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 |
|---|---|---|
| Amex Membership Rewards | 1.55 | 20% over standard airline mile value (based on the idea that you can transfer points to any of a number of programs in order to find the best award deals) and round to the nearest .05 |
| Bilt | 1.55 | 20% over standard airline mile value (based on the idea that you can transfer points to any of a number of programs in order to find the best award deals) and round to the nearest .05 |
| Chase Ultimate Rewards | 1.5 | 15% over standard airline mile value (based on the idea that you can transfer points to any of a number of programs in order to find the best award deals) and round to the nearest .05 |
| Citi ThankYou Rewards | 1.45 | 10% over standard airline mile value (based on the idea that you can transfer points to any of a number of programs in order to find the best award deals) and round to the nearest .05 |
| Capital One “Miles” | 1.45 | 10% over standard airline mile value (based on the idea that you can transfer points to any of a number of programs in order to find the best award deals) and round to the nearest .05 |
| Brex | 1.4 | 8% over standard airline mile value (based on the idea that you can transfer points to any of a number of programs in order to find the best award deals) and round to the nearest .05 |
The above RRVs assume that points are transferred to airline miles and used for medium to high value awards. If, instead, you pay with points for travel the redemption value will be lower.
Airline Miles
| Program | Reasonable Redemption Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Air Canada Aeroplan | 1.3 | Original calculation details here: What are airline miles worth? Update here: A big change to Frequent Miler’s point values. |
| Alaska MileagePlan | 1.3 | Original calculation details here: What are airline miles worth? Update here: A big change to Frequent Miler’s point values. |
| American AAdvantage | 1.3 | Original calculation details here: What are airline miles worth? Update here: A big change to Frequent Miler’s point values. |
| Avianca LifeMiles | 1.3 | Original calculation details here: What are airline miles worth? Update here: A big change to Frequent Miler’s point values. |
| British Airways Avios | 1.09 | Original calculation details here: What are oddball airline miles worth? Update here: A big change to Frequent Miler’s point values. |
| Cathay Pacific Asia Mies | 1.09 | Original calculation details here: What are oddball airline miles worth? Update here: A big change to Frequent Miler’s point values. |
| Delta SkyMiles | 1.3 (or 1.5 for cardholders) |
See: What are Delta miles worth? |
| Frontier Bonus Miles | 0.95 | Original calculation details here: What are oddball airline miles worth? Update here: A big change to Frequent Miler’s point values. |
| Hawaiian Miles | 0.75 | Original calculation details here: What are oddball airline miles worth? Update here: A big change to Frequent Miler’s point values. |
| JetBlue TrueBlue | 1.33 | Original: What are JetBlue TrueBlue points worth? Update here: A big change to Frequent Miler’s point values. |
| Korean SkyPass | 1.3 | Original calculation details here: What are airline miles worth? Update here: A big change to Frequent Miler’s point values. |
| LATAM Pass | 0.62 | Original calculation details here: What are oddball airline miles worth? Update here: A big change to Frequent Miler’s point values. |
| Miles & More (Lufthansa) | 1.3 | Original calculation details here: What are oddball airline miles worth? Update here: A big change to Frequent Miler’s point values. |
| Southwest Rapid Rewards | 1.4 | The new true value of Southwest points, 2018 edition. New: reduced by 7% to account for not earning miles on award flights. |
| United MileagePlus | 1.3 | Original calculation details here: What are oddball airline miles worth? Update here: A big change to Frequent Miler’s point values. |
| Virgin Atlantic Flying Club | 1.3 | Original calculation details here: What are oddball airline miles worth? Update here: A big change to Frequent Miler’s point values. |
Hotel Points
| Program | Reasonable Redemption Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Best Western Rewards | 0.54 | See: What are Best Western points worth? (5/17/21) |
| Choice Privileges | 0.68 | See: What are Choice points worth? (5/10/21) |
| Expedia+ | 0.71 | 3500 points = $25 hotel coupon = .71 cents per point |
| Hilton Honors | 0.48 | See: What are Hilton points worth? (12/8/22) |
| Hyatt | 2.10 | See: What are Hyatt points worth? (12/7/22) |
| IHG Rewards Club | 0.63 | See: What are IHG points worth? (12/24/22) |
| Marriott Rewards | 0.80 | See: What are Marriott Bonvoy points worth? (4/7/23) |
| Radisson Rewards | 0.34 | See: What are Radisson Hotels Americas points worth? (6/21/21) |
| Wyndham Rewards | 0.88 | See: What are Wyndham points worth? (3/7/23) |
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).
| 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 | $252 | 15K points (based on standard pricing rather than peak) multiplied by Hyatt RRV ($0.021) multiplied by a fudge factor (0.8). |
| Hyatt Cat 1-7 | $504 | 30K points (based on standard pricing rather than peak) multiplied by Hyatt RRV ($0.021) multiplied by a fudge factor (0.8). |
| IHG 40K | $214 | 40K points multiplied by IHG RRV ($0.0063) multiplied by a fudge factor (0.85) |
| Marriott 35K | $224 | 35K points multiplied by Marriott RRV ($0.008) multiplied by a fudge factor (0.8) |
| Marriott 50K | $320 | 50K points multiplied by Marriott RRV ($0.008) multiplied by a fudge factor (0.8) |
| Marriott 85K | $544 | 85K points multiplied by Marriott RRV ($0.008) 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. |
[…] miles. I earned 5,000 base miles, plus a 150% bonus (7,500 miles) for a total of 12,500 miles. We value the redemption of Alaska miles at 1.3 cents each, so for each of these $200 flights, I got back ~$162 worth of […]
[…] miles. I earned 5,000 base miles, plus a 150% bonus (7,500 miles) for a total of 12,500 miles. We value the redemption of Alaska miles at 1.3 cents each, so for each of these $200 flights, I got back ~$162 worth of […]
[…] estimons le remboursement moyen de Points-récompenses d’adhésion à 1,55 cents chacun. Si nous tenons compte du crédit de relevé de 200 $ à 80 % de sa valeur […]
Just a question…why do you value AMEX points more than the other ones? I’ve found Amex to be the worst transferable currency of all. Delta is the only domestic carrier and most of their other partners are in the other programs. All of their big MR cards carry high AF with coupon books in order to get the value back. Plus they have a “Once in a Lifetime Rule” so once you got your initial Sign up bonus that’s it where you have tons more opportunities with say Chase or Citi.
Everyone always praises the Gold card with the 4X on dining and groceries…but I can get 5X back having 2 Citi Custom Cash cards. And by also having the Premier I can transfer to Wyndham for VACASA rentals or Turkish for economy domestic flights that far exceed value.
