Fair Trading Prices

“Fair trading prices” are the prices by which it is relatively easy or common to acquire points and miles.  For more about this, please see: Fair trading prices for points and miles.  Still confused?  Please see Fair trading prices explained.

Note: Shown below are fair trading prices for redeemable points and miles.  Fair trading prices for Elite Qualifying Miles (EQMs) are determined differently.  Currently, the fair trading price for airline EQMs = 3 cents per EQM.

Tables Last Updated: 4/24/2012 (recalculated hotel values and split from main table)

Values in bold represent fair trading prices

Cost to Acquire
(cents per point)

Awards Program

Buy Direct

Credit Card

Transfer from:

Flexible Points

Amex Membership Rewards (MR)

2*

1.29

N/A

Chase Ultimate Rewards (UR)

2.5

1.31

N/A

Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG)

3.5

1.95

N/A

Airline
Miles

American

2.95

1.56

SPG

British Airways

2.3

1.29

MR

Delta

3.5

1.29

MR

United / Continental

3.76

1.31

UR

US Airways

3.5

1.56

SPG

Hotel Points

Hilton

1

0.48

**

Train

Amtrak

2.75

1.31

UR

* MR points can only be purchased to “top up” a specific redemption
** Based on the blended point earning rate of the Hilton HHonors Surpass card from American Express

Hotel Values

Please see this post for information about how the following table was constructed.

Prices are
cents per
point

Points
earned
per $
for stays

Low
Price
(SPG
Index)

High
Price
(Hilton
Index)

Fair
Trade
Price
(Avg)

Buy
direct

SPG

2

1.95

N/A

1.95

3.5

Hilton

15

N/A

0.48

0.48

1

Best Western

10

0.39

0.72

0.56

1

Club Carlson

20

0.195

0.36

0.28

0.7

Hyatt

5

0.78

1.44

1.11

2.4

Marriott

10

0.39

0.72

0.56

1.25

Priority Club

10

0.39

0.72

0.56

1.15

Wyndham

10

0.39

0.72

0.56

N/A

 

Notes

  • The “Buy Direct” column is the advertised price to buy points or miles directly from each specific program. The price does not include any specials that may be running.
  • The “Credit Card” column lists the best price you could get by trading points from one of the three listed flexible points programs. In each case I tried to find the transfer option that led to the lowest cost.
  • Numbers in bold represent fair trading prices for each program.
  • For details on how this table was first compiled, please see: Fair trading prices for points and miles
  • Tricks, hacks, and promotions that allow points to be purchased less expensively are not included in the estimates above.  If interested, please read “When should a hack determine the fair trading price of points and miles?”
  • Fair Trading Prices will be updated regularly.  Please check back often.

 

Publishers

You may re-publish the above table under the condition that credit is given to Frequent Miler along with the web address for this blog (http:/thefrequentmiler.com).  Please also include a link back to this page so that readers can always see the latest updates.

10 Responses to “Fair Trading Prices”

  1. Jeff says:
    February 2, 2012 at 5:53 am

    From a asian that had math drilled into him from his rents. RESPECT on the break down of values per points and the ppm. I am always thinking of the numbers behind purchases to maximize my returns but there is one negative I can no longer sleep at night. :)

  2. FrequentMiler says:
    February 2, 2012 at 7:58 am

    Jeff: Thanks. Yes, I understand the sleeping issue :) I don’t have a cure for that!

  3. The Deal Mommy says:
    February 6, 2012 at 7:35 pm

    Just bookmarked. Thanks so much!

  4. Ryan from MA says:
    March 24, 2012 at 10:57 am

    hey FM, so MR points are almost the same as UR? Why’s that?…i feel like UR points are best esp for Hyatt hotels and going to United. MR points are good for only BA transfer bonuses and maybe ANA if you want to pay the mileage fees…but i’m relatively new to this so maybe you can clear it up? thanks man :)

  5. FrequentMiler says:
    March 24, 2012 at 12:19 pm

    Ryan from MA: Great question. The fair trading prices chart shows the usual cost for acquiring points and miles. It doesn’t say anything about the value of redeeming them. I agree with you that UR points are usually more valuable than MR points, but since both can be redeemed a million different ways, there is no good way to estimate their redemption value. The basic idea of the chart is that you can use these numbers as a benchmark against your redemption choices. For example, if you’re thinking of using MR points in a way that will give you 1 cent per point value, you can see that that’s not a great deal since 1 cent per point is less than the usual cost of acquiring MR points.

  6. Ram says:
    April 5, 2012 at 11:27 pm

    Very nice points table.
    Is there any place where I can buy points than UR website?

  7. Jim says:
    April 25, 2012 at 11:16 am

    The calculation is based on being able to get 2% cash back from credit card. Which card gives you 2% cash back across the board?

    Thanks.

  8. FrequentMiler says:
    April 25, 2012 at 11:29 am

    Jim: Capital One Spark Cash is one option, Fidelity Amex is another, Nasa credit union has one. See more here: http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/finance/883571/

  9. Ford says:
    May 21, 2012 at 2:29 pm

    Would be interested to see the Fair Trading Value of Southwest Miles.

  10. David says:
    May 22, 2012 at 12:15 am

    I’m not sure I agree with the chart. For example, I value a United point at 1.9 cents per dollar, and a Starwood point at 2.4 cents because the best value from SPG comes from C+P and not airline conversions. What you’re suggesting is I should take the 2% cash back a Citi or Cap 1 card gives and buy UR or SPG points and come out ahead, and I don’t see how thats possible w/o Chase or Amex shutting down for abuse. How do you consistently and safely accrue URs for 1.31 cents per point?

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