6 ways to stretch the value of your travel rewards

Earning points and miles with travel credit cards may seem easy at first, but accruing large balances of rewards (and maintaining them) gets harder over time.

This is largely because travelers are limited in terms of the number of credit card sign-up bonuses they can earn over time. Not only that, but rewards currencies are often devalued over time, making each point worth less than it was the year before. Think of it like inflation but for your travel rewards points.

As travel rewards are devalued over time, booking airfare, hotels and other travel with points becomes more expensive. As such, it’s important to conserve your points and take steps to extract as much value out of them as possible when redeeming for travel.

Here are a few great ways you can save travel rewards and get more value out of them the next time you travel.

While redeeming rewards for any aspect of travel can be a huge money-saver, many travel rewards enthusiasts save the bulk of their points and miles for airfare.

This is largely because airfare is often expensive, but it’s also because there are less ways to save on flights than on hotels. After all, you can usually pick a cheaper lodging option (think camping, timeshares and Airbnb) or fly to a destination and stay with family or friends.

One great way to conserve airline miles is to diversify your points portfolio. This is because every airline loyalty program prices flights differently, so being able to pick from multiple airlines gives you price and schedule flexibility.

Here’s an example: Imagine you wanted to fly from Indianapolis (IND) to Cancun, Mexico (CUN) one-way on April 17, 2024. Here’s how many miles this flight costs with three popular programs: American AAdvantage, Southwest Rapid Rewards and United MileagePlus.

American charges 8,000 AAdvantage miles plus $46.04 one-way at the time of writing.

Southwest flights start at 9,130 Rapid Rewards points, plus $46.04.

Meanwhile, United flights start at 20,000 miles plus $46.04.

Obviously, all types of airline miles are worth different amounts, and your home airport and travel dates can play a big role in terms of costs. However, having multiple types of airline miles gives you the option to shop around to find the best deal.

One of the easiest ways to diversify your points portfolio is to collect transferable points currencies like American Express Membership Rewards, Capital One miles and Chase Ultimate Rewards. These rewards transfer to a number of different airline and hotel loyalty programs, giving you many options.

But just because you can transfer your transferable points to an airline or hotel partner doesn’t mean you always should. Instead, make sure to compare the cost of booking through your bank’s travel portal with the points cost of booking through a transfer partner.

This tip is crucial when you have Chase Ultimate Rewards points; cards like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® and Chase Sapphire Reserve® can redeem at a set rate of 1.25 and 1.5 cents per point, respectively, through the Ultimate Rewards travel portal. Meanwhile, the value you get when transferring to an airline or hotel loyalty program is variable.

For example, say you’re planning a trip from New York to Lisbon, Portugal. You can transfer 61,000 Chase points to Singapore Airlines Krisflyer and book this award ticket on TAP Air Portugal with $61 in taxes and fees.

However, you can book the same flights through the Chase Ultimate Rewards travel portal for 44,926 points with the Sapphire Reserve or 53,910 points with the Sapphire Preferred. This is a much lower points cost and you’ll earn miles on the ticket.

The moral of the story? Always check the travel portals you have available to you before you book a flight. It may not always be the best option, but it can occasionally work in your favor on low-demand dates and other times when travel is relatively cheap.

Some hotel credit cards offer free night certificates just for signing up, or for renewing the card after the first year. The catch is, these certificates are usually only good for free nights up to a certain number of points.

As one example, the World of Hyatt Credit Card offers a free night certificate for a Category 1-4 property every year you renew your card, and you can earn a second free night certificate when you spend at least $15,000 on your card within a calendar year.

Likewise, the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card offers three free night awards (worth up to 50,000 points each) after you sign up and spend $3,000 on purchases within three months of account opening. Plus, the card includes one free night award (worth up to 35,000 points) every year you keep the card open.

With this in mind, it’s worth noting that there can be a big difference in point values for properties based on their category. Further, paying attention can help you get a lot more value for the rewards you work so hard to earn.

With the World of Hyatt program, for example, using a free night certificate could give you a free night at a Category 1 property like the Hyatt Place Cincinnati Airport that may only cost $114 per night to begin with.

On the flipside, you could opt to use this free night certificate for a higher cost property that is a Category 4 instead to get more value.

Another good example is the Hyatt Regency Boston/Cambridge, which is a Category 4 property. This hotel could cost you 15,000 points per night or over $350 per night over various dates during the year, but you could pay nothing by redeeming a free night certificate instead.

The takeaway here is try and redeem hotel free night certificates for the highest value possible. This lets you save your hotel points for another redemption, and you can feel good about making the most of the certificate you rightfully earned.

Also know that some hotel loyalty programs offer free night promotions when you book a certain number of award nights in a row. As an example, consumers with an IHG One Rewards credit card get a fourth night free when redeeming points for at least three consecutive nights in the same property.

A similar promotion is also offered to members of the Hilton Honors and Marriott Bonvoy programs, although the offer is for a fifth night free when redeeming points for at least four consecutive nights in the same hotel.

How much in rewards could you save with these promotions? Let’s say you wanted to spend at least a long weekend on the Caribbean island of Aruba, and you currently have a stash of Hilton points. Because standard night awards at this property start at 80,000 points, you could book a three-night stay for 240,000 points.

However, a five-night stay at this property could only cost 320,000 Hilton points, or just 80,000 points more than staying three nights. This is due to getting a fifth night free with points, and is a great way to stretch hotel rewards as far as they can go.

Some airline and hotel loyalty programs have started to use dynamic pricing to price award tickets. This often makes it so flights and hotel stays cost more points when demand is high. At the same time, it also makes it so you can save points and miles during off-peak travel periods.

For example, a flight from New York-JFK to Paris, France (CDG) booked with Air France-KLM Flying Blue — a popular credit card transfer partner — costs a whopping 48,000 miles in economy class on June 14, 2024. This is right in the middle of the peak summer travel season.

A similar ticket at the end of March costs 15,000 miles. This is a huge savings if you don’t mind visiting Paris when the weather is less favorable.

So while dynamic pricing may have made award flights less predictable, it’s opened up opportunities for cheaper tickets during off-peak dates. Consider traveling during low-demand dates to stretch your miles even further.

Watch out for sales and deals

Finally, watch out for promotions that let you book award flights and hotel nights for fewer points. These take place in two forms: transfer bonuses and discounted redemption rates.

We often see transferable points programs run limited-time transfer bonuses where you can get 15% to 50% more points when transferring to select a select travel partner.

For example, at the time of writing, Chase is running a 30% transfer bonus to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club. This means 1,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points transfer to 1,300 Virgin points, effectively making redemptions 30% cheaper. This promotion ends Nov. 15, 2023.

Also know that many frequent flyer programs have special flight award deals that change over time. Popular options include Air France-KLM Flying Blue Promo Rewards, United MileagePlus featured rewards and Delta SkyMiles Deals.

It’s simple to earn points and miles with a credit card by using it to pay for everyday expenses, but it’s advantageous to conserve points where you can.

As you’ve seen here, exploring your travel options and being as flexible as possible with your travel dates can help you save both money and points while planning your trip.

Plus, by earning multiple travel rewards currencies and considering different airlines and hotel brands, you’ll position yourself to get the best possible deal for all of your points and miles.

Looking for a travel credit card? Find out which cards CNN Underscored chose as our best travel credit cards currently available.