Correct Answer:
Winner:

If you’d like your photo featured, please email it to me at onemileatatime@hotmail.com, along with the correct answer.

With the introduction out of the way, here are my valuations of Membership Rewards, Ultimate Rewards, and Starwood Preferred Guest points. Yes, I realize SPG points aren’t technically “credit card points,” though I still consider them to be one of the “big three” credit card points currencies due to how easily they can be transferred.

American Express Membership Rewards – 1.6 cents/point

Going back a year I would have said American Express Membership Rewards points were worth at least two cents each, though a lot has happened since then to change that:

• Continental was removed as a transfer partner on September 30, 2011
• British Airways hugely devalued their award chart for those in North America as of November 15, 2011
• Aeroplan gutted their award chart and added huge fuel surcharges to award redemptions on most non-US carriers
• There hasn’t been a single transfer bonus to Delta SkyMiles all year, while last year we frequently saw 30-50% transfer bonuses

So the four things that made Membership Rewards points so valuable either aren’t possible or being offered anymore.

Still, there are some positives:

• American Express is offering a 50% bonus on transfers to British Airways through the end of the month. This seems to be a fairly regular occurrence, though let’s see if it still happens in the future given that British Airways’ co-branded credit card is with Chase. While Avios points aren’t especially valuable, I think it’s tough to value them at under a cent each, regardless of how critical you are of the program.
• It has become possible to redeem Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer miles for saver first class on Singapore Airlines. As I discussed in great detail in this post, it’s now finally possible to redeem for Singapore Airlines’ new first class at the saver level, which wasn’t previously possible. This remains the only reliable way to redeem miles for Singapore Airlines first class.
• Through Aeroplan business class to Europe roundtrip costs only 90,000 miles with two stopovers (in addition to the destination). So if you don’t mind flying a US carrier for the transatlantic flight, you can’t beat visiting three places in Europe for just 90,000 miles in business class. There are still bargains to be had with Aeroplan, they just take more effort to find than before.

Anyway, the program isn’t nearly what it used to be, but it’s still not worthless. I sure hope they’re talking to either Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan or US Airways Dividend Miles for a potential partnership, as either would greatly improve the value proposition of the program.

Best credit card(s) for earning Membership Rewards points: American Express Premier Rewards Gold Card, which offers 3x points on airfare, 2x points on gas and groceries, and 15,000 bonus points for any year in which you spend $30,000 on the card

Transfer Membership Rewards points to Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer

Chase Ultimate Rewards – 1.9 cents/point

As the “new kid on the block,” Chase has quickly made Ultimate Rewards points one of the most valuable points currencies out there, especially since it’s possible to earn more than one Ultimate Rewards point per dollar spent with several of their cards.

Ultimate Rewards points can be transferred to British Airways, Korean Air, United, Hyatt, Marriott, Priority Club, and more. So they have lots of transfer partners, though the only “mainstream” partners where a 1:1 transfer is a great deal would be to United and Hyatt, in my opinion.

So while I value Hyatt points at slightly less than 1.9 cents per point and United miles at around 1.9 cents per mile, there’s a key aspect to Ultimate Rewards points that makes them more valuable than the individual points currencies they can be transferred to.

Specifically, the miles can be transferred to an account in anyone’s name in either program. This is significant for a couple of reasons. First, it allows you to “top off” an account to have enough points for an award. For example, say you’re trying to book two business class awards from the US to Asia and you and your spouse each have 110,000 United miles. The ability to transfer those 20,000 Ultimate Rewards points to two different accounts gives them some premium over just having 130,000 miles in one account and 110,000 miles in another account, for example.

Furthermore, the ability to transfer to anyone’s account means you can transfer to an elite member’s mileage account (if you have a friend that’s an elite member with United, for example), which gets you ticketing fee waivers, free changes, etc. These are all things that add up and have to be considered, in my opinion.

Best credit card(s) for earning Ultimate Rewards points: Chase Sapphire Preferred Card, which offers double points on dining and travel and a 7% annual points dividend, and the Chase Ink Bold Business Card, which offers 5x points on office supply stores and 2x points on gas and hotels

Transfer Ultimate Rewards points to United for Lufthansa first class

Starwood Preferred Guest – 2.2 cents/point

While I’ll cover Starwood again later with other hotels, I did feel like including them here since many use Starwood points in the same way they would use Membership Rewards or Ultimate Rewards points, using them for transfers to other mileage programs.

