At TPG, we attempt to cross off a number of locations from our journey want record yearly. Nevertheless, discovering essentially the most economical approach to get there and again is difficult. Though many TPG readers and staffers use credit card rewards for flight bookings, you is likely to be uncertain should you’re getting one of the best deal out of your rewards.
To deal with this, we made it a New 12 months’s decision to assist our readers perceive how to maximize their points and miles. You may decrease your journey bills and discover extra locations through the use of your rewards extra effectively.
Listed below are 5 simple tricks to maximize your journey rewards in 2025.
Associated: How to choose your best credit card strategy
Redeem Chase factors for Hyatt stays
There are a lot of methods you may redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards points for inns, experiences and sporting occasions to assist scale back the price of your trip.
For instance, you need to use Chase Final Rewards factors to guide a Hyatt keep by transferring them to World of Hyatt. You may as well switch Chase Final Rewards factors to IHG One Rewards and Marriott Bonvoy, however Hyatt factors are value considerably extra in TPG’s December 2024 valuations.
For instance, 21,000 World of Hyatt factors are sufficient for the standard free night time on an off-peak date at a Class 6 property just like the Nice Scotland Yard Resort or the Park Hyatt Chicago. Redeeming these factors may get you right into a room that might in any other case value greater than $500 per night time on most dates. World of Hyatt offers all members waived resort fees on award stays, which may add to the financial savings.
Associated: The best Hyatt hotels in the world
Listed below are among the greatest playing cards to earn Final Rewards factors:
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- Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card: Earn 60,000 Final Rewards factors after you spend $4,000 on purchases within the first three months from account opening.
- Chase Sapphire Reserve®: Earn 60,000 bonus factors after you spend $4,000 on purchases within the first three months from account opening.
- Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card: Earn 90,000 bonus factors after you spend $8,000 on purchases within the first three months from account opening.
- Ink Business Cash® Credit Card: Earn $350 while you spend $3,000 on purchases within the first three months your account is open; plus, earn a further $400 while you spend $6,000 on purchases within the first six months after account opening.
- Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card: Earn a $750 money again bonus after you spend $6,000 on purchases within the first three months from account opening.
- Chase Freedom Flex®: Earn a $200 bonus after spending $500 on purchases in your first three months from account opening.
- Chase Freedom Unlimited®: Earn an additional 1.5% on all the things you purchase (on as much as $20,000 spent within the first 12 months). That is value as much as $300 money again.
The primary three playing cards earn absolutely transferable Final Rewards factors, whereas the remaining 4 are technically billed as cash-back credit cards.
Nevertheless, should you even have an Final Rewards points-earning card, you may convert your Chase cash-back rewards to Final Rewards factors. Because of this, having a couple of Chase card within the household could make sense to maximise your incomes and redeeming potential.
Learn to switch bank card rewards
You may think about using your Chase Ultimate Rewards factors to guide journey straight within the Chase Travel℠ portal, however let’s take a look at what which means for a one-way flight from Los Angeles Worldwide Airport (LAX) to Heathrow Airport (LHR) subsequent summer season.
I picked a nonstop pattern United Airways flight that might value $1,128 in common financial system class if I booked by Chase Journey.
If in case you have the Chase Sapphire Reserve, you may redeem Chase Final Rewards factors for journey by the portal at 1.5 cents apiece. So, this flight would require 75,200 Final Rewards factors when you have the Chase Sapphire Reserve and redeem for this flight by Chase’s journey portal. For those who had the Chase Sapphire Preferred, your Final Rewards factors are value a barely decrease 1.25 cents every when redeemed by Chase Journey, so that you would wish 90,240 Final Rewards factors.
Alternatively, you may guide this flight in common financial system for 40,000 MileagePlus miles and simply $5.60 in taxes and costs. Bear in mind, you may switch Chase Final Rewards factors to United MileagePlus at 1:1.
Whenever you switch bank card rewards to a loyalty program, you normally will not earn frequent flyer miles in your ticket (which you sometimes would accrue when reserving by the Final Rewards journey portal). Nevertheless, you may seemingly come out effectively in entrance should you save tens of hundreds of bank card factors by transferring them to a accomplice airline program fairly than redeeming them by a bank card journey portal.
Verify award charges with switch companions earlier than redeeming rewards by your bank card issuer’s journey portal. Transferring rewards to guide award flights or stays could make sense when paid charges are excessive (like on peak summer season dates) or award charges are low.
Associated: How (and why) you should earn transferable points
Observe your factors and miles
Utilizing your factors and miles correctly is troublesome should you do not monitor them precisely. Fortunately, there are various methods to track your points and miles.
Many people used to trace our rewards manually in a Phrase or Excel doc, however this was time-consuming and cumbersome to maintain updated. So, you may need to use an automatic device. One possibility is the TPG App, which retains monitor of all of your balances in the identical place, routinely calculates their worth and provides you a heads-up when they’ll expire.
The TPG App offers you a snapshot of your present scenario and can assist inform your journey plans. Whenever you log in, you may see the place you could have essentially the most rewards with the accounts you have synced (and the worth utilizing TPG’s monthly points and miles valuations).
Associated: How to keep your points and miles from expiring
Join all loyalty applications
Many individuals fail to enroll in each loyalty program as a result of they assume they’re going to by no means actually fly JetBlue or keep at a Hilton. However that mindset has value vacationers tens of millions of factors and miles.
Even should you aren’t loyal to 1 airline or resort chain, signing up for this system while you fly or keep means including extra rewards to your steadiness everytime you use this system once more. You may even get further perks, equivalent to free Wi-Fi throughout your resort keep, only for being a member.
When you won’t need to be a part of each program now, think about guaranteeing you could have a loyalty quantity listed on each flight you’re taking. Doing so will construct up rewards in numerous applications that might finally get you a free journey.
Associated: These airline and hotel programs offer free points when you sign up
Use on-line purchasing portals to stack award factors
You can earn extra rewards on purchases for your self or family members this vacation season by a shopping portal. These portals are primarily on-line purchasing malls that accomplice with hundreds of retailers. By beginning on the portal fairly than going on to the retailer’s web site, you may earn bonus factors or miles on hundreds of things.
For instance, let’s assume you need to purchase a switch or tour by Viator. For those who go on to the Viator web site, you may solely earn rewards on your bank card buy. For those who as a substitute click on by the AAdvantage shopping portal, for instance, earlier than making your buy, you can snag further rewards.
Do you have to choose incomes money again as a substitute of factors and miles, you may discover on-line purchasing portals like Rakuten and TopCashback. We advocate utilizing a shopping portal aggregator every time you make an internet buy to seek out this system that provides one of the best return on your service provider.
Associated: The beginners guide to airline shopping portals
Backside line
With the beginning of a brand new 12 months, there are quite a few prospects to change your technique for incomes and redeeming factors and miles.
Following a easy technique, equivalent to guaranteeing you could have a frequent flyer quantity related to each flight you’re taking, can considerably reward you.
We’re already dreaming of our subsequent journey utilizing factors and miles.