Points & miles glossary

Cents Per Point (CPP)

Cents per point, or CPP, is the dollar value you get from a single point or mile when you redeem it. You calculate it by dividing the cash value of what you booked by the number of points you spent, then multiplying by 100. It is the standard yardstick for judging whether a redemption is good or bad.

Devaluation

A devaluation is when a loyalty program raises the number of points needed for the same reward, cutting the value of every point you hold. It can happen overnight, often with little or no warning. This is the main reason points are a currency to spend, not to hoard.

Sweet Spot

A sweet spot is a specific redemption that returns far more value than the program's average, usually because of a pricing quirk the program has not closed. These are the deals that make points worth chasing. Experienced travelers build whole trips around them.

Transfer Partner

A transfer partner is an airline or hotel loyalty program that accepts points moved over from a bank rewards program. You shift your flexible bank points into the partner's account, and they become that program's own currency. This is how one stash of bank points can reach many different airlines and hotels.

Transferable Rewards

Transferable rewards are bank points you can move into multiple airline and hotel programs, rather than points locked to a single brand. Because they are flexible, they let you decide where the points go after you earn them. This flexibility is what makes them the most valuable type of everyday rewards currency.