Today’s question is one that is frequently asked with transferable points – Should I book in a travel portal or with a transfer partner? First, I will tell you that we usually book with a transfer partner. We typically get better value for our points that way, but we also do more bookings internationally or to Hawaii with our points. Often, you can find better pricing in the portal if you are just looking for a short domestic flight. Because I save my points for more expensive flights, I usually pay with a card for those flights.

We recently posted about how to book award travel and how you should approach booking travel by comparing costs.

Let’s consider taking a couple of trips today and see what we find. In the first example, I go from Denver to Miami and I have Chase Ultimate Rewards®. The travel portal in these examples is Chase Travel℠.

 

Portal Findings

I am ignoring the redeye flights because I hate to travel like that. I also pass on the Frontier and Spirit flights because, by the time I pay for extras, the cost is higher, and I hate traveling with them. (Sorry to all you Frontier or Spirit lovers out there!) Here is the flight I would consider. For comparison purposes, I chose one from United to compare it with transfer partners. There were also Delta and American flights at comparable prices.

 

 

Transfer Partner Findings

In this instance, I will search the United Airlines site for a roundtrip flight. Will it be less or more expensive with points? Or will a transfer partner be my best deal?

 

 

In this case, it was cheaper through the portal. You get 1.25 cents per point when you book through the portal, and that definitely helps. So, the answer to our question of “Should I book through the portal or with a transfer partner?” in this case, is the portal.

Next, let’s check a more expensive flight. I want to book a flight to Vienna, Austria. We’ll see what we get from the same dates, leaving from Denver.

 

Travel Portal Findings

In this case, a round-trip economy flight will cost me 104,416 points. 

 

 

Transfer Partner Findings

Here’s the cost through the United site after transferring Ultimate Rewards:

 

 

Should I book through the portal or with a transfer partner? In this instance, booking through a transfer partner is cheaper. I will have to pay $78.50 in taxes and fees, which is not bad.

Now, let’s go on to a business flight. This is where I would expect to see a huge difference in using a travel partner vs. the transfer partners.

 

Portal Findings

Okay, this is just insane!

 

 

Let’s check out the United site using Ultimate Rewards.  Flexibility is key in award travel, especially business travel. I like to look at the 30-day calendars and let the award prices dictate when I travel. By picking the 88K dates, I can travel for 176K roundtrip in business class. I ALWAYS do transfer partner bookings for my business class flights.

 

 

Bottom Line

Portal or transfer partner bookings – which is best? It depends. Usually, you will do better in the portal (especially Chase since you get that 1.25 cents per point) with domestic, short travels. Business class is usually better through transfer partners and, finally, international economy can go either way. The best idea is to check it out both ways and then decide. How do you usually book your travel with transferable points?

 

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• Why I Seldom Book in the Travel Portals
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• How to Transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards® to Airline and Hotel Partners
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