In order to calculate the value of certain frequent flyer programs, it is necessary to understand what it would cost to buy those airline tickets with cold hard cash. In economic terms, I think this is referred to as the replacement cost. Given that airline pricing strategy is one of the more complex human endeavors (witness the armies of economics PhDs hired by airlines to tackle this stuff!), we aren’t aiming for anything near perfection here, just a directional estimate.
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Last Reviewed: 10/22/2010
The Hilton Honors American Express card is a serious player in the hotel credit card space. It’s currently a top 3 card (based on PlasticIQ’s standard spending profile) when we screen for hotel credit cards using the PIQ Ranking Engine. Perhaps a slightly more serious player is the Starwood Preferred Guest Card from Amex, but you should review both carefully before deciding which piece of plasstic to mate with.
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For those of you who like to get to the answer fast, PlasticIQ estimates the value of Hilton points to be worth around $0.0043 per point. This is a complex question to tackle (and like many rewards calculations, at times subjective), but here’s PlasticIQ’s take. The first thing to note is that the value of Hilton rewards actually varies depending on several factors, primarily:
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PIQ’s Assessment of the Discover Business Miles Rewards Card
- The 2 miles per dollar of spend on gas purchases is fairly unexceptional, especially with the travel/gas cap of $5,000 per year (after which point you only get 1 miles per dollar of spend). There are at least a couple of cards that offer 5 cents per dollar of spend on gas.
- Additionally, the 2 miles per dollar of spend on travel related purchases is outdone by more focused, higher rewarding cards.
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