We are an independent publisher. Our reporters create honest, accurate, and objective content to help you make decisions. To support our work, we are paid for providing advertising services. Many, but not all, of the offers and clickable hyperlinks (such as a “Next” button) that appear on this site are from companies that compensate us. The compensation we receive and other factors, such as your location, may impact what ads and links appear on our site, and how, where, and in what order ads and links appear. While we strive to provide a wide range of offers, our site does not include information about every product or service that may be available to you. We strive to keep our information accurate and up-to-date, but some information may not be current. So, your actual offer terms from an advertiser may be different than the offer terms on this site. And the advertised offers may be subject to additional terms and conditions of the advertiser. All information is presented without any warranty or guarantee to you.

This page may include: credit card ads that we may be paid for (“advertiser listing”); and general information about credit card products (“editorial content”). Many, but not all, of the offers and clickable hyperlinks (such as a “Apply Now” button or “Learn More” button) that appear on this site are from companies that compensate us. When you click on that hyperlink or button, you may be directed to the credit card issuer’s website where you can review the terms and conditions for your selected offer. Each advertiser is responsible for the accuracy and availability of its ad offer details, but we attempt to verify those offer details. We have partnerships with advertisers such as Brex, Capital One, Chase, Citi, Wells Fargo and Discover. We also include editorial content to educate consumers about financial products and services. Some of that content may also contain ads, including links to advertisers’ sites, and we may be paid on those ads or links.

For more information, please see How we make money.

Why I’m Choosing to Pay Cash Instead of Miles and Points – This Time!

  • Million Mile Secrets

    • Signing up for credit cards through partner links earns us a commission. Terms apply to the offers listed on this page. Here’s our full advertising policy: How we make money.

    Update:   One or more card offers in this post are no longer available.  Check our Hot Deals for the latest offers.

    My wife and I decided randomly that we want to check out the Travel & Adventure Show in Denver.  It’s a short 1.5 hour flight from Salt Lake City, so it makes for a perfect weekend trip.  However, against everything I believe in when it comes to miles and points, I decided to pay cash for the entire trip for both of us.

    Some would rather redeem miles and points from travel credit cards no matter what to avoid paying for airfare or a hotel.  But here’s a perfect example when you should use cash rather than burning too many points.

    Sometimes, It Makes More Sense to Pay Cash Than Redeeming Miles and Points

    Here’s why I paid cash for this trip, and why you might consider doing the same in some instances.

    Using Cash Instead of Miles and Points

    The key principle to using your valuable miles and points is to make sure you are getting the best bang for your buck.  While some people just see the face value of traveling for free, it is becoming even more important to use them wisely.

    Loyalty programs are becoming devalued across the board, so it is advantageous to earn smart and burn smart.  Redeeming loads of miles and points for a flight or hotel room that would otherwise be relatively cheap can hurt you later when you wish you had those rewards for a more valuable redemption.

    Saving My IHG Points

    We are staying at the Crowne Plaza in Denver right across the street from the Colorado Convention Center.  I picked this one strategically as I am a Platinum Elite member with IHG because of my IHG® Rewards Premier Credit Card.

    The final cost for 2 nights, including taxes, is ~$240, which isn’t horrible considering we are right in the heart of downtown Denver.  Also, I will be earning 3,106 IHG points from the room with my elite status.

    However, had I booked an award stay, I would have paid 70,000 IHG points, and gotten a measly ~0.3 cents per point in value ($240 / 70,000 points).  That’s below average for IHG points.

    Yes, I could have obviously saved $240 if I booked an award stay and kept the money in my pocket, which is the ultimate goal of points.  But with the financial investment I made in earning these points, I’d rather wait to make it really worth it.

    Saving My Delta Miles

    I value Delta miles heavily as I am based at a Delta hub.

    We looked into flights, and they were in the ~$280 range, which is extremely expensive for this route.  For award tickets, they were asking 26,000 Delta miles, or a value of ~1.1 cents per point ($280 / 26,000 points).  That’s pretty low and not worth it in my book.

    We figured it is a quick 1.5 hour flight, so we weren’t needing anything fancy.  We ended up booking a cheap Frontier flight there and a Southwest flight back.  For each of us, it was only $100 round-trip.  And I was able to earn 1,000 American Express Membership Rewards points by booking the flights direct with The Platinum Card® from American Express, which are worth ~$20.

    Bottom Line

    The whole purpose of miles and points is to be able to travel for pennies on the dollar.  However, it is sometimes in your best interest to take a deeper look to see if you are actually getting the best deal.

    With the thousands of dollars I have saved through miles and points, I’m willing to pay cash every now and again to earn even more points and save my rewards for more valuable redemptions.

    Do you ever pay cash instead of using your points to make the most of them?  Let’s hear it in the comments below!

    Editorial Note: We're the Million Mile Secrets team. And we're proud of our content, opinions and analysis, and of our reader's comments. These haven’t been reviewed, approved or endorsed by any of the airlines, hotels, or credit card issuers which we often write about. And that’s just how we like it! :)