130. Top 5 Reasons to Avoid Booking Travel Through Credit Card Travel Portals

Aug 25, 2025

Discover why booking travel through credit card portals can lead to costly mistakes. Learn about the hidden downsides, like lost elite status perks and expensive rebookings, that travelers often face. Uncover how using points through these portals can seriously devalue your rewards—sometimes by 10x! Hear compelling real-world stories that illustrate the pitfalls of relying on third-party platforms. Plus, find out how booking directly can maximize your travel benefits and savings!

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INSIGHT

Portals Are Third-Party Intermediaries

Credit card travel portals are third-party booking platforms acting as intermediaries, not direct bookings with airlines or hotels.
This intermediary status explains many downstream problems like unrecognized loyalty benefits and support gaps.

ADVICE

Book Direct To Preserve Status Benefits

Avoid booking hotels through portals if you care about loyalty status or elite benefits like upgrades and free breakfast.
Book direct to ensure stays count toward qualifying nights and your status perks are honored.

ADVICE

Stack Offers By Booking Direct

Stack shopping-portal bonuses and card-specific offers by booking directly with airlines or hotels instead of via portals.
Activate card offers and go through shopping portals to earn extra points or cashback on top of card rewards.

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If there’s one thing nearly every points traveler has done at least once, it’s book a flight, hotel, or car rental directly through their credit card’s online travel portal. With promises of 5x, 8x, even 12x bonus points, it can feel like the obvious choice. But as I share in today’s episode, those tempting multipliers often come at a serious cost—and the reasons why may surprise you.

In this episode, I walk through the top five reasons you should avoid booking through credit card travel portals like Chase, Amex, Citi, and Capital One. From losing out on elite status perks and upgrades to paying more for the same flights or hotel rooms, I reveal the hidden downsides that don’t show up until it’s too late. You’ll also hear real-world stories from travelers who faced everything from missing reservations to costly rebookings—all because they used a portal instead of booking direct.

Even more importantly, I’ll explain how using your points through a portal can devalue them by 2–10x compared to transferring to partners. I share specific examples, including how I used Chase points with Hyatt for a $65,000+ stay that would have cost 3.6 million points through the portal. Whether you’re new to points or have been booking this way for years, this episode will help you avoid costly mistakes and make smarter choices with your rewards.

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Want to know what’s really possible with your points? Don’t just take it from me—hear from members who’ve used Points Made Easy to completely change the way they travel. From business class flights to dream vacations, their results speak for themselves. Watch their stories here - https://points.pointmetofirstclass.com/points-made-easy-success-stories