Most of the time, when people in our hobby sign up for a credit card bonus, they envision vacationing at an exotic destination. Or at least, something that’s fun. Unfortunately, sometimes life throws you a giant curveball. A few months ago, a good friend of ours received a devastating diagnosis. I won’t go into any details, but will only mention that it was a complete shock to his family. It certainly was to us.
Doctors rightfully stress the value of good eating habits and exercise, and those things are important. But I can tell you that sometimes you can do everything right, and something bad happens anyway. There are truly no guarantees when it comes to your health.
Fortunately, since they live in the United States, there is hope due to various cutting-edge medical trials. But because they live in a rural area, getting to those trials is no small task. Sometimes it requires staying at a hotel for two or more nights. This is where flexible points can be invaluable.
Last year his wife signed up for Chase Sapphire Preferred when the bonus was 80k points. So, the other day, she called and asked me if they can use them for hotel stays during medical treatments. She was planning to pay cash, but then remembered that she had this Chase UR stash at her disposal. She was aware that she can get 1.25 cents per point towards hotels as long as she booked through Chase travel portal. But she wanted to double check in case there was a better way to go about it.
Getting the best value out of her Ultimate Rewards points
The first thing I asked was if she still had $50 hotel credit (a benefit of Chase Sapphire Preferred), and she did. So, my advice was to pay cash with her card for one night and use it up as long as the rate wasn’t outrageous. I should also mention that she had a specific Hilton hotel in mind. It was running at $165 per night including taxes. When I asked if there was a reason they needed to stay at that particular property, she mentioned that it was a hotel recommended by the medical center. Otherwise, they were flexible.
I wasn’t familiar with the area, so we looked at Hyatt properties nearby. Lo and behold, there was a Hyatt Place only one mile anyway. And it was a category 2 (8k Hyatt points per night). Bingo! They have never stayed at a Hyatt Place before, but I assured her that it’s usually comparable to Home2Suites (Hilton brand). The reviews on TripAdvisor were pretty good.
Now she needed to decide whether to use up $50 hotel credit towards one night or to book the entire stay via points. The rate was $137 per night all-in via Chase portal, so she would pay $87. She went ahead and did just that. Normally, I would recommend saving this credit for a non-chain stay in the future, but it’s hard to say whether they will get the chance to utilize it. So IMO it made sense to use it and be done with it.
For the second night she needed to transfer 8k Ultimate Rewards to Hyatt program. I walked her through the steps on how to create a Hyatt profile and she had the number ready to go. Unfortunately, Chase website would not let her transfer the points online and asked her to call. She did, and the points were in her account shortly after. Booked.
I value 8k UR points at $100, so in this case it’s a much better option than booking through Chase portal. The wife later texted me and said they really liked the hotel, so this will be their go-to property during treatments. I’ve mentioned before that Hyatt Place is a rather bland option, but you can usually count on a clean room, comfortable bed and a semi-decent breakfast.
It’s not fancy, but it’s usually good enough. And at $100 all-in rate per night in a large city in Florida, it’s hard to do better. A resort property it is not, but they are not really there on vacation.
Not long ago, my family had a chance to stay in Rio Perdido property in Costa Rica via Hyatt points. My husband and I agreed that this particular couple would love it there. Right now they have over 130k UR points, so there should be enough left to make it happen. But for now, they need to get through this decidedly un-fun phase first.
Final thoughts
I’ve said before that Chase Ultimate Rewards is my favorite currency in this hobby. One of the reasons is because it’s so easy to cash out. The points are worth 1 cent each, and there is no need to jump through hoops. But you can do better, much better. In this particular case, transferring UR points to Hyatt was far more advantageous than using them via travel portal or getting a statement credit. In a way, this flexible points stash has turned into a very real emergency fund.
That’s why we make it a point to mention increased offers on Chase credit cards, and not just because they often pay us commission. You really can’t go wrong with Ultimate Rewards points, and you can never have too many.
A reminder: if you are looking to accumulate Hyatt points, Chase Ink Business Preferred (our affiliate link) still has an increased sign-up bonus of 100k points after spending $8k in three months. That’s 100k Hyatt points via 1:1 transfer right there. Not as good of a deal, but you may also want to read Nancy’s post on elevated bonus on Chase Hyatt Business card.
Author: Leana
Leana is the founder of Miles For Family. She enjoys beach vacations and visiting her family in Europe. Originally from Belarus, Leana resides in central Florida with her husband and two children.
