What Are Credit Card Points? What Are They Worth?

Credit card points are the rewards users earn with certain credit cards. Although they’re often referred to simply as “points,” there are multiple types of card “currencies”:

• Points
• Miles
• Cash back

It’s important to note that 1 point or mile from one card isn’t necessarily worth the same as 1 point or mile from another card. This means comparing credit cards and their rewards can be challenging. In this guide, we’ll compare the value of points from major credit card issuers and work through how to calculate a credit card’s rewards rate.

→ Don’t know much about rewards? Learn more about Cash back, points and miles

You’ll find that the “good” redemption options with most rewards programs tend to get you around 1 cent per point in value. However, you can do even better than this — or worse — depending on how you redeem points:

• For example, using points to book travel may result in greater value than redeeming your points for cash back.
• However, some reward programs’ points are worth significantly more when transferred to the program’s travel partners.
• On the other hand, points with most rewards programs are worth significantly less than 1 cent when you redeem them for merchandise (such as a laptop PC or refrigerator).

Two rewards programs that allow you to transfer points to other loyalty programs include Chase Ultimate Rewards^® and American Express Membership Rewards programs. These types of points are considered to be worth more because their value can be maximized when transferred to partnering airline or hotel programs.

When you’re not a cardholder, finding exact redemption details can be difficult. One option is to call the card issuer and ask for a few examples of how you’d be able to redeem points. The information can also sometimes be found on the issuer’s website.

Credit card points programs compared

To simplify the process of comparing rewards programs, we analyzed the value of credit card points across the major U.S. credit card issuers. For redeeming through the card’s rewards portal, Chase Ultimate Rewards^® points are worth the most, offering up to 1.5 cents per point depending on the card. Note that all these issuers allow you to transfer points to outside loyalty programs, where you can potentially get a better value for your points.

What are airline miles worth?

Airline miles, which you can earn from transferring general travel points or using co-branded airline credit cards, tend to be more valuable than the average rewards program currency. We’ve found that the average airline mile is worth 1.3 cents.

Below are our valuations per point for several major airlines:

What are hotel points worth?

As with airline miles, you can earn hotel points by transferring points from credit card rewards programs or using a co-branded hotel credit card. Unlike airline miles, hotel points tend to be worth less than the average rewards program point. Some hotel programs, like Hilton and IHG, require an enormous number of points for redemption. Hilton and IHG points are only worth around 0.05 cents per point on average. On the high end, you’ll find that Hyatt gives you around 1.7 cents per point.

Here are some of the points values of a few top hotel loyalty programs:

→ Browse our top picks for the best hotel credit cards.

There are several factors that make one reward program superior to another. For example, the best rewards programs offer flexible redemption options and let you maximize your rewards by transferring them to partner programs.

Here are our picks for the best credit card reward programs:

Chase Ultimate Rewards®

The Chase Ultimate Rewards^® program offers a number of credit cards, both personal and business, that allow for flexible rewards redemption. With this program, you can:

• Redeem Ultimate Rewards points for travel, gift cards, merchandise and more
• Transfer Ultimate Rewards points to 10-plus partnering hotel and loyalty programs, including Marriott Rewards, IHG® Rewards Club, United MileagePlus and JetBlue TrueBlue
• Redeem points for travel through the Chase Travel^SM portal
• Get up to a 50% bonus on your points through the Ultimate Rewards portal with some cards
• Redeem points for cash back at a value of 1 cent each (Citi and Amex don’t provide as much value for cash back)

Credit cards that earn Chase Ultimate Rewards^®

A credit card rewards rate is a metric used to determine how rewarding a credit card is for certain purchases. It is most often expressed as a percentage return on every dollar spent.

A net rewards rate is a slightly more complicated metric that also factors a card’s annual fee into the result. Though it is more difficult to calculate, the net rewards rate is the most accurate representation of the value a credit card holds for those who continually use it.

Typically credit cards will offer you rewards in either points or cash back.

If you’re looking for simple, high value rewards, cashback credit cards can be a great option. Cashback rewards have a couple advantages:

• The value is more straightforward. If you get 1% cash back on all purchases made with your card, you know you are getting 1 cent for each dollar that you spend
• Cash back is easy to redeem. Usually cash back can be redeemed as a statement credit or deposited directly into your checking account.

Points, on the other hand, can be a bit more challenging to quantify, but come with their own advantages:

• You can redeem points in a variety of ways. You have many more ways you can use your rewards, including travel, gift cards and merchandise (though the latter two often have a terrible value).
• You can maximize their value. By strategically redeeming your points, you can get a better return than 1 cent per point.
• You can often transfer points into airline and hotel loyalty programs. Many credit card programs allow you to transfer points to outside loyalty programs. This can be a great benefit if you’re already collecting rewards in a loyalty program account, and often returns the best value on your points.

The bottom line

If you don’t travel often or aren’t willing to put in the work to use or maximize your credit card rewards points for travel, you’ll likely be better off choosing a credit card that earns cashback rewards. If you’d rather have more flexible redemption options and maximize the value of your points by using them for travel, credit cards that earn traditional rewards points will be the better option for you.