What are points and miles worth?

There is no single set value for most points and miles programs. The valuation is entirely subjective and depends on what points are worth to you and how you plan to redeem them.

Why do Upgraded Points valuations change month to month?

Loyalty programs and the points or miles associated with them are constantly changing. Programs gain or lose transfer partners, change the miles required for a given route, or sometimes ditch their award charts altogether. When these things happen, certain programs’ miles or points can increase or decrease in usefulness.

Are points and miles the same thing?

The terms points and miles are used interchangeably, and it just depends on which term a given program calls its loyalty currency. Some loyalty programs refer to their currency as miles and others as points, but they have the same function.

How many points do you need for a free flight?

That depends entirely on the type of points you have and where you’re hoping to fly. Each airline loyalty program has its method for pricing redemptions. Some use an award chart where the number of miles needed for a certain flight route is predetermined. Others use revenue-based redemptions where the number of points needed for a free flight depends on how expensive the cash price of the ticket is.

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Travel Points and Miles Valuations: How Much Are They Actually Worth? [January 2026]

Updated: January 6, 2026, 3:37pm CST

Edited by:

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Table of Contents

Key Takeaways
Upgraded Points’ January 2026 Points and Miles Valuations
Upgraded Points’ Highest-Valued Points
Movers and News
Final Thoughts

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Key Takeaways

Points and miles valuations vary by program, with flexible points, such as Chase Ultimate Rewards and American Express Membership Rewards, often valued higher.
Alaska Airlines Atmos Rewards offers great redemption rates and many transfer partners.
World of Hyatt points offer reasonable redemption rates, with the majority of its hotels utilizing a standard award chart.

Credit cards, airlines, and hotels don’t publish points and miles valuations, so there are no official answers on what points and miles are worth. It’s up to you to draw your own conclusions about that value.

But we’re here to help.

Several factors contribute to determining this metric. Below are questions you should ask yourself when evaluating the value of points, and we’ve taken them all into account to create our point and mile valuations:

How valuable are these points?
How flexible are these points, and how many transfer partners are there?
What are your redemption options?
How much would you buy points and miles for?
What’s the average redemption value from 3 different bookings?
How abundant is award availability?

Upgraded Points’ January 2026 Points and Miles Valuations

Flexible Points Programs

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Flexible Point Program	January 2026 Value (cents/point)	Value of 50K Points	Value of 100K Points
American Express Membership Rewards Points	2.2	$1,100	$2,200
Bank of America Preferred Rewards Points	1.0	$500	$1,000
Barclaycard Arrival Miles	1.0	$500	$1,000
Bilt Rewards Points	2.0	$1,000	$2,000
Brex Rewards Points	1.0	$500	$1,000
Capital One Miles	1.8	$900	$1,800
Chase Ultimate Rewards Points	2.0	$1,000	$2,000
Citi ThankYou Rewards Points	1.6	$800	$1,600
Diners Club Rewards Points	2.0	$1,000	$2,000
Rove Miles	1.5	$750	$1,500
Wells Fargo Rewards Points	1.5	$750	$1,500

Hot Tip:

Utilizing transfer partners is the most effective way to achieve the value shown above. Use our dedicated transfer partner tool calculator to review transfer ratios, times, and bonuses for all major flexible point programs.

