Johnny Cash feat. U2 - The Wanderer
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| One of our pals provided some travel snacks for EK. |
Several readers have asked for some clarification on it playing the reward points game (e.g., as described here) compared to simple cash-back cards. So a few points:
1. Stick with cash-back cards if travel is not a big thing for you. The points game is useful for flights and hotels.
2. Points are most valuable for higher-tier travel. You get the most value using 50,000 points (worth ~$500 as cash back) for a $3,000 business-class ticket than using 20,000 points for a $600 economy flight. You can also get expensive hotels; e.g., 40,000 points for a room that retails for $2,000+ / night (and yeesh, those exist!).
3. The more flexibility you have, the more value you can get. The best deals come about somewhat rarely and are limited in availability.
4. Playing the points game takes time. First, you have to have a general understanding of the game. You have to watch for reward deals, apply for the card, shift all your spending to that card, then repeat. You have to watch for the best availability of reward deals.
Don't get me wrong. From July 2022 to October 2023, we'll have taken thousands of dollars worth of Southwest flights just for getting one of their credit cards during a special promotion. And we'll take thousands of dollars of more flights for free going forward from there (although I doubt we'll get any deals like a $4,500 biz class flight for 30k points; edit - kinda did).
But even if travel is a thing for you, if you value your time at $100+/hour ($208k/year) or just don't have the time, you may be better off with a collection of cash-back cards, and then pay for travel out of pocket when you do.
NOTE: If you would like to apply for a card (even a cash-back card), please let me know (mattballaz at gmail.com) and I can potentially give you a referral link that will help us out.
PS: Here is an example from a private group (I don't expect you to read it all - just an example; for reference, you can get ~80k points as a sign-up bonus for the best credit cards):
I'm at the end of the beginning of round-the-world itinerary with 7 (multi-night) stopovers and wanted to share the details!
My destinations are:
- Los Angeles (overnight connection)
- Fiji (photo attached)
- Perth, Australia
- Penang, Malaysia
- Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
- Abu Dhabi, UAE
- Cairo, Egypt
- Torino, Italy
Earlier this year I went to South America, so after this trip I will have covered all six continents (excluding Antarctica) in the first half of 2023. That's wasn't the original goal but ended up that way after I started piecing together good itineraries.
My flights on this trip are:
- ALASKA IN COACH FROM NEWARK TO LOS ANGELES, booked with Alaska miles. Hoped that First Class award to open up, but never did. Used my OneWorld Sapphire benefits for exit row and free bags.
- FIJI AIRWAYS IN BUSINESS FROM LOS ANGELES TO FIJI, booked with Alaska miles.
- FIJI AIRWAYS IN BUSINESS FROM FIJI TO SYDNEY, booked with Alaska miles.
- VIRGIN AUSTRALIA IN BUSINESS FROM SYDNEY TO PERTH, booked with United miles.
- MALAYSIA AIRLINES IN BUSINESS FROM PERTH TO PENANG with a connection in Kuala Lumpur, booked with AA miles.
- MALAYSIA AIRLINES IN COACH FROM PENANG TO KUALA LUMPUR, paid with cash.
- ETIHAD IN BUSINESS FROM KUALA LUMPUR TO ABU DHABI, booked with AeroPlan points.
- ETIHAD IN BUSINESS FROM ABU DHABI TO CAIRO, booked with AeroPlan points.
- EGYPT AIR IN COACH FROM CAIRO TO MILAN, paid with cash through Capital One Travel
- FINNAIR IN BUSINESS FROM MILAN TO NEW YORK with a connection in Helsinki, booked with Finnair.
BOOKING DETAILS:
This entire trip emerged from an Alaska redemption last year when Fiji Airways released business award space. I booked all the way from Newark to Sydney with an overnight connection in Los Angeles and a stopover in Fiji for 55k Alaska miles. The layover in Los Angeles was originally supposed to be less than 24 hours, but Alaska had some schedule changes that made it longer.
After Fiji, it's Perth in Australia. I chose Perth because it's my fourth time in Australia and I was looking for something new. Unfortunately, it was not possible to add a Qantas connection to my Alaska itinerary because Alaska allows a maximum of one partner. In the end, I booked a same-day separate ticket from Sydney to Perth (about 5 hours) on Virgin Australia in business for 25k United miles. Normally I don't like separate tickets, but it's a six hour connection and I'm familiar with Sydney airport. I also monitored Qantas in business for 20k AA miles using ExpertFlyer, but seats never became available.
From Perth, I'm catching the redeye to Penang with a connection in Kuala Lumpur on Malaysia Airlines. I booked this in business using 40k AA miles. After Penang, I fly back to Kuala Lumpur on Malaysia Airlines in coach for a laughably low fare (less than $30) that I will combine with my OneWorld Sapphire benefits.
Next, I fly from Kuala Lumpur to Cairo with a multi-day stopover in Abu Dhabi. I booked this on Etihad in business using 65k AeroPlan points. Based on my experimentation, this particular routing is at the very top of the 60k distance band (+5k stopover) on the AeroPlan partner award chart. Minor adjustments, such as departure from Singapore or stopover in Bahrain instead of Abu Dhabi, boosted the itinerary into the 80k distance band. Alternatively, I could have had an overnight connection (but not a stopover) in Abu Dhabi for 45k AA miles. I decided to go with AeroPlan because I don't like one-night stays and the points are easier to get from transfers.
From Cairo, I fly to Italy. I booked a coach ticket on EgyptAir to Milan for $250 through Capital One Travel to use part my Venture X credit. Yes, I am aware of the people who say never to book trough the portal. I know the risks and am not very concerned. Capital One Travel actually did not start out with the best fare, but I called to price match to the $250 that was available on other sites. That was mostly quick and easy, although beware that they will only price match identical currencies. In order to price match you have to actually book with Capital One first before they will make a price adjustment.
My final flights from Milan to New York are on Finnair. I booked this as a coach award for 45k Finnair points and applied a Finnair long-haul upgrade voucher to move up to business. The upgrade process was not very straightforward. Upgrades on Finnair come from the same fare class (U) as business awards. At first, the upgrade was showing as waitlisted online even though award space was available. However, when I called the agent insisted that the upgrade WAS available and processed it immediately.
In the end I was pleased about how everything came together. I haven't compared it with any true "around the world" redemptions but I ended up with a mix of carriers that wouldn't normally fit together on a single redemption.
PS: I did some of [hotel nights] using points. I stay a lot at IHG, so I combined 4th night free (with IHG credit card), buying points at half a cent each, and free breakfast (Diamond Elite) for points stays. I also have some paid IHG nights that I booked by combining a 30% cash back offer from Capital One Shopping with AARP rate. Additionally, some of my stays are apartment rentals. The reason is that I really like to have a full kitchen and washing machine when I stay more than a few nights. Some are through AirBnB (I buy the gift cards on sale and click through the Avios portal to earn points) and I booked an apartment in Italy for about $60 per night when Marriott was running the 40k bonus points promo for Homes and Villas. A lot of people don't like AirBnB but I've stayed in almost 50 of them over the years and they have worked really well for what I've needed.
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