Chase and Bilt transfer to Hyatt and United which Amex doesn’t have. Cap One and Citi transfer to both Wyndham. And Turkish can be transferred from Bilt, Cap One, and Citi.
Amex may be the OG but the other have all caught up and actually passed them by IMO.
BTW. Love the work and everything you do for us enthusiasts. I’ve become addicted to your YouTube shows and articles.
Great question. Honestly, we made that decision about the relative value of the programs a long time ago. At that time, IIR, Citi didn’t offer any hotel transfer partners. And even Chase has gotten better with the addition of Aeroplan. It’s time for us to reassess this.
I agree with Greg that there are numerous reasons to reassess our RRVs, but to respond to a couple of your points:
First thought: I have never transferred a Chase, Citi, Capital One, or Amex point to a domestic carrier I don’t think….nor have I ever really considered it. The domestic US programs just rarely offer the best chance at outsized value — to me, having access to numerous foreign partner programs increases the odds of being able to use one of them to better value than the domestic programs the vast majority of the time (though I recognize that there can be exceptions and that the flexible cancellation policies of the domestic carriers now has an influence on value even in situations where their awards are priced higher than competitors with less flexible policies). At any rate, the number of domestic transfer partners has never really been a consideration for me in terms of the quality of a transferrable currency.
As a quick fact-check, I’ll note that Amex does transfer to other domestic programs: JetBlue (albeit at a poor ratio) and Hawaiian. Those two cases just further prove my point though in that most domestic programs aren’t your best option in most instances.
It’s a good point that the Amex Platinum and Amex Gold card have high annual fees. On the flip side, the no-annual-fee Blue Business Plus is all you need to transfer to partners and the card earns 2x everywhere on up to $50K in purchases per year (then 1x). With that card and an Everyday Preferred ($95 annual fee), depending on your spending patterns, I don’t think it would be terribly difficult to outpace what you’d earn with your choice of 3 Chase cards with a total annual fee of $95 (somewhat dependent on your spending categories and quantities). If you also had the Amex Green card ($150). I don’t think I’d say that “All of their big MR cards carry high AF with coupon books”. The Platinum and Gold card do, but there are 9 other cards that offer Membership Rewards welcome bonuses that I don’t think fit that characterization.
The Lifetime rule definitely stands out at first glance.
At second glance, I think you’re missing the forest for the trees there from several standpoints:
I would actually say that there is far more opportunity with Amex on a welcome bonus standpoint as a base point. When you also consider their frequent authorized user bonuses and common upgrade bonuses (which aren’t subject to lifetime language) and more generous referral bonuses (which can make a big difference in a 2-player household as you could get more points from referring Player 2 than you’d get for opening a Freedom Flex or Freedom Unlimited card welcome bonus), I think the scale is really heavily weighted towards far more opportunity to amass Amex points than any other currency on the market.
Your point that you’ll pay more in annual fees to amass those points is a good one, but I think the margin is so great as to largely wipe out the fee differences.
Absolutely sound strategy for a lot of people. The flip side to that is that you’ll only earn 5x on up to $12K in spend per year (versus up to $25K in spend on the Gold card) and you’ll have likely only earned a 20K welcome bonus on one of those Custom Cash cards and the other will likely have been product changed from something else. By contrast, a 90K + $200 welcome offer on the Gold card could be mentally spread out over a lot of purchases to meet or exceed the return on the Custom Cash strategy for quite a few years (or that current welcome offer certainly helps to mitigate the fee for a few years even if you don’t value the monthly credits.
Great programs that I love. If you make good use of these, awesome. Turkish in particular is obviously a favorite of mine. It’s been tougher than I’d like for me to take advantage of the domestic United sweet spot lately because they’ve been releasing so few seats to partners, but when they do it is awesome.
Wyndham can obviously be another high-value use. My counterpoint to that is that the Wyndham Earner Business card offers 8x at gas stations. That’s my main Wyndham point collector and it makes me fairly unlikely to need to transfer from Citi.
I love my Chase transfers to Hyatt (and would also happily transfer Bilt points to Hyatt). In fact, I like Hyatt enough that I can’t bring myself to transfer enough points to United to book an award for my family of four — not only do I not want to part with so many Chase or Bilt points for a non-Hyatt redemption, but neither do I also want to pay the additional margin that United charges for an award over what I’d pay via Avianca, Turkish, ANA, or Aeroplan (all of which offer better values in at least some instances). I know Amex doesn’t have Turkish. I wish they did! But they do have the rest of those — and Chase is missing both Avianca and ANA. Chase does have Aeroplan though — and similar to how I feel about United, I’d have a hard time transferring Chase points to Aeroplan when I can amass more Amex points relatively easily (and thus transfer those to Aeroplan) whereas it is harder for me to amass as many Chase points, so I like to save what I’ve got there for Hyatt.
All of that said, I think you’re going to love this weekend’s podcast :-). So wait at least until tomorrow afternoon to get angry at me :-).
Yeah I’ve been focusing all of my Chase Redemptions for Hyatt and use the Bilt as a combo for Hyatt/Turkish as needed. And Citi and Cap One as needed for Wyndham/Turkish.
I have the Wyndham Business for 8x gas purchases and 5x utilities, use the Custom Cash for 5% on Entertainment, AAA Daily Advantage for 5% Groceries and 3% Wholesale Clubs. US Bank Cash Plus for 5% Fast Food and Department Stores, an old Ducks Unlimited Card for 5% on Gas and Sporting Goods Stores, Target 5%, Lowes 5%, Discover and Freedom for 5% rotating categories, Amex Business for 4X Shipping. Use Chase/Bilt for dining at 3X, and Venture X for catch all 2X. Then like 7 hotel cards which are sock drawer cards. And 2 airline cards United/Allegiant as most of my paid flights are through them.
I’m getting 5% or better on most of my spend by with my current set up. Dining is the only big category I’m not but luckily Chase/Bilt points are so valuable for the non fast food restaurants.
My plan for my next card was going to be the Citi Premier for a 75k bonus which I will use for a year then probably product change to a Custom Cash for another 5X card that I make my primary restaurant card. Even without Premier you can still transfer to Wyndham 5:4 with Custom Cash effectively making it 4X still.