Airline Loyalty Programs

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Airline Loyalty Program	January 2026 Value (cents/point)	Value of 50K Points	Value of 100K Points
Aer Lingus AerClub Avios	1.25	$625	$1,250
Air Canada Aeroplan Points	1.5	$750	$1,500
Air France-KLM Flying Blue Miles	1.3	$650	$1,300
Alaska Airlines Atmos Rewards	1.6	$800	$1,600
American Airlines AAdvantage Miles	1.4	$700	$1,400
All Nippon Airways (ANA) Mileage Club Miles	1.4	$700	$1,400
Asiana Airlines Asiana Club Miles	1.6	$800	$1,600
Avianca Airlines Lifemiles	1.4	$700	$1,400
Breeze Airways Breezy Rewards	1.0	$500	$1,000
British Airways Club Avios	1.25	$625	$1,250
Cathay Pacific Cathay Asia Miles	1.3	$650	$1,300
Delta Air Lines SkyMiles	1.2	$600	$1,200
Emirates Skywards Miles	1.1	$550	$1,100
Etihad Airways Etihad Guest Miles	1.4	$700	$1,400
Frontier Airlines FRONTIER Miles	1.1	$550	$1,100
Club Iberia Plus Avios	1.25	$625	$1,250
JetBlue TrueBlue Points	1.3	$650	$1,300
Korean Air SKYPASS Miles	1.6	$800	$1,600
Lufthansa Miles & More Miles	1.3	$650	$1,300
Qatar Airways Privilege Club Avios	1.25	$625	$1,250
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Miles	1.35	$675	$1,350
Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Points	1.3	$650	$1,300
Spirit Airlines Free Spirit Points	1.1	$550	$1,100
Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles Miles	1.3	$650	$1,300
United Airlines MileagePlus Miles	1.2	$600	$1,200
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Virgin Points	1.4	$700	$1,400

Hotel Loyalty Programs

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Hotel Loyalty Program	January 2026 Value (cents/point)	Value of 50K Points	Value of 100K Points
ALL – Accor Live Limitless Reward Points	2.2	$1,100	$2,200
Best Western Rewards Points	0.6	$300	$600
Choice Privileges Points	0.6	$300	$600
Hilton Honors Points	0.5	$250	$500
IHG One Rewards Points	0.5	$250	$500
Marriott Bonvoy Points	0.7	$350	$700
Radisson Rewards Points	0.25	$125	$250
World of Hyatt Points	1.5	$750	$1,500
Wyndham Rewards Points	0.9	$450	$900

Upgraded Points’ Highest-Valued Points

Not all miles and points are created equal, so naturally, each category has its own winner with the most valued points. Here’s what we ranked as the highest-valued points and why:

Transferable Points: American Express Membership Rewards Points

American Express Membership Rewards remains the king of transferable points. Amex partners with all 3 major alliances (SkyTeam, Star Alliance, and Oneworld) and many nonalliance partners, so finding award space with them is easier than with other transferable points. Amex transfer partners include Qantas, Air Canada, and Emirates.

Hot Tip:

It is no secret that transferable points are our favorite rewards, thanks to their flexibility and the powerful redemptions they offer. If you’d like more information on the major transferable point currencies, we’ve compiled complete guides on how we value Amex Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Capital One Miles, Citi ThankYou Rewards, and Wells Fargo Rewards.

Airline Miles: Alaska Airlines Atmos Rewards Points

Alaska Airlines offers the best of both worlds: a diverse range of partners and competitive redemption rates. Some of Alaska’s Oneworld partners include American and Japan Airlines, and the airline’s non-alliance partners include Korean Air and Aer Lingus.

Hotel Points: World of Hyatt Points

World of Hyatt offers the most reasonable redemption rates among the major hotel chains. Further, we’ve found that there are virtually no blackout dates, and since Category 1 to 8 hotels are on a standard award chart, you always pay the same price for a room at any hotel. This allows you to explore fantastic Hyatt redemption opportunities, ensuring maximum value.

Movers and News

It was a busy month in the world of points and miles. Here is what made waves last month:

Capital One Confirms Emirates Transfers Will Be 25% Less Valuable in 2026

Planning to transfer your Capital One miles to Emirates Skywards? You’ll want to do so before January 13, 2026.

Presently, you can transfer Capital One miles to Skywards at a 1:1 ratio. However, that rate will drop this month. Starting on January 13, transfers will use a new, lower rate of 1,000:750 — or effectively 1:0.75. That’s just 75% of the value transfers fetch right now.

Chase Scales Back Points Boost Value at The Edit by Chase Travel Hotels

Earlier this year, Chase refreshed the Chase Sapphire Reserve^® and introduced Points Boost, a new redemption feature that replaced the card’s fixed 1.5 cents-per-point travel value. At launch, Chase guaranteed a 2-cents-per-point redemption rate for hotels in its The Edit by Chase Travel collection.

