Easily use miles to dollars calculator that helps travelers convert their accumulated airline miles or credit card travel points into an equivalent monetary value.
When you’ve racked up 50,000 miles with your favorite airline’s loyalty program, the miles to dollars converter help you determine whether it’s more advantageous to:
- Redeem those miles for a flight
- Use them for a hotel stay
- Convert them to cash back
Miles to Dollars Calculator
| Scenario | Cash Price | Taxes/Fees | Miles Required | Value per Mile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic Economy Flight | $300 | $30 | 25,000 | 1.08 cents |
| International Business Class | $3,000 | $200 | 120,000 | 2.33 cents |
| Hotel Stay | $500 | $50 | 60,000 | 0.75 cents |
| Rental Car | $200 | $20 | 15,000 | 1.20 cents |
| Cash Redemption | $100 | $0 | 20,000 | 0.50 cents |
| International Economy Flight | $800 | $100 | 60,000 | 1.17 cents |
| Domestic First Class Flight | $600 | $50 | 40,000 | 1.38 cents |
| Weekend Getaway Hotel | 250 | $25 | 30,000 | 0.75 cents |
| Luxury Resort Stay | 1,200 | $150 | 100,000 | 1.05 cents |
| Cruise Vacation | 2,500 | $300 | 150,000 | 1.47 cents |
| Car Rental (Luxury) | 350 | $40 | 25,000 | 1.24 cents |
| International First Class Flight | $5,000 | $500 | 200,000 | 2.25 cents |
| All-Inclusive Resort Stay | $3,500 | $400 | 150,000 | 2.07 cents |
| Group Tour Package | $1,800 | $200 | 90,000 | 1.78 cents |
| Travel Insurance | $150 | $0 | 10,000 | 1.50 cents |
Miles to Dollars Formula
Value per mile = (Cash price of ticket - Taxes and fees) / Number of miles requiredSuppose you want to book a flight that costs $500 in cash, with $50 in taxes and fees. The airline offers you the option to book this flight for 40,000 miles plus the $50 in taxes and fees.
Value per mile = ($500 - $50) / 40,000 = $0.0113 or 1.13 cents per mileGetting a value of 1 cent per mile or higher is considered decent, while 2 cents or more is excellent.
How many dollars is 1 mile?
Many travel experts consider 1 cent per mile to be a baseline value.
For example, if you have 10,000 miles, they would be worth approximately $100 at this baseline value. The actual value can range from as low as 0.5 cents to as high as 5 cents or more per mile, depending on factors such as:
- The loyalty program you’re using
- The type of redemption (e.g., domestic vs. international flights, economy vs. business class)
- Seasonal demand and availability
- Special promotions or transfer bonuses
How to calculate miles into dollars?
To calculate miles into dollars, follow these steps:
- Find the cash price of the travel product you’re interested in (e.g., a flight or hotel stay).
- Subtract any taxes or fees that you’d still have to pay when using miles.
- Find out how many miles are required for the same travel product.
- Divide the net cash price (after subtracting taxes and fees) by the number of miles required.
- Multiply the result by 100 to get the value in cents per mile.
Example calculation:
- Cash price of a flight: $600
- Taxes and fees: $75
- Miles required: 50,000
($600 - $75) / 50,000 = 0.0105
0.0105 100 = *1.05 cents per mileYour miles are worth 1.05 cents each when redeemed for this particular flight.
How to calculate miles to cash?
Some loyalty programs allow you to redeem miles directly for cash or statement credits. The process for calculating miles to cash is typically more straightforward:
Check your loyalty program’s cash redemption rate. This is often lower than what you might get for travel redemptions.
Multiply your total miles by the cash redemption rate.
Let’s say your credit card allows you to redeem miles for cash at a rate of 0.5 cents per mile.
50,000 miles $0.005 = *$250 cash valueHow many miles is $1 United?
You typically earn 5 miles per dollar spent on the base fare and carrier-imposed surcharges.
United Airlines’ MileagePlus program, like many others, doesn’t have a fixed dollar-to-miles conversion rate.
For basic members of United’s MileagePlus program:
So, $1 spent on a United flight would earn you 5 miles. This doesn’t mean that 1 mile is worth 20 cents when redeeming. The value you get when redeeming can vary widely, as discussed earlier.
For a more practical example of redeeming, let’s consider United’s travel portal:
United often values miles at about 1.3 cents each when redeemed for travel through their portal.
In this case, $1 would be roughly equivalent to 77 miles (1 / 0.013 ≈ 77).
Sources / References
Related Tools:
