How Much Are Points Worth? (Quarter 3 2024)

We’re now in Quarter 3 of 2024, and it’s once again time to revisit our Points Valuations, which we update on a quarterly basis.

Air France KLM Flying Blue continues its rollout of new airline partners, this time with the addition of Oman Air. The Muscat-based carrier offers an excellent business class and First Class product, and the new partnership gives us a new way to redeem miles for it.

In a very welcome development, AIR MILES recently made it possible to convert Dream Miles into Cash Miles, and vice versa. This is another positive development for the program, which has been receiving plenty of love from BMO since its purchase in Spring 2023.

Finnair Plus became the latest oneworld airline loyalty program to adopt Avios as its currency in March 2024, and then in May 2024, it became possible to transfer Finnair Avios to British Airways Avios at a 1:1 ratio. Booking transatlantic flights via Helsinki can be an attractive option, and the addition further bolsters Avios as a currency.

As part of the ongoing shakeup in the hotel loyalty world, Hilton Honors officially rolled out its exclusive partnership with Small Luxury Hotels of the World (SLH) this quarter. While the rollout is gradual, hopefully it means more excellent ways to redeem Hilton Honors points and Free Night Rewards going forward.

Before we delve into the valuations, a friendly reminder that the focus of these valuations lies in the target redemption value of each points currency, rather than the acquisition cost that you might incur (which can vary significantly depending on how you prefer to earn points).

Air France KLM Flying Blue

In June 2024, Air France KLM Flying Blue added Oman Air as its latest redemption partner, opening up access to a great business class and First Class product.

If you have a trip planned to or through the Middle East, be sure to consider Flying Blue for your redemption, since the award pricing is competitive with other programs (namely Aeroplan). The only catch is that there are moderate amounts of taxes and fees, which vary depending on the class of service.

What’s also interesting about this is that Flying Blue has been consistently adding new partners over the past year or so, which makes Flying Blue miles all the more intriguing. 

It’ll be interesting to see what Flying Blue has in store next, as it continues to add value to its program at a time when many other loyalty programs are administering unwelcome devaluations.

• Continued valuation: 2 cents per mile (CAD) / 1.5 cents per mile (USD)

AIR MILES

For many years, one aspect of the AIR MILES program that users didn’t like was not being able to transfer between Dream Miles and Cash Miles.

As part of BMO’s ongoing refresh of the program, the latest development is that you can now transfer between Dream Miles and Cash Miles, albeit with some strings attached.

This new ability is limited to Gold and Onyx collectors, with the former being allowed to transfer up to 1,000 AIR MILES each year, while the latter can do so without limits.

Fortunately, obtaining Gold or Onyx status is easy, as you just need to have the right credit card or earn a specific number of AIR MILES in a calendar year.

Hopefully, this is a sign of continued improvements being made to the program, which still has some work to do to regain the relevance it once enjoyed.

• Continued valuation: 10.5 cents per mile (CAD)

Finnair Plus

In March 2024, Finnair officially adopted Avios as the currency for its loyalty program, Finnair Plus. Then, in May 2024, Finnair Avios became transferrable with British Airways Avios at a 1:1 ratio.

As a reminder, Avios is now the currency used by Aer Lingus, British Airways, Finnair, Iberia, Qatar Airways, and Vueling. 

The most interesting aspect of this is that there are advantages to booking the same flight with one program over another. And since you can instantly convert Avios into another “flavour” of Avios at a 1:1 ratio, that bit of extra effort can result in significant savings.

For example, a one-way flight in business class from New York to Helsinki costs the same 62,500 Avios if booked through British Airways Executive Club or Finnair Plus.

However, if you book through Finnair Plus, you’ll only pay $141 (USD) in taxes and fees, as opposed to the whopping $1,426 (USD) you’d pay through British Airways Executive Club.

If you have your eyes set on a trip to Finland or anywhere else that Finnair flies, be sure to consider moving your Avios around to see what’s possible and how it stacks up to other programs.

• Valuation: 2 cents per point (CAD) / 1.5 cents per point (USD)

Hilton Honors

For the past year or so, we’ve seen a number of shake-ups in the hotel loyalty landscape. Marriott Bonvoy and MGM launched a partnership, World of Hyatt made ties with Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and Hilton Honors launched an exclusive partnership with Small Luxury Hotels of the World (SLH).

In June 2024, we started to see the rollout of the Hilton Honors and SLH partnership, which will gradually continue until many properties become available through Hilton booking channels.

Fortunately, SLH properties use Standard Room Reward rates, which means that you’re able to redeem Hilton Honors points and Free Night Rewards for stays.

At the present, there’s very little award availability for SLH properties; however, we’re hopeful that it will change in the near future.

If it happens, be sure to keep an eye out for award availability at aspirational SLH properties, such as Calala Island in Nicaragua, for an outstanding redemption.

• Continued valuation: 0.7 cents per point (CAD) / 0.5 cents per point (USD)

Points Valuations, Quarter 2 2024

Here’s a summary of our Points Valuations for Quarter 2 of 2024. You can refer to the Points Valuations page for a full list with additional notes.

Conclusion

The second quarter of 2024 saw some positive improvements to several programs, which is great for Miles & Points enthusiasts.

It’ll be interesting to see what the latter half of 2024 has in store, especially since some programs (namely Virgin Atlantic Flying Club) have been implementing no-notice devaluations to some longstanding sweet spots.

Remember, treat these numbers as merely a suggestion for reasonable target redemption values when deciding whether to redeem points or pay cash for your next trip.

Ultimately, the value derived from every redemption will be subjective to the individual traveller, and our valuations are designed to illustrate an average benchmark across the community to help inform your decision as you consider your next points redemption.