That guarantee has since been removed, and now Points Boost redemptions for The Edit hotels are displayed with “up to 2 cents per point” language, meaning travelers can no longer rely on a fixed value when using points for high-end hotel bookings. This means travelers might get less value than they’d originally planned for.

First Look at JetBlue’s First Airport Lounge, BlueHouse, at JFK

The first JetBlue BlueHouse lounge opened in December in Terminal 5 at JFK, JetBlue’s home terminal, across from gate 526. It’s open daily from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. Eastern time.

The 2-story, 9,000-square-foot space — smaller than comparable lounges from legacy carriers — was themed after what many consider the golden age of New York’s architectural style, with a main ceiling inspired by the Grand Central Terminal’s epic barrel-vault ceiling.

JetBlue’s local partners in the lounge include the East Village speakeasy bar Please Don’t Tell, catering goliath Union Square Events, Joe Coffee, and the Greats of Craft. Dishes on display during the media tour included a nicely tart matcha-chia pudding, fruit kebabs, and crudités in hummus. The airline hopes to expand the second floor in order to add a kitchen and offer hot food there at some point.

First Look Inside American Airlines’ New A321XLR

After a series of delays that set back American Airlines’ launch of its Airbus A321XLR, the fleet’s newest narrow-body aircraft has finally entered commercial service.

American‘s A321XLR is a 155-seat, narrow-body airplane with 3 cabins: Flagship Suites (AA’s answer to Delta One and United Polaris, which it first rolled out on its 787-9P Dreamliner in May), premium economy, and main cabin.

20 Flagship Suite Collins Aerospace Aurora seats are arranged in 10 rows with a 1-1 configuration.
12 premium economy Recaro R5 seats are arranged across 3 rows in a 2-2 configuration.
123 main cabin coach seats are arranged in 21 rows, featuring a 3-3 configuration.

First Look Inside the New Chase Sapphire Lounge in Las Vegas

Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) is officially home to a dazzling new Chase Sapphire Lounge located in Concourse C.

This lounge is open daily from 4:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Pacific Time. It’s located near gate C23, past TSA checkpoints at Terminal 1, which handles the majority of domestic flight departures from the Las Vegas airport.

This new Chase Sapphire Lounge will undoubtedly be a popular spot for domestic flyers departing from LAS, though at roughly 5,000 square feet, it may experience overcrowding. That said, this spot joins a competitive lineup that now includes the existing American Express Centurion Lounge and the recently opened Capital One Lounge, expanding options for travelers in Las Vegas.

Mesa Homeowners Card Abruptly Shuts Down Just 1 Year After Launch

The Mesa Homeowners Card, which allowed cardholders to earn rewards on mortgage payments with no annual fee, shut down in December without warning.

Mesa provided an updated FAQ on its website, answering some common questions. Points balances will be redeemed as statement credits automatically, used at 0.6 cents per point. Mesa has also confirmed that these accounts will be reported to the credit bureaus as “closed by issuer,” which could look negative on your credit report.

Cardholders can no longer earn points, and we have seen reports of cardholders attempting workarounds to send their points to Mesa’s transfer partners. This may not work for everyone.

New Opportunities To Purchase Points

If you need to boost your mileage balances but aren’t in the market for a new credit card, check out the latest point purchase promotions and discounts on our dedicated page, which we update regularly as new promotions launch.

New Loyalty Program Transfer Bonuses

Help stretch your points and miles even further by taking advantage of limited-time transfer bonuses. You can stay up to date with all of the latest bonuses on our monthly credit card and loyalty program transfer bonuses guide.

Final Thoughts

The value of points and miles can vary, but you should always ensure you get great value when redeeming those hard-earned points.

When it comes to flexible points, Amex Membership Rewards points are valued the highest on a cent-per-point basis. With many Amex airline and hotel partners, these points are highly flexible. Membership Rewards also offers competitive transfer rates with numerous redemption options, helping you maximize the value of your points.