The holidays are an expensive time of year — especially if you’re hoping to travel to visit loved ones or head out on a peak-season vacation.
As you’ve probably noticed, airlines often raise their airfare prices during periods of peak demand, including around Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s. Thankfully, as savvy travelers know, you can leverage credit card rewards and airline loyalty programs to help offset these higher costs even during the pricey holiday travel season.
However, being able to use your miles for these peak-season holiday flights doesn’t mean it’s always when you’ll get the best value for those miles.
Most U.S. frequent flyer programs no longer use fixed award charts to price flights and instead price their award flights more dynamically (meaning the price varies). This means you probably can use your miles for virtually any flight they have for sale with cash — but it may cost you more miles than you wish sometimes.
Since we are The Points Guy, we don’t just want to tell you how much it’ll cost you to buy your ticket with cash during the holidays, but also how far your points and miles are going to take you this year.
For the first time ever, we enlisted the help of our friends at Points Path to collaborate on a special holiday airfare report that examines both cash and award prices.
Points Path, which launched to the public in Jan. 2024, is a free browser extension that runs on top of Google Flights and adds the prices of flights in frequent flyer miles next to the cash prices produced by Google’s search results. The extension then indicates whether a user should use miles or cash on any particular flight to get the best deal, and it’s currently available for Air Canada, Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, JetBlue Airways and United Airlines — though we focused on the five domestic carriers in this analysis.
You can download the Points Path browser extension by clicking here.
Are any airline loyalty programs playing on the “nice list” and offering better mileage award options than others when booking holiday trips? And can you get even more value for your miles by traveling on certain dates?
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With over 7.2 million pieces of real-world data at the ready, here’s what we found.
How far will your points and miles go this holiday season?
We’re not going to bury the lede here — when you look at the number of miles you’ll need for flights over Thanksgiving and Christmas, the amounts aren’t pretty.
Based on Points Path data, the average economy ticket across all five domestic carriers is 38,473 miles on nonholiday dates. During Thanksgiving week, that average climbs to 49,680 miles — an increase of 29.13%. And over Christmas, it jumps to 60,518 miles, a 57.3% jump.
The trend held true across all five airlines, too. Each one had higher average prices for economy award tickets over both holiday periods compared to nonholiday searches.
Now, this doesn’t account for differences in search criteria across time periods, so it’s worth considering how valuable your rewards are compared to paid rates.
As TPG highlights in our monthly airline mile valuations, the value of an airline mile varies greatly by program, so it’s normal for some types of miles to be worth more than others.
With that said, when you look at the average all-in value of airline miles for the nonholiday portion of the year based on the data used here from Points Path, the average value per mile is 1.39 cents.
Unfortunately, that overall value drops on flights operated during the holidays. Here’s how we defined these travel periods — and what happened to the redemption rates:
| Holiday | Dates | Average redemption | Difference from the rest of 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thanksgiving | Nov. 22 through Dec. 1 | 1.3 cents per point/mile | -6.47% |
| Christmas/New Years | Dec. 20 through Jan. 5 | 1.34 cents per point/mile | -3.6% |
In other words, using your points or miles during Thanksgiving sacrifices 6.47% of their value compared to the rest of the year’s average. It’s slightly better (but still lower) over Christmas, as you’ll get 3.6% less value then.
But averages are just that, and the trends point to some common types of tickets actually trending at an even lower return for your miles, while some are better — significantly so, in some cases.
Additionally, there’s one airline where your miles are actually worth more on average during these holiday weeks than during normal travel weeks.
Which airline programs offer the best mileage redemptions for holiday travel?
On average, the most valuable type of miles to use during the 2024 holiday season is the same type as the other months of the year: Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles. Points Path’s data shows that they are worth an average of 1.68 cents each during 2024 as a whole, 1.52 cents apiece over Thanksgiving week and 1.57 cents apiece during Christmas week.
Unfortunately, that Christmas redemption value is still 6.55% lower than Alaska’s overall valuation, and during Thanksgiving, it’s 9.52% lower.
Interestingly, the data shows that JetBlue TrueBlue points are, on average, worth a little bit more during the busy holiday travel weeks than they are throughout the year.
Overall 2024 data pegs JetBlue points at 1.36 cents apiece — but they climb to 1.38 cents per point over both holiday periods. While that’s only a 1.47% increase, it nevertheless bucks the trend of every other program out there.
Which airline programs offer the worst mileage redemptions for holiday travel?