For me I’ve found most of my transfers have been Wyndham and Hyatt so it’s worked great for me so far. I’ve got 4 AMEX cards now (2 Marriott, Hilton, BCE) and planned on focusing on the MR cards for later in the game because of the “Lifetime Rule”. The Gold Card and Blue Business will definitely be among those….but don’t think I could get the value out of Platinum or could manufacture the spend needed for the other Business MR cards. If I had a blog or YouTube Channel like you I could definitely see the value with all of the referral and affiliate points you could earn!!! Maybe that should be my next move
Thanks for the feedback! Look forward to the show!
Loved the episode! Great to see CITI get some love.
I did also just see your episode about the ANA Around the World ticket so now I’m super excited to get me some AMEX points built up too 🙂
Greg,
Regarding hotel RRV calculations:
When you wrote in your IHG most recent RRV update:
“I identified the first three search results with standard award availability and a guest rating of 4 or better”
How many hotels did you have to skip over, for each hotel chain, that you would have otherwise included in the calculation, because there was cash booking availability but no standard award availability? That number would be useful to compare across hotel chains. I don’t think the RRV should be modified by this data, but it would be useful to see it reported (as a percentage) along side the RRV.
Great idea. Unfortunately I didn’t keep track of that information, but I don’t remember ever having to skip very many except for specific dates in specific locations. For example, I remember having to skip a number of Marriott hotels in Miami one time and so I expect that there was something happening there for the date I was looking at that caused all of the standard rooms to get gobbled up.
Every airline RVV source says “New: reduced by 7% to account for not earning miles on award flights.”
Thanks for the reminder about that. I’ve now updated the Source notes.
Chase UR points have to be worth more than Hyatt points. But now Hyatt is labeled at fully 40%(!) more than Chase points.
Seems to me like it’s not that the individual valuations are so ill conceived–I get what you are doing. But those are not modified in context of conversions and opportunity cost, and they should be.
No US Bank Altitude Reserve?
[…] this time it’s 145%. That takes the price per kilometer to 1.35 cents, proper over. our affordable redemption worth of 1.3 cents. That is within the low vary of gives now we have seen over the previous two years and it’s […]
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[…] Frequent Miler – IHG point = 0.6 cents […]
[…] Frequent Miler […]
Would it be possible to add ANA? I’d say that’s arguably the best AmEx transfer partner and a big part of why I’ve valued my MR points more in the 1.8-2 cpp range.
I’m really hoping I can make an ANA Business Class Round the World flight work. Will be tough to get the time off and award availability to make it happen, but that’s my dream redemption and I’m now keeping enough AmEx points banked to be able to pull the trigger if I can in the next 3ish years.
Edit: Also, seems a little odd to value Hyatt at 1.6 cpp and Chase at 1.55, given they transfer to Hyatt. Personally, I value UR points at about 1.6 cpp and MR points at about 2cpp, but then dock both around 10% (so roughly 1.5 cpp for UR and 1.8 cpp for MR) to account for the delayed gratification/time value of money compared to cash back, plus also the time and effort of redeeming them, compared to just getting cash back.
Would be great to get Bilt added to the transferable points chart.
[…] Bonvoy program, Marriott Rewards points were worth about 1.4 cents each. Currently, the guys at Frequent Miler value them at a shade over six-tenths of a cent. Once Marriott settles on a “conversion rate” going forward, we’ll know exactly what the […]
[…] two redemptions for a specific airline or hotel are exactly the same, the Frequent Miler blog has estimated cents per point values individuals can reasonably expect to receive from travel redemption… through these […]
[…] two redemptions for a specific airline or hotel are exactly the same, the Frequent Miler blog has estimated cents per point values individuals can reasonably expect to receive from travel redemption… through these […]
Nick and Greg: I have a question for you. Maybe you can address it on your next podcast. Both of you have recently written articles about sometimes choosing to earn cash back over miles, be it either by using the Bank of America card or the X1 card. I was surprised to read this because, even if a cash back card is used only for non-category spend (ie. the 2.6% BOA card), there are other points cards (like the Amex Blue Business Plus) that would provide a greater value at 2x, based on your reasonable redemption numbers. That makes me feel that, either you are not practicing what you preach, I am missing something, or you have special reasons for your choice of a cash redemption of apparently lower value. I’d love it if you could fill us in. For instance, why choose 3x or 4x on the X1 on dining spend, when the redemption value would be higher (according to your chart) using a points card that gives 2x-4x? Thanks for your comments!
Where is the love for KLM’s Flying Blue program? Why are they always missing from these lists?
Interesting to see how you value the points, but something’s not right when Chase is valued at 1.5 and Hyatt is at 1.6…
[…] 先ほどの例を使います。15,000ポイントがHyattポイントなら1.5セント（OMAAT）または1.6セント（FrequentMiler）←どのサイトを参考にするかで変動します。 […]
Shouldn’t Chase points be set to at least 1.6c/pt given that they are transferrable to Hyatt which is currently 1.6?
No. It isn’t surprising that you can get more than one and a half cents in value from some partners (indeed our reasonable redemption values are intentionally conservative and meant to be an expectation of how much you can reasonably get without a large amount of effort to cherry pick the best awards), but a single partner won’t work for everyone. For example, Hyatt has a pretty limited footprint. If they don’t have any hotels where you want to stay, Ultimate Rewards points aren’t worth 1.6 cents based on Hyatt’s valuation. You can reasonably expect to get one and a half cents or more in value from Chase points even if you don’t transfer to Hyatt. If you do transfer to Hyatt, you can reasonably expect to get even more value in the same way that you could reasonably expect to get more value yet if you transfer to Singapore and value a first class redemption on their flights.
Additionally, I think the average card holder is much more likely to redeem points for travel at one and a half cents per point through Chase than to transfer to any partner, so I think it makes sense to have the reasonable floor at that level.
[…] fans. The annual 7,500 point bonus is almost enough to offset the card’s $75 annual fee (at our Reasonable Redemption Value of 0.82 cents per point, 7,500 points is worth $61.50) and if you stay in Wyndham or Caesar’s properties often enough, […]
[…] 1MR=1.55セントと仮定すると（Frequent Milerのポイント価値を参考にしました） […]
I think the site has become very pro Capital One lately. I get there’s a lot going on there and all positive, but still…most of their transfer partners are less than 1:1 so why are they getting the same value as TYP?
I decided that they have enough 1 to 1 partners to be considered roughly equivalent.
Hey @Greg, Any chance the hotel RRV’s can be updated sometime, they are a bit behind..
Are there particular hotel chains you have in mind? I recently updated IHG and also reconfirmed Marriott
The premise that ““Regular” airline miles are those in which 25,000 miles can be redeemed for a US round trip domestic flight. AA, Alaska, Delta, United, and many other airline miles fit this profile.” seems in need of an update since these programs all use variable pricing now except for AS. Do they all need to be downgraded to “oddball mile” 1.09 status?
