Skip the Brand Points

Washington Consumer Checkbook gives it to you straight in its “60 Travel Booking Tips” article* from May 2023:

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“Don’t obsess about earning points.

Don’t pass up a great deal just because it doesn’t include travel with your preferred company for accumulating points.

Airlines and hotel chains continue to cheapen their rewards programs, but an easy formula to calculate the value of points is to assume that you’ll earn $0.01 worth of points for every dollar you spend. In other words, if you spend $1,000, you’ll get about $10 in points. Don’t pass up a chance to save $100 by booking with a different airline or hotel due to fretting over lost points. That $100 savings is worth more than the value of even 5,000 points.”

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It’s all in the math. We’ll add to that equation the pleasure of staying in a uniquely charming and independent hotel with historical roots in the Outer Banks!

*Source: K. Brasler and Checkbook Staff, Washington Consumer Checkbook, 60 Travel Booking Tips. updated May 2023, checkbook.org