Credit cards, airlines, and hotels don’t give out their own point and mile valuations, so, unfortunately, there are no official answers on what points and miles are actually worth. Therefore, it’s up to you to make your own conclusions on that value. However, we’re here to help.
Many factors come into play when determining this metric. Below are questions you should ask yourself when evaluating the value of points and what we’ve taken 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 2022 Points and Miles Valuations
Flexible Points Programs
| Flexible Point Program |
December 2021 Value (cents/point) |
January 2022 Value (cents/point) |
Value of 50,000 / 100,000 Points |
| Amex Membership Rewards Points |
2.2 |
2.2 |
$1,100 / $2,200 |
| Bank of America Preferred Rewards |
1.0 |
1.0 |
$500 / $1,000 |
| Barclaycard Arrival Miles |
1.0 |
1.0 |
$500 / $1,000 |
| Bilt Rewards |
1.5 |
1.5 |
$750 / $1,500 |
| Brex Rewards |
1.5 |
1.5 |
$750 / $1,500 |
| Capital One |
1.8 |
1.8 |
$900 / $1,800 |
| Chase Ultimate Rewards Points |
2.0 |
2.0 |
$1,000 / $2,000 |
| Citi ThankYou Rewards Points |
1.6 |
1.6 |
$800 / $1,600 |
| Diners Club Rewards Points |
2.0 |
2.0 |
$1,000 / $2,000 |
Hot Tip: Use our dedicated transfer partner tool calculator to review transfer ratios, times, and bonuses for all major flexible point programs.
Airline Loyalty Programs
| Airline Loyalty Program |
December 2021 Value (cents/point) |
January 2022 Value (cents/point) |
Value of 50,000 / 100,000 Points |
| Air Canada Aeroplan Points |
1.5 |
1.5 |
$750 / $1,500 |
| Air France/KLM Flying Blue Miles |
1.3 |
1.3 |
$650 / $1,300 |
| Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan Miles |
1.8 |
1.8 |
$900 / $1,800 |
| American Airlines AAdvantage Miles |
1.4 |
1.4 |
$700 / $1,400 |
| All Nippon Airways (ANA) Mileage Club Miles |
1.4 |
1.4 |
$700 / $1,400 |
| Asiana Airlines Asiana Club Miles |
1.6 |
1.6 |
$800 / $1,600 |
| Avianca Airlines LifeMiles |
1.4 |
1.4 |
$700 / $1,400 |
| Breeze Airways BreezePoints |
1.0 |
1.0 |
$500 / $1,000 |
| British Airways Executive Club Avios |
1.25 |
1.25 |
$650 / $1,300 |
| Cathay Pacific Asia Miles |
1.3 |
1.3 |
$650 / $1,300 |
| Delta Air Lines SkyMiles |
1.0 |
1.0 |
$500 / $1,000 |
| Emirates Skywards Miles |
1.1 |
1.1 |
$550 / $1,100 |
| Etihad Airways Etihad Guest Miles |
1.4 |
1.4 |
$700 / $1,400 |
| Frontier Airlines FRONTIER Miles |
1.1 |
1.1 |
$550 / $1,100 |
| Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles |
0.9 |
0.9 |
$450 / $900 |
| JetBlue TrueBlue Miles |
1.3 |
1.3 |
$650 / $1,300 |
| Korean Air SKYPASS Miles |
1.6 |
1.6 |
$800 / $1,600 |
| Lufthansa Miles & More Miles |
1.3 |
1.3 |
$650 / $1,300 |
| Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Miles |
1.35 |
1.35 |
$675 / $1,350 |
| Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Points |
1.3 |
1.3 |
$650 / $1,300 |
| Spirit Airlines Free Spirit Points |
1.1 |
1.1 |
$550 / $1,100 |
| Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles Miles |
1.3 |
1.3 |
$650 / $1,300 |
| United Airlines MileagePlus Miles |
1.3 |
1.3 |
$650 / $1,300 |
| Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Virgin Points |
1.4 |
1.4 |
$700 / $1,400 |
Hotel Loyalty Programs
Upgraded Points’ Highest-Valued Points
Not all miles and points are created equal, so naturally, each category has its own winner with the highest valued points. Here’s why we ranked the highest valued points as such:
Transferable Points: American Express Membership Rewards Points
American Express Membership Rewards continues to be the king of transferable points. Amex partners with all alliances (SkyTeam, Star Alliance, and Oneworld), along with many non-alliance partners, so it’s easier to find award space compared to other transferable points. Some of Amex’s transfer partners include Qantas, Air Canada, and Emirates.
Airline Miles: Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan Miles
Alaska Airlines has the best of both worlds: a variety of partners and solid redemption rates. Some of Alaska’s Oneworld partners include American and Japan Airlines, and the airline’s non-alliance partners include Emirates, Korean Air, Singapore Airlines, and more. Redemption rates are lower than other partners across the board — for example, a one-way business class flight on Japan Airlines from the U.S. to Tokyo costs just 55,000 Mileage Plan miles.
Hotel Points: World of Hyatt Points
World of Hyatt has the most reasonable redemption rates of all the major hotel chains. Further, we’ve found that there are virtually no blackout dates and that all hotels are on a standard award chart, so you’ll 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, with some good news and some bad. Here is what made waves last month:
Easily the best promotion of last year, and arguably one of the best deals ever, was the ability to earn 240x American Airlines miles per dollar spent when donating to a specific charity through SimplyMiles with your linked Mastercard.
