Using your travel reward points to score a free airline ticket may seem like a no-brainer. After all, why would you want to pay for a flight when you could fly for free? But to truly maximize your reward points, there are actually times when it’s better to pay for certain flights. The trick is knowing when it’s better to pull out your credit card and when you should use your points.
Here are some of the scenarios in which spending the cash is usually the better call.
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You Score a Cheap Airfare
This is the scenario which is the most obvious in terms of choosing between cash and points. If you know that the normal roundtrip price between two cities is, say, $450, and you find an airfare for $250, you’re likely much better off buying that flight with cash.
Many online “points gurus” offer values for how much points or miles are “worth” in various programs. According to The Points Guy, for example, Delta SkyMiles are currently worth 1.15 cents each. This means that if you can find an airfare that costs less than 1.15 cents per mile, you’re better off paying cash for it.
Imagine that you find a roundtrip flight from Los Angeles to Atlanta on Delta for $375. Using The Points Guy’s valuation, that would mean you shouldn’t use more than 32,608 miles to book that flight. If Delta is asking for 40,000 miles, for example, you’re better off paying the cash fare.
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You’re Trying To Qualify for Elite Status
One of the best ways to make the entire flying experience more comfortable is to gain elite status. When you have airline status, you’re eligible for a number of benefits that typically include priority check-in and boarding, extra baggage allowance and lounge access, among others. But you can only earn status by flying on paid tickets — award tickets don’t count. So if you’re pushing to qualify, all other things being equal, you might prefer paying for your flight instead of using points.
Your Points Aren’t Expiring
If your points are miles are scheduled to expire in the near future, you’ll definitely want to use them before they become worthless. But if they have a multi-year expiration date — or no expiration at all — there’s no rush to use them. Under these circumstances, you can take time to use your points judiciously, paying for most tickets and saving your points until there’s a flight where their value exceeds that of a cash ticket.
You Can Only Book an Unfavorable Routing
You can’t always book the exact flight you want using miles. If you’re looking to book a nonstop flight from Los Angeles to New York, for example, you might have to pay more miles than if you choose a flight that has a connection in Chicago. For international flights, you may have to book a two-stop itinerary, or one that has a 14-hour layover, for example, instead of the more direct flight with only a two-hour layover. In these scenarios, you might prefer — or be forced to — pay for your ticket instead.
The Bottom Line
Even if you’re not a points and miles junkie, it pays to understand exactly how they work. With some planning, you can leverage them to score great deals on flights and hotels. The best way to get the most value out of your bookings is to do a comparison between how much your cash payment would be versus how many points or miles it would cost you. Generally speaking, miles and points are valued somewhere between 1 and 2 cents each. You can check approximate values on sites like The Points Guy and many others. If the cash price is less then the value of points or miles needed, it’s usually better to pay cash.
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: 4 Times It’s Better To Buy an Airline Ticket Than Use Your Travel Reward Points