How do you calculate cents per point?

(Cash price minus award taxes and fees minus any cash back you give up) divided by the points needed, times 100.

What is a good cents per point value?

About 0.6 to 1.1 cents is a cash-out floor for flexible points. About 1.25 to 1.75 cents is a solid redemption. Headline valuations near 2 cents are optimistic.

Should I use points or pay cash?

Use points when the cents per point beats what a point is worth to you, and you would actually have paid that cash price. Otherwise pay cash and keep the points for a better redemption.

Points vs cash calculator: should you use points or pay cash?

Use points when (cash price − award fees − cash back you give up) ÷ points × 100 beats what a point is worth to you, usually 1.25 to 1.75 cents. Below about 1 cent, pay cash.

Use points

5.04cents per point

Each point is worth 5.04¢ here, well above the 1.25¢ you value it at.

Cash you save: $2,645
Points it would be worth at your value: $656
Worth spending up to: 211,600 pts

Check a real trip

How the math works

Value per point is what the award saves you, divided by the points it costs.

The formula

(Cash price − award taxes and fees − cash back you give up) ÷ points × 100 = cents per point.

What counts as good

Most flexible points cash out at about 0.6 to 1.1¢. About 1.25 to 1.75¢ is a solid redemption. Headline valuations near 2¢ are optimistic.

Would you pay that cash price?

A 5¢ redemption on a fare you'd never buy isn't really worth 5¢ to you. Value it against what you'd actually spend.

Time counts too

An award that adds 9 hours and a self-transfer can cost more than it saves. Points or Cash weighs both when it checks a real trip.

Skip the math next time

Tell Points or Cash the trip and your balances. It finds the award seats, the cash fare and the transfer, and runs this math for every option.

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