What a point is worth

There are two honest ways to value a point, and they answer different questions. The aspirational value answers "what could this point be worth if I redeem it near-optimally?" — business-class transfers, sweet spots, good timing. The floor value answers "what can a careful, non-hobbyist redeemer reliably get?" PointsBrain shows both, but every dollar figure on this site is computed at the floor. When we say a switch earns you $120/yr, that's the low end, not the sales pitch.

Aspirational values: The Points Guy monthly valuations dated August 3, 2026 (verified against the live page August 4, 2026; the Wells Fargo Rewards value was added and checked against the live page August 11, 2026; airline-currency values were checked against the live page August 14, 2026, the American Airlines value August 16, 2026, and the Atmos Rewards value August 17, 2026). Floors: the expert-consensus rule that transferable bank points should never be redeemed below ~1.25¢; cashback is 1¢ by definition. Airline currencies earned on co-brand cards (Delta SkyMiles, United MileagePlus, Southwest Rapid Rewards, American Airlines AAdvantage, Alaska/Hawaiian Atmos Rewards) are not bank points and get no 1.25¢ presumption — their floors are Frequent Miler's reasonable redemption values, the median observed value across real award bookings for that program. For United and Southwest the aspirational value currently sits below the floor — the two methodologies disagree there, and we quote the lower number for any user-facing claim. A note on Citi ThankYou Points: the full transfer ratios behind the aspirational value require a premium ThankYou card — non-premium cards transfer to most airlines at roughly 30% worse ratios, so their realistic ceiling sits far closer to the floor. Citi also tiers the cash-out itself: the base Citi Strata redeems cash at just 0.5¢ per point on its own (1¢ if pooled with a linked Double Cash or Custom Cash), which is why it gets the separate non-premium row above instead of the 1.25¢ transferable floor.

Why we compute at the floor

Aspirational values assume you'll book premium-cabin sweet spots at exactly the right moment. Some people do. Most people redeem at real-world values — portals, cash equivalents, whatever's available the week they travel. Valuing every point you earn at the best redemption you might someday make is how rewards get oversold, so our math never does it. Transfers to partners can beat the floor — sometimes by a lot — and when the full product recommends one, it will price that specific redemption instead of assuming it.

Cashback is the honest baseline

Cashback is worth exactly 1¢ per point, by definition. A 2% cashback card is therefore a 2.0% return — which quietly beats a "3×" points card whose points you redeem poorly. Our math treats them on the same dollar scale so the comparison is fair.

One rule above all

If you carry a balance month to month, no point value matters: card interest (typically 20–30% APR) exceeds any rewards rate. That's why every tool on this site asks before it computes.

Both tables live in our versioned fact catalog with sources and verification dates; see how PointsBrain computes. Try the floors in action in the category leaderboard or the card duel.