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Miles and points value calculator

Find out what your miles are worth on a flight, whether buying points during a bonus sale pays off and whether a points card earns more than a no-fee cash back card.

Educational simulation. Not investment advice. Results are estimates based on the data you enter and do not replace advice from a qualified professional.

Reviewed on Nov 1, 2026

Example: a $450 flight or 25,000 miles plus $11.20 in taxes.

The redemption
Buying points
Card: points or cash back

Point prices, bonuses and award charts change often and vary by route and date: check the program before buying.

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—Value per 1,000 miles on this redemption
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What 1,000 miles cost and are worth

Cost of 1,000 miles bought (with bonus), their value on this redemption and the minimum value for the points card to match cash back.

Tap the chart to see the values.

Points or cash back by spending

Yearly gain from the points card (after the annual fee) and from cash back, for monthly spending from zero to twice the amount entered.

Tap the chart to see the values.

Three ways to pay for the flight

Card miles cost the cash back you gave up on the spending needed to earn them.

Next step

Take this page’s results to another calculator with the fields already filled in.

Compare the cost of buying abroad →See the cost of carrying a card balance →

The summary lists your inputs, results, formulas, assumptions and sources. The full report also includes the charts and interpretations, in color. In the print dialog, choose Save as PDF.

Method, assumptions and sources

Formulas

Value per 1,000 = (cash fare − taxes) ÷ (miles ÷ 1,000)
Cost per 1,000 bought = price of 1,000 points ÷ (1 + bonus); award cost = miles ÷ 1,000 × cost per 1,000 + taxes
Miles per $ = points per $ × (1 + bonus); return = miles per $ × value per 1,000 ÷ 1,000
Yearly gain from points = annual spend × return − annual fee; break-even value = (cash back × annual spend + fee) ÷ (annual spend × miles per $ ÷ 1,000)

Assumptions and limits

  • All miles are used before they expire, at the value of the redemption entered; the transfer bonus applies to points bought and earned on the card; cash back is from a no-fee card.
  • Foreign transaction fees, points subscription clubs, transfer fees and card interest are not included.

Official sources and references

Frequently asked questions

How do I calculate what a mile is worth?

Subtract the award taxes and fees from the cash fare and divide by the miles in thousands. In the example: ($450 − $11.20) ÷ 25 = $17.55 per 1,000 miles, or about 1.76 cents per mile. Do it for each redemption: the same program can be worth 1 cent on one flight and 2.5 cents on another.

How do I read the example result?

Each 1,000 miles is worth $17.55 on this redemption. Buying points at $25 per 1,000 with no bonus would make the flight cost $636.20 instead of $450, so buying does not pay off. On the card, points return 3.5% of spending against 2% cash back, and the points card beats cash back from about $524 a month of spending.

Is buying miles worth it?

Only when the cost per 1,000 miles bought, after any transfer bonus, is below what those miles are worth on the redemption you will make. Without a specific redemption in mind, buying miles is a bet that award prices will stay the same.

Which is better: miles or cash back?

It depends on how much you spend, the points card’s annual fee and how much value you get per mile. The chart shows the monthly spending above which points pay more. If you rarely travel or do not want to track award prices, cash back is simpler and never expires.

Do transfer bonuses matter?

Yes. A 30% bonus means 10,000 card points become 13,000 airline miles, which cuts the cost per mile by about 23% and raises the card’s return by the same share. Bonuses are temporary, so plan transfers around them.

Are card miles free?

No. They cost the cash back you could have earned with a cash back card, plus the annual fee. In the example, earning 25,000 miles takes $12,500 of spending, and the cash back given up on that is $250.

What are the limits of this calculator?

It uses one redemption’s value for all your miles, assumes every point is used before it expires and ignores transfer fees and taxes on rewards. Programs and rules change often: check before buying.

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Miles, points and cash back: what a mile is worth and when to buy

Miles and points are a currency with a floating value. To know whether to earn, buy or redeem them, the yardstick is the value per 1,000 miles, or cents per mile.

What a mile is worth on a redemption

Value per 1,000 = (cash fare − taxes and fees on the award) ÷ (miles ÷ 1,000). A $450 flight that costs 25,000 miles plus $11.20 gives $17.55 per 1,000 miles, about 1.76 cents per mile. That is the most it makes sense to pay for miles for that flight.

What a bought mile costs

Buying points at $25 per 1,000 with no bonus means the award would cost $636.20 (25 × $25 + $11.20), $186.20 more than paying cash. Buying miles only pays off during deep sales or for redemptions worth more per mile.

How you payCostSavings
Cash$450.00—
Miles bought ($25 per 1,000) + taxes$636.20−$186.20
Card miles + taxes (2% cash back given up)$261.20$188.80

Points or cash back

A card earning 2 points per dollar, with miles worth 1.76 cents, returns 3.5% versus 2% on a cash back card. The $95 annual fee comes out of that: at $3,000 a month in spending, points earn $1,169 a year after the fee, against $720 in cash back.

Be careful

Miles expire, award charts change and transfer bonuses come and go. Buy miles only for a redemption you have already found, never spend more to earn points, and never carry a balance for rewards.