Reward Points/Miles Calculator
This calculator allows you to determine whether you are getting a good deal when redeeming points or miles for anything, such as a Hotel Room, Rental Car, or Airfare. Here is how it works.
Example
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Here is a website (Marriott Bonvoy) allowing you to choose to pay either Cash or Miles for a room. This image shows a price of $161 or 37,000 points. |
| Your credit card will tell you the “Points Multiplier” which is the number of points you get per dollar spent. This image shows they have one credit card providing 1 point per dollar spent = 1X. , and another credit card that provides 2 points per dollar spent = 2X. If you have a 1X card you put 1 in the calculator, if it is a 2X card you put a 2, a 3X card and you put a 3, and so on. |  |
Try the calculator below, enter:
“Price” of $161;
“Points” as 37,000, and
“Number of points or miles earned per dollar” as 1.
RESULTS: you should see .44%, which means this deal is the equivalent of getting .44% cash back on a credit card. In other words if you have credit cards that give you more than .44% cash back then it would be better to have gotten cash back then to have used this card and taken this deal/exchange of miles/points for a room. I would consider this exchange of miles/points for a room to be a bad deal.
When I use this calculator I prefer to get a result of more than 2%, otherwise I would just use a 2% cash back card. I hope that makes sense, please watch the video below for a more detailed explanation.
Your Results
What Result is Good? Aim for More Than 2%
The Result is telling you what you would have earned on a Cash Back card. So if the result is less than 2% then it is not as good as a 2% card, you may as well have used a 2% cash back card. Rarely do cash back cards give more than 2%, so if you can obtain a Result of more than 2% then you are getting a better deal then a 2% cash back card would have provided.
Watch this video which explains how to compare prices and points/rewards.
How to Interpret Results
Credit cards that provides you with Cash Back are usually any where from 1% to 2%. If you can get cash back why use a points or rewards card? You use points/rewards cards in hopes of obtaining more value for your points/rewards. But how do you determine what value you are getting for the points/rewards? Our calculator above does just that.
Here are some examples.
EXAMPLE 1 (1x card)
In the image above you will see that you can book a hotel for $161 a night or use 37,000 points. Using the calculator you put in 161 for the Price and 37,000 for the Points. If your credit card says it gives you 1X points (1 point per $1 spent) then you put a 1 in the Point Multiplier box.
The result will be .44%. This means that if you had used a Cash Back credit card then you would have gotten .44% back, which is much lower than the 2% cash back cards. Therefore this is not a good deal because you of well just of used a cash back card and not a points card.
EXAMPLE 2 (2x card)
Use the same input but assume that you have a 2X points card (2 points per $1 spent) then you put a 2 in the Point Multiplier box.
The result will be .88%. It is a better value but still less than a 2% cash back card would have provided.
EXAMPLE 3 (1x card)
In the video below you will see that we provide an example where you can book a hotel for $119 a night or use 11,500 points. Using the calculator you put in 119 for the Price and 11,500 for the Points. If your credit card says it gives you 1X points (1 point per $1 spent) then you put a 1 in the Point Multiplier box.
The result will be 1.03%. This means that if you had used a Cash Back credit card then you would have gotten 1% back, which is not bad but you should shoot for 2% or more.
EXAMPLE 4 (2x card)
Use the same input but assume that you have a 2X points card (2 points per $1 spent) then you put a 2 in the Point Multiplier box.
The result will be 2.07%. This means that if you had used a Cash Back credit card then you would have gotten 2.07% back, which is slightly better than a 2% cash back card.