Question
I am going to have too many TYN (Thank You Network) flight points and not enough purchase points to offset them. I'm flying SAN-BOS each week (20,000 miles a month) but only spend 3,000 a month on my credit card. Does that mean only 3,000/month of my flight points will be redeemable? Is there anyway I get around this limit?
Answer
Does that mean only 3,000/month of my flight points will be redeemable? Is there anyway I get around this limit?
I assume you have the PremierPass Elite card? $3,000 per month including the cost of the airline tickets?
Flight Points only become redeemable Thank You points when matched by Purchase Points or Select Spend points. The only solution is to spend more on the card, and in particular at merchants which qualify for Select Spend points: supermarkets, drugstores, gas stations, commuter transportation and parking merchants. For example, if you buy giftcards at the supermarket or drugstore these will qualify for two Purchase Points per dollar and will also match two Flight Points. If you buy giftcards redeemable at, say, Barnes and Noble or Borders you will effectively convert a 2 point per dollar purchase into a 4 point per dollar transaction.
Answer
I have a CitiBusiness PremierPass - does the "elite" get me something else? Hard choice - do I stop using my HHonors AMEX for my hotel stays and swap to this card...
$2000/month personal expenses (PremierPass)
$2000/month on flights (PremierPass)
$2000/month on hotels (currently on HH AMEX)
If I move it all to my PremierPass ($6k/month) that still won't cover the 20k in miles I am flying a month!
Answer
PremierPass earns 1 point for every 3 miles flown. If you are flying 20,000 actual miles, this would generate 6,667 Flight Points. The discussion of Select Spend points does not apply to standard PremierPass, it's a straight 1 point per dollar.
PremierPass Elite earns 1 point for every mile flown, but also qualifies for Select Spend points in the categories mentioned.
Answer
Don't get hung up on those flight points you're "wasting." When you have basically unlimited flight points, you just want to view your PP card as a 2 TY pt/$ card (except on Select Spend categories. Just forget about the mound of flight points sitting there as there's nothing magic you can do to get at them.
So then the decision for where you charge your hotel rooms comes down to this: do you want the 5 HH pts/$ from Amex HH or 2 TY pts/$? Those are probably pretty close in value, especially if you have HH Diamond status, so the decision comes down to your personal travel preferences.
Note also that there's a 100k annual cap (per card account) on flight points which it seems you'll hit pretty quickly.
Also note that the Select Spend categories are different for the CitiBusiness PP vs the PP Elite. I think it's office supply stores and stuff like that.
Answer
I know this post is about points but there is something to be said about the difference in insurance between the cards. Anyone that has lost luggage knows the extra money from the PP elite is nice. There is also the major accident insurance difference as well. I would continue buying the flights on the PP elite for the above reasons and get the 2 TY points per $1 spent.