Last fall, in Points 4: Double-dipping, I described how you can often earn points in at least two different programs for any transaction (My personal record is a quintuple dip). The principles I outlined still apply, but as I mentioned in Part 1, the specific example I gave of converting points earned with the Club Sobeys MasterCard to Aeroplan miles is no longer valid.
The reasons for joining multiple airline and hotel rewards programs that I explained in Points 5: U.S. Airline Frequent Flier Programs still pertain. So does my opinion about the value of Points.com. Personally, I don't use Points.com to track the balances in my programs any more. I've found another free site, AwardWallet, which is easier to use, works faster, and is more accurate. It will even keep track of flight, hotel, and car rental reservations for me, which I've found very useful. It doesn't allow me to swap points the way Points.com does, so I still use the latter occasionally.
I don't have the Amex Starwood Preferred Guest card anymore, so I'm not earning SPG Starpoints the way I described in Points 6: Starwood Preferred Guest Program. But, if I want to, I can convert Amex Membership Rewards to Starpoints. All the virtues of the SPG program remain. Ben Schlappig, who writes the One Mile at a Time blog, recently explained the best ways to realize the value of Starpoints in this piece on travelsort.
Since the beginning of the year, I've also collected a fair number of Club Carlson (formerly goldpoints plus) points. You can read about that and my legendary quintuple dip in this post from back in May. I'm hoping to pull off something similar this fall. I'll let you know if it works out.
Marriott Rewards was a program I hadn't paid much attention to in the past. There hadn't been many Marriott properties in Canada, and I generally find Marriott's rates higher, both for paid stays and points redemptions. But recently a number of reasonably-priced Fairfield Inns have opened in Canada that compete with Hilton and Intercontinental in the Hampton Inn and Holiday Inn Express space. Currently, there's also a stay twice, earn a free night offer and a 15K sign-up bonus for a $75 annual fee Chase VISA card that have me planning some Marriott stays this fall. And speaking of Hilton, a double points offer this summer meant our week in D.C. earned a nice bunch of points in a program that also had not been a focus for me in the past.
As I described in Points 7: Priority Club, this is where my hobby/obsession began about seven years ago, and it remains a favourite program for its ease of earning points (lots of bonus opportunities) and plentiful locations. I mentioned that there wasn't a way Canadians could earn PCR points with a credit card, but that will change this November when Capital One will launch $120 annual fee and no-fee versions of a PCR MasterCard. You can be sure I'll be signing up and letting you know which is the better value, depending on your circumstances.
If you want to know more about points and miles collecting and how to get the most out of redemptions, check out the resources in Points 9: The End of the Trail.
And one final point: unless you're able to pay your credit card balances in full each month, the interest you pay will far exceed the value of any points or miles you earn.
You can now follow me on Twitter: @AeneasLane
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