Calculator

Cash or Points Calculator

To decide between cash and points, work out what the redemption returns per point and compare it to what you think your points are worth. If the booking returns more cents per point than your own valuation, spending points is the better deal. If it returns less, pay cash and keep the points for a redemption that beats your number. Your valuation is the threshold, so it is worth setting deliberately.

Cash fare What the same booking costs if you just buy it.

Award price in points

Taxes and fees on the award

Your valuation, cents per point The rate you normally achieve. This is the threshold.

Verdict

Use points

This redemption returns—

Your threshold—

Cash you avoid paying—

What those points are worth to you—

Difference—

Why your own valuation is the threshold

There is no universal answer to whether points beat cash, because it depends entirely on what you would otherwise do with those points. If you reliably get 2¢ out of your Chase points, then spending them at 1.4¢ is a loss even though it still feels like a free flight. If you never redeem above 1.2¢, then 1.4¢ is a win.

Set the threshold to the rate you actually achieve, not the rate you hope for. The cents per point calculator will tell you what your past redemptions really returned, which is a better starting point than a published average.

Things this calculation deliberately ignores

Elite qualifying credit. Paid fares usually earn it and award bookings usually do not. If you are chasing status, a cash fare is worth more than this comparison shows.
Points earned on the cash fare. Paying cash earns points back, which narrows the gap slightly in favor of cash.
Cancellation terms. Award tickets are often more flexible, and on an uncertain trip that flexibility can be worth more than the arithmetic.

This is one number from a tool that tracks all of them. Points Commander keeps your balances, every card credit against its reset date, and an advisor that plans redemptions from the points you actually hold. It is free, there are no affiliate links, and it never asks for a bank login.

Create a free account See how it works →

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