A recent study by NextAdvisor.com compared several top loyalty program credit cards to try to determine what a point or mile is actually worth when spending the loyalty currency for free hotel nights or flights. They then ranked eight credit cards. At the top was Starwood Preferred Guest’s credit card where they determined the point value for a hotel stay was $0.021 per point. Southwest Rapid Rewards came in first on the airline side with $0.017 per point when using your points for a flight. Following Southwest, was United MileagePlus at $0.011 per mile for a flight. American AAdvantage’s credit card ranked second for a free hotel stay at $0.010 per mile for an award stay. Delta SkyMiles followed United MileagePlus at $0.010 per mile for an award flight, Continental OnePass was next with $0.009 per mile for a flight and Marriott Rewards and Hilton HHonors rounded out the eight credit cards at $0.008 and $0.005, respectively, per point for a free hotel room. The fine print mentioned that the value of a Hilton HHonors point is equal to $0.01 with the use of the Citi Hilton HHonors Visa Signature card, as users earn two points for every dollar spent.

Regarding the Starwood Preferred Guest from American Express card, NextAdvisor.com said it offers, “more value than the other programs we looked at. Their worth of $.021 per point for hotel stay redemption is the highest point value we found in our study. While their value for flight redemption was a bit lower at $.012 per point, we’d note it is still higher than some airline rewards cards.” To read the full report and learn about the methodology of the study, visit http://insideflyerus.wpengine.com/link/?5217