Rethinking The Edit by Chase Travel℠

I’ve been frustrated lately by The Edit by Chase Travel℠. The Sapphire Reserve® and Sapphire Reserve for Business℠ cards offer $250 back, twice per year, on two-night (or longer) bookings through The Edit by Chase Travel℠. I have both cards, and I haven’t yet found a good real-world use for my credits that fits my travel plans. In most cases, this was because there aren’t many eligible properties outside major cities. In some cases, I only needed a one-night stay. And in other cases, the hotels available through The Edit were too expensive compared to reasonable alternatives. Despite these obstacles, a shift in thinking has made me excited about interested in The Edit again…

Quick Overview

For those who don’t want to read the entire article:

• 2X Points Boost is the key benefit: The real value of The Edit, to me, isn’t the $250 credits, but rather the ability to book luxury hotels with Chase points at approximately the same rates that I often book luxury Hyatt stays. This adds more options than with Hyatt alone. And, even with Hyatt, there are times when you’ll do better booking through The Edit than through Hyatt.
• I don’t expect many readers to agree with the above: When booking through The Edit, you can expect to pay 30,000 points per night, or more (except when booking hotels in less expensive destinations). If you’re not willing to book Hyatt stays for 30K or more, I wouldn’t expect you to see The Edit’s Points Boost as a significant benefit, since most stays would still be out of your point-price range. And that’s fine!
• The $250 credit is nice, but it doesn’t move the needle much: When looking at luxury hotel stays, I’m usually seeing prices ranging from 30K to 70K points per night. The $250 credit is like a 12.5K discount off a 2-night stay. That means saving only 6.25K per night. That’s a 12.5% discount on a 50K-per-night stay. That’s nice, but I don’t see it as the main benefit here.

Points Boost is key

My growing frustration with The Edit stemmed from my desire to use the credits before the end of the year. I felt like I wasn’t getting my money’s worth if I didn’t use the $250 coupon twice a year for its full value. But when doing hotel award searches recently, I found that point prices for booking The Edit hotels were often similar to the Hyatt-point prices for high-end Hyatt hotels, and they were always better than the Marriott or IHG point prices for their respective high-end hotels. I realised that what I value more than the $250 coupons is the ability to book The Edit hotels with a guaranteed 2x Points Boost.

The following logic won’t make sense to those who are happy booking budget hotels. But, if (like me) you don’t mind using your Hyatt points, transferred from Chase, to book luxury category 7 and 8 Hyatt hotels for 25,000 to 45,000 points per night, then I think you’ll see that The Edit gives you a lot more choice as to where to spend your points. You don’t need to transfer to Hyatt to get similar value. Plus, by booking through The Edit, you’ll get the following benefits:

• Daily breakfast for 2 (at most properties)
• Welcome amenity
• $100 property credit
• Room upgrade at check-in (based on availability)
• Early check-in/late check-out (based on availability)

Additionally, at chain hotels, you’ll earn points for these stays (unlike stays booked with hotel points).

Think of the $250 rebate as a 12.5K discount

When booking hotels through Chase Travel℠, you can specify how much of the booking you want to pay with points and how much to charge to your credit card. When booking a 2-night or longer The Edit stay, a great option is to subtract 12,500 from the number of points you want to pay. That way, $250 will be charged to your credit card. If you haven’t yet used both of your two annual $250 rebates, that $250 will be credited back to you automatically.

By booking hotels this way, I like to think of the rebate as a twice-annual 12,500-point discount. Somehow, that makes me less anxious about using the credit before the end of the year. Missing out on a little discount like this bothers me less than missing out on a $250 credit. I know it’s not logical, but it’s true.

Two-city case study

The Edit is best in places where hotels are moderately priced. Otherwise, you’ll usually be better off using points with hotel programs that have fixed award prices, like Hyatt. Chicago is a moderately priced city where The Edit really shines. New York, on the other hand, is terribly expensive. I looked at available hotels in both cities for a random weekend next year (May 15-17) and recorded the two-night point prices found on Hyatt and The Edit. In New York, I saw, as expected, that Hyatt offered better point prices. However, The Edit gives us several additional hotels to choose from, at similar point prices. In Chicago, I found that booking luxury hotels through The Edit can be a terrific option.

New York City

Through Hyatt, I found six luxury hotels bookable with points (I used my judgment as to which Hyatt hotels qualified for this “luxury” list — your list may differ). Point prices shown below are for a two-night stay:

• The Beekman, A Thompson Hotel 25K x 2 = 50K Hyatt points
• Thompson Central Park 29K x 2 = 58K Hyatt points
• Andaz 5th Ave 35K x 2 = 70K Hyatt points
• The Manner 40K x 2 = 80K Hyatt points
• Park Hyatt 45K x 2 = 90K Hyatt points
• The Chatwal 45K x 2 = 90K Hyatt points

Through The Edit, I found 10 properties. Three of these hotels (in bold below) were also Hyatt properties and cost significantly more through The Edit than through Hyatt. The following prices were rounded to the nearest 1,000 points:

