Question
As a result of a number of bank mergers, I ended up with a First USA Value Miles Platinum Visa. Has anyone had any experience redeeming "miles" thru Value Miles? I am interested in a RT ticket to Caribbean, but the award is limited to $600 so I will have to come out of pocket for the excess. Any rebate if the fare drops? Also, have you had any luck requesting a specific airline?
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Value Miles is good - you should get full details with your card.
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Sorry for the vagueness of my last post.
FUSA shells out cash to pay for the tix. Therfore, you are treated as a fare-paying passenger, because no one knows it was a reward ticket.
If the fare goes down (at least on CO), they will send you a TC for the difference.
I usually get good luck in requesting airlines - never had to fly on anyone else but my preferred.
ALSO, the tickets are upgradeable with miles or certs.
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CactusPete,
FUSA ValueMiles program puts LIMITS in dollar value for their trips when you want to redeem.
FUSA World Mastercard also falls/blends into the ValueMILES program but is MUCH MORE GENEROUS. THEY DO NOT POST $ LIMITS ON THEIR MILES!........CAse in point: I bought a East to West tix for the going rate of $760 for Xmas with my 24,000 miles. Had the tix been $1000, they would be obliged to pay because of the NO $ LIMIT clause. Plus I earned frequent flier miles!
The no $ limit rule applies ONLY to the WOrld Mastercard or VISA Signature. The World Mastercard has a $50 annual fee. It's definitely worth it. [if you call up to SWITCH, you may get the runaround. FUSA does offer it. I'm currently a member...so don't take their crap of excuses...insist to speak to a supervisor] http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif
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http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum112/HTML/000065.html
Mac
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Via con Dios!
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Regarding availability and airline preference: I've received whatever airline I've requested. And since it's a paid ticket, I haven't had an availability problem.
Having said that, think twice before using your miles for an airfare. Here's why:
A $600 ticket cost 28,000 Value Miles, or a redemption rate of 2.14 cents/mile.
But if you look closely at your membership info, you'll see that you can get one night at many Ritz-Carlton hotels for 12,000 miles. Ritz rooms can start at $350.
So if you use 12,000 miles for a $350 room, your redemption rate increases to 2.9 cents/mile, or a 36% increase over the airfare rate.
Keep in mind that the 12,000 miles will get you a night at Ritz's resorts like Amelia Island, FL, where the rates can be much higher than $350.
Another way to compare: 60,000 miles will get you a $900 ticket or five days in a hotel (which cost much more than $900).
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Thanks for the comparisons. One thing that should also be factored into the redemption equation is that you also receive FF miles for the airline travel.
I still have not redeemed for airline tickets, and have considered the Ritz option. Do you have any idea about which hotels participate, availability (I assume no problem), restrictions?
[This message has been edited by cactuspete (edited 10-30-2000).]
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FYI, you can now redeem for Value Miles awards online at www.valuemilesonline.com (http://www.valuemilesonline.com) . Participating Ritz properties are listed there. Also, Hyatt now participates (12,000 "miles" per night).
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Thanks for the info Cactuspete. This makes it really easy to see my points!
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Two more reasons to consider the Ritz certificates: taxes and breakfast.
I just used Ritz certificates in California, where the tax is 11%. That added about $30 to the value of my room rate.
And the certificates include breakfast for two each morning. At the Marina del Rey property, breakfast for two costs about $48 a day.
So when you're considering the value per mile, add about $80 to a Ritz room rate.
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I will be using my Value Miles Ritz certs at the Ritz Carlton St. Thomas in a few weeks. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif The rack rate for this type of room is $375 - 425/night http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/eek.gif, although on my reservation it shows a room rate of $220/night. This property is running a promo, breakfast and taxes included, for $311/night. So even using that rate it's a good value - - I figure about $.026/"mile".
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Another way to compare ... Seven nights on a Ritz certificate costs 84,000 miles/points. A category 5 or category 6 Marriott would cost between 115K and 130K.
Have a great time.
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Well, "Last USA" is monitoring this board.
They took away a good value of the Valuemiles program.
