 TITLE: Vacationing With Points: When to Redeem Points and When to Pay Cash CONTENT: How to Tell if You're Getting a Good Deal\n-----------------------------------------\nAlthough it's difficult to generalize, there are a few guidelines to follow that should help you get a good value from your points and miles.\n1.  Airline miles: Your per-mile value can vary from airline to airline. In general, though, you should be getting at least 1 cent per mile in value that you redeem with a frequent-flier program. If it's less than that, you're better off paying cash.\n2.  Hotel points: This also varies a lot, but you should typically get at least half a cent per point in value from most of the major hotel programs, like Hilton, IHG Rewards and Marriott. With Hyatt, look for a value of around 1.5 cents per point.\n3.  Transferable and cash back points: This is a little easier to stick to since cash back points and transferable points you opt to redeem directly for travel tend to have an exact value. As mentioned above, Capital One Rewards Miles are worth 1 cent apiece for travel. Chase Ultimate Rewards points are worth between 1 cent and 1.5 cents each for travel depending on your credit card. As long as you are getting that, you should be good to go. END