Is It Worth Traveling for Points, Cash, or Both?
While you may still be wary of flying, you might also want to go somewhere , especially if you have tons of travel rewards to burn. So what’s the best way to redeem them: points, cash, or both? Here’s how travel reward experts recommend stretching your points and miles to get the best reward possible.
How to book hotels
The value of points and miles varies by program – and these values change depending on where and when you travel – so it is difficult to determine how much they really cost. Fortunately, NerdWallet assembled leadership of points assessment for each program that you can use to calculate the best repayment options available for different hotels.
Points Required to Book a Trip * Points in Dollars = X
1. See how much it costs to book in cash.
2. Plug your numbers into the above formula.
3. You get a higher value in points if X is less than the cash payment.
(Points Required to Book * Points in Dollars) + Cash on Booking = Y
If you are looking at points and money, there is one additional factor you need to add to the formula:
1. See how much the booking costs in cash and points.
2. Substitute your numbers into the above items and the formula for cash withdrawals.
3. You get a better value for points and cash if Y is less than cash only.
How to book flights
You can still nervous about traveling by plane, but you can save calculator miles NerdWallet for future bookings. The calculator will do the calculations for you and show you whether it is better to pay for your flight with cash or miles.
Points and cash probably won’t be the best option
Whether you do the math by hand or use a calculator, you will usually find that points and cash are not the best repayment option. However, NerdWallet says there are several reasons you might want to consider this.
If you don’t have enough points or miles to cover your entire booking, points and cash may be your next best option. You can also save money by spending less on the trip overall, regardless of the ransom amount.
The third reason is that you don’t want to accumulate travel rewards. There is always a risk that the incentive program will be depreciated or other changes that may make your awards less valuable in the future.