July 15, 2025

Milenomics NOAF Episode 79: Miles vs. Bank Points

38 minutes

We're back! We cut this show as the last segment of a Patreon Episode, and are releasing it here a little delayed for everyone to listen.

0:21 Main Topic: Airline Miles vs Bank Points

0:52 Set the stage: Why is this an important discussion.

Every major bank has a bank point. Chase UR, Amex MR, Citi TYP, WF Rewards, BofA Rewards, US Bank….

Most of these can be cashed out for pennies (or fractions of) OR can be used in the bank run travel portal for more than a penny.

Finally some of these can be transferred to airlines as airline miles. These have completely different booking methods and tools, along with a varied amount of value based on the flight or hotel booked.

Maximizing value for these miles is a key to earning back the time and money we spend to earn the miles. Example: It almost never makes sense to cash out MR at .6 cents. (news story)

5:51 Bank Point bookings Benefits:

Cancel and points can just come back

Need to book a refundable fare, eating away the value

Open to booking across all alliances and even airlines that have no native point or alliance.

As long as it is in the portal you can book it. Sometimes phone agents can see even more.

1:1 pricing for most airline tickets.

Airline bookings are elite benefit eligible and earn miles

Hotel bookings are now allowing loyalty numbers to sometimes be added for elite benefits

13:09 Airline Miles Benefits:

Massive flexibility for most domestic carrier programs. Cancel as close in as you’d like. Great for provisional flights

Value is not pegged to the dollar cost of a flight, in some cases this results in fantastic values.

Economy fares can be incredibly valuable uses of miles if you’re interested in them for long haul flights.

Newer tools make searching easier, but still a hurdle

19:44 Airline Mile Weaknesses

Pricing is highly dynamic and the programs are each unique and have complex rules and booking channels.

There need to be reasonably priced award seats or your miles can become worth less than a bank point.

Orphaned miles have no benefit outside of the program they’re in.

Phantom space.

Business class fares for more than 2 people become increasingly difficult to book.

Some dates and destinations are effectively blocked out

Large learning curve.

24:27 Bank point Weaknesses

Limited upside potential, each program caps the value somewhere between 1.25 and 2 cents per point

Hotel prices can be inflated, reducing the value earned by the points

The ability to book anything depends on the bank point portal, which sometimes is less robust that a native airline/hotel portal or even an OTA like booking.com

The card associated with the uplift needs to remain open for the points to have uplift. This is impractical for some, and costly if annual fees cannot be eradicated.

31:01 Airline Mile Uses that don’t get enough Discussion

KLM/AF have <20,000 mile ($200 worth of points) nonstop flights one way + about $90. The Equivalent of $600 round trip to Europe is a steal. Compare to about $1300-1800 round trip during peak times. Yes you can pivot to lower cost or 1 stop for less. But nonstop with native international miles is a great deal.

Business class when you’re flexible enough. 50,000-100,000 per person one way.

33:42 Examples where Bank points win:

Domestic flights, nonstop on the day you want.

Can sometimes find first class lower priced than you’d expect.

What about you? What do you think is a strength of Airline Miles or Bank Points that doesn't get enough discussion? Share out here in the comments or on Social media.

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By Sam Simon and Robert Dwyer

4.4

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