How much are your points actually worth?
Every rewards program on this site has one number attached to it: what we think a point is reliably worth in dollars. Here is every number, and how we got it.
The short version: we use what you can get without trying hard, not the best case you might hit twice. Every card ranking, ROI figure and recommendation on WhatCard is computed with the numbers in the table below.
Our four rules
Start at the guaranteed floor
Every program has a rate you can always get — a statement credit, a gift card, a deposit. That number is a fact, not an estimate, and no valuation we publish is below it.
Price the ordinary redemption
Our published number is what a normal booking returns — an economy seat on a route people fly, a standard award night — not a first-class seat you found once.
Ignore perks we can’t price for you
Lounge access, elite nights and travel credits aren’t in the point value. They’re real, but their worth depends entirely on you, so we list them and leave them out of the maths.
Round against ourselves
When the honest answer is a range, we publish the low end. It makes every card look slightly worse than a points blog would say — including the ones we link to.
Every program we track
The last two columns are the part no points blog can publish: how many cards in our catalog actually earn this currency, and which one returns the most on real spending.
| Program | Floor | Our value | Ceiling | Cards | Best card on real spend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Transferable bank points | |||||
| Chase Ultimate Rewards | 1.00¢ | 1.25¢ | 2.05¢ | 4 | Sapphire Preferred |
| American Express Membership Rewards | 0.60¢ | 1.15¢ | 2.00¢ | 2 | Gold Card |
| Capital One Miles | 0.50¢ | 1.10¢ | 1.85¢ | 2 | Venture |
| Airline miles | |||||
| American Airlines AAdvantage | 0.70¢ | 1.50¢ | 2.20¢ | 1 | AAdvantage Platinum Select |
| Atmos Rewards | 0.70¢ | 1.45¢ | 2.20¢ | 1 | Alaska Airlines Visa Signature |
| Southwest Rapid Rewards | 1.00¢ | 1.35¢ | 1.50¢ | 1 | Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus |
| Delta SkyMiles | 0.80¢ | 1.20¢ | 1.60¢ | 2 | Delta SkyMiles Gold |
| United MileagePlus | 0.70¢ | 1.20¢ | 1.60¢ | 1 | United Explorer |
| Hotel points | |||||
| World of Hyatt | 0.80¢ | 1.70¢ | 2.50¢ | 1 | World of Hyatt |
| Marriott Bonvoy | 0.40¢ | 0.70¢ | 1.10¢ | 1 | Marriott Bonvoy Boundless |
| Hilton Honors | 0.20¢ | 0.50¢ | 0.80¢ | 2 | Hilton Honors Surpass |
| IHG One Rewards | 0.30¢ | 0.50¢ | 0.80¢ | 1 | IHG One Rewards Premier |
| Fixed value | |||||
| Citi ThankYou Rewards | 1.00¢ | 1.00¢ | 1.00¢ | 1 | Double Cash |
| Wells Fargo Rewards | 1.00¢ | 1.00¢ | 1.00¢ | 1 | Autograph |
| U.S. Bank Altitude Rewards | 1.00¢ | 1.00¢ | 1.00¢ | 1 | Altitude Go |
| BofA Rewards | 1.00¢ | 1.00¢ | 1.00¢ | 1 | Premium Rewards |
| Discover Miles | 1.00¢ | 1.00¢ | 1.00¢ | 1 | Discover it Miles |
| Cash back (all issuers) | 1.00¢ | 1.00¢ | 1.00¢ | 12 | Amazon Prime Visa |
Floor and ceiling are the range we observed; “our value” is what the site computes with. 37 cards, 36 independently verified.
Why the four families behave differently
Transferable bank points
Chase, Amex and Capital One points can become cash, portal bookings, or airline and hotel miles. That optionality is why they’re worth the most — and why the spread is so wide. We value them at the portal rate, because that’s available to everyone on any date, and treat transfers as upside.
Airline miles
Worth what the seat costs, which means they’re worth nothing until there’s award space. We price an ordinary economy seat, so premium-cabin redemptions look like a bonus rather than the plan. Miles you can’t spend are worth zero, and no valuation captures that risk.
Hotel points
The weakest currency by a wide margin — often under a cent, sometimes a fifth of one. A hotel card earning 6× at 0.5¢ per point is a 3% card, which is worse than plenty of no-fee cash-back cards. We say so on every hotel card page.
Fixed value and cash back
One cent, always, guaranteed. There is nothing to optimise and no valuation to argue about — which is the entire appeal, and the reason these cards win more of our recommendations than their reputation suggests.
Your points are worth whatever your spending makes them worth.
Connect a bank and we’ll apply these numbers to your real categories, and let you override any of them if you know your own redemptions better than we do.
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