(Offers on this page are now expired and are no longer available.)
Most of us are in this game to earn the most points possible in order to redeem them for awesome travel experiences. When choosing airlines or hotels for our travel, most of us take into account which rewards program is the most lucrative. Many people won’t even consider staying at a hotel chain that doesn’t offer a rewards program.
Or perhaps they’ll pass on cheaper airfare in favor of meeting elite qualifications for their frequent flyer program of choice. This has me thinking: How much cash would you have to save to forego earning points altogether?
Obviously, if it’s between a $70 one-way ticket to Europe or earning ~6,000 AAdvantage miles most of us would pick the cheap fare, right? Feel free to chime in if I’m wrong. The way most people decide between points and cash is to assign a value to their points. So let’s say you’re one of these people and you get an amazing $284 nightly rate at the Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos. You’re super excited because the Hyatt website sells the same room for nearly double.
Then you start doing the math and determine you’ll miss out on 2700 Hyatt points per night (excluding elite benefits) because this cheap rate isn’t eligible for points. Next, you’ll decide that based on your valuation of Hyatt points at 1.5 cents each, the value of these points is $40.50. However, you are saving $260 per night. Clearly, foregoing points in favor of cash savings makes sense in this scenario.
Since the Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos is an all-inclusive resort, you’re not going to miss much in the way of elite benefits. But what if you’re booking a hotel through a third party site that offers super cheap rates but ends up making you ineligible for elite benefits? Rather than calculating benefits like breakfast based on menu prices, consider how much you’d actually be willing to spend out of pocket.
For example, a lot of people will excitedly claim that they got $75 worth of free breakfast at the Andaz 5th Avenue. Awesome! But you know what? Unless you were going to pay $75 for that breakfast out of your own pocket, you shouldn’t value it that way. Valuing the breakfast benefit at $25 at a place like Coffee Berry or maybe $5 if you were going to pick up an Egg McMuffin at McDonalds would be more accurate.
I’m meeting a bit off-topic from my main point, which is that when you’re deciding between earning points and saving cash, take into account value in more than just one way. I’m the type of person who got into this hobby to save money on travel, so I’ll always take saving cash over earning points when it makes sense. Status chasers and point hoarders might feel differently.
I want to know your take on this: How much cash would you have to save in order to forego earning points? I know this can apply to a wide range of situations, so if you have had an instance where you had to make this decision, I’d love to read about what you decided and why.
All Articles | Follow on Google+
Delta® Reserve for Business
- Annual Fee: $450 fee
- Foreign Fees: No
- Card Type: Travel
Add to Favorites
- Earn 40,000 bonus miles and 10,000 MQMs after you spend $3,000 in purchases with your new Card in the first 3 months.†
- Earn 15,000 Medallion® Qualification Miles (MQMs) and 15,000 bonus miles after you reach $30,000 in eligible purchases on your Card in the calendar year.
- Earn 2 Miles per dollar spent on eligible purchases made directly with Delta. Earn 1 mile on every eligible dollar spent on purchases.
- Settle into your seat sooner with Priority Boarding and enjoy 20% savings on eligible in-flight purchases in the form of a statement credit.
- Pay no foreign transaction fees when you spend overseas.‡
- Complimentary Delta Sky Club® Access.‡
- Terms and limitations apply
- See Rates & Fees
Delta® Reserve for Business
- Annual Fee: $450 fee
- Foreign Fees: No
- Card Type: Travel
| FTG Review | Reward Breakdown | Points Breakdown |
|---|---|---|
Breakdown
Earn (pt.)
Spend
3 months
0
$3,000
Per dollar on eligible purchases with Delta Purchases
2.00
$1
All Purchases
1.00
$1
|
||
|
Already have this card? Maximize your rewards.
|
||
