Quote:
Originally Posted by Biesterfield
Hi all,
I am 75%+ to be taking a one-month vacation in Asia next year to 3 cities. As such I am looking at credit cards for maximum points and value. I already have and use the Chase Sapphire Reserve, and have a current UR balance of around 100k. I'll likely be staying in hotels every night (not sure if airbnb is in Asia or safe there) so anything with a 4th or 5th night free would probably be good as well as anything that helps cheapen the cost of long flights.
Thought I would get tips on what I should do. So far I'm seeing the best as
Amex platinum - has 4th night free. does it need to be at super luxurious place tho for it and to get the free breakfast and other stuff?
Marriot Bonvoy card that the points guy is touting - has 5th night free
Hilton Amex Aspire - 5th night free but seems to be not available everywhere
It's been a while since I looked at point values in Asia, but last time I searched I was able to find some incredibly cheap hotels via points with IHG, Hilton and Marriott. With just a few hotel cards, you could cover anywhere from 10-30 nights, depending on whether you wanted to stay in the cheapest places possible, or nicer places. Some things with the CCs that you could take advantage of would be the 4th or 5th night free, free breakfast, late checkout, etc.
Take a look at award prices with IHG, Hilton, Marriott, and Hyatt (get two free nights somewhere expensive like Tokyo) in the cities that you're going to.
Flights: are you looking at trying to get there as cheap as possible, or fly first class? AA miles are very easy to get a lot of, assuming a certain trick continues to work (PM me if you're interested) and can be used with multiple carriers to book flights. You could also transfer URs to Korean. Another option would be to transfer MRs to United and book with Asiana. I recommend a quick read over this to give you an idea of some first class redemptions:
https://thepointsguy.com/2015/08/5-w...n-first-class/
Another option if you can't adjust your flights/hotels based on timing, or if you want more flexibility for last minute hotels or tours, get an Arrival+. It currently has an incredible signup of $700 (travel credit) for $5k in spend. plus you get 2.05% on spend.
The bottom-line is that you have time, but you need to put together a plan and start getting CCs soon in order to get in as many apps as possible. Plus award availability will decrease as dates approach.