Also noticed Air France was missing.
Yeah unfortunately I need a new way to come up with RRVs for airlines with variable pricing
I think with variable pricing, airlines themselves are providing their estimate or RRVs. Lets say, we sample a large selection of routes for various time frames and compare cash prices to award prices and average them, could it not be reasonable way to estimate RRV?
Lets say, we pick 25 airports across the country, and find cash and award prices for best option between each pair of airports, 1 month away, 2 months away and 3 months away and average the value. If the airline does not offer last seat availability by any means, then we assign a large cost for the case when cash price is available, but award price is not.
This will also solve your problem for transferable currencies. For transferable currencies, while doing the above exercise, you take the best option across all transfer partners, and you have a dynamic way of estimating RRVs. You can alter the number of airports or number of time periods or even take number of stops into account into this algorithm.
[…] relevant now if you have the Amex Offer for +8 Membership Rewards points per dollar spent. Our Reasonable Redemption Values peg Membership Rewards points at 1.55c per point, meaning that using 1 Membership Rewards point and […]
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[…] So, that comes to 3.25 points per dollar if you spend exactly $20K, $40K, or $60K. With the Marriott Reasonable Redemption Value of 0.72 cents per point, that means that you can average 2.34% in rewards. That’s good, but not good enough for me […]
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[…] Base1X(0.7%)Dine2X(1.4%)Gas5X(3.5%)Grocery2X(1.4%)Brand5X(3.5%) […]
[…] possible to get better value from your points when redeeming them for free stays as we have their Reasonable Redemption Value (RRV) listed at 0.81cpp. Still, if you’re concerned about the 8,000+ points you earn from this […]
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[…] RRV: 0.72 […]
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[…] RRV: 0.65 […]
[…] the value of your points when used this way is only 0.6 cents per point. This is lower than our Reasonable Redemption Value of Marriott points which is currently 0.72 cents per point. This means that we believe that it is […]
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[…] maybe it could be stacked? It’s likely a moot point given the current travel landscape). Our Reasonable Redemption Values peg Membership Rewards points at 1.55c each, making this offer worth about $155 in points. Of […]
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[…] For years we have listed IHG points as being worth 0.57 cents each. This was based on the average redemption value reported in 2017 by a company that no longer exists (Pointimize). For details about point values for different programs (and how we think about them), see: Reasonable Redemption Values (RRVs). […]
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[…] This shows the Amex Gold Card’s standard dining credit benefit. The Gold card has not been enhanced for COVID-19. It continues to earn 4X at US Supermarkets (up to $25K in purchases, then 1x) and 4X at restaurants worldwide. For comparison, 4X Membership Rewards points is like a 6.2% rebate given the Reasonable Redemption Value of 1.55. […]
[…] For years we have listed Marriott points as being worth 0.72 cents each. This was based on the average redemption value reported in 2017 by a company that no longer exists (Pointimize). For details about point values for different programs (and how we think about them), see: Reasonable Redemption Values (RRVs). […]
[…] to half a cent per point compared to cash prices. This is not too surprising except that our Reasonable Redemption Value (RRV) for Hilton points has long been pegged at 0.45 cents per point. This roundup suggests that it may […]
[…] spending, the numbers above likely look pretty good: after all, those costs are well below the Reasonable Redemption Values of many different types of […]
Would it be possible to regularly update the RRVs, particularly in light of recent devaluations/program changes (United, Marriott, Hyatt, etc)?
[…] and income. That said, if you meet the criteria, this could be a pretty good deal. According to our Reasonable Redemption Values, 50,000 TrueBlue points are worth approximately $730. There are apparently regular referral offers […]
[…] to our Reasonable Redemption Values, we value Hyatt points at around 1.5c each, so the total return on a paid stay becomes decently […]
[…] 1X(1.33%)Dine2X(2.66%)Grocery2X(2.66%)Brand6X(7.98%) […]
[…] stays ought to trigger the full 150K bonus points. That’s potentially not a bad deal. Our Reasonable Redemption Values peg Radisson points at a value of 0.38c each (you can of course get more or less depending on how […]
[…] I wanted to compare the free night certificates and separate the standouts from the duds. I used Frequent Miler’s Reasonable Redemption Values (RRV) for the hotel point values. Some of these credit cards are available for new members, while some […]
[…] to be the theoretical best you can do. For the purpose of this blog, we’ll use 1.11 as the Reasonable Redemption Value for CNB points since $300 is close to the average for domestic […]
[…] Frequent Miler = .72 cents […]
[…] on the market, earning fifty-five points per dollar spent is pretty terrific. According to our Reasonable Redemption Values, Radisson points are worth around 0.38c each, making this return worth almost 21% back on paid […]
[…] account and saw that my 22,510 Amtrak Guest Rewards Points had expired. Oh no!! According to Frequent Miler’s Reasonable Redemption Values (RRVs) for Amtrak Guest Rewards Points, these points are worth between 2.5-2.9 cents each, so those 22,510 […]
[…] Frequent Miler .72 cents […]
[…] until August 24 which could be a better deal if you you’re planning any trips by rail. The Reasonable Redemption Value for Amtrak points is 2.56cpp, making a 7x rate worth 17.92%. The RRV for Avios on the other hand is […]
[…] means you’d be earning a total of 50x per dollar as you normally earn 10x base points. The Reasonable Redemption Value for Choice is 0.81cpp, so the RRV of this offer is 40.5%. That means it’s worth missing out on the 5-10% […]
[…] to 120K points pre-bonus for a total of 180K Radisson points for $840. That price is well above our Reasonable Redemption Value of 0.38c per point, and I wouldn’t be a buyer at this price, but if you have an immediate […]
[…] Cruise, this is an awesome return on spend. This morning, Greg wrote about our newly-updated Reasonable Redemption Values. Based on our newly-calibrated valuation, that puts this offer at a value of $348.75 if you have […]
[…] Reasonable Redemption Value for Hilton Honors points is 0.45c each. That means this sale is right about spot on with the value […]
[…] Base1X(1.33%)Dine2X(2.66%)Office2X(2.66%)Brand6X(7.98%) […]
[…] Reasonable Redemption Value for Hilton points is 0.45 cents each, meaning that even at the top end of this transfer bonus you […]
[…] booking with points you get 0.7 cents per point value. That’s hardly amazing (our current Reasonable Redemption Value for Marriott is nearly identical), but it’s far better than I had expected. Marriott had […]
[…] The Frequent Miler […]
[…] numbers”. She meant that the Freedom Unlimited card earns 1.5X everywhere, so with the Frequent Miler Reasonable Redemption Value (RRV) for Chase points at 1.82 (at the time), the Freedom Unlimited earns 1.5 x 1.82 = […]
[…] 0.625cpp of value from the points which isn’t terrible, but it’s less than their Reasonable Redemption Value. As Nick pointed out recently, you can get great value from Choice points, particularly in […]
[…] Frequent Miler – .72 cents each […]
