5 ms·

I disagree. I have no interest in fungible dollars when the alternative is miles which can be used to get outsized return on experiences. I have plenty of ways

I disagree. I have no interest in fungible dollars when the alternative is miles which can be used to get outsized return on experiences. I have plenty of ways of making money, and trying to optimize for a %age of cash back is not particularly interesting. Miles and points on the other hand can be used to get experiences that would otherwise be completely out of question due to their price. It adds something meaningful to my life. Flying to Australia in first class on Emirates is more memorable than making $1,500 of cash-back.

seaturtles 8y ago
THIS +1000000000000 Don't care about cashback cards under 5%. Earning miles and points is much more meaningful and attractive.
StavrosK 8y ago
...but... you can use the money to buy a first class ticket!
- kenneth 8y ago
  A first-class ticket on Emirates bought in cash is a whole lot more than $1,500. But it'd be about about the points equivalent of that.
  - StavrosK 8y ago
    How do you figure? As far as I know, you can't buy points with money, so it's $XX,XXX worth of flights.
    - kenneth 8y ago
      Take the Chase Freedom Unlimited card, for example. It ears 1.5% cash-back in the form of points. Those same points can also be transferred to airlines (as long as you have their premium card) If you have 115,000 points, you can use them towards a $1,150 cash credit. On the other hand, those points can also be used to book a Singapore to Zürich flight in their brand new first class, which would ordinarily cost $6,000+. one-way An even more pronounced example: with just 30,000 points (or what would be $300 in cash-back), transferred to United, you can book HKG-SYD (a 13h trip) in business class, which would ordinarily cost $3,000+ one-way.
      - StavrosK 8y ago
        Oh, I see, you mean credit cards. I was thinking miles accrued from flights and was confused, thanks.
cperciva 8y ago
Hence my point about people anticipating better deals than they end up with. Averaged over the entire customer base, the value of the rewards received is strictly bounded by the amount the credit card issuer is willing to spend on said rewards.
hakfoo 8y ago
I guess I go exactly the opposite. Theoretically, you can get more value out of carefully playing a narrow rewards program, but a simple cash incentive has its own benefits. Notably, you're not stuck within the confines of the available rewards, and it's hard to devalue a dollar balance as easily as announcing that a free flight is now twice as many miles. I cashed out a cash-rewards card recently, and bought a work chair with the proceeds; I don't think most miles/points plans would have let me get that.

seaturtles 8y ago

THIS +1000000000000 Don't care about cashback cards under 5%. Earning miles and points is much more meaningful and attractive.

StavrosK 8y ago

...but... you can use the money to buy a first class ticket!

kenneth 8y ago
A first-class ticket on Emirates bought in cash is a whole lot more than $1,500. But it'd be about about the points equivalent of that.
- StavrosK 8y ago
  How do you figure? As far as I know, you can't buy points with money, so it's $XX,XXX worth of flights.
  - kenneth 8y ago
    Take the Chase Freedom Unlimited card, for example. It ears 1.5% cash-back in the form of points. Those same points can also be transferred to airlines (as long as you have their premium card) If you have 115,000 points, you can use them towards a $1,150 cash credit. On the other hand, those points can also be used to book a Singapore to Zürich flight in their brand new first class, which would ordinarily cost $6,000+. one-way An even more pronounced example: with just 30,000 points (or what would be $300 in cash-back), transferred to United, you can book HKG-SYD (a 13h trip) in business class, which would ordinarily cost $3,000+ one-way.
    - StavrosK 8y ago
      Oh, I see, you mean credit cards. I was thinking miles accrued from flights and was confused, thanks.

cperciva 8y ago

Hence my point about people anticipating better deals than they end up with. Averaged over the entire customer base, the value of the rewards received is strictly bounded by the amount the credit card issuer is willing to spend on said rewards.

hakfoo 8y ago

I guess I go exactly the opposite. Theoretically, you can get more value out of carefully playing a narrow rewards program, but a simple cash incentive has its own benefits. Notably, you're not stuck within the confines of the available rewards, and it's hard to devalue a dollar balance as easily as announcing that a free flight is now twice as many miles. I cashed out a cash-rewards card recently, and bought a work chair with the proceeds; I don't think most miles/points plans would have let me get that.