Question
I have the Business versions of AMEX plat and SPG AMEX with tons of points on each.
St. Regis is nice (especially for free with SPG), but I am looking for a card (maybe Merrill+) that will get us free stays at FS or RC. (MO is nice too).
I know amex will let you use MR points at FS or RC and still get FHR benefits. However, the MR points required are quite high compared to staying at St. Regis using SPG points.
Also, there aren't very many St. Regis hotels compared to FS and RC.
Anyone have any experience using Merrill+ or Diners Club for free hotel stays at FS, RC, or MO?
Thanks!
Answer
diners club is the best for ritz carlton. its also the only card for hyatt, so you could do park or grand hyatt stays.
merrill is second best for ritz carlton, and has the best private jet awards. apparently their T&C state that business spending is not allowed though. YMMV.
amex has some FS and MO in the membership rewards catalog IIRC, dont remember what the rates were like
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Diners Club hotel rewards are here...
https://www.citibank.com/dinersus/jsp/clubrewards/catalog/english/certificate_list.jsp?category=4ef15629&subcategory=e95410c8
Fairmont, Hyatt, Marriott, Radisson, Ritz-Carlton. Club Rewards Points can also be transferred to Choice Hotels (includes awards at Preferred Hotels), Hilton, Hyatt, Intercontinental, and Starwood. Diners Club Ritz Carlton awards require 31,000 points (room) or 38,000 points (suite).
I believe you cannot see the Merrill+ awards unless you login. The hotel awards are here...
https://cards.ml.com/MLRewardsCenter/wCatalog/searchresults.aspx?type=1&text=hotel
Fairmont, Hyatt, Marriott, Ritz-Carlton, Wyndham. Merrill+ Ritz Carlton awards require 35,000 to 48,000 points per night. The 35,000 point award is restricted, 45,000 point room award appears to be identical to Diners' 31,000 point award. The 48,000 point suite award appears to be identical to Diners' 38,000 point award.
Answer
<<amex will let you use MR points at FS or RC and still get FHR benefits. However, the MR points required are quite high ...>>
Are you referring to using Membership Rewards points in lieu of cash to pay for the rooms, or redeeming points for certificates? American Express Ritz Carlton awards are location-specific, and range from 35,000 to 55,000 points per night, but evidently the redemption rates are due for a seasonal adjustment next week.
All three programs (Membership Rewards, Club Rewards, Merrill+) will let you use points in lieu of cash for hotels on the basis of $0.01 per point.
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diners club is ... also the only card for hyatt, so you could do park or grand hyatt stays.
Diners is the only card that can transfer points to Hyatt, but not the only card to offer Hyatt stays as awards.
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<<amex will let you use MR points at FS or RC and still get FHR benefits. However, the MR points required are quite high ...>>
Are you referring to using Membership Rewards points in lieu of cash to pay for the rooms, or redeeming points for certificates? American Express Ritz Carlton awards are location-specific, and range from 35,000 to 55,000 points per night, but evidently the redemption rates are due for a seasonal adjustment next week.
All three programs (Membership Rewards, Club Rewards, Merrill+) will let you use points in lieu of cash for hotels on the basis of $0.01 per point.
At certain off-beat places like, Sarasota FL, the last option might be the cheapest as you can get king-double @ Ritz for 210$ a night (Amex vactions) ~ 21000 points.
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At certain off-beat places like, Sarasota FL, the last option might be the cheapest as you can get king-double @ Ritz for 210$ a night (Amex vactions) ~ 21000 points.
great point ^ vegas and uruguay are two others which start very low that come to mind.
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Thanks for the advice everyone.
I am leaning towards Merrill+. It seems to have fewer complaints on FT, and the airline rewards are more attractive than DC. (DC is strictly .01 on the dollar for airlines).
It looks like DC is the winner on RC hotel stays. (Thanks Mia). But Citi's customer service and credit depts get pretty poor reviews overall. Dogmatic and inflexible historically. (The polar opposite of AMEX). I have no experience with Merrill's customer service/credit depts.
Any additional comments/ideas are welcome...
Thanks again.
Answer
no, diners club is better for airlines, as it offers many transfer partners.
merrill only offers BA as a transfer partner.
the only flight thing better with merrill is the private jet awards, which are the best of any card.
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Thanks for the advice everyone.
I am leaning towards Merrill+. It seems to have fewer complaints on FT, and the airline rewards are more attractive than DC. (DC is strictly .01 on the dollar for airlines).
It looks like DC is the winner on RC hotel stays. (Thanks Mia). But Citi's customer service and credit depts get pretty poor reviews overall. Dogmatic and inflexible historically. (The polar opposite of AMEX). I have no experience with Merrill's customer service/credit depts.
Any additional comments/ideas are welcome...
Thanks again.
Also you can use the 25K points from Merrrill to book a ticket up to $500.00 value on almost any airline. Plus you get the FF miles and the ticket is upgradeable.
rob
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DC is strictly .01 on the dollar for airlines.... I have no experience with Merrill's customer service/credit depts
$0.01 only if you choose to use points in lieu of cash to purchase tickets, but Diners points transfer to miles in 19 airline programs, while Merrill+ points transfer only to BA and only in blocks of 5,000. I do not see why this is an important consideration if your intention is to redeem for Ritz-Carlton hotel nights?
