Book with points when the award returns more per mile than your miles are worth elsewhere, and pay cash when it does not. That one test settles almost every points versus cash decision, and it takes about thirty seconds once you have both prices in front of you. The rest of this guide shows you how to run the test, what miles are actually worth in 2026, and what the math looks like on four real routes.
This is the question travelers ask most often once they have a balance worth spending. The Points Talk Squad award travel FAQ leads with it, Miles to Memories built a whole guide around it, and it comes up constantly in points forums and on the Bogleheads investing board, where travelers argue about whether miles beat a simple 2 percent cash back card. The honest answer is that sometimes miles win by a mile, and sometimes paying cash is the smarter move. The difference is never loyalty or habit. It is arithmetic.
What Is the Cents Per Mile Test?
The cents per mile test turns both prices into the same unit so you can compare them directly. Take the cash fare, subtract the taxes and fees you would still pay on the award ticket, and divide by the number of miles the award costs. Multiply by 100 and you get cents per mile.
Here is the formula in plain form: (cash fare minus award taxes and fees) divided by miles required, times 100.
Say a flight costs 300 dollars cash, or 20,000 miles plus 20 dollars in taxes. You save 280 dollars by spending 20,000 miles, which works out to 1.4 cents per mile. That number is the whole decision. Compare it with what your miles are worth on an average redemption, and with what you could get from the same miles on a different trip.
Two details people miss. First, always compare the same flight, the same cabin, and the same dates. A cheap Tuesday award against a peak Friday cash fare is not a comparison, it is a fantasy. Second, remember what the paid ticket earns. A cash fare usually earns miles and, on American, Loyalty Points toward status. An award ticket usually earns neither. When the math is close, the earning on the paid ticket tips it toward cash.
What Are Airline Miles Worth in 2026?
No airline publishes a single value for its miles, so independent valuations are the benchmark everyone uses. The Points Guy updates its valuations monthly, and NerdWallet publishes its own estimates from cash and award price searches. Their October 2026 figures are close enough to agree on the story, even where they differ on a specific program.
The Points Guy October 2026 valuations put American AAdvantage miles at 1.45 cents each, Alaska and Hawaiian Atmos Rewards points at 1.55 cents, Delta SkyMiles at 1.2 cents, United MileagePlus miles at 1.2 cents, Southwest Rapid Rewards points at 1.25 cents, and JetBlue TrueBlue points at 1.35 cents. NerdWallet’s October 2026 estimates put American at 1.7 cents, Alaska and Hawaiian at 1.4 cents, Delta at 1.2 cents, United at 1.2 cents, Southwest at 1.4 cents, and JetBlue at 1.4 cents.
Use these numbers as your personal floor. If an award returns less than your program’s benchmark value, you are spending miles below their average worth, and you should only do it if you have a reason, like a trip you cannot otherwise afford, or a balance you need to use before it expires. If an award returns well above the benchmark, book it before someone else does.
One more benchmark matters: the portal floor. Flexible bank points booked through a card travel portal have a fixed value, often 1.25 to 1.5 cents per point depending on the card. Mighty Travels uses 1.5 cents per point as the line for flexible points in 2026. Below that line, keep the points and pay cash. Above it, transfer to an airline partner and book the award.
Cash vs Points on Four Real Routes: The Comparison I Compiled
This is the original comparison behind this guide. I pulled published award prices and published cash fares from 2026 sources, then ran the cents per mile math myself on each route. Where a cash fare was not published for the exact route, I computed the breakeven cash fare instead, meaning the fare at which the award exactly matches the program’s benchmark value. Every figure below is labeled as published, observed, or modeled so you can see what is a quote and what is my arithmetic.
Route one is New York JFK to Los Angeles in business class on American, from an AwardFares test published in October 2026. The cash fare was 1,448.40 dollars. Applying 24,000 miles through American’s cash and miles slider cut the price to 1,272.03 dollars, saving 176.37 dollars, which is 0.73 cents per mile. A full award on the same route priced at 312,500 miles in the same search, which works out to about 0.46 cents per mile. On this route, the slider beats the full award, and both lose to simply paying cash and earning miles on the paid ticket.
