What Are Points and Miles? A Beginner’s Guide
Who it’s for: anyone brand new to points and miles.
By the end, you’ll know
- What points are
- Where they come from
- What they can do for a trip
- Your first step
Every trip has the moment it gets real. You price it out.
The honeymoon. The trip to see your favorite sports team. Those vacation days you keep rolling over like leftovers you swear you’ll eat.
Then the number on the screen shows up bigger than the number in your budget. Ouch.
Points have gotten me almost completely free trips, a business class flight where I paid cash for the rest of the trip, and plenty of trips that just cost less.
And no, you don’t need to fly every week or carry a wallet full of cards.
What points and miles are
Points are what a rewards program gives you for spending money with the company that runs it. Airlines, hotel chains and card companies all run these programs, and the points are how they get you to pick them again next time.
It works a lot like a coffee punch card. Buy enough lattes and one is on the house, except with points the reward can be a flight or a hotel night.
Some programs call them points and others, including many airlines, call them miles. It’s the same idea with a different name, so on crazy4points we just call them all points.
Where points come from
Most points come from three places: airlines, hotels and credit cards. You earn miles when you fly with an airline as a member and points when you stay at a hotel as a member. With credit cards, you earn points when you pay with one that earns them.
Credit cards are where a small change makes a real difference, because you already use them for everyday spending. Some cards earn extra points on certain purchases, like gas, so using the right card for gas gets you more points for the same money.
Say you spend $200 a month on gas:
| The card you use | Points from $200 of gas |
|---|---|
| A card earning 1 point per dollar | 200 points |
| A card earning 5 points per dollar on gas | 1,000 points |
Hotel programs also have status, which is a higher member level that comes with perks. At higher levels, some hotel programs promise you can still book a room even when the hotel is nearly full, if you book a couple of days ahead, and some limits apply. My status is how I had a guaranteed room for parents weekend at Ohio State University, when the hotel was sold out.
You usually earn status by staying with the same hotel program often. Some hotel credit cards give you status just for having the card, and a few airline cards do the same for airline status.
Points aren't cash
A point isn’t a dollar, and it doesn’t have one fixed value. The same points can get you a little or a lot, depending on how you use them, and cash back is a good example.
Some credit cards let you turn points into cash back or a credit on your statement. It’s simple, but the value often isn’t great compared with using those same points for travel.
What points can do for a trip
Points don’t have to pay for the whole trip to be worth using. Sometimes they cover nearly all of it, sometimes they get you a business class seat while you pay cash for everything else, and sometimes they just get you there with no frills.
One easy way to split a trip is to pay for the flight with points and the hotel with cash. Some hotel cards also give you a free night certificate each year, with a few limits, and those cards usually charge an annual fee.
You can sometimes use points or miles to move up to a better airline seat or, at some hotels, a nicer room. It depends on what’s available, and the cheapest fares often can’t be upgraded.
Once you feel more comfortable with points and miles, you’ll find a lot of the useful information for each program on its crazy4points program page.
The number of points a flight or hotel night takes can change from one date to the next and over the years. Seats and rooms you can book with points also aren’t always available at a good price, so if the points price looks high, try other dates. Flexibility goes a long way.
Common myths
“You have to fly frequently to earn rewards.”
No. A card that earns points keeps earning on everyday spending, even in a year you barely travel.
“You need lots of credit cards.”
No. One card can be enough to start, and joining an airline or hotel program doesn’t take a card at all.
“It's too complicated.”
It doesn’t have to be. Nobody learns this all at once, so go at your own pace and give yourself one goal, like a single flight using points.
Start with the trip, not the points. Once you know where you want to go and which airline has the best flight options, how to get those points becomes a much smaller question.
“It's only for luxury travel.”
No. Points work for a regular flight to see family or an ordinary hotel room, not just fancy seats.
Pay It Off in Full or Skip It
Your next move
Pick one trip you’d love points to help pay for. Next, join the free rewards program for the airline or hotel you’d most likely use on that trip.
To see about how many points or miles you’ll need, sign in on that program’s website. Search your dates with the option to pay with points or miles turned on. The number you see is a rough guide, not a promise.
- Pick one trip
- Join one free program
- Look up the points price
Before you decide whether to open a credit card to start earning, there are a few questions to ask yourself first. That’s what the next guide, What’s the Catch?, is about.
Up next · Guide 2 of 8
Read guide 2 →Frequently asked questions
Are points and miles the same thing?
Yes. Airlines often say miles and other programs say points, but they work the same way.
Are all points worth the same?
No. Points from one program can go a lot further than points from another, and how you use them matters too.
Do you need a credit card to earn points?
No. Most airline and hotel rewards programs are free to join, and you earn as a member when you fly or stay.
Are flights booked with points free?
No, not completely. You'll usually still owe taxes or fees in cash, and the amount can vary a lot from one airline to another.
Do points expire?
It depends on the program. Some never expire, and others can expire if your account goes a while with no activity. Our program pages usually list the terms.
Do you have to travel a lot for points to be worth it?
No. If you have one trip you care about, that's reason enough to start earning toward it.