Merrill+ card is adminstered by FIA, a division of MBNA now owned by Bank of America. We have never had an unfavorable interaction with Diners Club customer service, but we have only had the account since 1992.
dennis
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<<amex will let you use MR points at FS or RC and still get FHR benefits. However, the MR points required are quite high ...>>
All three programs (Membership Rewards, Club Rewards, Merrill+) will let you use points in lieu of cash for hotels on the basis of $0.01 per point.
IF so, then isn't Amex Blue Cash or Fidelity Cash Rewards better at 1.5% cash rebate?
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1.5% cash back is better than $0.01 per point, unless you earn more than 1.5 points per dollar (as you would with most Thank You Rewards cards).
In the quoted message I was attempting to explain that virtually any card will allow you to redeem for travel or giftcards on the basis of $0.01 per point, and whether you apply these pennies to hotel rooms or consumer goods it's still only a penny.
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Thanks all. I did get the Merrill+ card. I will be +3 by my next statement. ML has been great on the phone so far.
I understand what mia is saying about airline programs. Since I primarily fly Continental and United, DC doesn't give me an advantage there. I personally am just doubtful about Citi run card programs. Maybe their TY point program (on their other card products) will be a winner in the long run. Except for the annual point caps and capacity controls, it does look good from a point value perspective. Time will tell how they service the program and their customers.
BTW, AMEX offered me Centurion for the third time. (I think Centurion must be a cult from another planet.) I told them that it costs way too much for way too little. They told me "Centurion opens doors." I told them they should use one of those doors. (In fairness to AMEX, they did give me more perks to keep me happy.) I truly am a fan of AMEX! They treat their customers well. It's that simple.
Sorry for veering off topic.
Thanks again for all the help, discussion, and comments....
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... merrill ... private jet awards, which are the best of any card.
I know nearly nothing about private jets programs. Looking at the Merrill+ terms and the American Express First Collection catalog I think I see that Merrill points are worth $0.017 when redeemed for such, while Membership Rewards points are $0.013 to $0.0138. Is that what you mean or is the Merrill program superior in another way?
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amex has bombardier (most expensive $ of any company) and sentient while merrill has marquisjet (cheaper $)
the award rates i last saw for merrill were lower than amex's AND they had a promo running with drastically reduced rates even more. whereas amex never does such promos do they? IIRC its just transfer bonus promos ive seen in the past.
i seem to remember some booking benefits too, but i cant recall for either merrill or amex.
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Thanks all. I did get the Merrill+ card. I will be +3 by my next statement. ML has been great on the phone so far.
way too little. They told me "Centurion opens doors." I told them they should use one of those doors.
(Thanks again for all the help, discussion, and comments....
And what "doors" does it open ???? Can you open them yourself ???
I mean....honestly....chartering a private jet/yacht is out of scope for 99% of the population....
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And what "doors" does it open ???? Can you open them yourself ???
I mean....honestly....chartering a private jet/yacht is out of scope for 99% of the population....
Alot of FT's charter jets routinely!. ;) :p
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anaggie, charters start from ~$1000/hr for ~6 pax, thats really not that much. and VLJs are going to grow the short haul low cost "air taxi" (<600 miles) market even more. prices across the board keep dropping.
private jets is also where mach travel is going to make a comeback, and i assure you there will be a number of people on FT who try to get charters on them very early. 2 companies are about ~5 years away.
boat charters in general start really cheap, although im not sure how yacht is defined and therefore what the entry price is there.
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Mia, RC did adjust their points for redemptions...
AMEX no longer allows MR points for RC stays, AND Merrill+ now requires TWICE as many points as Diners Club for RC stays!
Just my luck after getting a new Merrill+ card!!! :mad:
I wonder if DC will now raise their point requirements for RC? (If I got a DC card, the RC point requirement would go up the next day...)
Answer
Amex MR First Collection for Plat/Cent
85K - suite (all except Central Park, Boston Commons, Georgetown)
90K - club (all)
so Merrill is about the same as that now? doh.
im sure DC will be changing based on this, unless they have some kind of longterm contract..
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Amex MR First Collection for Plat/Cent
85K - suite (all except Central Park, Boston Commons, Georgetown)
90K - club (all)
so Merrill is about the same as that now? doh.
im sure DC will be changing based on this, unless they have some kind of longterm contract..
Wow! If AmEx MR is offering Royal Prestige Suite ($549) and Royal Prestige Club ($575) certificates, you are even getting $0.01 value!
DC offers only Royal Prestige (31,000 pts) and Royal Prestige Suite (38,500 pts) certificates
http://www.ritzcarlton.com/en/Retail/IncentiveAwards.htm
Answer
considering amex dropped the awards for regular cardholders, and increased the rates somewhat, and merrill just increased rates dramatically, it is HIGHLY likely that DC's rates will increase soon.
also whered you get the $549/$575? they could be worth a lot more, like Moscow, London, San Francisco for example.