Point Redemption Value Calculator Instructions & Tips

  • Pick 3 frequent flyer award tickets or upgrade opportunities, and note down the cost in points and the value you would place on each one in $
  • Input the corresponding points cost and dollar value for each of the three in the calculator below
  • Pressing ‘Calculate’ shows you your perceived value of a point, in cents.

Example

  1. You’re aiming to travel one way in Business class to Europe on Qantas at a cost of 128,000 points
  2. By comparison, this has a ticket value of say ~$6000, but your own perceived value of the same ticket (what you’d be prepared to pay) would be, say, $2,500
  3. You’d input $2,500 in the first (value) column and 128,000 points in the second (points) column, and repeat across three other examples.

Why use this?

Calculating your own personal value of a point allows you to clearly and rationally assess when to outlay money and/or time to accrue points; or when to redeem points instead of paying for the equivalent airfare. Generally, points end up being worth a few cents, depending on your intended use for them.

This calculator works by comparing your dollar value of a ticket or upgrade compared to the number of points required for the same. It also asks for 3 examples of these comparisons, in order to provide an average value from the three.

Looking for a simpler version? Use the simple value calculator →