Overview
Reasonable Redemption Values (RRVs) are estimates of how much value you can reasonably expect to get from your points. With almost all points programs, it’s possible to get very little value or, sometimes, huge value from your points. RRVs are intended to be mid-point values that are reasonably easy to achieve with just a bit of work in finding good rather than poor value awards.
With hotel points, we took an easy approach: the RRVs are the median observed values found when users search for hotel awards. Half of the available awards offered better value and half worse. You can read more about hotel RRVs and how they were originally determined here. Airline miles are more complicated since award values vary tremendously based on a huge number of factors. So, we developed a methodology to simplify things. You can learn about that here: Airline Miles are worth 1.4 cents each. A simplified approach to Reasonable Redemption Values.
Please also see: Are points worth what they buy or what they save?
Transferable Points
| Program | Reasonable Redemption Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Chase Ultimate Rewards | 1.5 | With Chase’s Sapphire Reserve card, it is possible to redeem points for travel through the Chase portal for 1.5 cents per point value. We think that’s a reasonable use of points even if you can often do better by transferring to airline miles or hotel points. We use this as the standard by which we value other transferable points programs. |
| Amex Membership Rewards | 1.55 | Amex offers many more transfer partners than Chase and also offers more frequent transfer bonuses. For these reasons, we’ve set the Amex RRV slightly higher than Chase’s. |
| Bilt | 1.55 | Bilt offers most of the same valuable transfer partners that Chase offers, plus some great additions like Alaska Airlines and Avianca LifeMiles. For this reason we set the Bilt RRV slightly higher than Chase’s. |
| Citi ThankYou Rewards | 1.5 | Citi has better transfer partners than Capital One (EVA 1-1, LHW, Choice 1 to 2, I Prefer 1 to 4), so we set its RRV slightly higher. |
| Capital One “Miles” | 1.45 | In our opinion, Capital One’s transfer partners offer slightly less chance of outsized value than Chase’s and so we set Capital One’s RRV slightly lower. |
| Wells Fargo | 1.4 | Wells Fargo only has a small handful of transfer partners at this time and so we set the RRV lower than the other programs. |
The above RRVs assume that points are transferred to airline miles hotel points and used for medium to high value awards. If, instead, you pay with points for travel the redemption value will be lower.
Airline Miles
Hotel Points
| Program | Reasonable Redemption Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Best Western Rewards | 0.61 | See: What are Best Western points worth? (7/25/24) |
| Choice Privileges | 0.67 | See: What are Choice points worth? (7/18/24) |
| Hilton Honors | 0.48 | See: What are Hilton points worth? (7/16/24) |
| IHG One Rewards | 0.62 | See: What are IHG points worth? (7/15/24) |
| Marriott Bonvoy | 0.76 | See: What are Marriott Bonvoy points worth? (2/2/25) |
| One Key (Expedia, Hotels.com, VRBO) | 0.9 | Estimating value at 90% of face value. |
| Preferred Hotels & Resorts I Prefer | 0.5 | See: What are Preferred Hotels (I Prefer) Points Worth? (12/16/24) |
| Sonesta Travel Pass | 1.06 | See: What are Sonesta points worth? (6/27/24) |
| World of Hyatt | 1.7 | See: What are Hyatt points worth? (6/19/24) |
| Wyndham Rewards | 1.01 | See: What are Wyndham points worth? (7/17/24) |
Hotel Free Night Certificates
We estimate hotel free night certificates by taking the maximum point value of the certificate and multiplying by a fudge factor to account for the fact that free night certificates are less valuable than points (certificates expire in a year or sooner, certificates are less flexible in how they can be used, etc.). For Hilton and IHG certs we use an 0.85 fudge factor. For Hyatt and Marriott, we use a slightly worse fudge factor of 0.8 in order to account for the fact that each has severe limits on how they can be used (i.e. Hyatt certs can't be used for higher category hotels and Marriott certs cannot be used at hotels that cost more than 15,000 points above the cert's top amount). The new 60K IHG certificates have the worst fudge factor of 0.7, owing to the fact that they can't be topped-off with extra points for more expensive properties, so it's very difficult to actually get the maximum value.
| Certificate | Reasonable Redemption Value | Calculations |
|---|---|---|
| Hilton | $490 | 120K points (even though some Hilton hotels charge more) multiplied by Hilton RRV ($0.0048) multiplied by a fudge factor (0.85). |
| Hyatt Cat 1-4 | $204 | 15K points (based on standard pricing rather than peak) multiplied by Hyatt RRV ($0.017) multiplied by a fudge factor (0.8). |
| Hyatt Cat 1-7 | $408 | 30K points (based on standard pricing rather than peak) multiplied by Hyatt RRV ($0.017) multiplied by a fudge factor (0.8). |
| IHG 40K | $211 | 40K points multiplied by IHG RRV ($0.0062) multiplied by a fudge factor (0.85) |
| IHG 60K | $260 | 60K points multiplied by IHG RRV ($0.0062) multiplied by a fudge factor (0.70) |
| Marriott 35K | $196 | 35K points multiplied by Marriott RRV ($0.007) multiplied by a fudge factor (0.8) |
| Marriott 50K | $280 | 50K points multiplied by Marriott RRV ($0.007) multiplied by a fudge factor (0.8) |
| Marriott 85K | $476 | 85K points multiplied by Marriott RRV ($0.007) multiplied by a fudge factor (0.8) |
Other
| Program | Reasonable Redemption Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Amtrak Guest Rewards | 2.56 | Points are worth up to 2.56 cents each on Acela trains and up to 2.9 cents each on other routes. |
| Arrival+ Points | 1 | Even though there is a 5% rebate when points are redeemed for travel, this estimate is based on the amount of travel that can be bought with existing points regardless of rebates. |
| CNB Rewards | 1.11 | When points are used for airfare, the points are more valuable for more expensive flights. Point values range from 0.9 to 1.16 cents per point. Flights costing $300 offer about 1.11 cents per point value. See: The Exact Value of CNB Crystal Visa Infinite Points. |
| FlexPerks | 1.5 | FlexPerks moved to fixed 1.5 cents per point value as of 1/1/2018 |
| Merrill+ Points | 1.44 | Assumes using 25,000 points for $360 flight |
| PenFed Premium Travel Reward | 0.85 | How much are PenFed points worth? |
| Uber Cash | 0.9 | Valuing at 90% of face value since Uber gift cards are often available at a discount. |
| Most other bank points | 1 | Most bank point programs have points redeemable for 1 cent each for gift cards or travel. |
Dear FM team,
A YouTube creator keeps awarding me “Durgoz Points” and when I asked him what the RRV of his points where he referred me here. Can you humor me and tell me they are worthless?
This information is extremely useful! Nice to have a valid standard of comparison across Airlines and Hotel chains. Thanks Greg!
Would you place any value on Marriott’s NUAs?
Yes, but it’s really hard to come up with a specific number. At some hotels they can really increase your chances of getting a great room or suite and in those cases they can be worth a lot. Unfortunately, many hotels don’t accept them at all, and sometimes the upgrades never come through.
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Might be time to bump Hawaiian miles up from 0.75 to 1.3 to match Alaskan miles or find middle ground for both valuations now that these 2 can be transferred between each other.
Great point. Thanks! Done
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It’s probably time to bring down IHG’s value sadly.
Do the hotel free night certificates for Marriott & Hyatt need to be updated for 2024 values?
Yes! Thanks for pointing this out! Fixed.
Question – if Hyatt points are 2.10 how are Chase UR worth 1.5? Chase UR are Hyatt points!
I know it’s weird but you have to think about the term “reasonable redemption value” to get it. We think its reasonable to expect to average 2.1 cpp or better when redeeming Hyatt points. But we also think its reasonable to expect to average 1.5cpp or better when redeeming Chase Ultimate Rewards. Yes, if you transfer to Hyatt you should expect 2.1 cpp or better, but what if you book travel through the Chase portal? Or transfer to United? etc.
Greg, thanks for the reply. Yeah, I get it. When I first started with points the primary allure of Chase UR was United transfers and I used my initial catch of points there. Thanks largely to Frequent Miler, I discovered Hyatt and adjusted up my value for Chase UR. I really appreciate your work, it’s expanded the world of points for me and this is a prime example. Related, you also helped me discover business cards which has allowed me and P2 to collect amounts of Chase UR I would have previously never dreamed possible.
What if we created a new RRV value for “FM mavens”. i.e. those who only:
There are probably many of your readers in the above categories, who hold onto points waiting for those opportunities. They would benefit from that new RRV category?
Personally, I think it makes sense to be more conservative so that you don’t make poor decisions on the “earn” side. For instance, I wouldn’t choose to earn 1 Hyatt point over earning 2% cash back on a purchase. Sure, I might redeem that Hyatt point for more value — but there may not be a Hyatt where I need to go or maybe there is but it’s only 1.8cpp, so if I gave up 2% back to earn the points, it would be a losing proposition — whereas if I kept the value of the points more conservative, I’d make choices that would lead to wins a greater percentage of the time.
So while Daniel above says that “Chase UR are Hyatt points!”, that’s just not going to be true 100% of the time. Just a few days ago, I was in Guadeloupe, where there are no chain hotels. A 2.5c RRV for Chase points would mean that I shouldn’t have used the Chase UR portal to book a vacation home for 1.5cpp. That’s not what I ultimately did, but would that have been a bad choice? I don’t think so. My stash of Hyatt points was worthless for that circumstance.
Tying the value of Wyndham to Vacasa is a little tricky since we don’t know that the Vacasa partnership will last forever or that the value will remain the same, etc. And Vacasa’s footprint is tiny!
At the end of the day, we want our RRVs to be broadly useful comparison points that indicate the value you can reasonably expect to get without much effort at maximization. Of course it is very much possible to do far better. Most of my Amex points are redeemed for international premium cabin travel, but if I valued Amex points at the ~6cpp that I usually get (or whatever it is) then I would sooner spend at 1.5x on an Everyday Preferred card card than at 3x on a CSR — and I don’t think a decision like that really makes sense over the long-term.
