The Playbook
Everything you need to know about earning, valuing, and redeeming travel rewards, one guide at a time.
The short version
Credit card points and airline/hotel miles are essentially a second currency. Spent wisely, they can turn a $6,000 business-class flight into a $450 redemption — a 10× return on points you earned from everyday spending. The learning curve is real, but the payoff is too.
The Three Types of Points
Bank points, airline miles and hotel points are three different currencies with three different rules. Start here.
Why Bank Points Are the Foundation
Transferable bank points sit above every other currency. Here is the arithmetic that shows why.
How to Earn Points
Six ways points actually accumulate, from card spending to dining programs, ranked by how much they move the needle.
Cents Per Point: How to Value What You Have
The one number that tells you whether a redemption is good. Formula, worked example, and the bands worth memorizing.
Redemption Sweet Spots Worth Knowing
Five redemptions that reliably return several times what the same points fetch anywhere else.
Transfer Partners: Which Points Go Where
Every airline and hotel partner for all seven bank currencies, with ratios and the date each was last verified.
Airline Alliances Explained
Star Alliance, SkyTeam and Oneworld, every member airline, plus the independents that still matter for awards.
Where to Start
A five-step order of operations for a first year in points, written to stop you spreading thin.
Transfer ratios last verified: October 1, 2026. How we calculate the numbers →