• The Times Square EDITION = 80K Chase points
• Thompson Central Park = 81K Chase points
• 33 Seaport = 84K Chase points
• The Ned Nomad = 85K Chase points
• Nine Orchard = 101K Chase points
• The Dominick = 101K Chase points
• The Manner = 114K Chase points
• The Chatwal = 128K Chase points
• Equinox = 137K Chase points
• Park Hyatt = 197K Chase points

If you’re willing to spend around 100K points for the weekend (50K per night), then it should be evident that The Edit offers more choice than Hyatt alone. In addition to the hotels bookable through Hyatt, you could also pick from The Times Square EDITION, 33 Seaport, Nine Orchard, and The Dominick. If you apply your $250 credit/12.5K discount to the booking, The Manner hotel also comes into play at 101.5K points for the weekend (114K – 12.5K).

Chicago

Through Hyatt, I found three luxury hotels bookable with points (I used my judgment as to which Hyatt hotels qualified for this “luxury” list — your list may differ). Point prices shown below are for a two-night stay:

• Park Hyatt 29K per night = 58K Hyatt points
• Chicago Athletic Assoc 23K per night = 46K Hyatt points
• Thompson Chicago 23K x 2 = 46K Hyatt points

Through The Edit, I found nine properties. Only the Park Hyatt was on both lists. The following prices were rounded to the nearest 1,000 points:

• Nobu 71K
• Park Hyatt = 77K Chase points
• Loews = 76K Chase points
• Ritz-Carlton = 86K Chase points
• Viceroy = 88K Chase points
• The Langham = 94K Chase points
• The Peninsula = 103K Chase points
• Four Seasons = 106K Chase points
• The St Regis = 126K Chase points

Park Hyatt Chicago

At first glance, it looks like the Park Hyatt is significantly cheaper when booking through Hyatt, but when you factor in The Edit’s $250 rebate/12.5K discount, and the fact that you can earn Hyatt points for The Edit stay, booking through Hyatt looks less attractive:

• The Edit all-in price: $1,542.65
  • Compare to the Hyatt member rate: $1,465.15 (Hyatt charges $77.50 less)
• Book through Hyatt for 29K per night = 58K Hyatt points
• Book through The Edit for 77,132 Chase Ultimate Rewards points
  • Use your $250 credit/12.5K discount:
    • 77,132 points – 12,500 points = 64,632 points + $250 (which will be rebated)
  • Price difference vs booking through Hyatt: 6,632 additional points through The Edit
  • Earn Hyatt points. Base rate $1,542.65 x 5 = 7,713 Hyatt points (or more if you qualify for an elite bonus and/or a Hyatt promotion)
  • Benefits: Daily breakfast for 2, welcome amenity, $100 property credit, and, based on availability: room upgrade at check-in, early check-in/late check-out

Ultimately, after using your $250 rebate, the net cost through The Edit is slightly higher than booking with points through Hyatt (32.3K/day vs 29K/day), but that’s more than made up for by the number of Hyatt points you would earn for this stay. Those without elite status would likely also highly value the extra perks you get for booking through The Edit. If you have Globalist status, the daily breakfast benefit won’t help you, but the $100 property credit certainly would.

The Ritz-Carlton Chicago

I think this is a good example of how The Edit opens up additional valuable options:

• Book through Marriott:
  • All-in cash price (member rate): $1,680 (base rate: $1,431)
  • All-in point price: 161,000 Marriott Bonvoy points (80.5K per night)
• Book through The Edit
  • All-in cash price: $1714 (base rate: $1,485)
    • Compare to the Marriott member rate: $1,680 (Marriott charges $34 less)
  • All-in point price: 85,703 Chase Ultimate Rewards
  • Subtract 12,500 points = 73,203 (36.6K per night)
  • Earn Marriott points. Base rate $1431 x 10 = 14,310 Marriott Bonvoy points
  • Benefits: Daily breakfast for 2, welcome amenity, $100 property credit, and, based on availability: room upgrade at check-in, early check-in/late check-out

I think this is a particularly desirable option for Marriott loyalists with Platinum Elite status or above. At many hotels, Platinum status means that you should get complimentary breakfast, but that’s not the case at Ritz-Carlton properties. So, your options are to book with a considerable number of Marriott points and pay out-of-pocket for breakfast and anything else you pay for at the hotel, or book for as low as 36.6K Chase points per night and get complimentary breakfast, a $100 property credit, and more. Plus, you’ll earn Bonvoy points and elite credit for your stay.

Conclusion

The Edit can unlock the ability to book luxury hotels at Hyatt-like point prices. When you can also make use of the Sapphire Reserve card’s twice-yearly $250 credit, your point bookings will be a little bit cheaper. For those, like me, who are willing to book luxury hotels for 30K to 50K points per night, this is a great combination. However, if your primary goal for your The Edit credit is to save money, you’ll probably be extremely frustrated. Booking through The Edit tends to be more expensive than other options, and they’re found primarily in costly cities.

See Also:

• The Edit by Chase Travel℠
• The credit card coupon book travel game (Chicago getaway via Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card)
• A map and list that show all of The Edit by Chase Travel℠ properties in the world

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