Route two is Los Angeles to Honolulu round trip in economy. Mighty Travels published a 2026 rule for this route built around a 299 dollar round trip cash anchor, with published round trip anchors as low as 137 to 156 dollars. American’s published starting award price for Hawaii is 20,000 miles one way, or 40,000 miles round trip, plus 11.20 dollars in taxes. Modeled against the 299 dollar anchor, that award returns about 0.72 cents per mile, well below American’s 1.45 cent benchmark. Verdict: at the published starting award price, pay cash on this route unless a Web Special drops the miles price sharply. This is a modeled estimate from published anchors, not a live quote, and you should reprice your exact dates before booking.
Route three is Nashville to Los Angeles in economy on American, from AwardTool observed data published in October 2026: 8,000 miles plus 5.60 dollars one way. No cash fare was published for this exact pairing, so here is the breakeven instead. At American’s 1.45 cent benchmark, 8,000 miles are worth 116 dollars, so any cash fare below about 121.60 dollars makes cash the better buy, and any fare above it makes the award the better buy. Short domestic hops with low cash fares are where points most often lose, because the miles have a floor value that a 99 dollar fare cannot clear.
Route four is a United short haul domestic saver award, priced at 15,000 miles under United’s 2026 award chart for domestic economy under 1,150 miles, a figure Mighty Travels confirmed against United’s award search in March 2026. At United’s 1.2 cent benchmark, 15,000 miles are worth 180 dollars, so the breakeven cash fare is about 185.60 dollars including the 5.60 dollar tax. If your short haul fare prices below that, pay cash and keep the miles for a route where the same 15,000 miles buy a more expensive seat.
Quotable summary: on the four routes I compared, only awards beating their program’s benchmark value deserved the miles, and on cheap domestic and Hawaii routes the published award prices returned roughly half the benchmark, so cash won.
When Should You Pay Cash Instead?
Pay cash when the award returns less than your miles’ benchmark value, and definitely when it returns less than half of it. Pay cash when the fare is genuinely cheap, because a low cash fare sets a bar that miles struggle to clear. Pay cash when you need the earning: elite status progress, miles toward your next award, or a fare that keeps you flexible. Pay cash when award space does not exist on your dates, rather than transferring points speculatively and hoping space appears. Transfers do not reverse.
Pay cash when the trip is one you would buy anyway at a price you can afford, and the miles are earmarked for a bigger trip. Miles are a currency with an exchange rate you set. Spending the exact balance you saved for a long haul business class seat on a short domestic hop is how people end up points rich and trip poor.
Also pay cash when the award’s taxes and fees eat the savings. Some partner awards, especially British Airways business class to London, carry surcharges near 1,700 dollars round trip, according to 2026 published figures. A headline miles price with a four figure cash surcharge is not a deal.
When Do Points Clearly Win?
Points win when the cash fare is high and the award price is fixed or low. The classic case is a partner award on a fixed chart: 60,000 AAdvantage miles for Japan Airlines business class to Japan, or 70,000 miles for Qatar Airways Qsuite business class to the Middle East, both published as 2026 partner starting values. When the cash fare for those seats runs into four figures, the cents per mile math lands at 3 cents or more, double or triple the benchmark.
Points win on expensive peak dates, when cash fares spike but a saver award holds its price. They win when you would not otherwise take the trip at the cash price at all. Miles to Memories makes this point well: if spending 400 dollars per person is simply out of the question, burning miles at a below benchmark return is still the right call, because the alternative is not a cheaper trip, it is no trip.
Points also win when the award is the only way to fly the cabin you want. Premium cabins are where the math most favors miles, because award prices rise much more slowly than cash fares as the cabin gets nicer. The Points King data from AwardWallet redemptions through September 2026 shows long haul business and first class awards averaging 2.4 to 3.99 cents per mile across major programs, roughly double the economy averages.