[…] / Xbox gift cards, getting back 25,000 Membership Rewards points in a $1K purchase is terrific. Our Reasonable Redemption Values peg Membership Rewards at a value of 1.82c each, which would put this offer at around $455 in […]
[…] Aspire card would be earning a total of 44 Hilton points per dollar with this promo. Based on our Reasonable Redemption Value for Hilton points, that’s a return of nearly 20% in points (and that’s before the […]
[…] Hyatt points from the free night certificate, that equals 23,300 Hyatt points. According to Frequent Miler’s reasonable redemption value (RRV) table, Hyatt points are worth 1.74 cents per point (CPP). 23,300 Hyatt points x 1.74 CPP = $405.42 in […]
[…] Now, these fees are crazy high. About $45 in fees to each country (Canada, U.S., Honduras). If you are flying to Roatan from say Miami, fees will set you back $75. Again, still pricey, but cash ticket prices were $711 per person when we booked our flights! Yikes! Thus, we used 27,000 miles for a $574 flight (over a 2 cent redemption). Pretty good for American Airlines. […]
[…] Base1X(1.5%) […]
[…] Rewards Points you want to transfer. 10 Radisson Rewards Points = 1 airline mile. According to Frequent Miler’s Reasonable Redemption Values (RRV), 1 Radisson Reward Point is equal to 0.38 cents per point (CPP), which would make 1 airline mile […]
[…] Reasonable Redemption Values have American miles pegged at a value of 1.4c each. That value can of course vary depending on how […]
[…] Card, I would earn $73.33. So $73.33 cash back vs. 23,333 Radisson Rewards Points. According to Frequent Miler’s Reasonable Redemption Value table, Radisson Rewards Points are worth 0.38 cents per point, so 23,333 points is worth $88.67, or only […]
[…] that taxes are not incurred on award stays. 1.5 cents per point is surprisingly good since our Reasonable Redemption Value for Marriott pegs the points at just under 0.75 cents […]
[…] Hilton redemptions are going to be just under half a cent each in value (which is why our Reasonable Redemption RRV for Hilton points is 0.45c). However, I’m in Atlanta this weekend and I can’t believe […]
[…] based these days, it isn’t often you can find outsized value. Hilton Honors points are worth about 1/2 cent or less each when redeeming and that’s about it. With that said, how much do you think Amex valued […]
[…] Reasonable Redemption Values are based on the value you can reasonably expect to get for your points without too much effort at […]
[…] list a column with an approximate percentage equivalence for transferable currencies based on our Reasonable Redemption Values for each point. As an example, the ThankYou Premier earns 3x ThankYou points at gas stations. […]
[…] offer matches the best we’ve ever seen on the consumer version of this card. Based on our Reasonable Redemption Values of 1.82 cents for Membership Rewards, 100K points are worth about $1,820 — though you could […]
[…] offer matches the best we’ve ever seen on the consumer version of this card. Based on our Reasonable Redemption Values of 1.82 cents for Membership Rewards, 100K points are worth about $1,820 — though you could […]
[…] offer matches the best we’ve ever seen on the consumer version of this card. Based on our Reasonable Redemption Values of 1.82 cents for Membership Rewards, 100K points are worth about $1,820 — though you could […]
[…] on purchases through Exhale. That’s a total of 7,786 World of Hyatt points. Based on our Reasonable Redemption Values, World of Hyatt points are worth about 1.74c per point (you can of course get more or less value […]
[…] gotten outsized value from our points over the past year and I think we did better than the Reasonable Redemption Value on every award […]
[…] version of this offer looks particularly good to me. If you value Membership Rewards around our Reasonable Redemption Value of 1.82c each, this offer is worth around $100 back — though you can certainly get more value […]
[…] take my word for it. Three popular travel blogs place the value between .45-.6 cents each (Frequent Miler .45, OMAAT .5, and TPG .6). How much would it cost to obtain those […]
[…] prominent blogs state that UR are worth around between 1.7-2.0 cents each (One Mile at a Time 1.7, Frequent Miler 1.82, TPG 2.0). That suggests you could redeem between $1,360-1,600 in value from those points on […]
[…] Base5X(1.9%)Brand10X(3.8%) […]
[…] 20 Choice Privileges points per dollar is a pretty good return. According to our Reasonable Redemption Values, Choice points are worth around 0.81 cents each. Earning 20 points per dollar is worth somewhere […]
[…] and spin to win. I gave it a try and only won 200 points; that’s worth $1.62 based on their Reasonable Redemption Value which is still better than nothing. If you win 3,000 points, that’d be worth $24.30 which […]
[…] as Travel Codex and previously Pointimize provide the best routings for award trips. Sites like Frequent Miler provide point valuations as well. It looks like in addition to monetizing with the $29 annual fee they also use credit card […]
[…] as Travel Codex and previously Pointimize provide the best routings for award trips. Sites like Frequent Miler provide point valuations as well. It looks like in addition to monetizing with the $29 annual fee they also use credit card […]
[…] as Travel Codex and previously Pointimize provide the best routings for award trips. Sites like Frequent Miler provide point valuations as well. It looks like in addition to monetizing with the $29 annual fee they also use credit card […]
[…] to me and might even be enough to convince me to switch a stay to one of these properties. Our Reasonable Redemption Value for Membership Rewards points is 1.82 cents each, making the 5K points offer worth about $91 back […]
[…] Hilton night: 22,000 miles. While prices were really low, we decided to use our Hilton points. At $99, this is about .45 cents per point ($99/22,000) which is pretty standard for a Hilton redemption. […]
[…] to the trip. For those keeping score at home, that’s a value of 0.72 cents per point. Our Reasonable Redemption Value for Amex points, which it’s important to note is based on value you can reasonably expect to […]
[…] to our Reasonable Redemption Values, Hilton Honors points are worth around 0.45c each, making the return on 13x worth the equivalent of […]
[…] these lines or ships, but if you value Membership Rewards points, this is a very nice return. Our Reasonable Redemption Values pegs Membership Rewards at 1.82 cents each, meaning this offer is worth about $273 – though […]
[…] then calculate the value of each set of bonus points, I’ve used the Frequent Miler Reasonable Redemption Values for each […]
[…] Reasonable Redemption Value for Hilton points is 0.45 cents each, meaning that you can reasonably expect to get that much value […]
[…] still not a great deal. You’d be redeeming Membership Rewards on a 1cpp basis, whereas the Frequent Miler Reasonable Redemption Value is 1.82. That’s giving up a huge amount of […]
[…] these lines or ships, but if you value Membership Rewards points, this is a very nice return. Our Reasonable Redemption Values pegs Membership Rewards at 1.82 cents each, meaning this offer is worth about $273 – though […]
[…] you value United miles at our Reasonable Redemption Value of 1.4c each (See: Airline Miles are worth 1.4 cents each. A simplified approach to Reasonable […]
[…] ranked these based on overall point valuations using Frequent Milers’ Reasonable Redemption Valuations. Remember these are based on averages and that you should plug in your own evaluations since […]
[…] it offers 7,500 points every year at anniversary. According to our Reasonable Redemption Values, that’s worth about $112.50, though it can be worth as much as $143 depending on the […]
