"We paid for it with points"

amother

Thu, Aug 05 2021, 3:39 am

I see this mentioned a lot when people discuss their vacations/getaways. What exactly does this mean? We also have a lot of credit card points,but we can cash it in. So if someone can't really afford a vacation, what does paying with points help?

essie14

Thu, Aug 05 2021, 4:11 am

When you accrue credit card points you still have to have the money to pay off the CC bill every month.
We put over $10,000 a month on our CC. We pay in full every month and then we use the points for travel.
If I wouldn't use the card I would have to pay for my vacations as well.
It's like free money, minus the nominal yearly fee.

Success10

Thu, Aug 05 2021, 4:20 am

essie14 wrote:

They have plans like this in Israel? Or you use an American card?

saybesser

Thu, Aug 05 2021, 4:27 am

Success10 wrote:

They have plans like this in Israel? Or you use an American card?

I find that only the American cards have such great deals , benefits, redemptions

essie14

Thu, Aug 05 2021, 4:36 am

Success10 wrote:

They have plans like this in Israel? Or you use an American card?

American card.
The Max card in Israel gives some benefits but nothing like US cards.

imaima

Thu, Aug 05 2021, 5:04 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

In what context do you discuss with people what they can afford and get into such intimate details?

Vacation has long stopped being a luxury. If people can go on vacation in points, that's amazing.

amother

Pumpkin

Thu, Aug 05 2021, 5:16 am

imaima wrote:

In what context do you discuss with people what they can afford and get into such intimate details?

Vacation has long stopped being a luxury. If people can go on vacation in points, that's amazing.

It is a well known thing that people go on vacation with points. It’s not intimate details. I am also wondering about it. When I get points it gives me an option to redeem to cash. I wonder what cards only give you vacation points and if it is such a better deal than getting cash back.

essie14

Thu, Aug 05 2021, 5:21 am

imaima wrote:

In what context do you discuss with people what they can afford and get into such intimate details?

Vacation has long stopped being a luxury. If people can go on vacation in points, that's amazing.

Most people I know tell everyone that the vacation was paid for with points. It's like a point of pride.

amother

Crimson

Thu, Aug 05 2021, 5:40 am

We sell our points and use the money for exciting things like groceries and tuition.

Using the points straight for travel is usually not getting the best deal on tickets etc... You're paying full price just using points to pay for it. If we wanted to to travel we'd look for deals on things and pay actual money. (Maybe some of the cash made from selling points if we didn't need it for groceries and tuition)

Eta: selling points is not the same thing as cashing them in with the cc company. You get much more money selling them. Travel agents use them to pay for things like first class tickets for their clients. For that they're much more cost effective. We'd never fly first class if we traveled, though so really useless to us.

amother

Raspberry

Thu, Aug 05 2021, 6:31 am

amother [ Crimson ] wrote:

Actually that’s not true. We always compare booking flights and hotels regularly and points is always cheaper. Most of our cards we do cash back but we always save one card for points for travel. We went away one night last year midwinter using points

amother

Scarlet

Thu, Aug 05 2021, 6:56 am

Chase reserve sapphire are worth more (1.5 instead of 1) when you redeem for travel. I also had marriot card (I Booked 5 nights in a row last month at a marriot, all free) and in the past I’ve had Hilton card and Fairmont card

amother

Crimson

Thu, Aug 05 2021, 7:30 am

amother [ Raspberry ] wrote:

Could be it's changed.
I don't know. We don't travel anymore.
We do buy everything we can on credit card, though (which we pay off monthly) so as to earn the points to give us extra income. That's much more useful than unnecessary travel.

amother

Black

Thu, Aug 05 2021, 8:12 am

Most cards give you more worth in points that the amount given for cash back.
If you are going on a vacation or flying somewhere anyway, it's worth it to use the points that way.

Last edited by amother on Tue, Dec 21 2021, 8:48 pm; edited 1 time in total

fleetwood

Thu, Aug 05 2021, 8:42 am

[quote="amother [ OP ]"]I see this mentioned a lot when people discuss their vacations/getaways. What exactly does this mean?

We actually get cash back which is so much better than points. I never understood why people prefer points when you can have actual cash in hand ..

amother

Cyan

Thu, Aug 05 2021, 8:49 am

While we’re on the subject, can people mention which cards they use for travel or cash back? Which are the best deals?
And how do you cash in miles? I have miles on American Airlines and Delta.

keym

Thu, Aug 05 2021, 8:51 am

[quote="fleetwood"]

amother [ OP ] wrote:

I see this mentioned a lot when people discuss their vacations/getaways. What exactly does this mean?

We actually get cash back which is so much better than points. I never understood why people prefer points when you can have actual cash in hand ..

Same. But we don't actually get cash in our hand, we use our cash-back to towards paying the credit card.