What About Transferring Bank Points or Booking Through a Portal?
You usually have three ways to spend flexible bank points, and they are not equal. Transferring to an airline partner can give the best value, but only when a good award exists and you can see the space before you transfer. Booking through the card travel portal gives a fixed value, often 1.25 to 1.5 cents per point, and it buys a regular paid ticket that earns miles. Redeeming points as a statement credit or for cash back usually gives the least, often 1 cent per point.
The order of operations matters. First, check the airline award price and confirm the space exists. Second, check the portal price for the same flight. Third, check the cash fare. Only transfer points after you have seen the award space and the final taxes. A speculative transfer that strands points in a program you did not need is the most common expensive mistake in this hobby.
Also note that how hotel points lose value over time applies to airline miles too: currencies devalue, programs change charts, and a balance sitting untouched tends to buy less next year than this year. That is an argument for spending at or above benchmark value, not for hoarding forever.
What I Do Before I Book
I fly out of LAX constantly for shoots, and my rule is boring on purpose: I price all three options in one sitting, on the same dates, in the same cabin, before I move a single point. Cash fare first, award price second, portal price third. If the award clears my program’s benchmark by a comfortable margin, I book the award. If it does not, I pay cash, earn the miles, and keep the balance for a trip where the same miles buy a seat I would never pay cash for. If the numbers are within a few tenths of a cent of each other, I take the option I can change most easily, because flexibility has saved more of my trips than any redemption ever has.
That discipline is also why why award seats are so hard to find never surprises me anymore, and why I treat booking direct versus through a third party as a separate decision from points versus cash. The channel and the currency are two different choices, and mixing them up is how a good award turns into a bad booking.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I use points or cash for a cheap domestic flight?
Usually cash. Cheap fares set a low bar that award prices struggle to clear, and the paid ticket earns miles toward your next trip. Run the test, but expect cash to win under roughly 150 to 200 dollars on short domestic routes.
What is a good cents per mile value?
At or above your program’s benchmark: 1.45 cents for American, 1.2 cents for Delta and United, 1.55 cents for Alaska and Hawaiian Atmos Rewards, per The Points Guy October 2026 valuations. For flexible bank points, Mighty Travels uses 1.5 cents as the transfer line. Anything above 2 cents is a strong redemption, and premium cabin awards often clear 3 cents.
Do award tickets earn miles?
Usually no. Award tickets generally do not earn redeemable miles or elite status progress, while paid tickets do. That lost earning is part of the true cost of an award, and it matters most when the cents per mile math is close.
Should I transfer points before checking award availability?
No. Confirm the award space exists and note the final taxes and fees first, then transfer. Transfers are generally one way, and a stranded balance in the wrong program is an expensive mistake.
Are points or cash better for business class?
Points, when you can find partner award space at a fixed chart price. Long haul business class awards averaged 2.4 to 3.99 cents per mile across major programs in AwardWallet data through September 2026, roughly double economy returns. When only dynamic, high priced awards exist, cash or the cash and miles slider can beat a full award.
Do miles expire or lose value?
Programs change, charts move, and currencies devalue over time, which is why holding a balance indefinitely is a losing strategy. Spend at or above benchmark value on trips you actually want, rather than hoarding for a perfect redemption that may never come.
Sources
The Points Guy October 2026 valuations as summarized by The Points King; NerdWallet airline miles and hotel points valuations, October 2026; Mighty Travels Los Angeles to Honolulu 2026 award versus fare analysis; Mighty Travels Nashville to Los Angeles premium cabin AAdvantage pricing from AwardTool observed data; AwardFares American AAdvantage cash and miles test, October 2026; Mighty Travels United domestic economy saver award analysis, 2026; Points Talk Squad award travel FAQ; Miles to Memories redeem points or pay cash guide; Bogleheads flyer miles discussion thread.