[…] a great deal for your Hyatt points as they can often be worth more toward paid stays. In fact, our Reasonable Redemption Values has the median value of Hyatt points at 1.74 cents each when used towards hotel […]
[…] The terms note that it is not valid for e-gift card purchases, though you should be able to buy gift cards in-store. Clearly, the Membership Rewards version of the offer is much stronger if you value Membership Rewards points at anything above $0.01 each (we value them at 1.82 cents each according to our Reasonable Redemption Values). […]
[…] you have a stay planned at a Four Seasons, this is an excellent offer. According to our Reasonable Redemption Values, 15K Membership Rewards points are worth around $273. That said, you could certainly get a lot more […]
[…] in August, the various Marriott and SPG cards will offer 6x on Marriott spend. According to our Reasonable Redemption Values, Marriott points are worth about 0.72 cents each. That makes earnings of 6x comaprable to about a […]
[…] on the Reasonable Redemption Value of 0.38 cpp for Radisson Rewards, that equals a return of 20.9%. It’s possible to get far […]
[…] Cruise. Assuming you value Membership Rewards at more than 1c each (and you should — our Reasonable Redemption Values has them pegged at 1.82c each), the Membership Rewards version of this offer is much stronger […]
[…] of this card, but this is the best we’ve seen on the business version. According to our Reasonable Redemption Values, TrueBlue points are worth around 1.46 cents each, making the signup bonus worth somewhere around […]
[…] to our Reasonable Redemption Values, that’s worth a median value of $3,480. Of course, the suite I showed above at the Park Hyatt […]
[…] on right now), which would translate to 1.67c per United mile. While that’s more than our Reasonable Redemption Value for United miles, it’s certainly possible to get more value than that out of your miles. As […]
[…] though be aware that it takes a large purchase to snag that low rate. That’s higher than our Reasonable Redemption Value for American Airlines miles, though it is certainly possible to redeem miles for greater value with […]
[…] an offer for 2,000 Membership Rewards points rather than $20 (a better deal in my opinion since our Reasonable Redemption Value for MR points puts the points at a significantly higher […]
[…] 10 points per dollar spent on IHG stays (5 at Staybridge Suites & Candlewood Suites). With a Reasonable Redemption Value (RRV) of 0.57cpp (cents per point), that works out at a 5.7% return. If they credited those stays to […]
[…] to our Reasonable Redemption Values, Membership Rewards are worth around 1.82 cents each (though you could certainly get more value […]
[…] Reasonable Redemption Values pegs most airline miles, including American Airlines miles, at 1.4 cents each (For more on why we […]
[…] SPG points. At a value of about 2.19 cents per point, it’s ever so slightly higher than our Reasonable Redemption Value for SPG points (2.16 cents per point) — meaning it’s certainly reasonable, but not […]
[…] them out for $0.01 each, but are much more valuable if transferred to partners strategically. Our Reasonable Redemption Value for Ultimate Rewards points is 1.82 cents each, meaning that you can reasonably expect to redeem […]
[…] snoozer. The 2,000 points per stay (starting with stay #2) are worth about $14.40 according to our Reasonable Redemption Values – and since that only begins with your second stay, your average return per stay drops from […]
[…] 1.5x Hyatt points isn’t a bad rate of return. According to our Reasonable Redemption Values, Hyatt points are worth about 1.74 cents each when used towards Hyatt stays. That makes the return […]
[…] be earning less – just 2 Marriott Rewards points per dollar on unbonused spend. Since our Reasonable Redemption Value for Marriott Rewards points is only 0.72 cents per point, it won’t make sense to put […]
[…] 1pm Eastern time today (Wednesday, April 11th, 2018). That’s actually a bit higher than our Reasonable Redemption Value for IHG points (0.57 cents per point), meaning that you should only get in on this if you have a […]
[…] of those packaes are well below our Reasonable Redemption Value of 0.81 cents for Choice points (based on the Hotel Hustle median observed value in November […]
[…] include free breakfast and some of the Nordic Choice brands also include a free evening meal. Our Reasonable Redemption Value for Choice points is 0.81 cents per point, though it’s often easy to do better in […]
[…] up front, you coudl trigger that Amex Offer for 5,000 Membership Rewards points. According to our Reasonable Redemption Value of 1.82c for Membership Rewards points, that’s worth about another $91. That’s not […]
[…] (10x). This means that $30,000 in spending yields 150,000 Club Carlson points. According to our Reasonable Redemption Values, which are based on the Pointimize Median Observed Values of 11/14/17, Club Carlson / Radisson […]
[…] to our Reasonable Redemption Values, JetBlue TrueBlue points are worth about 1.46 cents each toward airfare. With this transfer bonus, […]
[…] the Membership Rewards offer and value those points beyond 1c each, that’s even better. Our Reasonable Redemption Value for Membership Rewards points is 1.82c each, and you can certainly get more than that with the […]
[…] at least a portion in Membership Rewards points. As you only get a value of 1 cent per point (our Reasonable Redemption Value of Membership Rewards points is 1.82c), it would only make sense to use 1 Membership Rewards point […]
[…] La Quinta stay is potentially a good return, especially for one night stays. Frequent Miler’s Reasonable Redemption Value for Amtrak Guest Rewards points is 2.9 cents per point (cpp), making 1,000 points worth […]
[…] other promotions you’re able to find and stack) is an excellent return. According to our Reasonable Redemption Values, Membership Rewards points are worth about 1.82 cents per point (though you could clearly do much […]
[…] to our Reasonable Redemption Values, JetBlue TrueBlue points are worth about 1.46 cents per point, though this value does vary […]
[…] as good a bonus as we’ve ever seen on the personal Platinum card. Based on our Reasonable Redemption Values, 100K Membership Rewards points are worth somewhere around $1,820 — though you could […]
[…] After applying the VDAY150 coupon code, the total came down $150 to $587.35 — a real-world savings of $137.04 — and note that the trip earns 3,771 TrueBlue points — worth about $55 according to our Reasonable Redemption Values. […]
[…] points per night (or 8,334 Starpoints converted to Marriott at 1:3), that’s well above our Reasonable Redemption Value for Marriott points. If you’re able to book a 5-night stay for 100K Marriott points (33,334 […]
Our approach to valuing most airline miles at 1.4 cents is outlined here:
https://frequentmiler.com/2016/12/02/airline-miles-worth-1-4-cents-simplified-approach-reasonable-redemption-values/
Our approach to valuing oddball miles is here:
https://frequentmiler.com/oddball-airline-miles-worth/
In the case of the former (the more “standard” 1.4c-value miles), the point in having a “Reasonable redemption value” is to standardize what you can reasonably expect. You certainly *can* get much more value out of them. The value in having a transferable currency is that you have the power to cherry-pick for a better-than-average redemption by choosing the partner with the best value. Therefore, it’s reasonable to expect that you can do better. Furthermore, if you only hold airline miles in Airline A, but Airline A and its partners do not fly to Airport Y (where you need to go), you’re out of luck. Having a transferable currency gives you the option to transfer to Airline B and take advantage of a different set of partners that do fly to Airport Y — so, again, the flexibility of the points adds value.
