Why I Always Mix Cash With Points and Miles (With Methods To Keep Costs Low)

Anyone who’s spent time with me knows that I’m nearly always traveling. Although I live in the U.S., much of the time you can find me sprawling on a couch in some exotic Hyatt location, whining about my suite upgrades. While I realize that this lifestyle isn’t available for most, there are still takeaways from it that people should consider.

While I love the points and miles hobby, I firmly believe there’s a time and a place for redemptions — and an equal time and place for using real-life dollars. Let’s talk about it.

Points or Cash?

For many people, using points and miles enables them to take trips they otherwise wouldn’t. This can mean economy class flights to Europe, first class redemptions on Emirates, and everything in between.

While I spent years enjoying the aisle seat in row 52 as I jetted around the globe, those days have long gone. Sure, if it’s a domestic flight or takes less than 6 hours, I’ll squeeze in and queue up my Netflix. But anything long-haul? I’m going to look into flying while horizontal.

The same can be said for hotels: the more places I stay, the more I’m looking for better than just a clean bed.

Flights

Of course, ideally, I’m always going to use points for my flights. I’d dearly love to have an unlimited supply of miles that can be redeemed at will. Unfortunately, that’s not how the world works. There are a number of factors that impact whether or not I can use miles for a flight, including:

For some, it may be perfectly acceptable to only pick destinations and dates that have award seats available with the mileage program in which they have points — but this isn’t the case for me.

There have been plenty of times award availability didn’t work for me, like when I needed to get from Buenos Aires (EZE) to Ushuaia (USH) for my cruise to Antarctica. Flights down there are operated by a variety of carriers, including Aerolineas Argentinas, which is a member of SkyTeam. However, for my dates, there were no rates that made it possible to redeem points. So what did I do instead? I used cash.

Of course, I could have done something like redeem Capital One miles at a rate of 1 cent per mile as a statement credit to effectively erase the purchase and make it free, but that’s a terrible use of miles.

I’d much rather pay using a card such as The Platinum Card^® from American Express and earn 5x per $1 spent on flights booked directly with the airline or through AmexTravel.com (on up to $500,000 per year; then 1x points) while saving my Capital One miles for a better redemption.

The same can be said anytime I’m traveling when there isn’t award seat availability. If I can find a reasonably priced redemption and I have the points to do it and — critically — if it constitutes a good use of my points, I’ll redeem my miles. Otherwise, I’ll use cash. Even if it means my trip is not net zero.

Here’s an excellent example on a flight from San Francisco (SFO) down to San Diego (SAN):

Flying economy on this flight would cost me $114. Using my Amex Platinum card to pay would net me a capped 5x points per $1 spent and I’d also be earning my way to United MileagePlus elite status.

The award rate for this flight, meanwhile, costs 9,200 miles.

Redeeming my miles means I’d be paying virtually nothing out of pocket, but we value United miles at 1.3 cents each, which means I’d be using $119.60 worth of miles for this $114 flight. I’d also be missing out on those extra earnings from my credit card.

Hotels

I think it’s pretty easy to make the same argument for hotels as I do for airlines; namely that the hotel needs to have award space in order to get a redemption. Of course, you could always opt to redeem your points for atrocities such as Hilton Honors’ Premium Room Rewards where you can end up paying more than a million points per night for a room.

However, there are a few extra factors to consider when thinking about redeeming hotel points:

Let’s take an example from a trip I took in 2022 to Santorini, Greece. I was traveling during late August, which is just the beginning of the off-season. There aren’t a ton of options for those looking to redeem points in Santorini, and of the ones that are available, costs are absolutely exorbitant.

Sure, you can choose to redeem 120k Hilton Honors points per night for the Sea Breeze Santorini Beach Resort, Curio Collection by Hilton (on the 3% of dates when award space is available). You can also opt for one of the Hyatt choices on the island, including the new Magma Resort Santorini (which can cost as little as $250 per night but will charge you 25k points per night).

But there are so many more options if you’re willing to look away from chain hotels. Rather than sticking with these limited options, I wandered over to Travelzoo where a 3-night voucher for a suite cost me just $798 and included breakfast:

Vouchers like this have the added benefit of flexibility. If I were wholly reliant upon Hilton for my hotel stays, I’d need to base my travel around the very limited dates within which there is availability. By going elsewhere, I was able to plan travel on my time, not an award calendar’s.

Cruises

I’m not a super-experienced cruiser. In fact, I’ve only been on a handful of cruises over the last few years, so I’m no expert. However, one of my recent forays included a trek down to Antarctica — and while I could have used points for the journey, it would have cost me far more than I ended up paying in cash. We’re talking millions of points here versus the ~$9,000 I went with out-of-pocket.

Instead, I paid for my purchase using my Chase Sapphire Reserve^®, which netted me 3x Ultimate Rewards and gave me the benefit of complimentary trip cancellation and interruption insurance.

Methods To Keep Costs Low

Flights

So what happens when I do have to pay cash for my travel? Although this happens more frequently for hotels than it does airlines (thanks to a massive stash of American Airlines AAdvantage miles I’ve been hoarding), I’ll still occasionally end up paying out of pocket for my flights.

