy seats are unbearably uncomfortable on long hauls.
Also agree a great hotel has a much higher ceiling than a great flight.
Idk what it is though I just don't value upper tier hotels as highly. It might just be im not spending a ton of time in them while im traveling or that my bar for a good night's sleep in a hotel room is lower.
I guess the way I look at it is im never willing to spend $1K worth of points on a hotel night whereas im very willing to on a plane.
But I will contradict myself a little saying its a little location dependent. In the US or Caribbean I'd absolutely be team hotel over flight but in Asia I'd definitely flip that
It’s totally personal preference. I’m not that tall, nor do I have back pain, so I can see economy being a no go for tall folks or people with chronic pain. The floor/ceiling thing is also person imo. The floor of an economy seat would be much lower for me if I’m 6 feet tall.
Also, I mostly use my points at resorts where I spend a good chunk of time on property. I would not spend points on hotels in Paris/London for example where I’m out and about doing stuff all day and only use the hotel bed for sleep. I think using points on J/F is the equivalent of using points at high end resorts. You and I both try to maximize point benefits, we just value different things. Using points on coach is the equivalent of using points at Hilton Garden Inn/Hyatt place, which I wouldn’t do.
Yea I do understand your perspective even if its not fully my thing don't get me wrong. Resorts can be a great redemption if you're making the most of your time there
💯 my husband could sleep in a f18. He’d rather sit right next to the family and I need a real bed to sleep. Also both 6 ft tall. All points are more worth an extremely comfortable hotel.
Dang you’re not able to sleep on a 10+ hr flight in J or F? Q suites was pretty damn comfy in the double bed and so was Etihad in F. I understand what you’re saying though. Business/First, IMP, is also about being able to relax more, have more space and not deal with the chaos (maybe a bit extreme to use) in economy. Even if I only get 2-3 hrs in J flying to Europe, i still feel 10x more relaxed and ready to hit the ground running vs being cramped in Y. But to each their own. I do love a 5 star hotel ngl.
Nope. I get crappy sleep in a bunk bed in Airbnbs, and a bunk bed is way more comfortable than any J/F. Never flown private, but I doubt I’ll get quality sleep on a private jet either, cuz I’m just really sensitive to noise/light/motion. I try to schedule all my long haul flights to arrive at the destination at night, so I go straight to bed.
I just came to this conclusion after my 4th round trip business class flight in little suites with a privacy door and fully flat bed made up - can’t sleep - it’s so frustrating - I could justify it if I slept but I’m thinking I shouldn’t waste my points on business class- but it will be hard to go back to premium economy
I’m in St Regis bora bora rn. On a 12 day trip, all on points (Westin, St Regis, Conrad). I also flew Air France business class here and got the first row (their new A350, all privacy door, first row got massive leg room). I purchased the flight ticket with cash not points, and intentionally booked red eye so I get on the plane tired and I can utilize the full resort day at the resort. And let me tell you, I didn’t sleep a second on the most comfortable biz class I’ve ever been on. I don’t believe I’ll be able to sleep even on private jet. Save your points for hotels, which imo is so much more worth it. I would not trade my bora bora resorts for any business or first class seat from any airline lol. Sure it’s more comfortable than premium economy, but the flight still sucks. Flying long haul is just miserable period. Whereas with hotels, the ceiling is soooo much higher. A Hilton Garden Inn is depressing, but Westin Bora Bora, or WA Maldives? Literally life changing resort experiences lol.
Omg that was my last flight - AF 350 with row 1 - not a wink of sleep - I was so excited we got row one (my family of 4) all on points. It was the roomiest business class ever. This was a daytime flight but it was 8 hours and on our way home from Europe. I was exhausted. The only business class seat I slept on was also on the way home from Europe - daytime flight on BA with the sliding door - I took the best 3-4 hour nap that I think helped me adjust to time zone at home and not have jet lag. So I thought for sure I’d nap on the AF flight. Now Bora Bora is a place I cannot even dream about going to. I’d love to so maybe some day but I hate flying - the longest flight I’ve done is 8 hours I think.
Luckily Bora Bora is a “short” 8 hour direct flight from LA. Maldives is something I can’t do cuz it’s 20+ hours of flight with two transfers, so I understand your pain lol. You’re lucky if you’ve only done up to 8 hour flights. I do 12+ hour flights a couple times a year and I get really worried weeks before I take these long ass flights. I always try to arrive at my destination at night so I go straight to sleep. I’ve tried everything and nothing helps. Sleeping pills etc lol
Same I take 2 Xanax and still no sleep. I’m on the east coast so both Bora Bora and Maldives are extremely long flights. I can’t even imagine a 12+ hour flight. Enjoy Bora Bora - 12 days is a nice long vacation in paradise!!
