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The truth is, a fair bit of effort is required to actually redeem your miles and points for saver award space, especially on an ideal date that works for you. Nowadays, when a friend asks which credit card to sign up for, I seriously consider pointing them to a cashback card. Usually, I’ll recommend a fixed-value currency-earning credit card, which works much like cashback.
The State of Award Space
Want to leave on Friday night and come back Sunday evening? It’s going to be tough, especially if you want to fly business or first class with only one layover.
When someone asks me what is the best way to fly to Japan in business class — a common question — I tell them to book Japan Airlines with Finnair Avios 361 days out. Check daily at regular intervals to figure out the exact minute seats will drop. At that point, only two business class seats are released, so hopefully they’re travelling with only their partner. I tell them to create an account and practice the check-out flow a few times. If they don’t have enough points, they need to start accumulating immediately, ideally two years in advance, to book one year out.
Japan Airlines B787-9 business class
Does it sound as crazy to you as it does to me? The above even assumes those seats are still available because there’s a decent chance it’s already booked up 362 days out through JAL Mileage Bank (the only way to earn in Canada is transferring Marriott Bonvoy at a 3:1 ratio). Frankly, I rarely book awards this way, but I also have the advantage of being able to travel on a Tuesday and mostly fly solo. I’ll also book tickets days before departure, which isn’t everyone’s cup of tea.
When I consider how realistic these redemptions actually are, cashback and fixed-value points start to make a lot of sense.
Why I Often Recommend Fixed-Value Cards
For someone new to miles and points, it can be difficult to convey the value of signing up for an Amex, paying a $799 annual fee, meeting a five-figure spending requirement, and then doing the award space dance outlined above to fly in business class.
The TD First Class Travel Visa Infinite, on the other hand? First year free, spend $7,500 in six months and earn $825 of travel money to spend on anything available on Expedia. You can also book outside Expedia and still have a staggering $725 in free travel money. If you and your partner both sign up for one, that’s immediately $1,500+ in travel money with $0 paid in annual fees and an easy spending requirement.
No, it doesn’t have the allure of a lie-flat seat, but it’s a low-effort, high-reward way for someone to dip their toes into travel rewards. The signup offer is so good right now that I’ve signed up for a card and also signed up my entire family.
The Scotiabank Momentum Visa Infinite is my other go-to card for a friend who seldom travels or goes on one big trip a year. Having no flexibility on dates is, frankly, incompatible with award travel. So it’s much better to earn 4% cashback on groceries, recurring bills, and subscriptions. You’ll also earn 2% cashback on food delivery, gas, and transit and 1% on everything else.
Heck, you might as well just put the Scotiabank Momentum Visa Infinite on Chexy to pay for as many things as possible. You’ll come out ahead with 4% cashback and a 1.75% fee (depending on your Chexy referrals). Even as someone who primarily collects rewards points, the Scotia Momentum has a permanent spot in my wallet.
Takeaway
There’s a strong case for earning fixed-value points or cashback. In today’s award landscape, expecting to book saver premium cabin seats on a Friday night 3–6 months out (when most people are planning a vacation) is unrealistic for most travellers, regardless of their points expertise.
Fixed-value points and cashback offer a much simpler path: the value is predictable, redemptions are straightforward, and you’re not dependent on scarce saver award space. For many travellers, especially those with limited flexibility, these deliver reliable value with far less effort.
4 comments
Yes there are team cash back / economy travelers. You only get involved with the points game if you want to have an elevated travel experience. Cash never goes out of style but you won’t be able to arbitrage either. Bloggers like these are a victim of their own success. I’ve been in the points game for 3 decades and a lot has changed. You used to have to dig thru hundreds of pages of flyertalk to figure everything out. Now it just comes too easy to search and book. The solution has become the problem.
No it’s a case for earning miles with programs that have exclusive partner available. Just got back from Japan with a stopover in Taiwan. Booked a family of 4 in J LAX-TPE with BR miles, 4 x J TPE-NRT on JAL with JMB miles, HND-SFO 1 x F and 2 x J were booked with partners at schedule open and 1 was booked with JAL miles. If not for BR I would not have been able to get 4 x J to TPE during cherry blossom times. Absolutely no premium award space. AA Y was 86k at schedule open W was more than double and J was 400k+ and the prices never got lower. Crazy. It’s why I have 400k AA miles and counting. Quantity and multipliers don’t matter as much as the ecosystem. 4x AMEX Gold or Ink train is not going to get you any BR or JAL miles to get to Asia so I just laugh when cardtubers talk about sweet spots and multipliers with AMEX and Chase. They are obviously just trying to earn a commission and not being honest with how difficult it is to actually redeem for premium award space. With AA being added to Citi as a transfer partner everyone is hyping that new option some cardtubers don’t even mention BR as a transfer partner talk about being slept on 😂 we enjoyed Japan so much I’m already booking for next spring break and BR is wide open for 4 x J LAX-NRT-TPE yeah it’s a longer flight time but I am comfortable and get to enjoy the flights.
Your POV lends to the argument that it is no longer as simple as “earn points and redeem”. It is indeed about the ecosystem, and increasingly about exclusivity within the program (CX/SG/QF, etc.). The case for cashback cards and fixed points redemptions is relevant for folks not looking for points gymnastics.
I fully agree with you, but it also lends itself to my argument … especially in Canada, where EVA and JMB are not easily accessible, and that’s putting it lightly. Having to figure out which program to use to book which airline and how early to book and then accruing those points far enough in advance is the effort I’m willing to put in.
But when it comes to recommending a card to friends or family, prefacing my Amex Platinum recommendation with “this is what you need to do to get value of these points” isn’t exactly the most convincing argument to get someone to sign up. Exactly what Anshul said re: points gymnastics.