Gaming credit-card rewards to score the best perks and free trips has become a popular hobby among many consumers these days.
Many Americans don’t know how much points or miles are really worth Popular travel-oriented credit cards like the Chase Sapphire Card JPM, +0.45% or the Capital One Venture Card COF, +0.62% provide consumers with points or airline miles every time they make a purchase with their card. Moreover, 11% of Americans said they don’t think points or miles have any dollar value at all, while 26% said they weren’t sure of how much they’re worth.
‘Stockpiling travel rewards and letting them collect dust in your account is pointless.’ —Sara Rathner, NerdWallet’s credit cards expert Overall, 11% of consumers believed that sign-up bonuses would provide a card holder with enough points for three or more round-trip flights. Many cards’ rewards programs offer consumers the best bang for their buck when they apply their points or miles towards an airfare purchase. Only 40% of consumers, however, said they would use their rewards earned through a sign-up bonus for flights.Meanwhile, 13% of consumers said they would use the rewards earned for expenses not related to travel. Many travel cards offer worse redemption rates for other purchases or cash-back than for travel-related expenses.