I am stubborn and it does not look like I can hit the $30,000 in spend on my Chase British Airways Travel Together pass, but I will try. I need $20,000 left in spend and am about $10,000 away from the remaining 25,000 miles from the sign up bonus.
Regardless, if you follow Amol’s post on using your cash back card and buying points and miles, then you know these tiered promos that Hyatt, US Airways, and American Airlines are running for May does not bode well. In order to reach the best deal and lower the cent per point, you would need to max out the purchase and buying a $500 Visa card will not get you there.
Below is American Airlines, and they have a flat 30% if you hit the lowest bracket at 15,000, 30,000, 45,000, and 60,000 miles. This comes out to be 2.3 cents per mile. While you could buy $500 gift cards for this, the downside to the approach purchasing 15,000 miles is that it comes out to $412.50, there’s a $35 transaction fee, and a 7.5% tax.
Here is the Hyatt program which does not have a transaction fee or tax:
- At $24 for 1,100 points which includes the 10% bonus the points become 2.2 cents per point
- At $480 for 23,000 points which includes the 15% bonus the points become 2.1 cents per point
- At $720 for 36,000 points which includes the 20% bonus the points become 2 cents per point
US Airways promo has a 7.5% tax as well, but without the $35 transaction fee. It is best to buy US Airways miles instead of American for this promotion. The figures below do not account for the 7.5% tax:
- At $350 for 15,000 miles which includes the 50% bonus the points become 2.3 cents per point
- At $700 for 35,000 miles which includes the 75% bonus the points become 2 cents per point
- At $1,400 for 80,000 points which includes the 100% bonus the points become 1.8 cents per point
As a reminder, points.com is available on TopCashBack and you could earn a little bit back for the transaction.
