Should I pay for my ✈️ vacation with points or cash? Believe it or not, some award redemptions are better with points, and some are better with cash.
SAVE ????this post, so you can easily calculate if you should pay with points or cash for your flight. I am doing this example specifically for #ChaseSapphire Reserve, so my #ultimaterewards points are worth 1.5x in the Chase Portal/Pay Yourself Back vs 1.25 for Chase Sapphire Preferred.
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1) Compare the Google Fights price, Chase Portal Price, and travel points price.
For example, a round trip flight from Cancun to Miami you might find the following.
Google Flights: $323 roundtrip on #AmericanAirlines for Basic Economy
Chase Portal Price: 21,518 points
British Airways #Avios Price: 15,000 Avios + $86.08 in taxes
2) Do the math for taxes & fees (Points = Cost/Rate) for the transfer partner
$86.08 is equivalent to 5,738 Chase Points
Cost / Rate = Points
5,738 points = $86.08/.015
15,000 Avios + 5,738 = 20,738 Chase Points for Transfer Partner. Please note, you do not have to wipe out your taxes and fees with Chase Pay Yourself Back, but I did this specifically to calculate the overall points cost.
3) Do the Google Flights cash comparison. (Points = Cost/Rate) $323/.015= 21,533 Google Flights price (points)
4) Compare the total points cost vs Chase portal vs transfer partner price. #BritishAirways is cheapest with total points cost 20,738 (15,000 Avios + 5,738 Chase points) vs 21,518 Chase portal points vs 21,533 Google Flights price (points)
5) Since British Airways is the cheapest you will transfer your Chase points to British Airways, and you can pay the taxes and fees on Chase Sapphire Reserve for 3x travel and trip cancellation and interruption insurance
6) If you want to make this trip entirely free with points, look at your most recent eligible purchases and use Chase Pay Yourself Back to offset the taxes and fees based on eligible purchases, such as dining, Away luggage, and Airbnb (until 3/31/22).You will receive a statement credit
Do you like this tip for figuring out if redemptions are better with cash or points? Feel free to send this to a friend if you find this helpful! Thanks!