In the case of some points, you can also get great value with hotels — like Hyatt (from Ultimate Rewards) and SPG. In the case of SPG, you can often get well over 2 cents per point with SPG hotels, and you also have the ability to transfer to Marriott and get 3 Marriott rewards points for every 1 SPG point. Since Marriott points generally give you .72 cents per point in value, it makes sens to value 1 Starpoint at 3x that valuation.
Does that help give you some clarity?
If flexible point main strength is transferring them to airlines and if airlines miles (according to your own valuations above) are worth 1.4 to 1.6 then how come you evaluate the various flexible currencies at 1.82??! I wonder…
[…] FrequentMiler and TPG have monthly valuations that tell you what each point are worth. They update them as things changes, as transfer partners are added, as the rules of redemptions are changed etc. The question is should we abide by these valuations? […]
I’m a newbie and rather than complain about some perceived esoteric valuation difference, I want to thank you for doing ALL the heavy lifting for guys like me. I had a vague idea what these things were worth but I would never have done the in-depth analysis you have. And come on, folks, it’s FREE to us! I am very grateful to you for all the work you continue to do.
My wife and I do our part by always using Business Saver mileage seats to visit exotic lands – i can’t find a better, more valuable use for our miles.
Thank you!
Shouldn’t Starwood be valued as if it were a Transferable Point program given all the airlines that it transfers to at 1 Starwood to 1.25 Airline Miles, assuming trasferring in multiples of 20,000? And shouldn’t that make Starwood worth 1.25 as much as UR and MR?
That would also increase the value of Marriot to 1/3 the vale of Starwood.
That’s a good point. Given that the two calculation options come up with similar numbers vs. 2.28 and 2.16, I opted for the more conservative value: 2.16. It is reasonable to get 2.28 cents per point value or better when transferring to airline miles; and it is reasonable to get 2.16 cents per point value or better when transferring to Marriott.
Alaska and all the shitty US airlines at the same price.
No comprendo.
[…] get a nice rebate here even if you’re not looking for something from Staples. Based on our Reasonable Redemption Values, 2K Membership Rewards points are worth about $36, making this […]
[…] enough deal. However, I’d prefer 11,500 Membership Rewards points in this spot. Based on our Reasonable Redemption Values, those are worth north of $200 — though you can certainly get more value by putting them […]
[…] to use more points than that as you’re only getting 1 cent per point in value (well below our Reasonable Redemption Value of 1.82 cents per point). Note that this promotion is not for paying with Discover or Citi points […]
[…] isn’t a great deal. According to our Reasonable Redemption Values, Amex Membership Rewards points are worth around 1.82 cents each, yet Hilton Honors points are […]
[…] to our Reasonable Redemption Values, British Airways Avios are only worth about 1.17 cents each. Based on that value and these rates, […]
[…] way, this looks like a good bonus. According to our Reasonable Redemption Values, Club Carlson points are worth about 0.36 cents per point (though you can certainly do better at […]
[…] looking at a cruise with Crystal Cruises, this would be an awesome rebate. According to our Reasonable Redemption Values, 25K Membership Rewards points is worth about $455 — though you can certainly get more value […]
[…] First, Starpoints are significantly more valuable than Hilton points — according to our Reasonable Redemption Values, the 10K total possible bonus is worth about $208, though you can certainly get a lot more value […]
I’ve read that the Go Far points from Wells Fargo can be redeemed for 1.5 cpp when using their portal to book airfare. However, when I tried it today, it seems that airfare and hotels are charging 1 cpp. I know I can redeem for 1 cpp directly into my Wells Fargo checking or savings account, so I do not see any reason to ever use their travel portal. Might I be doing something wrong?
I don’t have any experience with that program so I couldn’t say
You need the visa signature card to redeem it at higher value
[…] points are worth about 0.4 cents per point (under half a cent per point) according to our Reasonable Redemption Values. That makes 10,000 points worth about $40. While that’s not as good as the bonus for adding […]
[…] offer requires hefty spend, but the signup bonus is very valuable. Our Reasonable Redemption Value of 1.82 cents per point pegs the value of the bonus at $2,730. However, you can easily get well […]
[…] cards in my family. It’s worth logging in to see if you are targeted. According to our Reasonable Redemption Values, Membership Rewards points should be worth about 1.82 cents each on average — meaning that 5X […]
I’ve updated CNB points. The new RRV is 1.25 (up from 1.18 previously). Thanks to Michael Bodaken I ran a number of scenarios and found 1.25 cents per point in almost all cases.
