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Cashing Out Points
In general, airline miles and hotel points give you the highest value when redeemed for their own products, especially business class, first class, and luxury hotels, where the value can exceed 2c/p. Bank points can also be transferred to airline and hotel programs, which can increase their value as well. However, the highest-value redemptions are usually travel-related. During this unusual period, travel has shrunk dramatically, which puts points in an awkward position. On top of that, quite a few airlines are struggling to survive and may even face bankruptcy and liquidation, so miles could be heavily devalued or even become worthless. Therefore, this article summarizes the main ways to convert different kinds of points into cash, along with their value.
Note that many bank points can be cashed out, but airline miles and hotel points often cannot be directly converted into cash. So this article is organized by the following cash-out methods:
- Redeem for statement credit/check/direct deposit to a bank account: equivalent to cash
- Redeem for gift cards: gift cards you can actually use are basically equivalent to cash, especially ones like Amazon, Walmart, and Target, which are easy to spend. If those options are not available, redeeming for Department Store or Home Improvement gift cards and then selling them at a discount on a secondary gift card site also counts as a form of cashing out.
- Redeem for Apple products: Apple products are popular and tend to hold their value relatively well, so they are usually easy to resell. Redeeming for Apple products can also be considered a cash-out method.
Membership Rewards (MR)
Cashing out MR is a bit more complicated, so below are several options to choose from. You can weigh convenience against redemption value and pick the method you prefer.
Platinum Schwab-1.25c/p
With the Schwab version of the Platinum card, you can transfer MR to a Schwab brokerage account at a value of 1.25c/p, and then move the money from the brokerage account to a bank. However, before opening the Platinum Schwab, you first need to open a Schwab brokerage account (which does involve a Hardpull). The redemption to the brokerage account usually posts instantly, so it is pretty convenient.
Platinum Morgan Stanley-1c/p
With the Morgan Stanley version of the Platinum card, you can transfer MR to a Morgan Stanley brokerage account at a value of 1c/p, and then move the money from the brokerage account to a bank. However, opening the Morgan Stanley Platinum requires having a Morgan Stanley account first, so it is fairly cumbersome.
Reportedly, the Goldman Sachs version of the Platinum works as well.
AMEX Travel - 1c/p
If you use MR to book a refundable hotel or airfare through AMEX Travel, the redemption value is 1c/p. When you cancel, AMEX refunds a statement credit directly to your card instead of returning MR. In effect, that means cashing out MR at 1c/p.
When booking airfare with the AMEX Business Platinum, you get 35% MR back. It is unclear whether a cancellation refunds cash at the original fare amount; if so, then you could cash out at about 1.5c/p.
Transfer to the Canadian version of MR
AMEX allows you to transfer points from a U.S. MR account to Canada. At the moment, the Canadian Platinum card can redeem MR points toward statement credit at 1.4c/p.
Other
- Pay with points: works at merchants such as Amazon, Best Buy, boxed, and PayPal. However, the value is only 0.7c/p, so it is not especially attractive.
- Redeem for gift cards: the value is 0.7c/p (or 0.5c/p for AMEX gift cards). Only during promotions might it rise to 1c/p.
- Direct statement credit: 0.6c/p, so 1000 MR = a $6 statement credit, which is a pretty poor deal.
ThankYou Points (TYP)
Prestige 1c/p
If you have the Citi Prestige credit card, you can redeem TYP directly for statement credit at 1c/p. That said, the annual fee on this card is still quite high.
Redeem for a loan check 1c/p
You can call in and redeem TYP directly for a Student loan or Mortgage. You just need to provide the Name of the lender (in practice, this is just the bank where you want to deposit the check) and the Amount of the check (how much you want to redeem). Once you receive the check, simply deposit it into the corresponding bank account.
Redeem for gift cards
If you are not satisfied with the methods above, Citi is still fairly generous on gift card redemptions at 1c/p. If you can find a reliable buyer, cards like Target and Best Buy can usually be sold for about 90% of face value, so in pure cash terms that is about 0.9c/p.
Citi Rewards+ boosts by 10%
If you really want to cash out Citi TYP, my suggestion is to apply for or product change to a Citi Rewards+, since it gives you 10% points back on redemptions each year.
No annual fee! Best paired with other Citi TYP credit cards
- Welcome bonus: No longer available to apply for, but you can product change.
- Rewards: 2x points at supermarkets and gas stations (on the first $6000 in purchases); 1x points on all other purchases. Earn at least 10 points per transaction.
- Redemption: If you also hold a premium card, points can be transferred 1:1 to airline miles or hotel points; get 10% points back on redemptions
- Annual fee: $0
- Apply now>>
Ultimate Rewards (UR)
All UR cards can redeem UR directly for cash at 1c/p. I do not recommend other redemption methods here, because their cash value is generally below 1c/p and not really worth considering.
Other bank points
- Capital One Rewards: can only be redeemed against travel at 1c/p. You can book travel first, redeem against the charge, and then cancel. Recently, Restaurant Delivery, Takeout, and Streaming Services were added; testing shows charges like Amazon and PayPal can also be offset.
- BofA Travel Rewards: can only be redeemed against travel at 1c/p; you can book travel first, redeem against the charge, and then cancel
- US Bank Altitude Rewards: use Realtime Rewards to offset travel purchases; you can book travel first, redeem against the charge, and then cancel
Airline Miles
Delta Air Lines (DL)
Previously, miles could be redeemed for gift cards, but DL has now shut down that option. After a quick look, the only somewhat useful option left is redeeming for Apple products, at roughly 0.22c/p. Of course, the merchandise is priced based on full retail value.
United Airlines (UA)
You can redeem miles for gift cards through the MPX APP or the website. The website has fewer gift card options, while MPX has a few more. I tested it, and for most gift cards, the redemption value is 0.3c/p. A few exceptions, such as domino's pizza, are around 0.6c/p.
In addition, I tested using miles to buy Apple Product and other merchandise. The prices are based on full retail value, and the redemption value is also 0.3c/p, so it is not as good as redeeming for gift cards. Sometimes merchandise goes on sale, and the value may be a bit better.
Southwest (WN)
You can redeem Southwest miles for gift cards, including Staples, itunes, Macy's, and others. The redemption value ranges from 0.83c/p to 1c/p, which is actually quite decent among airline miles. However, the login page says you need a Southwest co-branded credit card in order to redeem.
Avianca (AV)
Avianca miles can be used on Amazon at a value of 0.68c/p, but you first need to download a Chrome extension. After downloading it and logging into your Avianca account, you can make purchases on Amazon with the extension enabled. Note that at checkout, there will be an option to pay with AV miles.
Methods Not Yet Found
- Alaska Airlines (AS)
- American Airlines (AA)
Hotel Points
Hilton
You can use Pay with Hilton Points on Amazon, with a redemption value of 0.2c/p.
There was once a bug that gave 0.5c/p on Amazon.
IHG
Currently, through points.com, you can redeem IHG points for Amazon gift cards at a value of about 0.16c/p.
Marriott
You can redeem for various gift cards, and Amazon redemptions can go as high as 0.33c/p.
Methods Not Yet Found
- Hyatt: can only be transferred to other mileage programs.
Summary
Relatively speaking, bank points are still much easier to cash out, and they can also be transferred to many airline and hotel programs. My suggestion is to save your credit card points until the very end. As for airline miles and hotel points, although they may be hard to use right now, as long as the programs do not shut down and do not undergo major devaluations, there should still be redemption options better than cashing out directly.
If you know of any other redemption methods that offer better value or more convenience, feel free to share them in the comments~