Here's When To Use Your Credit Card Points

Welcome to the Points Pro, where I answer your travel rewards and credit cards questions each week. If you have a question you’d like answered, you can submit it here.

This week, CNBC Select editor Nicoletta Richardson asks :

How long after I accumulate points should I use them, specifically when it comes to travel?

The short answer: It depends on where you want to go and how you want to travel. I tend to use my travel rewards as far in advance as possible, but that may not be the best approach for you.

If you’ve been eyeing a big welcome bonus or have a bunch of upcoming expenses you’re looking to turn into a chunk of points, it’s a good idea to consider how you want to use your rewards.

Why I book as far in advance as possible

I generally book my flights as soon as I have two things:

Enough rewards to book the flights I want
The dates I want to travel, which are typically flexible

Most airlines have dynamic prices for award flights, so the number of points or miles you need for a specific flight varies based on demand and other factors. The cheapest awards — often called “saver awards” or similar — are limited and can get booked out well in advance by enterprising travelers. If you wait to book, you could be stuck paying inflated prices or having to look at other travel options when no award flights are available. This is especially true for international flights in business or first class.

The flip side of this strategy is: What happens if your plans change? And what do you do if award prices drop? To mitigate these risks, I pay attention to change and cancellation fees. While certain international airlines have punitive award fees, most U.S.-based airlines have low or no change and cancellation fees for award flights. This includes Chase Ultimate Rewards® partners United MileagePlus, Southwest Rapid Rewards and JetBlue TrueBlue.

Collecting rewards without a plan can cost you

Nicoletta has the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (see rates and fees), which she opened to use for flights. However, she recently purchased a home, and travel is on the back burner for now. At the same time, she’s racking up points buying new furniture and is concerned about her points being worth less the longer she holds onto them.

Spotlight

With Points Boost, your rewards will be worth up to 1.5x on thousands of top-booked hotels and flights from select airlines through Chase Travel^SM.

Our expert take

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card packs a punch for a $95 annual fee card, offering annual travel credits, comprehensive travel protections and more.

Pros & cons

You can transfer rewards to all of Chase’s travel partners including World of Hyatt, Southwest Rapid Rewards and many more
Long list of travel and shopping protections
$50 annual Chase Travel hotel credit

Has an annual fee
Requires a high credit score

More details

Highlights

Highlights shown here are provided by the issuer and have not been reviewed by CNBC Select’s editorial staff.

Earn 75,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Enjoy beneﬁts such as 5x on travel purchased through Chase Travel^SM, 3x on dining, select streaming services and online groceries, 2x on all other travel purchases, 1x on all other purchases
Earn up to $50 in statement credits each account anniversary year for hotel stays through Chase Travel^SM
10% anniversary points boost – each account anniversary you’ll earn bonus points equal to 10% of your total purchases made the previous year.
Count on Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance, Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver, Lost Luggage Insurance and more.
Complimentary DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees & lower service fees for a min. of one year when you activate by 12/31/27. Plus, a $10 promo each month on non-restaurant orders.
Member FDIC

Balance transfer fee

Either $5 or 5% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater

This is a valid concern; you can book more travel with 100,000 points today than you’ll be able to book with the same number of points five years from now (most likely). But travel reward devaluations happen in fits and spurts, and most of the time you’ll know what’s happening in advance.

As a cardholder, you should be notified directly when anything changes with Chase’s Ultimate Rewards program. For example, when Chase dropped Emirates Skywards as a transfer partner last year, it provided two months’ advance notice.

However, Chase points and other transferable travel rewards can be indirectly devalued when partner airline or hotel loyalty programs change. Certain changes are regular events, such as hotel programs annually changing which categories their properties fall into, or airlines adding and cutting routes. Other times, loyalty programs dramatically adjust the cost of awards, such as Hyatt’s recent addition of new price tiers, which was announced in February and goes into effect in May.

If you don’t have a plan to use your rewards or aren’t interested in staying on top of program changes, the value of your points is likely to decrease over time.

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