The Points Guy website/app question
A lot of you have mentioned reading and browsing the website from The Points Guy. which definitely has a wealth of information across the board relating to travel, flights, hotels, cruises, etc etc. I’ve learned a lot from some of the articles. I also downloaded the app a long time ago, and I was just wondering if any of you utilize or sign up for any of The Points Guy services? I am just too skeptical to share my credit card numbers, airline account numbers, etc in order for The Points Guy company to consolidate my points from my cards in order to utilize them in the best way possible with their algorithms for the best airfare price. I’m sure there’s a reason people do this and trust The Points Guy. I have never been good at this sort of thing, and whenever I choose a day I would like to fly, the points I’ve diligently and proudly accrued can’t be used for one reason or another. I do take advantage of my Marriott card with free hotel stays and have mastered the Marriott system but to surrender my credit cards numbers - I just don’t know. Your thoughts?
Comments
I get daily e-mails for The Points Guy, but have not shared any information with them. (I hope!!)
I would be very apprehensive about signing up for such a service.
Some things to remember, the Points Guy's process will not necessarily be easy and, in the end, could cost you more money unless you fly a lot more than a typical Tauck traveler who takes, on average, 1 - 3 trips per year. They will suggest you get certain credit cards to maximize points, many of which may have hefty annual fees themselves.
And finally, their focus is on saving money and maximizing earning and the usage of points, not finding the best/shortest routing or most comfortable seating and service.
I suspect there are folks who swear by his services. To each his own, however.
I also read the Points Guy daily. Getting the best monetary deal, or points deal isn’t always our top priority. Route, dates, trying to fly non-stop, information about hotels, destinations etc are more important. His information has been extremely useful and have certainly saved us money or looking for information elsewhere on the web.
Of course if you book flights through Tauck, you can’t use points. We too get our fair share of free stays in Hilton and Marriott hotels for independent stays and occasionally have managed to get points when Tauck has these hotels on their trips.
It’s a shame Four Seasons don’t have a loyalty system of much use. We asked, and you have to stay at least 50 nights a year and then you ‘might be invited to join’ whatever loyalty system they have.
I don’t think The Points Guy would do anything nefarious with your numbers, but it is one more place that could be hacked. I have an awful lot of unused Amex points, but I can’t see that TPG could really find specific flights. In the past, I have used a service that found and booked award tickets for a fee. It worked pretty well.
Whether you use TPG's services or just follow and act on his recommendations, I'd like to provide some measure of caution using rewards benefits as part of planning for your Tauck travels. Using points/rewards for business class travel or even economy tickets is great when there are no problems when in transit. However, when things go awry, which is the norm these days, it can make it very hard to fix things and get you where you want to be when you want to be. My experience this summer getting to K & T, which resulted in having to cancel and reschedule is one such example. Some TPG techniques have you booking through one airline for a flight with another (and I am not referring to a codeshare). If a flight is canceled or needs to be changed, you often have to go back to the booking airline, which adds logistics, especially when time is of the essence. Also, especially during summer travel, alternate rewards flights are simply not available, and so you can end up getting your points back (sometimes with a program you otherwise have no use for) and having to go into pocket to buy a ticket, often close in to your travel date at a very high fare. I got all my points back for business class all around when due to flight issues I canceled my trip and rescheduled K & T for a month later but then had to reach into pocket for very expensive airfare 14 days out. Travel insurance leaves you hanging in this situation. I am inclined now to use points for travel that has flexibility.
Thank you for these insightful comments.
I just added my Amex points manually to the TPG app (no need to provide account number) and used their tool to look for award flights DEN to LON. It returned a list of all airlines that offer award tickets, sorted by lowest number of miles. When you click on one (I chose ANA), it gives you the cash value of the points and a step-by-step guide for booking. However, there is no help with availability. You have to go to the airline website for that. So I guess it’s a good starting point, but you still have a lot of work to do on your own to find and book award tickets.