For those who are unaware, SimplyMiles is similar to Amex Offers in that you’ll receive offers to earn X number of miles per dollar when shopping with that merchant.
One particularly lucrative (now expired) offer allowed you to earn 240x miles per $1 for donations to Conservation International, effectively allowing you to purchase American Airlines miles at a price of 0.42 cents while donating to a good cause.
To illustrate how incredible of a deal that is, consider that purchasing the 70,000 miles needed to fly to the Maldives in Qatar Airways Qsuites would cost you just $292 — a ticket that usually retails for over $3,000!
Chase and Bank of America Launch New Credit Cards
Last month, Chase launched the Aeroplan card, which offers some interesting perks and benefits aside from what you might usually expect from a co-branded airline card.
For starters, breaking away from the traditional welcome bonus of a certain number of points, the new Aeroplan card offers 2 Welcome Flight Reward Certificates valid for up to 50,000 points each after spending $4,000 on the card in the first 3 months. Those that signed up for the card’s waitlist will also earn 10,000 Aeroplan bonus points and 10 eUpgrade certificates if they submit their application by February 15, 2022.
The card earns 3x points per $1 spent directly with Air Canada, at grocery stores, dining (including takeout and eligible delivery services), and 1x point per $1 on all other purchases. Plus you’ll earn 500 bonus points for every $2,000 spent in a calendar month (up to a maximum of 1,500 points per calendar month).
In terms of benefits, some of the top ones are:
- Automatic Aeroplan 25K elite status (and keep it by spending $15,000 on your card in a calendar year)
- Get a 1-level boost to your Aeroplan status by spending $50,000 on the card in a calendar year
- Free checked bag for the cardholder and up to 8 traveling companions on Air Canada flights
- Pay Yourself Back at 1.25 cents per point towards Air Canada flights
- Various travel protections
Chase had a big month as the bank also launched a new premium business credit card, the Ink Business Premier card, which is now its most expensive Ink-branded card with an annual fee of $195.
It offers a compelling welcome bonus of $1,000 in cash-back after spending $10,000 on purchases in the first 3 months of card membership.
With it, you’ll earn 5% cash-back on travel purchases made through the Chase travel portal, 2.5% cash-back on purchases of $5,000 or more, and 2% cash-back on all other purchases.
However, travel rewards aficionados will be saddened to learn that, while the Ink Business Premier card will earn Ultimate Rewards, you may not be able to combine these points with your other Ultimate Rewards-earning cards.
The Bank of America Premium Rewards Elite card is the credit issuer’s new premium travel rewards card that comes with a $550 annual fee.
You’ll receive a bonus of 50,000 points after you make at least $3,000 in purchases in the first 90 days of account opening, which is worth $600 when redeemed through the Bank of America Travel Rewards Center.
Earning rates on the card are a bit paltry at 2x points per $1 on travel and dining, and 1x point per $1 on all other purchases. However, these rates can be boosted quite considerably up to 3.5x and 2.625x, respectively, for those who are Preferred Rewards Platinum Honors members or higher.
The card also offers some solid benefits like:
- $300 annual statement credit for qualifying airline incidental fees
- Priority Pass Select membership
- $150 annual lifestyle credit towards rideshares, food delivery, streaming services, and fitness transactions at select merchants
- 20% discount when redeeming points through the Bank of America Travel Rewards Center
Last month, Delta made a real head-scratcher of a decision to not only remove elite qualifying mileage earning from its basic economy tickets, but also remove the ability to earn redeemable miles as well!
This change is effective for tickets purchased on December 9, 2021, onward, for flights departing on or after January 1, 2022.
Of course, most flyers that were purchasing basic economy tickets likely weren’t going for Delta Medallion status anyway, but not being able to earn redeemable miles for these tickets lowers the value proposition even further, and is the bedrock of how consumers interact with any loyalty program.
In fact, consider that basic economy tickets from the legacy airlines were originally introduced to compete with low-cost carriers on what is many travelers most important factor: fare price. Bet yet, even all of the low-cost carriers still offer flyers the opportunity to earn points within their respective programs.
This is now back-to-back months that Delta has been featured for unfriendly changes to its program, following its GUC devaluation in November 2021, but we just call it as we see it here at Upgraded Points!
New for 2022, and 2022 only, JetBlue has launched a new elite tier above Mosaic named Mosaic+.
The new elite tier comes with just 2 benefits: a FoundersCard Elite membership and 4 space-available Mint upgrade certificates.
These certificates are valid on all Mint routes except for flights to London, but what is strange is that they are only valid for segments purchased and flown between January 5, 2022, and December 31, 2022. Assuming you don’t qualify for Mosaic+ status until late in 2022, you might end up only having a few months in order to use these certificates.
In any case, since this status level is currently just valid for 1 year, this perhaps could be a preview of a more robust Mosaic+ (or further elite levels) set to launch in 2023 or beyond.
New Airline Route Changes
Here are the airlines that announced last month that they were adding, removing, or relaunching routes:
U.S. Airlines
International Airlines
Final Thoughts
While the value of points and miles can vary, you want to ensure you’re getting a 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. Given the number of Amex airline and hotel partners, these points are extremely flexible. Membership Rewards also offers good transfer rates with a ton of redemption options, ensuring you can get the most out of your points.
The information regarding the Ink Business Premier℠ Credit Card and Bank of America® Premium Rewards® Elite Credit Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
