How Much Are Points and Miles Worth in 2025?

All the Hacks: Money, Points & Life

Chris Hutchins

Business, Education, Investing, Society & Culture, Places & Travel, Self-improvement

4.7 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 10 September 2025

⏱️ 71 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

#245: Ever wonder what points are really worth? I'll break down the different types of points, how to calculate their value, and the biggest mistakes people make along the way. You’ll also learn when cash back might be the smarter choice and my personal card strategy for maximizing credit card rewards. Link to Full Show Notes: https://chrishutchins.com/what-are-your-points-worth Partner Deals Gelt: ⁠Skip the waitlist on personalized tax guidance to maximize your wealth Fabric: ⁠Affordable term life insurance for you and your family MasterClass: ⁠Learn from the world's best with 15% off Bilt Rewards: Earn the most valuable points when you pay rent DeleteMe: ⁠20% off removing your personal info from the web For all the deals, discounts and promo codes from our partners, go to: chrishutchins.com/deals Resources Mentioned Credit Cards Mesa Homeowners Card (Referral code: FCRGNB) Atmos™ Rewards Summit Visa Infinite® card Robinhood Gold Card Bilt World Elite Mastercard® (Rates and Fees here) U.S. Bank Altitude® Connect Bank of America® Premium Rewards® Bank of America® Premium Rewards® Elite Wells Fargo Autograph℠ Card American Express® Gold Card American Express® Business Gold Card American Express® Green Card Amazon Prime Visa Card Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card Citi Strata Premier℠ Card Citi Strata Elite℠ Card Citi® Double Cash Card U.S. Bank Smartly™ Visa Gemini Credit Card Expert Points Valuations The Points Guy One Mile at a Time Frequent Miler Award Search Tools Points Path Chrome Extension Award Wallet Gondola (Get $50 here) Award Ticket Change and Cancellation Fees ATH Podcast ⁠⁠Free Webinar: 5 Must-Know Tax Moves for Business Owners Chris’ Card Value Optimization Tool Membership Ep #244: How I Saved $10,000+ on Luxury Hotels Leave a review: Apple Podcasts | Spotify Email for questions, hacks, deals, and feedback: [email protected] Full Show Notes (00:00) Introduction (00:50) Why We’re in the Golden Age of Points and Miles (04:06) The Different Types of Points (06:04) Unlocking Value With Transfer Bonuses (07:58) Fake Points and What to Avoid (08:34) Why Knowing the Value of Points Matters (10:12) Comparing Points vs. Cash Back (13:26) Quick Episode Overview (14:38) Calculating the Floor Value of Points (16:47) Expert Points Valuation (19:26) Tools and Data for Valuing Points (21:55) Booking Domestic vs. International vs. Business Class Flights (24:27) Flight and Hotel Redemption Takeaways (29:33) Leveraging Gondola to Book Hotels (32:24) How to Get More Value From Hotel Points (34:17) Why Hotel Points Still Hold Value (35:12) Minimums, Maximums, and Ranges (36:20) How to Calculate Your Personal Value (41:18) Chris’ Rule of Thumb for Booking Award Flights (44:06) Key Caveat of Award Redemptions (46:20) Value of Earning Points vs. Cash Back (49:40) When Should You Buy Hotel and Airline Points? (52:46) The Bottom Line on Buying Points (53:31) How to Value Transferable Points (55:17) The Psychology Behind Buying Points (56:34) Leveraging Chris’ Card Optimizer Tool (58:54) Earning Points Across Other Major Categories (01:01:45) Cash Back Cards That Earn More Than 2% (01:05:56) Recap: Point Purchases on Cards (01:07:31) Recap: What Your Points Are Worth (01:08:51) Making the Case for Earning Points Everywhere Connect with Chris Newsletter | Membership | X | Instagram | LinkedIn Editor’s Note: The content on this page is accurate as of the posting date; however, some of our partner offers may have expired. Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Every time you hear about another airline award chart disappearing or hotel program devaluation,
0:06.4	you might wonder, is the points game even worth it anymore?
0:09.7	So today I'm going to break down exactly why I still believe we are living in the golden age of credit card points and miles.
0:16.9	I'm going to walk through the different types of points and how to calculate what they're really worth, including the biggest mistakes that most people make when doing that math.
0:25.3	We'll look at where the value is, what to avoid, and whether you'd actually be better
0:29.3	off earning cashback.
0:31.1	And for some of you, I think you might be.
0:33.3	Whether you're just getting started or deep in this game, this is everything you need to know
0:37.8	to fine-tune how you're playing the points game and whether it's actually going to be worth it for you.
0:43.1	I'm Chris Hutchins, and if you enjoy this episode and want to keep upgrading your life, money,
0:47.4	and travel, click follow or subscribe.
0:50.7	So whenever I talk about points, I hear some people ask, is it even worth playing this game,
0:55.8	given all the times we keep hearing about devaluations?
0:59.0	And they're not wrong, right?
1:00.6	I feel like most of the news we hear is, oh, this hotel chain moved their categories up,
1:05.7	this airline devalued their points.
1:07.8	It's not always the case.
1:09.3	Sometimes you see JetBlue just recently added
1:11.7	Condor as a way to redeem your points, and they recently added Japan Airlines. So JetBlue
1:16.2	points might be more valuable. And Mesa, which is a new homeowners card, added some transfer
1:21.7	partners like SAS, which is a airline that we couldn't transfer to from any other currency.
1:26.6	So things do sometimes sound like they're getting better,
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Chris Hutchins, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Chris Hutchins and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.