Risk -vs- Rewards (booking flight through travel rewards bank portal)

so what is relevance of the bank travel portal mentioned in title?

The travel portal is essentially a third party. I've been hearing it may be safer to book directly through air carrier.

I think it depends on the third party you use. I have had no difficulties with Chase (Expedia) but I tend to use them more for hotels than for flights which I do book direct.

For those who wonder why a person might want to use the rewards travel portal ever instead of booking direct, the answer is that 10000 points would have a direct cash value of $100. If you use those same 10000 points to book travel through the portal they are worth $150. This can be a better value.

I've never in my forty years of travel booked an airline ticket through a third party. In fact, I quit booking hotel rooms through portals like Expedia because of a bad experience. I still use Booking.com for hotels rooms sometimes because they are very responsive and will help with problems. But I can't imagine being stuck in an airport somewhere and trying to reach a rewards portal customer service rep at a call center to help get me to my destination. Just deal direct with the airline; it's worth the difference in cost.

I will typically only use the portal for rental cars and hotels because picking seats, choosing bags, changing things can get complicated. If I were travelling by myself I'd be more likely to do it but less likely now with wife and kiddo. But recently with the COVID redemptions on Chase I just buy directly and then redeem my points for dining purchases at the 1.5x rate and get the same psychological effect, I think Airbnb purchases also get redeemed at the higher rate.

Outside of covid times, f I'm using points for flights I will usually transfer them to an airline. Going to Ireland during off-peak times can be very, very cheap on Aer Lingus doing this (from New York or Boston anyway). Good deals can be had using flying blue points on KLM or Air France as well.

The use of the term "rewards portal" here is, I think, confusing and potentially misleading. Exactly what "rewards portal" are you talking about?

In my experience there is no benefit of booking flights through a "bank travel rewards portal) in fact my experience is the opposite. I will book hotels and cars but not flights.

@ David
Many credit cards, particularly those with a travel emphasis, allow for customers to earn reward points based off their purchase activity. This may vary from credit card program to credit card program. Then, these same credit cards will have options for redeeming these reward points. Most have an option for direct credit to the credit card balance, transferring points into a frequent flier program, or finally using the points to book travel through the "travel portal" associated with the credit card. This is usually a contracted third party. The advantage is a higher value rate per point vs. a straight cash reward.

The OP basically is saying that he/she had questioned using the travel portal associated with the credit card as a moneysaving device (reward) but was worried that not booking direct would result in higher complications (risk) should something go wrong. The OP ultimately decided to book directly but then wondered if that was really necessary and asked for input.

Thanks so much @carol now retired, @Donna, @toddling, and @naalehuretiree

Follow-up question please:
Would you anticipate there would be less help at airport, if actual flight was on partner carrier? Trying to figure out if airline abroad- say Air France - will be less accommodating because I booked on their US partner - say Delta.

Also Carol thank you for clarifying where I was coming from. Right now, I'm still fretting about all the expense -- and 24 hour window for cancellation coming up this evening. I have a hunch/wish Air France will be decent to Delta purchasers, but just not sure, since it is different carrier.

@Gail -- glad you had good experience... Has telephone customer service on Delta gotten better? I remember very long wait times. I like the idea of being able to go to gate agent for direct help, in the event of problem.

We use the Chase Sapphire card. In the last trip, we booked our flight, and spent $2.56 for the 2 round trips to Athens.

This time, we spent $0.00 for a trip to Milan in Sept and return from Florence in Oct.

I don't think you need to worry about someone being less than accommodating between Air France, Delta, KLM. These airlines code share all the time.

In fact, I don't think you need to overthink this too much. If you have what you feel is a reasonable price for a routing that is acceptable to you, then I would just go with it. It isn't a vacation if you spend a great deal of time worrying. There is no way to "outsmart" possible disruptions or accurately predict what will happen. Give yourself plenty of time and plenty of patience and it will work out.

totally agree with @Carol's last comment.

We are Chase Reserve card users .... I do like toe travel insurance offered through the card BUT you only have to use the card to get the benefit not the travel center....which in my opinion was way better before they farmed it out to Expedia.

@Carol - I understand all that (I've flown countless times over the past 25 years using miles/points, from many different programs, all over the world...I think know my way around this stuff).

There's some misinformation and confusion in posts above. Note to all: DETAILS MATTER. Some of this stuff can be complicated, be careful not to conflate things and lump all together.

For the TLDR crowd: Pay attention to the details, they matter (maybe a lot, depends on those pesky details).

My question was about exactly what "portal" the OP was actually referring to, because they are not all the same, lumping them all together is not helpful -- and there are a lot of them. As pointed out above, Chase's "Ultimate Rewards" system (the back-end is run by Expedia these days) is reasonable, and (at least in my experience) perfectly safe and reliable. I've used it for both flights and hotels, including pretty recently. I've always had good experiences with them, I would (and will) do so again without hesitation. Likewise, I have found other major bank systems (Amex, Citi, etc) are perfectly legitimate and reliable, too. So is booking through an airline's own frequent flyer program directly - though that option may  actually leave you with fewer options in case something goes sideways (that aspect of it is more complicated).

But there are plenty of more obscure "portals" associated with everything from small local credit unions to department stores to who-knows-what, which are anything but safe, reliable and convenient. I'm certainly not going to book a flight using "reward points" from my credit union (they're a nice enough credit union, but they know nothing about travel and I don't trust them for a flight on some tiny airline in an obscure corner of the world). So, which "portal" you are talking about definitely matters. HOW you use it also matters.