[…] annual fee). Both automatically give you 40,000 points each year when you renew. At the current Reasonable Redemption Value of .36 cents per point, that works out to $144 of travel value. I keep the cards because I […]
[…] and income. That said, if you meet the criteria, this could be a pretty good deal. According to our Reasonable Redemption Values, 50,000 TrueBlue points are worth approximately $730. There are apparently regular referral offers […]
I have found that CNB air rewards, secured through the CNB Crystal Visa Infinite card are much less than the advertised airline rewards for the same flights and/or the reasonable cost of the flight. In general, from my home base of Washington DC, flying any real distance to another city, I will use, for example, 67000 or 81,000 points for a roundtrip business class ticket that would cost more than twice that much in dollars and most typically over 100,000 airline points (comparing United and/or American airlines typically). Note: this does not work for foreign flights. ONLY domestic.
Can you give me a specific example that I can look at? I just tried a bunch of flight examples domestic and international, coach and business, and I found that CNB point values were almost always around 1.25 cents per point. That’s better than I had seen previously but not as high as it sounds like you’ve seen.
[…] or mattress could end up with a nice rebate in terms of Membership Rewards points. According to our Reasonable Redemption Values, Membership Rewards points are worth 1.82 cents a piece, though we know that some people can get 2 […]
[…] current Reasonable Redemption Value for Choice points is .67 cents each, so the ability to buy points for around .45 cents each is […]
[…] current Reasonable Redemption Value for IHG points is .54 cents, so this isn’t really much of a deal. There’s no guarantee […]
Greg,
Shouldn’t Bank Points (AMEX, CITI, CHASE) be worth at maximum the value of the most valuable transfer partner? I understand the ability to transfer to multiple partners some may value more than just transfer to one partner, but I fail to see how you can justify valuing a bank point at something more than the most valuable redemption.
My $0.02
I would agree with you if point values are fixed, but Keep in mind that the RRVs for the various transfer partners are just estimates. Reality is that actual redemption values range from much lower to much higher. With hotels, for example, the RRV is the median observed value via the Hotel Hustle web site. That means that half of those who used Hotel Hustle found hotels with better redemption values.
When you have transferable points, you have a much wider selection of better redemption opportunities and my belief is that a rational person will take advantage of that to consistently get better values.
[…] Southwest points = $1,836 Based on our Reasonable Redemption Values, 1 Southwest point is worth about 1.6 cents towards Wanna Get Away fares, but Greg has since […]
[…] SkyMiles are currently offering 15 miles per dollar at eBags. According to Frequent Miler’s Reasonable Redemption Values, at 1.4 cents per mile, Delta SkyMiles are worth a bit more than the Avios. Buying the above bag, […]
[…] earn 2,400 miles in addition to your normal credit card earnings. Based on Frequent Miler’s Reasonable Redemption Values chart, that is worth about $33.60 — a return of about 9.6%. That is a pretty good return for […]
[…] to Frequent Miler’s Reasonable Redemption Values, JetBlue points are worth about 1.46 cents per point (this does vary a bit; check your preferred […]
[…] point valuations equally tedious and tenuous. Don’t get me wrong — I like having the reasonable redemption values as a benchmark. I find those values most useful for recognizing when a redemption is clearly […]
[…] rewards card, though, those points can be transferred to many different airlines. My current reasonable redemption value for Membership Rewards points is 1.82 cents per point. That means that if you use your points […]
[…] seemed like a way to get great value out of my points. After all, based on Frequent Miler’s reasonable redemption values, 7500 Marriott points is worth ~$51. Getting a $210 room for those points seems like a steal. But […]
For what it’s worth, I think 30% is just about perfect. To say there should be no increase in valuation due to flexibility is nuts. If I offer you 50000 AA miles or the same # of chase points, the vast majority will choose the latter because it gives them lots of options. Even if you know you want to use them for a trip from A to B, the chase points will let you look at lots of options and choose the one with available seats (or better flight times) before you transfer the points.
Thanks! I would still prefer a more logic based approach. 30% is arbitrary and doesn’t account for differential value of, for example, Ultimate Rewards over Citi ThankYou. But I haven’t thought of a good option for capturing that.
There is something I do not understand – if flexible points can be transferred to airline loyalty programs at a ration of 1:1 and if most airlines points are worth 1.4 cents a point, then how come the flexible point is valued at 1.82 cents a point?
I don’t have a great answer for this. The basic idea is that transferable points give you many more ways to get award flights, so it is reasonable to assume that one could find opportunities for higher value awards. I basically just inflated these by 30%. I’m hoping to find a better way to estimate transferable points, but that’s what I’ve got for now!
Makes little sense to value flexible currencies like that. The usual problem (which I think is far and away the most common) I encounter is lack of finding reasonable redemptions due to lack of seat availability. It’s rare as hen’s teeth to consistently find outsized value.
Also, I think it’s more appropriate to use average values from Hotel Hustle, not median values.
Transferable points should help because you can then search for award space on all alliances rather than just within one.
Why do you think mean values are more appropriate? When using the mean, large outliers will pull the values up.
Makes no sense to me to inflate transferable points by 30%. In fact, I will go as far as to say the value of transferable points equals the value of the partner where points will be transferred into and the value of the flexible points cannot exceed the value of its highest transfer partner. Makes no sense to value UR points at 1.82 cpp when 1.70cpp (Hyatt) is based on your calculations the highest possible redemption value. Someone who collects UR points for the sole purpose of booking Southwest flight will always get 1.6cpp value whether they hold points in the form or UR points or Southwest Points. Saying the points are worth 1.82cpp makes no sense at all because it cannot be redeemed at that value.
That assumes that all of the transfer partners have fixed redemption values (like Southwest). Most are highly variable. Transferable points give you the ability to pick the program that gives you the best value for a given situation. I agree that 30% is an arbitrary amount, but I disagree with the assertion that transferable points are no more valuable than a single program that they can transfer to.
The problem is you are talking about two different things: RRV is what you can “reasonably redeem” for — if transfer partners tend to be 1.4 then the flex currency RRV will be 1.4. The “value” of flex currencies will obviously be higher than the fixed currencies but the value of fixed currencies will be below the RRV (if I can redeem for 1.4 then I certainly value them less than 1.4 due to time value, devals, etc.).
tl;dr: flexcurrency RRV should be 1.4, value of any currency is < RRV
That’s not how I see it. With a single currency like UA miles we have argued that it is reasonable to get 1.4 cents per mile value, or better. With Ultimate Rewards points (which transfer to UA, Hyatt, and more), the pool of available awards which are worth more than 1.4 cents per point is much higher. Therefore it is reasonable to expect to get higher than 1.4 cents per point value because there are so many more high value awards available to you.
Fairmont points should really be worth 1.0 because they can be redeemed for giftcards (Amazon and other retailers) for 1.0 in 2500 point increments.
Thanks! Updated.