Miles and Points Travel

Travel Portal vs Points Transfer

If you have earned flexible points through your credit card you may be wondering what the best way to use them is. Do you transfer them to the airline or hotel directly, or should you book through the Portal?

Most issuing banks have their own travel portals: Chase, American Express, CapitalOne, Citi, et. Their portals are usually operated by an OTA (on-line travel agency) such as Priceline or Booking.com.

The downside to booking through the portals: you may not get your Elite benefits at hotels, you will have to deal with a third party should there be any issues, and hotels and airlines often give preference to those that book directly.

So what is the upside? You’ll earn miles/points on the purchase when paying cash, it may be a better deal that other options you can find, and the portals are often very user friendly.

With all that being said, more often than not, it is best to transfer your points to the partner and book directly on their web site. This is especially true if something should go wrong! There is more flexibility when dealing directly with the supplier, within their own booking system.

Our goal is to keep things as simple as possible! You should compare prices and points required, as always. But to avoid any big issues once booked, keep it simple and book direct whenever possible.

Questions? We’ve got answers. Contact us through this site or on Instagram _mile_points