How to choose between using cash or miles to pay for your flight

One of the most common travel concerns is whether to use cash or miles when purchasing airline tickets. Both options have advantages and disadvantages, so it’s important to weigh them carefully when discussing the two options. Here are some things to consider:

Are benefits available for the dates and destinations I want?

If the destination offer is not available on the day you want to travel, there’s really no need to argue, so check first. must pay the fee for

Do you have enough miles?

If you don’t think you’ll be earning the points you need quickly for your upcoming trips, it might make more sense to pay with cash. Reward availability changes frequently, so you don’t want to expect it to still be available a week or a month later. conduct have miles If you only have a few miles, It makes sense to buy the miles you need Book your ticket.

how much is your ticket

Consider how much your flight actually costs in cash. For cheap flights it may not make sense to use miles. This is because you can pay the miles directly. Instead, you can save those miles for more expensive flights later. On the other hand, if you’re considering a very expensive flight right now, miles can save you a lot of money.Once you know the cost of your flight in miles and cash, you can calculate the potential value you get from your miles according to the following formula: (cash price of flight – taxes and fees on award tickets) / miles cost of flight.

What are the travel restrictions?

Please check the restrictions on the use of miles. For example, some airlines charge a last-minute fee for award tickets booked within 21 days of departure, while others do not. Conversely, award tickets may have more flexible change and cancellation policies than cash tickets, so if your plans aren’t completely set or if you value the option of on-the-fly changes, consider spending miles can be used for more flexibility.

How do you rate your miles?

Miles have slightly different values ​​depending on the airline, program and method of travel. As a starting point, you can see how various other websites rate different types of miles, but in the end, you’ll have to decide what it’s worth to you personally. Most airline miles are worth about 1.2 cents per mile or more (sometimes more). As a general rule, never redeem airline miles for less than 1 cent per mile.

How many miles will you give up?

If you book a cash ticket, you will earn miles for the flight, but if you book a ticket with miles, you will not.if you For real You should also consider the value of the miles you give up by booking an award ticket.to understand Best airlines to credit flights with. It can be a lot of work, but if you really care about the miles you earn, it might be worth considering.