Even still, I’m maximizing my spending whenever this occurs, such as scoring business class upgrades using my United PlusPoints, which I’ve earned as an elite member with United.

It can also be through other means, such as taking advantage of the annual companion fare offered by the Alaska Airlines Visa Signature^® credit card.

Hotels

I’m a hardcore hotel status chaser, whether that’s World of Hyatt Globalist status earned after 60 nights or Hilton Honors Diamond status earned by simply holding the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card.

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Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card

U.P. Rating 

The rating for this card has been determined by our own industry experts who know the in's and out's of credit card products. Bonuses, rewards as well as rates and fees are all taken into account. Compensation from the issuer does not affect our rating. We only recommend products we either use ourselves or endorse.

Automatic Hilton Diamond status, an annual free night, and a travel and resort credit make this the perfect card for those who stay in Hilton hotels.

All information about Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card has been collected independently by Upgraded Points.

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Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card

Automatic Hilton Diamond status, an annual free night, and a travel and resort credit make this the perfect card for those who stay in Hilton hotels.

Welcome Offer

Earn 175,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points after you spend $6,000 in purchases on the Card within your first 6 months of Card Membership

175,000 points

UP's Bonus Valuation*:

$875

Annual Fee

$550

APR

20.99% - 29.99% Variable

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Upgraded Points credit ranges are a variation of FICO^®Score 8, one of many types of credit scores lenders may use when considering your credit cardapplication.

Good to Excellent (670-850)

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The information regarding the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.

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Paying hundreds of dollars for an annual fee on a co-branded hotel card might seem ridiculous, but you should know that the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card is much more than your run-of-the-mill hotel credit card.

The Hilton Aspire card is not only a phenomenal card for Hilton Honors loyalists, but even those who visit Hilton hotels just a few times a year can still get excellent value out of all the benefits that are packed into this card.

So let’s have a look at what makes the card so valuable to travelers.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• 14x points per $1 on Hilton purchases
• 7x points per $1 on select travel and at U.S. restaurants
• 3x points per $1 on all other eligible purchases

Cons

• High annual fee of $550

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Card Highlights

• Earn 175,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points after you spend $6,000 in purchases on the Card within your first 6 months of Card Membership
• Earn 14x Hilton Honors Bonus Points when you make eligible purchases on your card at participating hotels or resorts within the Hilton portfolio
• Earn 7x Hilton Honors Bonus Points for eligible travel purchases: on flights booked directly with airlines or AmexTravel.com and on car rentals booked directly from select car rental companies
• Earn 7x Hilton Honors Bonus Points on dining at U.S. restaurants, including takeout and delivery
• Earn 3x Hilton Honors Bonus Points for other eligible purchases on your card
• Enjoy up to $400 in Hilton Resort Credits (up to $200 in statement credits semi-annually) on your card each anniversary year when you stay at participating resorts within the Hilton portfolio
• Enjoy complimentary Diamond status
• $550 annual fee

Financial Snapshot

• APR: 20.99% - 29.99% Variable
• Foreign Transaction Fees: None

I’ll often go out of my way to stay at a hotel chain where I know I’ll get benefits, even if it means paying a little extra in cash. this is because the benefits of elite status make it worth it for me.

For example, on a recent stay in Seoul, I paid cash for a 5-night stay at the Grand Hyatt Seoul. While my total stay come out to just over $1,000, the perks I received more than justified the cost. To begin with, I used a suite upgrade award to guarantee a standard suite for the entirety of my stay, which I applied as soon as I booked the room.

I wanted this partly because I love staying in suites, but also because I was traveling with a friend and wanted to ensure we had space. As a Grand Hyatt, the property also featured a lounge with breakfast, afternoon tea, and dinner offerings. We didn’t eat there for every meal (what’s the point of traveling otherwise?), but having unlimited access to food and beverages helped keep costs to a minimum during our stay.

Hot Tip: Learn more about the best credit cards for complimentary hotel elite status.

Cruises

I’ll admit again that I’m fairly new to cruising, but that hasn’t stopped me from getting in on the elite status action. Cruise lines offer plenty of perks to their elite members, including priority boarding, complimentary onboard credits, and even free cruises (before taxes and fees).

So far I’ve been able to match hotel and casino elite status to a number of cruise lines, including Holland America, MSC, Virgin Voyages, and Carnival, all of which have netted me tons of benefits.

Final Thoughts

I’ll defend points and miles until I’m blue in the face. Without them, I wouldn’t have been able to take any of the insanely exorbitant vacations that I’ve managed, whether that’s in Bora Bora, aboard Cathay Pacific’s first class, or even something as simple as a Hampton Inn over New Year’s. However, I also believe in using cash during my vacations, especially when doing so nets me other benefits, such as increased flexibility, guaranteed upgrades, or better value than redeeming my points.

This method may not be for everyone, and that’s ok. But it works for me — and I’ll keep using it until I run out of points, money, or both.