Starwood points can be transferred 1:1 to many airlines, and for every 20,000 points you transfer you earn a 5,000 point bonus, meaning you’re essentially earning 1.25 miles per dollar spent.

Unbundling that, my valuation makes each transferred mile worth 1.76 cent, factoring in the 25% bonus, which I think is pretty fair given that points can be transferred to American, US Airways, etc.

But the further added value is that sometimes SPG offers an even further transfer bonus. Earlier in the year US Airways offered a 50% bonus for transfers from SPG, meaning that 20,000 SPG points would net you 37,500 US Airways miles. Using the 2.2 cent per point valuation, that lowers the cost per US Airways mile to just 1.17 cents each, which is a pretty spectacular value. While a transfer bonus like that isn’t guaranteed, we seem to see at least one great transfer bonus each year.

Best credit card(s) for earning SPG points: Starwood Preferred Guest American Express Personal Card and Starwood Preferred Guest American Express Business Card, which offer one SPG point per dollar spent on all purchases, and two SPG points per dollar spent at SPG properties

Redeem SPG points for Westin Siray Bay Phuket

Next up will be my valuation of airline miles…

Full disclosure: I earn a referral bonus for anyone that signs up through the above links. It’s the best available offer, and of course I’m very appreciate of your support, regardless of whether or not you use my links

Disclaimer: This content is not provided or commissioned by American Express. Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of American Express, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by American Express. This site may be compensated through American Express Affiliate Program.

At least once a year I try to make a post with my valuations of miles and points across various programs. I’d say over the past year more so than ever before the value of miles and points has been shifting, which I suspect is why I’ve gotten so many requests for an updated post on this. The last time I posted my valuation of miles was in November 2011 in this TravelSort post (the one before that was in June 2010), though I focused exclusively on airline miles.

This time around I figured I’d post my updated valuations of the three major credit card points currencies (Membership Rewards, Ultimate Rewards, and Starwood Preferred Guest points), airline miles (Aeroplan, Alaska, American, British Airways, Delta, United, US Airways), and hotel points (Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott, Priority Club, and Starwood).

The reason I’m making an introduction post is because I want to explain the basis of my analysis. First let me make one important point, and I’ll make it in bold: I’m not for a second claiming everyone should value their miles/points the way I do, and you’re more than welcome to provide a million counter-examples of how I’m wrong.

We all fly for different reasons, with different goals, and with different valuations on comfort.

For example, say I value American miles more than British Airways points (which I do). Surely someone can come along and say “that’s hogwash, with British Airways I can book a one-way flight between Los Angeles and San Diego for only 4,500 Avios, while the revenue ticket would be $500 one-way. I value them at over 10 cents each.”

Therefore I’ll try to maintain a balanced approach to my analysis, though it’s worth noting my potential biases. For example, I often travel alone, so am sometimes only looking for one award seat when redeeming miles. Furthermore, I greatly value the ability to redeem miles for premium cabins, in particular first class. On the hotel side, I value the ability to redeem points for high-end properties that I otherwise couldn’t afford.

But my main point is simply that everyone’s valuation is going to be different, both in absolute terms and in relative terms. Disagree with my analysis? That’s great, and please let me know. This is just my opinion, and at the end of the day there’s no right or wrong answer. Some will say I’m valuing miles double as high as they should be across the board, while others will say they value them twice as high across the board. Some will say they value British Airways points double as much as American miles, while others will say they value American miles double as much as British Airways points.

Hopefully that’s sufficient disclosure (though I know it won’t stop at least some of you from tearing my numbers apart).

After landing from the Los Angeles to Narita flight yesterday, we headed over to the domestic terminal for our Narita to Nagoya flight on Japan Airlines. The domestic lounge is pretty simple, and I got caught up on email for a couple of hours. About 15 minutes before we were scheduled to board, my travel companion and I (or at least names slightly resembling ours’) were paged in the lounge. My friend was on a call, so I went to the desk for both of us, and was rather concerned about what might be wrong, since the flight still showed on time when I checked a few minutes earlier.

There were three agents standing there with frowns on their faces — “Mr. Lucky, I’m so very sorry, but is it okay if we give you a better seat?” I looked a bit surprised, though they had a laminated piece of paper with the aircraft’s seatmap. “Mr. Lucky, I’m so sorry, may I put you in 1K, this is a first class seat?” I said “that would be great, and where would my friend sit, in 2K or 1G?”

