Why I never use travel points to book domestic flights.

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The agreements are not enough to separate the points.

Main points

• Award tickets on domestic flights are often not worth much.
• I prefer to save my travel points for more expensive expenses.

The last half of this year has been a busy travel time for me, so I booked a lot of flights recently. Even though I have a healthy points balance on my travel credit card, I pay cash for domestic flights.

That might not seem like much sense. Normally, it’s a good idea to use travel points whenever possible to save yourself money. But there are also times when it pays to be a little more selective about how you redeem your rewards. Here’s why I saved mine.

Average value on award air fares

The reason I don’t use my credit card points for domestic flights goes back to value, or in this case, lack of value.

Before signing up to travel with points or miles, it’s wise to calculate how much value you’ll get. To do this, divide the monetary value of the purchase by the value of the reward. For example, if a $300 airline ticket costs 30,000 miles, you’ll earn $0.01 per mile.

Lately, most of the award tickets I’ve found on domestic flights cost around $0.01 per mile. That is the downside as I like to earn at least $0.015 or $0.02 in my travel rewards. Even when there is a better price, it is not always A. A better deal After considering the price of another airline.

For example, I was looking for a flight to New York, and I found a stopover that I could book for 60,000 miles or $920. This cost is about $0.015 per mile, which is reasonable. But I saw another airline offering a non-stop flight for $619. I wouldn’t spend 60,000 miles on a flight for that amount.

Saving points for better opportunities

So why wouldn’t I want to spend 60,000 miles to effectively save $619? Although it’s always nice to save money on travel, I know I’d get more value if I used those rewards for something different.

Most of the travel points I get are transferable. They are part of major credit card rewards programs such as Chase Ultimate Rewards and American Express Membership Rewards. You can transfer these points to various airline and hotel partners. That gives you a lot of options, and the price you get depends entirely on what you order.

Take the points I didn’t use for the flight. Instead, I decided to use them to book a Hyatt hotel, where a $909-a-night room goes for 29,000 points. That’s over $0.03 in value — far more than I’ve found on flights I’ve seen.

Determining when to redeem travel rewards

I understand that you don’t want to constantly second guess yourself before redeeming points from your credit cards. And as long as you’re saving money with them, it’s really hard to go wrong.

However, if the value of your travel rewards depends on how you use them, there are a few things I recommend to try and find the best deal.

First, learn about the different ways you can use your rewards. Learn about American Express Membership Rewards points, United miles or other currency, redemption options and their respective values.

Also, consider your future travel plans when deciding when to use your rewards. In general, you’ll save more money when you use rewards for more expensive travel purchases. For example, an award ticket on an international flight is a better way to maximize your miles than an award ticket on a domestic flight.

If you’re thinking of planning any big trips, keep an eye out for travel spots for more accessible areas. In my case, that meant paying out of pocket for some domestic flights and saving my points for more expensive expenses like a hotel in New York and international flights.