Accumulating points and miles is the most effective strategy to travel more frequently while spending less. This method has allowed me to continue traveling extensively, and I’ve noticed the significant impact it has had on my readers as well.
I frequently discuss the top credit cards suitable for your travel objectives, but I haven’t covered as much on how to utilize those points.
Today, I want to address this issue because I frequently receive emails from people mentioning that booking a flight requires too many points. Upon further investigation, I find this is often because they are booking through the credit card’s travel portal, which is something you should seldom, if ever, do!
Travel rewards cards provide two primary methods for utilizing the points you accumulate to book travel experiences:
- By converting points to their travel partners
- Utilizing a card issuer’s reservation platform
For beginners in the realm of earning and utilizing points and miles, understanding which option is superior can be quite perplexing. Travel credit cards often promote their portals as the optimal choice for redeeming your points. However, more often than not, this isn’t the case.
So, let’s discuss the reasons behind this.
Table of Contents
An Overview of Travel Portals
Travel portals are internet-based travel agencies (OTAs) provided by banks as a perk for possessing one of their rewards cards. They function in the same manner as other OTAs, like Expedia or Kayak, allowing you to reserve flights, hotels, and rental cars by looking up availability through their search engine.
The primary distinction is that these travel portals are linked to your credit card. This enables you to utilize your points and miles while making reservations. Additionally, you have the option to pay using a combination of points and cash.
Utilizing travel portals is essentially akin to using your points as cashback. You receive a predetermined value per point and can also accumulate points or miles with your booking.
Credit card companies promote their portals as the most advantageous way to utilize points. They encourage you to use these portals and remain within their ecosystem to profit from your usage.
To retain your presence on their website, they provide exclusive incentives accessible solely through their portal. These incentives comprise the following:
- Travel credits – When using the portal, numerous cards provide statement credits to offset your expenditures. For instance, The Points Guy’s monthly valuation chart appraises most transferable currencies at over 2 cents per point when used as transferable points. This is twice what you’d receive on travel portals, and frequently, you can obtain even more value.
That’s because when you transfer your points, you can benefit from transfer bonuses provided by credit cards and special promotions (like Air France-KLM Flying Blue promo awards, which offer monthly deals on award flights). These promotions can be exceptionally valuable, sometimes offering discounts of up to 50%!
Identifying award availability directly through airlines may appear daunting, but fortunately, resources such as Point.me (an award flight search tool) simplify the process significantly.
In general, I consistently transfer my points. This approach offers the highest value, and booking directly eliminates any third-party involvement in case there are issues with my flight. Additionally, this method requires significantly fewer points for a redemption. I’ll explain the reasons in the following section.
Partners vs. Portals: Which Option Suits You Best?
If a flight or room isn’t incredibly inexpensive (under $150 USD), I prefer to transfer points to travel partners, particularly for booking business-class flights or more luxurious hotel rooms. This way, you maximize the value of your expenditure.
For instance, a business class flight from New York to Paris during peak season costs 88,000 points each way on United (points can be transferred from both Chase Ultimate Rewards and Bilt Rewards to United). Typically, these flights are priced around $2,400, but can sometimes reach up to $5,000. If you held the Chase Sapphire Preferred or Bilt Rewards Card and made the booking through their respective travel portals, you would require 192,000 points (each point in these portals is valued at 1.25 cents). This amount is more than twice the number of points needed if you transfer your points to United and book directly.
Because most economy flight redemptions begin at 20,000 points when transferred directly to airlines, it is more advantageous to use the portal if the flight costs less than $250. This calculation applies to using Chase Sapphire cards or the Bilt card, as they offer a greater value than 1 cent per point when booking through their portals. Conversely, Amex and Capital One cards only provide 1 cent per point or mile, so you would need to find a flight costing $200 or less for portal utilization to be beneficial.
When it comes to hotels and rental cars, the situation isn’t as straightforward because transfer partners aren’t always available.
For instance, for my upcoming trip to Barcelona, I’m reserving hotels through the Chase Travel portal since there are no rooms available that can be booked with points. (You can only transfer points from credit cards to hotels affiliated with chains like Hyatt or Marriott.) Given that hotel rates start at $300 per night, I’m using my points to save money by booking a non-chain hotel. Without this option, I wouldn’t be able to use my points for the booking. This situation is an exception to the usual rule.
Here are additional situations where utilizing the portal is the most advantageous choice:
- Currently, there are no award seats available for your selected flight, possibly due to peak season or holiday travel, nor for your chosen hotel, especially if it’s a boutique hotel that does not accept point bookings.
- You’re reserving a rental car and wish to utilize points (you can’t book rental cars directly using points).
- You are aiming to achieve airline status and wish to accumulate points with your booking.
- You just won’t use your points in any other way.
Regarding the final point: always keep your travel objectives in mind and assess if the simplicity and convenience of utilizing the portal are valuable to you. It’s preferable to use your points in any manner rather than letting them accumulate unused. Avoid hoarding your points since they frequently depreciate. It’s better to spend them than to forfeit them!
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Travel portals can be an appealing method to utilize your points. They offer convenience, and banks encourage their use through various incentives. If you’re new to the world of points and miles and seek an easy way to redeem your rewards, they are certainly a viable option.
However, you can often maximize the value of your points by transferring them directly to airlines or hotels. The fewer points you need per trip, the more points you have available for additional travel or for enjoying more luxurious flights and accommodations.
However, the best part is that you don’t have to decide between using the portal or transferring to partners; you can combine both based on what is most advantageous at the moment. Therefore, do a quick comparison and use points to book your next trip!
Reserve Your Journey: Practical Advice and Strategies
Book Your Flight
Find a cheap flight by using Skyscanner. It’s my favorite search engine because it searches websites and airlines around the globe so you always know no stone is being left unturned.Book Your Accommodation
You can reserve your hostel accommodations through Hostelworld. For options beyond hostels, consider using Booking.com, which regularly offers the lowest prices for guesthouses and hotels.Remember Travel Insurance
Travel insurance safeguards you from illnesses, injuries, theft, and trip cancellations. It provides extensive coverage should anything go awry. I always ensure I have it for every trip, given my past frequent use of its benefits. My preferred companies that provide top-notch service and value are:Looking to Travel Without Spending?
Travel credit cards enable you to accumulate points redeemable for free flights and accommodation, without the need for additional expenditure. Explore my guide on selecting the ideal card and discover my top recommendations, as well as the most recent best deals, to get started.Looking for Assistance with Trip Activities?
Get Your Guide is a vast online platform offering a variety of exciting walking tours, enjoyable excursions, skip-the-line tickets, private guides, and additional experiences.Prepared to Reserve Your Journey?
Take a look at my resource page for top-rated companies to consider for your travel needs. These are the reliable services I personally use, and they are the best in their field. You can trust them to enhance your travel experience.Disclosure Regarding Advertisers: “Nomadic Matt has collaborated with CardRatings to present credit card products. Certain or all credit card listings on this page are from advertisers, and compensation might influence the placement and manner of these card products on the website. Nomadic Matt and CardRatings could earn a commission from the credit card issuers.”
Author’s Disclaimer: The thoughts, assessments, evaluations, and suggestions expressed are solely those of the author and have not been vetted, supported, or authorized by any mentioned entities. This page might not cover every card company or all existing card offers.
For information on the rates and fees associated with the Marriott Bonvoy Bevy™ American Express® Card, please refer to the Rates and Fees section.
For information about rates and fees for the Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card, refer to the Rates and Fees section.