All three of them covered their mouths and let out a collective gasp. “I’m so sorry, you are traveling together?!” I said “yes,” and they said he would be in 1G, which is immediately across the aisle. I said I’m sure that would be just fine (given that the plane’s configuration is 1-1-1), and all three of them thanked me profusely and apologized once again, concerned this arrangement might not be okay since we would be seated so far apart.

The first class seats on this aircraft were JAL’s older model first class seats, the same one I flew in from Narita to New York a few years ago.

Since there’s still a trip report on the way, let me just hit on four points about the flight:

Boarding signs

What are we, pre-boarding the cast from Dora the Explorer?

Here’s a close-up of who they’re actually trying to pre-board (cause obviously anyone under seven and over 65 wears a hat).

Mt. Fuji

We flew right next to Mt. Fuji. Holy wow!

Onboard service

While the flight attendants were super-friendly, they make in-flight service at US airlines look impressive. The service onboard consisted exclusively of a beverage served in a small plastic cup with a lid.

Turbulence and announcements

The flight was bumpy as could be. We were rocking and rolling the whole way. The funny thing is that the seatbelt sign stayed off for the entire flight, until we began our descent. When the seatbelt sign was turned on the purser said “ladies and gentlemen, we are expecting a little bit of turbulence, so the captain has turned on the seatbelt sign.” So, what have we been experiencing for the past 30 minutes? Funny enough there wasn’t a single bump for the rest of the flight once the seatbelt sign was turned on.

An all around enjoyable experience, and now I’m in Kyoto.

You can convert points from the following partners:

CIBC Aventura^®World MasterCard™ Card, CIBC Aventura^® Gold Visa™, CIBC Aventura^® Visa Infinite™, CIBC Aventura^® MasterCard™ Card, American Express Membership Rewards – Canada, BankAmericard^® Power Rewards^® credit card, Diners Club^® Club Rewards^®, Starwood Preferred Guest^®, Hilton HHonors™, Marriott Rewards, Wyndham Rewards^®, Best Western Rewards, Choice Privileges^®, Coast Rewards, Club Carlson^SM, Le Club Accorhotels (Accor hotels), Golden Circle Award, Hertz Gold Plus Rewards, Points.com

Please note that while Membership Rewards^® points from U.S. American Express Cardmember accounts may be converted into Aeroplan Miles, their conversion is not eligible for the bonus promotion.

As you can see, the US Membership Rewards program is excluded from the transfer bonus.

Looking at the above bonuses, if you transfer 100,000 SPG points to Aeroplan you would get a total of 150,000 Aeroplan miles (SPG gives you a 5,000 point bonus for every 20,000 points you transfer, plus the further 25,000 mile bonus).

Anyway, given that Aeroplan miles aren’t nearly as valuable as they used to be I wouldn’t just make a speculative transfer unless you have a specific redemption in mind where the numbers work in your favor.

Still, it’s a promotion worth keeping in mind.

(Tip of the hat to Gary)

The Andaz Wall Street was a bit cheaper for both nights, though my brother asked that I do what I can to get a two bedroom suite at the Andaz 5th Avenue, both so we could have drinks there beforehand and also in case anyone wanted to crash there afterwards.

So I ended up using one of my Diamond suite upgrades for the night at the Andaz 5th Avenue, and then emailed the hotel to see what could be done in terms of a better room. They offered to upgrade me to a two bedroom suite (similar to the one I had the first time I stayed here due to a mishap) for $250, which I gladly paid. Not something I’d usually do, but given the circumstances I figured it was worthwhile.

I’ve stayed at both hotels plenty of times, so I’ll keep the reviews pretty stay and room-centric. You can find my previous reviews of the Andaz Wall Street here and here, while you can find my previous reviews of the Andaz 5th Avenue here and here.

I arrived at the Andaz Wall Street at around 3PM where I was promptly helped at check-in. The “host” was pretty cold and didn’t exchange a word with me, which was certainly a change of pace from the usually overly talkative hosts.

The good news is that I had been upgraded to an Andaz XL King (basically a junior suite) on the top floor. As usual the room was beautiful. I especially love the decor of the Andaz Wall Street rooms.

There was a seating area near the entrance which faces a big closet (also where the TV is), on the other side of which is the bed.

