How many credit card points do you need to fly?
How many credit card miles you need for a free flight. A good rule of thumb is that you'll need 25,000 to 30,000 credit card miles for a round-trip economy fare within the United States. That's not the absolute bare minimum. With most airlines, free flights generally start at 5,000 to 7,500 miles per one-way segment.
You need 6,000 to 20,000 miles for a free one-way flight, depending on how far you're flying, which airline you're using and the dates of your travel. A one-way international flight will usually cost 35,000-50,000+ miles. Airline miles and points are generally worth around 1 cent each, but their value can vary.
Here are a few examples of point requirements for different flight costs: 20,000 points for a $300 flight. 30,000 points for a $450 flight. 40,000 points for a $600 flight.
How to use Delta SkyMiles. Considering that Delta award flights start at around 6,000 miles, you don't need to accumulate many SkyMiles to be able to fly for free. In addition to free flights on Delta Air Lines and its partners, you can use SkyMiles for seat upgrades and Delta Vacations packages.
Believe it or not, you can fly First Class for less than 200K Amex points, round-trip. While it can be even cheaper to fly to Japan via transferring points to Virgin's Flying Club, you'll find better availability and have more opportunities when transferring Amex points to ANA Mileage Club.
Rewards Program | Value of 50,000 Reward Points |
---|---|
Radisson Rewards | $305 |
World of Hyatt | $1,315 |
JetBlue TrueBlue | $685 |
Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards | $670 |
Most credit cards that allow you to earn flexible travel points also have a travel portal where you can redeem your points. You simply log in to your account online, visit the travel portal and start shopping for the trip you want to take.
Number of AAdvantage Miles | Average Value |
---|---|
1,000 | $13.3 |
11,000 | $146.3 |
21,000 | $279.3 |
31,000 | $412.3 |
Rewards Program | Value of 10,000 Reward Points |
---|---|
Radisson Rewards | $61 |
World of Hyatt | $263 |
JetBlue TrueBlue | $137 |
Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards | $134 |
Flight option | Basic | A-List Preferred (100% bonus) |
---|---|---|
Wanna Get Away® | 6 points | 12 points |
Wanna Get Away Plus® | 8 points | 16 points |
Anytime | 10 points | 20 points |
Business Select | 12 points | 24 points |
What does 20000 points get you on Southwest?
20,000 Southwest points are worth around $268 when redeemed for airfare. While Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards points are most valuable when redeemed for Travel, they're also redeemable for gift cards, hotel stays, merchandise, and more.
By choosing the flexible dates option while searching for an award flight, you can see the best rates for your miles in a calendar view. But assuming you travel on those 5,400 mile flights, you can get three round-trip flights with your 40,000 miles.
With this benefit, all Delta Amex Blue, Gold, Platinum and Reserve Card Members can reduce the cost of a ticket by $50 for 5,000 miles, $100 for 10,000 miles and so on. *See below for terms and conditions, Go to footer note.
Under the SkyMiles Mileage Expiration policy, miles do not expire.
Delta SkyMiles® American Express Cards
Enjoy exclusive Card Member benefits and everyday rewards. On personal card products, learn if you're approved for a Delta SkyMiles® American Express Card before any impact to your credit score. If you're approved and choose to accept a Card, your credit score may be impacted.
Booking American Airlines first class gets you a lot more than just a nicer seat than economy. Benefits of flying in American Airlines domestic first class include priority airport check-in, priority boarding, extra baggage allowance, a better seat, free drinks, snacks on shorter routes, and meals on longer routes.
70,000 American Express points are worth about $469, depending on which American Express credit card you have and what you spend the points on. You will get the best value for your American Express points when you redeem them for Travel, but there are multiple redemption options.
This transfer isn't usually recommended, though — Delta SkyMiles have been continuously devalued and are worth just 1.1 cents each per TPG's valuations. This is 0.9 cents lower than Amex's 2-cents-per-point valuation. And in my experience, it's hard to get a higher value from Delta SkyMiles.
Airline | Frequent Flyer Program | Average Value of One Mile |
---|---|---|
American Airlines | AAdvantage | $0.018 |
Southwest Airlines | Southwest Airlines | $0.014 |
United Airlines | MileagePlus | $0.013 |
JetBlue | TrueBlue | $0.012 |
For people who prefer cash-back rewards, Membership Rewards may not be worth it. Points are typically only worth 0.6 cents per point when used to cover charges on your card, which is less than the going rate of 1% you can find on many cash-back credit cards.
Are Chase points worth more for travel?
Get 25% more value when you redeem for airfare, hotels, car rentals and cruises through Chase Ultimate Rewards®. For example, 60,000 points are worth $750 toward travel. Count on Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance, Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver, Lost Luggage Insurance and more.
Many credit card companies offer rewards points that can be exchanged for, or applied to, frequent flyer miles. The conversion process and rates will depend on your credit card terms. However, with the right strategies in place, you can usually earn heavily discounted or free flights to any destination.
You may need different insurances while travelling and booking flights on a credit card allows you to claim your insurance perks. Booking airfare with your credit card can give you lost luggage insurance for your flight and offer travel accident insurance in an emergency.
You can also book a ticket directly on any airline and use your Capital One Venture miles to cover the charge with a statement credit.
Adam McCann, Financial Writer
25,000 reward points are worth around $250, on average, but the exact value depends on which rewards program is offering the points and how you redeem them.
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