There are a couple points that I think the OP may be missing and that have been missed (or conflated) so far in this thread. One of those is that when you book a flight through one of the major loyalty points "portals", they are not the one issuing your ticket, they are just the one who passes your payment along to the airline, in whatever "currency" (Amex Points, Chase Ultimate Rewards Points, Delta SkyMiles, etc) that they use internally. You don't end up with ticket issued by Chase or Amex or CapitalOne or the "portal". Your ticket comes from the airline, period. You get a PNR (record locator number) in the airline's own internal system, and your ticket is treated exactly like any other ticket for that airline.

If something goes sideways (or doesn't go at all), you are NOT left twisting in the wind, stuck having to call your bank or "the portal" for help. Your ticket was issued by the airline, you deal with them, just like all the other happy passengers. (Refunds  are different -- all this assumes you still want to get to your destination, with the original airline or their partners.)

There are a couple of (potentially important) distinctions, though. That could potentially come into play based on how the airline was paid for your ticket. There may also be a difference in your options if you want to re-book a completely different itinerary yourself  (abandoning your original ticket and starting over), as opposed to having the airline rebook flights for you as best they can.

(continues below...)

(continued from above...)

Sometimes you use "points" (eg Chase points) that are treated as cash to pay for a flight on ANY airline. (This is the case where you get a 1.5X or 1.25X conversion rate referenced above.) In that case, you are effectively paying with cash, not points. The airline never sees anything about your points, they see you paid cash for the ticket. If anything goes wrong, you have the exact same rights and options, and are treated 100% the same, as every other happy passenger. The fact that you converted "points" to cash and then used that cash to pay for the ticket is not relevant (nor even visible) to the airline.

Sometimes tickets are paid for using the points in an airline's loyalty program (eg: you used United miles to book a flight on United or one of its partner airlines on United's website; or you used Delta miles to book a flight on Delta or one of its partners, on Delta's website). That's paying with points directly -- even if you transfer points to miles (you can do that with several bank "portals"), what counts is what currency was used for "payment" (actually, in the eyes of the airline, it's a "redemption" not a payment).

If you pay for your flight using miles/points which are converted to money (this is the case suggested above, for redeeming for a higher rate), then you are buying a ticket with money, and it's treated exactly the same as if you handed a pile of cash to a travel agent -- that is, if your flight is cancelled/delayed/nerfed, you are treated exactly the same as any other ticket holder. If you have a problem, you deal with the airline (whatever airline that is), NOT the "portal" people, and you have exactly the same rights, conveniences, etc.

If you pay for your flight with airline frequent flyer points (eg, on United's web site, paying with United's MileagePlus miles, or on Delta's website, paying with that airline's own currency), you still deal only with the airline (not some bank), but you MAY have fewer options in case you need to rebook -- it depends on the system you've bought into (and other variables, eg how bad is the meltdown, how helpful will the airline be). For most frequent flyer programs, if you travel on an "award ticket" (paid in miles), and you have to book a different flight, you may be limited in what flights are offered (same as when you originally booked). A few programs treat their "points" as cash equivalents (so you need to know the program's rules), in which case you have access to the same seats as anyone else. From a practical standpoint, when flights get cancelled, any airline will do what they can to get you to where they promised to get you, it just may take a while. I've got one itinerary in September booked with miles that has been changed 4 or 5 times due to a cancellation; they just keep rebooking me. If you book an award flight in business or first class, you may have limited options for the equivalent class of service in case of rebooking, but they will get you there eventually (if you insist on that lay-flat bed and the caviar, you may have to wait a while for an available seat).

How will you be treated by staff if things go south? How you paid for your ticket should not make any difference. In all cases the airline should help you without regard to how you paid for your ticket (because you bought it from that airline). Honestly, with the major melt-downs we are seeing, I think everyone is treated more or less the same -- the staff have limited options and they just do their best for everyone.

Bottom line is: the details matter. Be sure that you understand what you are (and what you are not) buying. A ticket bought through a "portal" may be just fine (depends on those details).

Hope this helps someone.

For airlines, it's best to buy direct with the operator of the flight or an airline offering that flight as a codeshare,

For hotels and car rentals, if you don't care about earning points, then you can book using a third party but understand not all third parties are the same.

A site like Booking.com acts like an old time travel agent. It basically books the room or car for you The hotel/car rental company pays them a commission. You can prepay or you can pay at the hotel/car rental counter.

Other third parties, like Expedia, work differently. Expedia negotiates a rate with the hotel/car rental agency. They then charge you a different rate. The difference between what they charge you and what they pay the hotel/rental car company is their profit. You are booking with Expedia and not directly with the supplier. If there is a problem, you have to deal with Expedia.

Personally, I always book direct. The only time I booked with Booking.com was when the hotel's website was very bad in regard to booking or the hotel suggested I use it. I prefer to cut out the middle man.

I usually prefer to book direct with the airline. However, for my upcoming international trip the Chase travel portal was much less for business class and also had better times. I am flying American.

Yesterday, I saw that one leg of my flight had been cancelled. All I had to do was online chat with AA and they actually gave me new flights that I liked even better. I didn't have to deal with Chase at all.

A different reason for the same suggestion:

-redeeming points for gravel in the chase portal is generally a poor value use of points. Generally, you’ll get better value for points transferring them to on the airline partners and getting award flights directly.