Living room area

Facing bedroom area

Desk

Bed

As usual at Andaz hotels, the minibar soft drinks and snacks were complimentary, as well as the wifi.

Minibar

Snacks/booze

I especially love the bathrooms at the Andaz Wall Street, as they feature an enclosed shower/tub, which is among the nicest out there. I’m not usually a “tub” person, but once in a while I can be tempted, and the Andaz Wall Street is one of those instances.

Bathroom

Shower/tub

Toilet

There was a little birthday cake waiting on the table when I entered, which surprised me given that I made a reservation the night before. While I want to give Hyatt credit for this, apparently a friend called the hotel the morning of my arrival to let them know it was my birthday. So I guess Hyatt gets half credit in this instance for executing…

Birthday cake

On Saturday morning my brother joined me for breakfast at Wall & Water, which has a nice brunch on weekends. The non-hotel crowd is usually pretty odd (who has brunch on Wall Street on a Saturday, other than losers like me?), though the food is always good. I do wish the hotel would clarify their breakfast policy for Diamond members. The general consensus is a $50 credit per day, though that doesn’t really cover their standard offering, so seems a bit low. Anyway, we only had a few dollars of overage, so I wasn’t about to argue.

Wall & Water

Buffet

Buffet

After visiting some family and going to Central Park for a bit my brother and I headed over to the Andaz 5th Avenue for check-in. Our room was ready at around 3PM, and was one of the hotel’s two bedroom suites (they only have a total of two). The last one I stayed in was bigger though didn’t feature a balcony, so it was nice to be able to compare both rooms.

This one featured a nice sized living room with a couch facing a flat screen TV, as well as a desk with a kitchenette. The fridge was well stocked, and as is always the case, the soft drinks and snacks were complimentary.

Entryway

Living room

TV in living room

View from balcony

Kitchenette

Fridge

There was also a welcome amenity consisting of a chocolate tart and bottle of wine.

Welcome amenity

The suite also featured two nearly identical bedrooms and bathrooms. Unlike the Andaz Wall Street, the 5th Avenue hotel doesn’t have tubs in the bathrooms, though the showers themselves are awesome.

First bedroom

First bedroom

First bathroom

First shower

Second morning

The following morning we had breakfast at the hotel’s restaurant, The Shop, where there was about a 30 minute wait.

The Shop

The Shop

I ordered the hotel’s famous lemon poppy seed pancakes, while my brother ordered an omelet, both of which were delicious. This was my first time not ordering room service breakfast at the hotel (since they let Diamonds do that).

Lemon poppy seed pancakes

Omelet

Anyway, as usual both Andaz stays were great. While I prefer the location of the 5th Avenue location, there is something remarkably relaxing about Wall Street on weekends, and at the end of the day New York transportation is pretty inexpensive and efficient, so I don’t really care where I stay.

These two hotels are my “go to” hotels in New York, though I’m still not sure which I prefer. I’m leaning towards the 5th Avenue hotel since I think they’ve really improved a lot since opening (especially in terms of Diamond recognition), though I’ll continue to choose based on their rates and where in the city I need to be.

Service

The purser, Steve, was really nice and professional. Perhaps he was a bit too nice, since he engaged every passenger with a smile at every interaction. Ultimately that’s what I love to see from pursers, though the issue is that it meant the main meal service took nearly 3.5 hours.

Kudos to the guy for being so friendly and talkative, because he gave just about every passenger ideas for what to do in Japan, jetlag and transportation tips, etc. The couple seated across from me were celebrating their 40th anniversary, so he even made a card for them and had the whole crew sign it.

Food

Ultimately American’s food is simple and tasty. I’ll trade caviar for an ice cream sundae any day. There are definitely airlines with better food out there, though there was nothing inedible, as I sometimes experience on other airlines when they try a bit too hard.

Amenities

This is where American has really stepped up their game, and what impressed me the most. Late last year American added pajamas and turndown service in first class. The pajamas were comfy and high quality, comparable to what’s offered by other foreign carriers.

The turndown service was also quite nice though simple, and consisted of a thin mattress pad being placed on the seat. Interestingly the lack of any sort of a turndown service was my biggest gripe with American first class when I flew them last year from Miami to London, so with the new offerings they do have a more competitive product.

It really is so refreshing to see American actually investing in their product instead of only cutting back, like other US airlines.

