Credit Card Reviews by Dave Grossman

When a card earns cash back, it has a value in our calculator of $0.01, just as you'd expect! 😉

It's worth noting that some Capital One cards earn 2 miles per dollar on everything, making the 1.6 cent per mile value an understatement as you'd be earning a 3.2% yield on every day spend. However, this assumes you will learn how to utilize the Capital One airline and hotel transfer partners, most of which transfer 1:1. The minimum value is 1 cent when used to book travel in their portal or to  cover previously paid for travel, however, our calculator assumes you will use Capital One's air and hotel transfer partners when calculating a 1.6 cent per point value. We also have a Guide to Capital One Miles.

Since Hilton moved to a variable pricing model, on average you'll be offered roughly a 0.5 cent value per point. What is nice is that although the pricing is mostly variable, they still cap the "standard" redemption rate on all properties. With the 5th night free on all award stays and resort fees waived on award stays, it's very possible to well exceed this value - even getting 1-2 cents per point - when used wisely.

Since Hilton moved to a variable pricing model, on average you'll be offered roughly a 0.5 cent value per point. What is nice is that although the pricing is mostly variable, they still cap the "standard" redemption rate on all properties. With the 5th night free on all award stays and resort fees waived on award stays, it's very possible to well exceed this value - even getting 1-2 cents per point - when used wisely.

When a card earns cash back, it has a value in our calculator of $0.01, just as you'd expect! 😉

Instant Transfers as well as solid transfer partners. The value would go up if they had any hotel partners with a fair exchange rate. ANA (an exception to instant transfers), Virgin, Air Canada and Avianca are top airline partners for maximizing your points. They can also transfer to Delta if you wish and while the rates aren't ideal, they can transfer to Marriott and Hilton as well.  ANA provides almost unbeatable value for booking a Round the World flight all in Business Class. The stated value also assumes you will take advantage of transfer partners rather than book via their booking portal, where they are only worth between 1 and 1.5 cents. We've also created a Guide to American Express Membership Rewards.

When a card earns cash back, it has a value in our calculator of $0.01, just as you'd expect! 😉

If you have a Citi Premier card or a legacy Citi Prestige card, you can transfer your points to Citi's full range of airline and hotel partners. Other ThankYou points-earning cards can be pooled with your Premier or Prestige to unlock airline and hotel program transfers. We calculate that you can get an average of 1.6 cents per point when redeeming this way. If you have any other Citi ThankYou point cards and do not have a Premier or Prestige, then your ThankYou points are worth 1 cent each.

They have a similar network to AA in terms of reach via the Star Alliance and also (unlike Delta) allow for booking First Class international awards in the Star Alliance network, but they charge noticeably more for Partner Awards and the rates keep (stealthily) rising. United partner Lufthansa tends to have good availability to Europe making it somewhat easier to use to Europe than American, which relies heavily on British Airways and BA charges incredibly steep surcharges on those awards.

They have a similar network to AA in terms of reach via the Star Alliance and also (unlike Delta) allow for booking First Class international awards in the Star Alliance network, but they charge noticeably more for Partner Awards and the rates keep (stealthily) rising. United partner Lufthansa tends to have good availability to Europe making it somewhat easier to use to Europe than American, which relies heavily on British Airways and BA charges incredibly steep surcharges on those awards.