Beginner’s Guide: Introduction to Points Programs
Introduction to Points Programs (2): What Are Airline Miles and Hotel Points?
In the previous article, we explained what airline miles and hotel points are. So how do you actually earn miles and points? The most straightforward way is by flying and staying at hotels. But if you’re not a frequent business traveler earning miles and hotel points through company-paid trips, and instead are just a student studying in the US who occasionally wants to use miles and points for vacation travel, how can you get the frequent-flyer rewards you need?
Fortunately, we’re in the US, where there are countless co-branded credit cards, such as the Chase United MileagePlus Explorer (UA) credit card. These cards not only come with large sign-up bonuses—for example, the UA card mentioned above offers 55,000 miles as a welcome bonus—but also let you earn rewards through everyday spending. Dining out, grocery shopping, going to the movies, and more can all help you accumulate miles. With a sign-up bonus plus regular spending, you can earn enough in a year for a round-trip ticket back home.
In addition to co-branded cards, another major source of rewards comes from the major banks’ own points ecosystems. In the US, there are three major flexible credit card points programs: Chase’s Ultimate Rewards (UR), American Express’s Membership Rewards (MR), and Citi’s ThankYou Points (TYP). These points can be transferred to airline miles and hotel loyalty programs, or redeemed for gift cards at a rate of at least 1pt/cent—that is, 100 points can be redeemed for at least $1 in gift cards.
Below are the transfer partners and points-earning card options for the major credit card rewards programs:
Chase Ultimate Rewards
- Airline miles (all transfer at 1:1):
United Airlines (mainstream option, good for US–China award flights)
British Airways (a sweet spot for short-haul oneworld flights; awards can start at just 4,500 miles)
Korean Air (80,000 miles for Korean Air A380 first class back to China, or 25,000 for Delta round-trip flights within the US to Hawaii)
Singapore Airlines (around 70,000 for Singapore Airlines first class from San Francisco to Hong Kong, or 25,000 for US domestic round-trip flights)
Air France (good for flights from the US to Hawaii and the Caribbean; award discounts to Europe from the US also appear frequently)
Southwest Airlines (points required are tied to the ticket price; one SW point is worth about 1.42 cents)
Virgin Atlantic (useful for Hawaiian Airlines, Delta, and Virgin America with no fuel surcharges; can also redeem for ANA)
- Hotel points (also transfer at 1:1):
Hyatt (the main useful one); the rest are much less compelling: IHG, Marriott, Ritz-Carlton
Associated credit cards:
Chase Freedom ( a good starter card for beginners, 12,500-point sign-up bonus, no annual fee )
Chase Sapphire Preferred (the Sapphire card, 45,000-point sign-up bonus, annual fee waived the first year, then $95 per year)
Chase Ink Plus, Chase Ink Cash (both are business credit cards)
AMEX Membership Rewards
- Airline miles (unless otherwise noted, all transfer at 1:1):
Delta (often jokingly considered low-value miles; not recommended as a beginner’s miles program. A one-way economy award back to China requires 35,000 miles, and business class requires 70,000. Can be used on China Eastern, China Southern, and Xiamen Airlines.)
ANA ( for the updated ANA redemption guide, see here; round-trip economy back to China is 60,000, business is 95,000)
Air Canada (round-trip economy from China to Southeast Asia or Japan is 20,000, business is 30,000; one-way US–China economy is 37,500, business is 75,000)
Air France (good for flights from the US to Hawaii and the Caribbean; award discounts to Europe from the US also appear frequently)
Hawaiian Airlines (during a bonus, 1MR=1.2HA miles; a North America–Hawaii round-trip economy award requires 40,000)
Asia Miles (Cathay Pacific’s program; mileage requirements are distance-based and useful for multi-segment hopping itineraries)
British Airways (a great short-haul oneworld option; MR to BA often has bonuses, and earlier this year 1MR=1.4BA miles)
Iberia Plus (a useful North America short-haul program after BA’s devaluation; business class from the US East Coast to Spain costs only 34,000 one-way)
Singapore Airlines and Virgin Atlantic (already discussed above)
Virgin America (2MR=1VA miles; during a bonus, 2MR=1.35VA miles. Points required are tied to ticket price, and 1VA mile is worth about 2.2 cents)
JetBlue (points required are tied to ticket price; 1 JetBlue point is worth 1.4 cents)
The other airline partners are mostly not especially noteworthy.
- Hotel points (not very attractive overall)
SPG (3MR=1 SPG) , Best Western (1:1) , Choice Privilege (1:1) , Hilton（1MR=1.5Hilton 点数）
- Associated credit cards:
Premier Gold Rewards The Enhanced Business Gold Rewards Card
Everyday Preferred AMEX EveryDaySM
Platinum Card® from AMEX Business Platinum Card®
American Express® Green Card Business Green Rewards Card
Citi ThankYou Points
- Airline miles transfers (all at 1:1):
Singapore Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, Air France, Asia Miles (already covered above)
Etihad: the luxury Gulf carrier. Award charts are here. Different flights use different award charts, and there are quite a few sweet spots, so I’ll write a dedicated post about it later.
Honorable mentions: EVA Air (their flight attendants have the sweetest voices), Garuda (you may still need to go to a local office to redeem), Malaysia Airlines (where exactly do they fly?), Qantas (mediocre value), Qatar Airways (mediocre value +1), Thai Airways (mediocre value +2)
- Hotel points:
Only Hilton (1 TYP = 1.5 Hilton points; during a bonus, 1 TYP = 2 Hilton points)
- Related credit cards:
