Every company has a gimmick these days with "reward points".
The wife has been having us stay with IHG Hotels when feasible, so we can get their rewards. This is the Holiday Inn group, Candlewood, etc. I stayed about 10 hours in one the other day, just to sleep, cost me $130 with taxes, base rate was $111. So I earned 1,110 of their rewards points for that stay. Looking things up, a room in Fort Lauderdal in July will cost me 35,000 to 45,000 points. For one night. So... I'd have to stay a minimum of 32 nights at that rate to get a free night for the summer. So, 32 nights at $130/night = $4,160. Yikes. Spend 4 grand+, spend an entire MONTH in the hotel, so I can get a free night. Doesn't sound too great.
Of course, we can get their credit card and use it for daily stuff and make points, too. That would add up some more. Meh. $49 annual fee, waived the first year. I ain't paying a fee for a credit card, whether it gets me points or not. Prolly end up canceling and jumping to the next "points" card after a year or so.
I don't travel alot on business, and certainly not on the company dime, so I can't rack up points that way like some people do.
Just curious what, if any, systems you guys use. It seems to me all these companies tout their rewards programs, and give you thousands and thousands of points, so they SOUND like you're really racking them up, and it really doesn't mean much in the longrun.
So I've got about 35k points with IHG - good for one night.
I've got about 75k points with HHonors, the Hilton group - good for about 1-1.5 nights.
We recently stayed in Tulsa and our rate was 109 a night (x2 nights) at Holiday Inn, we booked another room for my parents for one night and the clerk gave us the AAA rate, which dropped it down to $85. I was pretty impressed with that... so now we're looking into getting AAA, but of course, that's another annual fee. But would save its own cost in a few nights of hotel stay.
More locally, I can get cheaper rates using less points. But it's all just an example. I can get 60,000 points by signing up for their credit card, 5x points booking rooms, 2x points at convenience stores, 1x on gas, etc.
Do any of you use these, and which specific cards/programs/deals do you use?
We're just looking to start earning some points, and everyday purchases are a great option, but I'm just looking around trying to figure out what the best card for this stuff is. I've got a Crapitol One and Amex and I'm going to look into what theirs are all about, too. I know I had something like 30-40k on Amex points at one time years ago, but never saw anything in their shopping list that interested me... maybe it'll be different now, I'm 10 years older. lol
The wife has been having us stay with IHG Hotels when feasible, so we can get their rewards. This is the Holiday Inn group, Candlewood, etc. I stayed about 10 hours in one the other day, just to sleep, cost me $130 with taxes, base rate was $111. So I earned 1,110 of their rewards points for that stay. Looking things up, a room in Fort Lauderdal in July will cost me 35,000 to 45,000 points. For one night. So... I'd have to stay a minimum of 32 nights at that rate to get a free night for the summer. So, 32 nights at $130/night = $4,160. Yikes. Spend 4 grand+, spend an entire MONTH in the hotel, so I can get a free night. Doesn't sound too great.
Of course, we can get their credit card and use it for daily stuff and make points, too. That would add up some more. Meh. $49 annual fee, waived the first year. I ain't paying a fee for a credit card, whether it gets me points or not. Prolly end up canceling and jumping to the next "points" card after a year or so.
I don't travel alot on business, and certainly not on the company dime, so I can't rack up points that way like some people do.
Just curious what, if any, systems you guys use. It seems to me all these companies tout their rewards programs, and give you thousands and thousands of points, so they SOUND like you're really racking them up, and it really doesn't mean much in the longrun.
So I've got about 35k points with IHG - good for one night.
I've got about 75k points with HHonors, the Hilton group - good for about 1-1.5 nights.
We recently stayed in Tulsa and our rate was 109 a night (x2 nights) at Holiday Inn, we booked another room for my parents for one night and the clerk gave us the AAA rate, which dropped it down to $85. I was pretty impressed with that... so now we're looking into getting AAA, but of course, that's another annual fee. But would save its own cost in a few nights of hotel stay.
More locally, I can get cheaper rates using less points. But it's all just an example. I can get 60,000 points by signing up for their credit card, 5x points booking rooms, 2x points at convenience stores, 1x on gas, etc.
Do any of you use these, and which specific cards/programs/deals do you use?
We're just looking to start earning some points, and everyday purchases are a great option, but I'm just looking around trying to figure out what the best card for this stuff is. I've got a Crapitol One and Amex and I'm going to look into what theirs are all about, too. I know I had something like 30-40k on Amex points at one time years ago, but never saw anything in their shopping list that interested me... maybe it'll be different now, I'm 10 years older. lol