Points vs. Miles
Your friend just got back from their dream trip to Italy. It was amazing! The food was amazing, the wine to die for, and the views spectacular… The best part…. trip cost 0$! It’s your lucky day because they’re going to tell you exactly how to book the same trip! According to your friend booking is simple… All you have to do is use your Chase points to book your flight there, your Hilton points for your stay, and book an award flight back using United Plus Miles! Easy enough, right?
Did that make perfect sense? If not then you’re in the right place - we’ve got you covered. This article will teach you what you need to know to decipher the language of points and miles.
A common misconception is assuming points and miles are the same, people often mix and use the two words interchangeably. It’s an understandable mistake, both miles and points are rewards that can be redeemed to book travel. However, their properties can be very different.
What’s a Point?
Points are a form of loyalty/ reward currency, most commonly awarded by specific credit card issues like Chase, American Express, Citi, and Capital One. A Point’s value is determined by the program at which the point can be redeemed with. When we talk about points in the context of booking travel there’s generally two different categories: Credit card issuer reward points and on lesser occasion, hotel reward points.
Credit card issuer reward program points are earned via issuer’s (bank) branded credit cards - like the Chase sapphire preferred, which earns points for Chase’s “Ultimate Rewards” Program.
Two Bank CC reward programs you need to know: Chase Ultimate Rewards and American Express Membership Rewards
Both of these programs allow you to redeem your reward points either directly through their respective travel portals or to transfer those points to their travel partners. (More on transferring to partners here)
Hotel Reward Points: are earned by booking and then staying at a hotel as a member of said hotel’s loyalty program, or through a hotel brand’s sponsored credit card. When we redeem hotel points for a stay, this is generally a form of award travel.
It’s really important to note here that cc issuer points and hotel points do not have a 1:1 value. For example American Express MR points can be transferred to Marriot at a 2:3 ratio or to Hilton for 1:2 ratio. 100,000 Marriott Points is NOT equal to 100,000 Chase UR points.
What’s a Mile
The common currency for airline loyalty reward programs - known as frequent flier miles. Two primary ways miles can be accumulated: 1) by purchasing and flying through an airline’s reward program 2) through an airline branded credit card (like the Chase’s United Explorer card). When we redeem miles for travel this is referred to as award travel - this can ONLY be done through an airlines Frequent Flyer portal.
Note while POINTS from credit card loyalty programs are often flexible and can be transferred and converted to miles for a specific frequent flier program, miles are NOT flexible and can NOT be transferred or converted.
United Airline Mileage Plus miles can ONLY be used for United Award Travel. They cannot be transferred to another airline, hotel, or credit card reward program.
Remember the “Miles” in frequent flyer is referring to the value of your airline rewards! This is NOT a number of miles you’ve flown or can fly with said airline…
Three Takeaways
1) Miles can exclusively be used for booking award travel on a specific airline, no ifs, thens, or buts.
2) Points are generally more flexible and can be used for booking various kinds of travel. Most common points are either specific to a credit card issuer or a hotel brand.
3) While Points and Miles have different properties they’re often better together. If you want to maximize the value you get, then at some point you’ll probably use points and miles together.. Table stakes are knowing the difference.