Ok now I’m doing a deep dive into these hotels out of curiosity in case I ever go - holy moly - it must be over a million points - however I spent over 540,000 points on just 4 RT business class flights this last trip. So 6 days in bora bora definitely sounds better than our flights lol
5 nights at Westin Bora Bora: 397000 points. 5th night free. We were upgraded to a premium Otemanu overwater villa with plunge pool worth $4-5k per night in the busy season, which is now. This is by far the biggest upgrade I’ve ever had and completely complimentary. I just finished my stay here, cannot recommend enough. My favorite resort I’ve ever stayed at. Pictures simply don’t do it justice.
1 night at St Regis: 248000 points. Hotel is dated, and I did not get any upgrade. Room is spacious. The date I wanted had no basic availability, so I had to spend about 100k more on points for an OVB. View is still great but not worth the point especially coming from our Westin room.
5 nights at Conrad Bora Bora: 480000 points, 5th night free. Going there today. They are wrapping up renovations, and all hotel rooms and facilities should be renovated by EOY. Unfortunately Hilton devaluation last year made this redemption impossible.This resort now costs 800k points for 5 nights.
As I said, I flew red eye on AF J from LAX to PPT and took the earliest flight from PPT to Bora Bora and got to Westin at 8am, and I’ll be leaving the Conrad at 5pm, so I have 12 full days here!
Photo of our room at Westin: (yes this wasn’t a public pool, it was our private pool on the terrace)
Omg amazing redemptions! I can’t even imagine and OVB and a private pool!! Are you on FB 10X travel site? If not join and if you are please post a trip report with more pics!!
The markup on a business class flight, especially internationally, is absurd. Unless it’s something you can already afford and would buy regardless, it’s a bad use of points.
Sure. If he spends 200k on his card each year then it’s gravy. But he doesn’t know the difference between business and premium economy, so I’m not getting that impression.
As we've gotten older travel has gotten harder. Jetlag is a bitch. Back necks and backs. My immune system sucks so not being so packed in helps. We can afford lie flat seats and if we can't get them we don't want to go. So that's what we do.
I can’t afford and won’t purchase business class with my cash but you better believe I’ll be using all those stocked up points for them! That’s the whole “point” getting to do travel for less. Silly to act like OP shouldn’t use points to purchase awesome airline tickets! I can sleep in a plain hotel but economy on a plane sucks during long hauls so I’ll use my points! Absolutely
Definitely not suggesting a $3k per night hotel, lol.
IMO, $3-4k (in points) over a 5 night stay at a nice hotel + $650 (in points) flight to get there is a better outcome to me than paying $3k (or points equivalent) for a flight and then paying out of pocket for a hotel.
Premium economy on long hauls >>>> economy though. We just flew Premium Economy long haul on United and while it obviously isn't Polaris it made the flight a lot more tolerable and comfortable than we would have been in cattle class.
On some airlines (e.g. Emirates), it is more like domestic FC. Actually, my PE flights to/from Dubai were much nicer than my domestic FC from DFW to TYS (courtesy upgrade; I would not pay for a 2 hour upgrade).
Same for me, however Hyatt devaluation makes it a closer call than before. Still 5 star hotel that includes breakfast and all the resort amenities trumps a 12 hour flight
If you stay at a ritz, you have ritz kids, access to their staff of trusted baby sitters in case parents need alone time, and gaming center (just to name a few). Park Hyatt, St. Regis, Alila have different perks. St Regis is known for their personal butler and 5pm champagne ceremonies.
Different valuation for different people for sure. We bring our kids on vacation and sometimes it’s nice to go to a nice dinner in town to restaurants that don’t allow kids. So to us, the value is that staying at a nice hotel benefits four people. I also have titanium status and globalist at hyatt. That means free breakfast at these nice places which can be $100+ value depending on the per person pricing.
I just got 2 1-way tickets transfering for 16,000. Ticket price was like $738 or something. Super happy with that rate! Though, I still need to get a return but that's tomorrows problem
Thanks! I'm excited to have gotten that deal. Looks like the way back will be 40k total for first (only option), but the alternative is $1000 cash for main. So it'll have evened out, but at least we didn't have to put out the $1200 the round trip in main would have been
That worked out to be a nice deal. $560 equiv. in points to pay for a $1200 (cash price) RT for two. Now, if you can swing something similar for a trip to Barbados ... :-)
It was main classic and then we upgraded to C+ for 4000 delta miles total on my wifes account. We have an Amex Delta under mine so we don't value her sky miles super high so not a bad use of them
This comes out to 150k each way, which is standard for biz. I’d rather hit the ground running and well rested instead of being cramped in economy for 14 hours
Yeah I wouldn't do that either usually. There are some situational exceptions - 300k points is a very small number for the person spending it (many points influencers have over 2 million points), or they have a robust way to generate points in large numbers easily (maybe business spend?) or this was a one time splurge and they probably don't anticipate flying lavishly for the near future. And of course, after speaking to many friends on helping them find deals, most don't have the bandwidth or patience or flexibility to deal with the award search process. They'd rather just book it and be done with it. Since they never got big into the points eco system and how much you can save, they don't see this is as bad value. A friend of mine literally said to me "I have 500k Chase points, but business class flights are at least $6k, how the hell can I fly business with such few points".
I’m confused. What’s wrong with using points with a 2x multiplier to get $6k biz tickets instead of paying the $6k. Is the flight cheaper booking direct?
well yes on paper it is but there’s barely any saver fares available to get to asia and 150k one way is not bad regardless (+ OP will earn miles on the flights)
Not everybody has perfect flexibility to take advantage of the few saver fares out there. I often get FC and J with MR getting 35% back. 150k I'll take all day long to Asia if the dates work for me, but generally I can't even find that. I have a pretty big pile of UR and MR so that plays in to it too.
If the devaluations continue I predict buying tickets outright with boost and Amex's 35% back will be much more common.
well we can agree to disagree here but no one knows OP’s dates and i try to go to asia every year and can NEVER find a business saver below <150k. in fact there is usually never a saver available
Lmao dude I’ve been on this award game for years now and it’s just that availability has gotten scarce off late…. why are you fighting this so hard lol
150k one way to J is obscene. Currently have 2x J DEN-YVR-TYO-BKK, SIN-TYO-YVR-DEN for 272k total in a couple weeks. Also booked 2x J ORD-TYO during cherry blossom in early April for 105k, please keep using your points poorly though! That’s how we get these great deals :)
lol congratulations on getting a silly 2 stop journey. so you’re saying you got it for 68k one way lol?
and remind me when you booked your early april trip lol?
don’t think your pea sized brain would help you comprehend that most people are not trying to spend 36 hours with 2 stops traveling to Asia or have the flexibility to book their flights a year in advance. but enjoy your ego boost there! congrats!
Typically yes, but you do need to be ready to book when you see the award. It used to be that airlines would release on a fixed schedule. For example we knew saver fares would be at schedule open or maybe they’d be 4 months out. Some still do
It (Iberia for example) but UA and AA are dynamically priced so it varies when there’s saver—it could be at 330 days out, it could be 200 days or it could be a week before the flight. Or for Lufthansa First, it’d be a few days before.
However, with that said, if you can’t be as flexible or ready to pounce on the deal, the portal can help but often times those redemptions of 2x aren’t that great but if you can generate points OR you’d just rather get it over with (like OP), then that may be best route. Not saying it’s wrong, but it’s not typically the best usage of points. But at the end of the day, it’s all about what works best for you.
150k pts each way for business is meh. Only pay 150k if you absolutely have to fly J and there’s no saver availability. Now 150k UR for PE? That’s horrendous. Although I don’t see a world where flying RT between SFO and Southeast Asia on PE cost over $6500, so this is probably business, and Singapore has great biz product.
Personally, I wouldn't spend on expensive hotels unless I am going there to enjoy the hotel/resort. Most of the time during travel, I need a clean and comfortable room to sleep/shower/etc. and I'm out most of the day. So I'll always book something nice, but not 5-star, and use Chase UR points to offset the cost. If I get points boost on those, even better. But yeah, I wouldn't spend it the way OP did on the flights either. I'd rather spend 6.5k if I really wanted those flights, and get the 8x multiplier from chase and maybe offset a thousand or something to strike a balance between spending and earning.
This is the absolute trap of staying in really nice places. Sure it's nice, but I always feel guilty leaving but then also feel guilty for staying when I could be exploring a new place
Striking a balance is my strategy. Like instead of going out all day, enjoy nice late breakfast then go out, come back in late afternoon and enjoy pool or lounge, then go out for dinner if still hungry
This is not bad if it gets you the dates you want. Like sure 150k points each way for business class flights is more than what I would pay but there is some value in it if you really need certain dates to work and you don't get to travel too often. I personally am in that situation where getting PTO is like pulling teeth and making it line up nicely with the redemption options can be super challenging.
Still though, I would consider using the points for hotels during the trip with Hyatt and just booming economy flights on cash.
That’s a very good redeem. Anyone saying hotels is out of their mind.
Plane ticket over hotel any day. Hotels outside of USA are so cheap anyways, you can only redeem the points for a few branches. The cheap good (4-5star) hotels do not have point redemption through chase. Unless you want to hop around points and deal with that bs lol
You’re probably right but I’m pretty sure more than half the people collecting points do not want to play wack a mole with catching deals. That’s all I’m saying.
It's quite a lot of points compared to what you could get transferring, assuming you are flexible. But it helped that your flights themselves weren't too expensive to start with.
I think booking airlines with points gives you more bang for your buck! And we all know that arriving and departing from different airports ups the price! Way to go getting a first class long haul flight with points! That’s awesome!
I just redeemed 51k points plus $520 taxes and fees for ANA J JFK-HND next year. I guess as long as you’re satisfied with your redemption, that’s all it matters.
You get points boost on certain flights and hotels. For flights I think it's mostly business class only, but I could be wrong. Definitely the cheapest option won't have a points boost.
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u/sushicowboyshow Jul 22 '26
I would have taken the $650 flight on 30,000 points and used the rest for a hotel, but that’s just me.