Points and Miles vs. Cash Calculator

This calculator makes it easy to convert airline miles or hotel points to dollar figures.
Elina Geller
Sam Kemmis
By Sam Kemmis and  Elina Geller 
Updated
Edited by Meg Lee

Many or all of the products featured here are from our partners who compensate us. This influences which products we write about and where and how the product appears on a page. However, this does not influence our evaluations. Our opinions are our own. Here is a list of our partners and here's how we make money.

Let’s say you’re booking a last-minute flight on Delta and you have the option of either:

  • Paying $450 cash.

  • Paying 30,000 Delta miles + $40 in fees.

Which is the better deal? Should you book that flight with cash or miles? What should you do when booking hotels?

To help answer this common conundrum, we created a point value calculator that pairs our airline mile valuations with your own booking options.

Airline miles to dollars calculator

Enter the airline award program, cash fare, equivalent award fare and any fees associated with your award fare, and our points and miles to dollars calculator will do the rest.

Hotel points to dollar calculator

You can also use a calculator when deciding if you should book a hotel with cash or points. Keep in mind some hotels charge resort fees, which may add extra cash costs to your award booking. The policy varies based on your elite status and the hotel brand.

Also, some brands offer a free night when you book on points, which means you may get even more value. Hilton and Marriott offer a fifth free night when you book five nights with points. IHG offers a fourth free night when booking four nights with points if you have an IHG credit card that’s linked to your profile.

Some of these brands require that you have elite status, so in general, you’ll want to be logged in to your account when checking the price of the hotel stay in points.

Keep in mind that our valuations, while based on real-world data, are only estimates for how much miles and points are worth. If the cash and award values are similar, use your best judgment for which option is better for you.

Mile-redeeming whizzes might opt to save miles for better redemptions, but in general, we encourage spending miles rather than saving them because they devalue over time.


How to maximize your rewards

You want a travel credit card that prioritizes what’s important to you. Here are our picks for the best travel credit cards of 2024, including those best for:

Travel Cards from Our Partners
Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card

on Chase's website

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
5.0
NerdWallet Rating
Rewards rate

1x-5x

5x on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards®, 3x on dining, select streaming services and online groceries, 2x on all other travel purchases, 1x on all other purchases.

Points

Intro offer

60,000

Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $750 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards®.

Points
Chase Freedom Unlimited Credit Card

on Chase's website

Chase Freedom Unlimited®
5.0
NerdWallet Rating
Rewards rate

1.5%-6.5%

Enjoy 6.5% cash back on travel purchased through Chase Travel; 4.5% cash back on drugstore purchases and dining at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery service, and 3% on all other purchases (on up to $20,000 spent in the first year). After your first year or $20,000 spent, enjoy 5% cash back on travel purchased through Chase Travel, 3% cash back on drugstore purchases and dining at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery service, and unlimited 1.5% cash back on all other purchases.

Cashback

Intro offer

$300

Earn an additional 1.5% cash back on everything you buy (on up to $20,000 spent in the first year) - worth up to $300 cash back!

Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

on Capital One's website

Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
4.7
NerdWallet Rating
Rewards rate

2x-5x

Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase, every day. Earn 5X miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel, where you'll get Capital One's best prices on thousands of trip options.

Miles

Intro offer

75,000

Enjoy a one-time bonus of 75,000 miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel.

Miles
See more travel cards
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