Which Rewards Points And Miles Are Worth The Most?

It can be tough to shop for a reward credit card. Here's our list of which rewards points and miles are worth the most, to help make your decision easier.

It can be tough to shop for a rewards credit. Not only are there hundreds of cards offered by dozen of issuers, but with the exception of cash back cards, nearly all offer rewards in the form of points or miles.

But, some points or miles are worth more than others. Let's take a closer look.

Credit card rewards
American Express Membership Rewards

These points can be transferred to miles with 16 different frequent flyer programs including Singapore, Air Canada, British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and Delta.

When you redeem those miles for business class international awards, they can be worth as much as two-five  cents each.

Chase Ultimate Rewards
This program allows most cardholders to transfer their rewards to miles with nine frequent flyer programs, or four hotel programs.

Transfer partners include United, Southwest, British Airways, Korean, and Hyatt. When you redeem those miles for business class international awards, they can be worth as much as two-five cents each.

You can also redeem points for travel reservations booked directly with Chase, and Sapphire Reserve cardholders can redeem their points for 1.5 cents each towards travel. Sapphire preferred, Ink Plus, and Ink Preferred cardholders only receive 1.25 cents per point.

Citi Thankyou Points
These points can be transferred to miles with 15 different frequent flyer programs, but many of them offer little value. The better ones include Virgin Atlantic, Singapore, and Air France/KLM.

When you redeem those miles for business class international awards, they can be worth as much as two-five cents each.

Airline Miles
The value of your frequent flyer miles will depend on the kind of flights you redeem them on. Spend your miles on business class international flight or an expensive last minute flight, and you could get several cents in value from each mile.

But, when you use your miles for a shorter flight, or one that's highly discounted, then you might not even realize a penny per mile.

Here's a list of major airline miles, along with an estimation of their value:

American AAdvantage miles
These miles are typically worth one-two cents each towards domestic flights in economy or first class, and can sometimes be worth as much as two-four each towards last minute flights and international awards in business or first class.

The biggest problems with these miles is that American makes very few award seats available at their lowest mileage levels, but that has been improving lately.

United Airlines Mileage Plus
United's frequent flyer program is still very strong, as it has numerous international partners that you can redeem your miles for. When you have any United MileagePlus credit card from Chase, you also get access to additional economy award space at the Saver level, which can be very valuable.

When you're able to find Saver award space for domestic and international flights in Economy class, your miles can be worth about one-two cents each, similar to American. United Miles can be worth even more when you are able to use them for expensive last minute flights or flights in domestic first class, however United does have a $75 fee for booking flights within 21 days of departure (waived for elites and MileagePlus Club cardholders).

When you redeem your miles for United and partner flights in international business class, it's often possible to realize three-four cents in value per mile redeemed.

Southwest Rapid Rewards

Southwest is a different kind of airline, and its Rapid Rewards points are uniquely valuable for many purposes. Their points are worth about 1.5 cents each towards award flights in its lowest fare class, called “Wanna Get Away,”  but only about 1.1 cents for its “Anytime” fares and about 0.9 cents towards its most expensive “Business Select.”

But what makes these points so valuable is that they can be redeemed for any available seat, with no blackout dates or capacity controls.
Furthermore, Southwest award flights are fully changeable or refundable, with no fees. When you change a reservation, you’ll be charged the current price for the flight, which could require more points, but could also result in a refund of points if the price has gone down. On the other hand, Southwest doesn’t have a first class and doesn’t fly overseas, it only serves about 10 international destinations in Mexico and the Caribbean.

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan

Alaska miles can often be worth one-two cents each towards domestic flights in economy or first class, but potentially much more when redeeming them for partner award flights in business class.
Unfortunately, Alaska isn’t part of any of the major international airline alliances, but it offers award flights on a wide variety of partners including American, Air France, KLM, Japan Airlines, Qantas, Singapore and Korean. When you use your miles for business class awards on these partners, you can realize two-five cents in value per mile redeemed.

JetBlue True Blue

JetBlue’s points can be redeemed for any unsold seat, and you’ll usually receive about 1.1 -1.5 cents in value per point redeemed. It doesn’t offer the ability to redeem points on any of its partners yet, except Hawaiian.
Hotel points

There are a bunch of hotel-branded credit cards that can offer significant value if you’re a loyal customer to the brand. Here’s our list of the top credit card rewards programs for hotels.
Starwood and Marriott

The Starwood Preferred Guest program has perhaps the most valuable points of any airline or hotel. Points can be redeemed for free night stays at any unsold standard room, starting at just 3,000 points per night.
You get a fifth night free with a four night award. Also, points can be transferred to miles with over 30 different frequent flyer programs, with a 5,000 mile bonus when you transfer 20,000 points to miles.
Finally, Marriott has acquired Starwood, and points can be transferred between programs for no charge. One Starwood point is worth three Marriott points.
World of Hyatt

Hyatt is a smaller chain, but it’s points are quite valuable. Free night awards start at 5,000 points per night and can be up to 30,000 points. Generally, it’s common to receive 1.5-2.5 cents in value per point redeemed.
Hilton Honors

Hilton is a very large chain, but it’s points aren’t particularly valuable. Since award nights range from 30,000 to 100,000 points each, it’s common to only receive 0.3-0.6 cents per point redeemed, although Silver, Gold and Diamond elite members will receive every 5th night free on Standard Reward Stays of five consecutive nights or more.

On the other hand, it’s very easy to earn Hilton Honors points, with some credit cards offering as much as 14x points per dollar spent at Hilton properties.

Wyndham Rewards

Wyndham Rewards points can be very valuable, but only when redeemed for their most expensive properties. This is because all award nights are only 15,000 points per night, regardless of whether it’s for a roadside motel or a luxury condominium.
When you redeem your points for the most expensive properties, it’s possible to see three cents in value per point.

IHG® Rewards Club

A free night with these points is between 10,000 and 70,000 points, but there aren’t too many properties in North America that are under 30,000 points a night.

IHG® properties also impose capacity controls, so you’re often unable to redeem your points for free nights stays at popular locations and during peak travel periods. That’s why these points are rarely worth than about 0.5-0.7 cents each.