And if you’re holding points waiting for opportunities, there is also the opportunity cost of the interest your money could be earning if you cashed those points out and put the money in the bank or if you had chosen cash from the get-go and/or the risk of those points for those specific purposes devaluing. I “hold onto” lots of points across many programs, so I’m certainly not telling you not to do that, just that I think valuing points based on a stated desire to hoard them until you find specific use X in order to get some extra high value out of them is playing too fast and loose IMO.
All good points Nick, but I think your long term audience might be disproportionately made up of “points maximizers”. Newer readers, maybe not so much.
This blog posting of RRVs is the one that I constantly refer back to. Instead of having only one value per currency, my proposal is along these lines:
RRV (current) Reasonable Max
URs 1.5 2.5 (Hyatt)
MRs 1.5 6.0 (Intl 1st class)
I understand what you’re saying, but I don’t think it’s clear cut like that. I find it incredibly murky to value points for international premium cabins at prices I would never consider paying, but I do value them more than the cashout value of the points. I think trying to do what you’re suggesting seems so subjective from person to person and so likely to mislead the majority of people. I consider myself a points maximizer, but I have many times redeemed Hyatt points at less than 2.5cpp — and even when I redeem them for far more, that’s murky at best. I have an upcoming stay where cash rates are $1K+ and I’m using 35K Hyatt points per night. Sure, that’s more than 2.5cpp (which would mean that 35K Hyatt points are worth $875), but at the same time I’d never pay $1K per night, so it’s not really saving me 2.5c per point. Like if I had the ability to earn $875 cash or 35K Hyatt points, I’m taking the $875. But if I say that Hyatt points are worth 2.5cpp, that means that if my choice were $800 in cash or 35K Hyatt points I’d be choosing the points. Let’s double that for a second and say that there was one credit card offering a welcome bonus of 70K Hyatt points after $4K spend and another credit card offering $1600 after $4K spend. By your 2.5cpp valuation, the 70K Hyatt points would be the better choice (at a value of $1750) — but I just don’t think that’s a sound decision for most people. I think I’d unequivocally recommend the $1600 in that fictional example.
And in fact, Hyatt sells their points directly for 2.4c per point — so if the choice were literally between earning $875 or 35K points and I really needed the points, I’d take the $875 and buy 35K points for $840 and keep $35. They sometimes put points on sale for even less (most recently 2cpp). The same is true for many types of airline miles — if I tell you that Membership Rewards points are worth 6cpp toward premium cabin international travel, that’s not really true since you can probably buy miles from most airline programs for far less. Avianca LifeMiles is a great example because they very frequently sell their miles for around 1.3cpm. If you value Membership Rewards points at 6cpp, you might choose to earn 1x on a Platinum card over earning 2.625% cash back on a Bank of America Premium Rewards card with Platinum Honors — but you could have instead earned that cash back and bought two Avianca LifeMiles for every dollar spent rather than getting one. The “six cents per point” concept wouldn’t hold up and it would make a bad decision (spending at 1x rather than 2.625%) look like a swimmingly good one (and I recognize that 6cpp wasn’t your number or actual suggestion, it was my number that you plugged into your example).
Lastly, I love points maximizers and we certainly have plenty of points maximizer readers. And I can see why you might think that our audience skews disproportionately to advanced hobbyists, but for many reasons (traffic numbers, types of questions we see via email, FB group, older blog posts, etc and a lot of other things), I know that while we have and love a vocal audience of maximizers, we have a much wider portion of the audience that isn’t using Hyatt points at 2.5cpp or Amex points at 6cpp. Let me be clear: I love to redeem my points for far more than RRV — but I think it makes sense to compare my earning options based on RRV rather than inflating the numbers to amounts that I “might” be able to get that may or may not be relevant to the actual value to me.
Re: Hawaiian points. I think the valuation is way too low. Someone should easily get in excess of 1.0 – which I consider the minimum value. I consider 1.5 or above a solid redemption and have even recently got an inter-island trip at 2.1. You can certainly find worse than 1.0, but any reasonable effort should get at least 1.0. That said, I assume for many people they accrue only small amount of points and the redemption rates often don’t make it worth transferring Amex points so for them the points have no value.
[…] However, you need to know what they are worth to do the best redemption/transfer. On average bank (Chase/Amex) points are worth about 1.5 cents each. Airline miles and Hotel Points vary widely in worth. So, make sure to know what the value is […]
When valuing free night certificates, if the hotel chain often runs sales of their points at a price lower than your rrv, that sale price should be used instead of your rrv. Not doing this has led to overvaluation of Hyatt and IHG certificates.
In my opinion your “fudge factors” are too high. If I had the choice between a certificate worth x points or 0.8x points directly, I’d take 0.8x points every time for the flexibility and the lack of a hard expiration date.
And I’d knock Marriott’s fudge factor down a bit more for non-transferable certificates (without the “additional guest” gamble).