The Ritz-Carlton reward has been increased from 12,000 pts. to 20,000 pts!!!! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif
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<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size="2">Originally posted by Wolverine:
Well, "Last USA" is monitoring this board.
They took away a good value of the Valuemiles program.
The Ritz-Carlton reward has been increased from 12,000 pts. to 20,000 pts!!!! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif
Where did you find this increase? I just checked the website and it still lists the Ritz award as 12,000 miles. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/confused.gif
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CactusPete:
When you go into the "Redeem Miles" menu, it lists as 20,000 pts. In other parts of the website, it's still wrongly listed as 12k--I guess they have gotten around to it on the other web pages.
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Strange - - I just logged in again this morning and it is still showing 12,000.
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<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size="2">Originally posted by cactuspete:
Strange - - I just logged in again this morning and it is still showing 12,000.
Cactuspete,
Did you go to the screen where you actually "BUY" the Ritz cert? It's the screen where you purchase it--it's telling me 20,000 points. (the other screens still erroneously say 12,000)
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Yep. Even went all the way through it as if I was going to make a purchase. Perhaps each bank and/or card has its own deal (since you have to enter your account number to access the site), although that seems a bit odd. Is your card from First USA?
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Yes, it's the Yale U. Premier ValueMiles card.
I called the service desk at Valuemiles.
They CONFIRMED that they are changing the Ritz reward to 20,000, but as of now, people can CALL to redeem at the 12,000 level.
Apparently, my screen shows this change earlier than your screen/card.
So, basically it's good to redeem this before their change! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif Why is all the "value" going out the window? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif
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Bummer.
I'll have to take a look at this now and see if it is time to jump to an airline MC/Visa. Value Miles may still have some value in certain air redemptions, depending a lot on which part of the country you are originating. I like the 28,000-mile Caribbean award, because fares from PHX to STT or SJU generally are high (at least in relation to tix to, say, Hawaii). I wonder if the Hyatt awards are also going to 20,000?
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I completely agree with what you say. It's still is a good card, but as with the AMEX Starwood, it's "the law of diminishing returns."
One day we'll be begging for half of what we're currently receiving. LOL!
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One more note on this issue. The Ritz certs are transferable (no name on them), and are neither property specific nor date specific (the certs that I just received are good through Sept. 2002). You may want to cash in for a few at 12,000 miles if you have the chance.
[This message has been edited by cactuspete (edited 09-25-2001).]
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Where can you get this card?
-David
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Mine was by way of several bank mergers, so I'm not certain how to apply. You might try 800/955-9900 (FUSA) or 800/787-7806 (Value Miles).
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<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size="2">Originally posted by cactuspete:
As a result of a number of bank mergers, I ended up with a First USA Value Miles Platinum Visa. Has anyone had any experience redeeming "miles" thru Value Miles? I am interested in a RT ticket to Caribbean, but the award is limited to $600 so I will have to come out of pocket for the excess. Any rebate if the fare drops? Also, have you had any luck requesting a specific airline?
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I just received in the mail the dreaded announcement of "New Value Miles Enhancements." "Great news! Your travel miles program just got even better."
The enhancements are as follows:
1. "And now with the new Value Miles enhancements you can redeem for a ... one night stay at Ritz-Carlton Hotels." The only thing enhanced here is the redemption level - - it used to be 12,000 miles.
2. "But that's not all. Now for 35,000 miles you can fly ... to the Caribbean." This enhancement costs you an extra 7,000 miles, as the previous redemption level was 28,000 miles.
I'm sure that there are other "enhancements," but I think a lot of the value in Value Miles is gone.
UPDATE: CSR advises that the new redemption levels go into effect 1/1/02.
[This message has been edited by cactuspete (edited 10-24-2001).]
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Well, isn't that so typical of Last USA.
I guess you know what to do. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif
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Here's their explanation:
I understand your frustration and sorry that you feel that way. However, First USA is trying to make the program better for the consumer and offer more options for you. The good news is that you are still able to redeem your value miles at the current levels. The current levels will be in
effect till December 31, 2001.
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Most will most certainly cash out.