Miles and points aren’t always about fabulous travel, as you well documented in this article. Saving money through cash back or signup bonuses can really help in difficult times. As always, only if you’re able to pay your balance in full every month. Prayers for your friend and warm wishes for a speedy recovery. Thank you for a really good article.
@Patricia I really appreciate your kind words. To be honest, I would much prefer to only write about fabulous travel opportunities afforded via miles and points. There is enough sadness in this world, and I view this hobby as an escape of sorts. I’m sure most folks feel the same way. That said, it’s good to view miles and points in a broader context, not just from the travel angle. I personally consider flexible points part of my emergency fund.
Leanna, this website is my favorite one to read. It often has great tips and information. It has helped me many times! I thank you both for your hard work!
@Cari That’s very sweet of you to say! We don’t focus so much on breaking news, but rather on overall strategies for average people who don’t make a ton of money or have unlimited time off. It’s a very narrow niche, but I’m glad you find the content useful.
Great tips as always! I’ve really regretted cancelling my chase card after i used up all the points. i didnt think it was worth it to pay the annual fee and wanted to try to get more new cards, but it’s been impossible to get another chase card and even hard to get others. lesson learned!
@Sara Thanks for reading! I can’t get approved for any Chase cards right now, and probably for foreseeable future. If you have Chase Freedom Flex or Unlimited, you can always convert it to Chase Sapphire Preferred. That’s why I usually recommend downgrading a premium Chase card rather than canceling. But don’t beat yourself up, I’m sure you will get approved eventually. I’ve seen reports that some people are getting approved for Chase cards despite 5/24, so it could be worth a shot. But no guarantees, of course.
This is a great post! Thank you for sharing this. My husband has to travel for medical treatment every month. Points and miles have been a huge help for us to afford this expense. Between the 2 of us we have 10 cards that get a “free night” for paying the annual fee – which is cheaper than paying the normal price of a hotel room. Yes that is still close to $1,000 a year, but it would be more than that if we had to pay cash.
I have a tip for your friend – if they need ongoing hotel nights. Check the price of the hotels each time. The cost of hotels change daily due to what events are happening in the area that day. This month there was a IHG sale using points that got the best rate.
Another suggestion is to check for affordable airbnb rooms. We have had mostly good experiences with airbnb. I look for places with multiple positive reviews.
I would encourage your friend to work on signup bonuses if they are not carrying a balance on any of thier cards. I know the meals and gas and medical co-pays add up very quickly. I always have to pay $3,000 for medical around early March (yearly deductible) so I try to have a new card bonus to work on at that time. If they know they will have a big deductible expense coming; might as well work on a new card bonus.
If this is will be an ongoing process there is a fantastic website called caringbridge dot org. This is a great way to keep friends and family up to date, without making mutiple phone calls. Speaking of friends and family; learn to gracefully accept help. It makes them feel good to do something for you. Seriously consider counseling for the caregiver and the patient. Look for support groups online where you can find other people facing similar medical issues. That can be comforting and educational.
I hope things go well for your friend. It sure can change your perspective when you face something life changing.
@Cari Thank you so much for taking the time to share your tips. I feel for you and your husband, as it’s a tough situation to be in. I’m sure it’s hard to plan anything more than a month or two in advance.
I totally agree that accepting help is essential. I can’t even imagine how overwhelming it is, and not just on financial front. It’s certainly a reminder not to take our good health for granted. Ever. Everything can change in a blink of an eye.
I definitely agree that paying annual fees to get a bunch of hotel certificates is worth it for someone in your situation. I should probably suggest to her getting a few hotel cards to offset the lodging expenses. But not sure she even has the mental bandwidth for that right now. I’m glad she could at least leverage UR points for Hyatt, and she won’t even need me in the future for points transfers.
The caringbridge website was wonderful for us and it is totally free. My husband was in the hospital for 13 days after his double lung transplant. I was able to connect to the hosptial wifi and send a post each evening. Friends could choose to get an email notice when I posted a new update. They could leave messages. I would read them to him the next day. It was as comforting to me to write and read as the caregiver as it was to him.
I wanted to do something big to celebrate our 25th anniversary. I researched and learned all I could about points and miles, and we had an incredible vacation in Jamaica. It was something we could have never afforded. We have made some great memories by using points and miles to experience new places. This summer we went to Arches national park in Utah, and next winter we will escape to the caribbean for a week!
@Cari It’s so inspiring to me how you don’t let your difficult circumstances to stop you from living your life to the fullest. I’m glad you continue traveling with the help of miles and points. Hope this website has been of help!