And while I’m looking forward to my flight back to the US in a few days, I’m looking forward to Kyoto even more.

Well, I was actually really impressed by the property, and found it to be a step above what the competition offers in the same “category.”

The hotel exterior was beautiful, and the lobby was inviting and warm.

Hotel exterior

Lobby

Lobby

The check-in agent was friendly though seemed to have no concept of Hyatt status, since she just stared blankly at my Gold Passport card and I wasn’t offered an upgrade of any sort.

My room was on the 5th floor at the very end of the hallway, which was quite a haul. The hotel is deceivingly big.

Hallway

The room itself was the most impressive part of the hotel, though. I don’t know what it was, but it just felt very “livable,” something I can’t even say about many high end hotels I’ve stayed at. It featured a desk and kitchen right near the entrance. While I’m not one to cook in hotel rooms (or at home, for that matter), I can appreciate a full size fridge.

Room

Desk and kitchen

Kitchen

I suspect part of what made the room feel so livable was how high the ceilings were and how bright the room was.

High ceilings

Living room

The room featured a comfy king size bed.

Bedroom

View from my room

The bedroom led into the bathroom, which featured a separate sink area and then a door leading to the toilet and shower.

Instead of having individually bottled toiletries the hotel has “pumps” with toiletries. Usually that annoys me, though these pumps actually worked and were full, which I can’t say for 90% of hotels with a similar system.

Sink

Toilet

Shower

The hotel offered free breakfast for guests in their restaurant area. They had cereal, several hot options, and even an omelet station. While it was by no means gourmet, I did think it was much better than anything I’ve seen at other chain hotels that uniformly offer free breakfast.

Restaurant

Breakfast spread

Breakfast spread

The hotel also had a pretty basic gym which I used once.

Gym

Anyway, on the whole I was really impressed by Hyatt House. The rooms were clean and nicely furnished, the public facilities were inviting, and all the employees I interacted with were friendly. For a rate of under $100 per night, what more could you ask for?

And on a mildly unrelated note, I really love the state of Washington, especially compared to Tampa (which is filled with nothing but strip malls and strip clubs, neither of which I patronize).

Well, it appears as if American Express is trying to add more rewards to their Gold cards and narrow the gap, as they just introduced the American Express Gold Hotel Collection.

Booking through this program offers a $75 resort credit and room upgrade at participating hotels.

The terms and conditions for booking through them are as follows:

Valid for new bookings of at least two consecutive nights made through American Express Travel. Payment must be made with an American Express Card in U.S. Gold Card member, Platinum Card member or Centurion member’s name. Card member must travel on itinerary booked. Room upgrade based on availability. $75 credit excludes room nights, taxes, gratuities, fees. Benefit restrictions vary by hotel and cannot be redeemed for cash. Credit cannot be carried over to another stay, nonrefundable and applied in USD or equivalent in local currency based on exchange rate on day of arrival. May not be combined with other offers or programs unless indicated. Limit one benefit package per room, per stay. Three room limit per Card member, per stay; back-to-back stays within a 24-hour period at the same property considered one stay. Participating providers and benefits subject to change.

As you can see, the biggest catch seems to be that this is only valid for stays of at least two nights, while with Fine Hotels & Resorts or Virtuoso you get more benefits for stays of even just one night.

Anyway, you can search participating hotels and look up rates here, on their fairly easy to use hotel search tool.

Based on my search they seem to have a bit of overlap between Fine Hotels & Resorts properties, though not a complete overlap. The good news is that for all the hotels I searched, the rate offered by American Express matched the “best available” rate offered by the hotel. And as is the case with Fine Hotels & Resorts, booking through this program should still earn you points and stay credits.

So is this a killer new option? No, probably not. But it’s another option to consider when making your hotel bookings, in addition to Fine Hotels & Resorts, Virtuoso, and the Visa Signature Luxury Hotel Collection.

Full disclosure: I earn a referral bonus for anyone that signs up through the above links. It’s the best available offer, and of course I’m very appreciate of your support, regardless of whether or not you use my links

Disclaimer: This content is not provided or commissioned by American Express. Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of American Express, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by American Express. This site may be compensated through American Express Affiliate Program.

Correct Answer: Cape Town, South Africa
Winner: Matt

If you’d like your photo featured, please email it to me at onemileatatime@hotmail.com, along with the correct answer.