The last time I used a travel rewards card for cash back instead of miles

I was booking a flight to Chicago last month and noticed my cash back rewards only gave me $50 off the ticket. A coworker in the break room mentioned he used his miles for that same route and paid nothing. I looked into it and realized the miles value was almost double what cash back was offering for the same trip. Now I'm wondering how many other people are sleeping on airline miles for domestic flights. Has anyone else run the numbers and made the switch?

2 comments

2 Comments

black.patricia1d ago

Have you checked if your cash back card lets you transfer points to airline partners at a better rate? That's the hack most people miss - the points can be worth way more than the straight cash option.

rubybarnes16h ago

Yes! I had the same wake up call last summer when my cash back got me like $60 off a Denver flight but miles would have covered the whole thing. It's wild how much better the value is once you actually check the math.