Most airline loyalty programs’ rewards don’t go as far during the holidays as they do on other dates. Here’s a breakdown of the numbers for the big three domestic carriers:
| Airline | 2024 redemption value (nonholiday) | Thanksgiving value (difference) | Christmas value (difference) |
|---|---|---|---|
| American Airlines | 1.55 cents per mile | 1.39 (-10.32%) | 1.4 (-9.68%) |
| Delta Air Lines | 1.12 cents per mile | 1.09 (-2.68%) | 1.12 (no change) |
| United Airlines | 1.39 cents per mile | 1.26 (-9.35%) | 1.36 (-2.16%) |
As you can see, Thanksgiving is mathematically an even worse time to use your miles in these programs than Christmas. In some cases, your rewards are worth more than 10% less compared to the overall average. And while Delta’s redemption values over the holidays aren’t too far off 2024 numbers, SkyMiles are worth the least of all five currencies both during the holidays and on nonholiday dates, too.
However, the data isn’t all doom and gloom for those looking to travel more for less using their points and miles. There are still some ways to stretch the value of your rewards this holiday season, so keep reading for that.
Get more value for your miles by flying first class during the holidays
Flying economy usually requires the fewest number of miles, but booking premium economy, business class or first class typically offers greater value on a cents-per-point or cents-per-mile basis — and that’s true even during the holidays.
In fact, since traditional business travel drops off during those holiday weeks, we’ve even seen rare situations where the mileage cost to fly in domestic first class is actually less than economy. That is unusual, but what is common across almost every airline with premium cabins is that you get more bang for your (mileage) buck there compared to economy.
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ZACH GRIFF/THE POINTS GUY
For example, Points Path data shows that miles used to book business- and first-class awards during the Thanksgiving travel week are worth 1.54 cents each, as compared to 1.26 cents each for booking economy. That’s 22.22% more value from your miles by splurging for the front of the plane.
There’s a gap (albeit a smaller one) over Christmas as well, with premium-cabin awards clocking in at a value of 1.53 cents apiece, compared to 1.31 cents in economy — an increase of 16.79%.
In fact, four of the five airlines offer better redemption values for premium-cabin flights than economy ones.
The sole holdout? JetBlue, where redemptions for its well regarded Mint business class fall to 1.17 cents per point over Thanksgiving and 1.11 cents per point over Christmas (economy redemptions on the carrier during both holiday periods average out at 1.4 cents apiece).
Unfortunately, these numbers are still down from nonholiday 2024 averages in almost all cases.
| Airline | Premium cabin redemption value in 2024 (nonholiday) |
Premium cabin over Thanksgiving (difference) | Premium cabin over Christmas (difference) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alaska Airlines | 2.29 cents per mile | 1.92 (-16.16%) | 2.05 (-10.48%) |
| American Airlines | 1.82 cents per mile | 1.57 (-13.74%) | 1.53 (-15.93%) |
| Delta Air Lines | 1.21 cents per mile | 1.19 (-1.65%) | 1.19 (-1.65%) |
| JetBlue Airways | 1.14 cents per point | 1.17 (+2.63%) | 1.11 (-2.63%) |
| United Airlines | 1.83 cents per mile | 1.7 (-7.1%) | 1.69 (-7.65%) |
Just a single holiday dataset — JetBlue flights over Thanksgiving week — offers marginally more value in premium cabins compared to the rest of 2024. Every other one falls lower.
Related: How to get started using points and miles to travel
Are specific travel dates better for using miles during the holidays?
Just like there are some more or less expensive days around the holidays to fly when paying with cash, the same is true with miles.
When looking at the Thanksgiving travel week across all airlines, your rewards are currently, on average, worth the least on Sunday, Nov. 24, and Tuesday, Nov. 26, clocking in at just 1.27 cents each. On the flip side, they are worth the most on the day after Thanksgiving (1.34 cents each). So consider eating that turkey and then turning around and flying home the next day if you want to stretch your miles (and potentially beat the rush at the airport, too).
When looking at the Christmas/New Year’s week, your miles will go the furthest if you can start your trip early or extend it a bit right up until many schools start back up. Specifically, at the front end of the holiday, your miles go the furthest on Friday, Dec. 20 (1.38 cents each). If you’re returning home after the holidays, the best redemption values are Saturday, Jan. 4, and Sunday, Jan. 5 (1.4 cents each).
At the other end of the spectrum, Dec. 23 is currently the day that miles are worth the least during that winter break time frame, at 1.29 cents each on average. That’s down 7.2% vs. the average for the rest of 2024.
Related: Best times to book a flight
Is it better to fly domestically or internationally using your miles?
For many travelers, taking to the skies over the holidays means a domestic flight (or multiple flights) to visit family across the U.S. For others, it’s an excuse to plan a vacation to far-flung destinations around the world. But is there a notable difference in mileage redemption values for domestic itineraries vs. international ones?
For starters, the same trend as above appears to hold. Both domestic redemptions and international award tickets see lower values over the holidays than they do over the rest of 2024. For all airlines included in this report, the Points Path data shows an average value of 1.33 cents per point/mile across the rest of the year for domestic redemptions — which drops to 1.25 cents (down 6%) over Thanksgiving and 1.28 cents (down 3.76%) during Christmas.
Meanwhile, the average international redemption across all carriers during the rest of the year gives you a value of 1.53 cents. However, it’s 1.38 cents over Thanksgiving (down nearly 10%) and 1.41 cents during Christmas (down nearly 8%).
However, international redemptions still tend to offer better redemptions during the holidays than domestic ones — 10.4% more value on average over Thanksgiving week and 10.16% more value during Christmas.
The carrier with the most notable swings is United Airlines, as your MileagePlus miles get significantly more valuable on international flights over the holidays than for a domestic trip.
| Time period | Domestic redemption value | International redemption value |
Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thanksgiving week | 1.11 cents per mile | 1.47 | +32.43% |
| Christmas/New Years | 1.16 cents per mile | 1.6 | +37.93% |
American shows a similar pattern, though not nearly to this level.
Interestingly enough, Alaska, Delta and JetBlue have little variation between domestic and international redemptions. In other words, holiday redemptions using Mileage Plan miles, SkyMiles and TrueBlue points are largely a coin toss when comparing domestic to international award ticket values.
Related: Best times to book business class award flights
Where are travelers looking to fly this holiday season?
They say there’s no place like home for the holidays — but getting away can be pretty great, too. So whether to head home or use the days off to squeeze in a vacation, there are some trends that Points Path spotted for where flyers are looking to head this holiday season.
Most popular travel destinations during Thanksgiving
- New York
- Los Angeles
- London
- Tokyo
- Miami
- San Francisco
- Cancun
- Paris
- Chicago
- Boston
Most popular travel destinations during the winter break
- New York
- Miami
- Tokyo
- London
- Los Angeles
- Cancun
- Paris
- San Francisco
- Honolulu
- Chicago
It’s noteworthy that New York City was the clear winner in both, as there were nearly 50% more travelers searching for the Big Apple than the next-highest city over both Thanksgiving and Christmas.
In addition, there’s a lot of overlap here, as nine of the top 10 cities — New York, Los Angeles, London, Tokyo, Miami, San Francisco, Cancun, Paris and Chicago — are on the list for both holiday periods. Of course, many of these are large metropolitan areas, so there’s clearly a certain amount of default volume there. However, Cancun serves as a preview of some interesting, leisure-focused data points in spots 11 through 20.
Orlando just missed out on making both lists (coming in at No. 11 over Christmas and No. 12 over Thanksgiving). In addition, Lisbon was the 13th most popular search over Thanksgiving, while Singapore was 12th and Sydney was 16th over Christmas. And Bangkok was within striking distance of both top 10 lists — 18th over Thanksgiving and 15th over Christmas.
In other words, you’re not alone if you’re searching for a true vacation over the holidays!
Related: These are the best places to travel in December
Tips to get the most from your miles this holiday travel season
While the data shows that your miles aren’t worth quite as much during the peak holiday travel season as during some less busy times of the year, there are still ways to get the most out of your miles, and we’re here with some tips.
- Book your holiday soon, as airfare prices are likely to start rising soon, and especially try to do so by mid- to late-October. But even once you book your holiday airfare, keep checking fares via setting a price alert or similar. Many U.S. frequent flyer programs allow you to cancel, change or redeposit award tickets with little to no fees. If you use cash, you probably have less flexibility, but you can still potentially get a credit to use on a future flight if the price drops.
- If you aren’t getting the value that you are hoping for from your miles via the U.S. frequent flyer programs, keep in mind that multiple international programs that are transfer partners with popular rewards cards you might have in your wallet still use award charts that have more fixed redemption costs. That also means that the inventory you are after may not be available on peak dates, but it can make sense to check.
- Check the airline award prices for both economy and premium cabins. As the data shows, your miles may go further when you fly at the front of the plane and — most importantly — you’ll get to beat the holiday stress with an upgraded flying experience.
Finally, while it’s important to be aware of the value you’re getting from your miles during the holidays (and any other time) so that you can make informed booking choices, if your miles get you where you want to be when you want to be there, then it’s a great use of miles.
You can always replenish your mileage account balance with some lucrative six-figure credit card bonuses later.
Methodology
When a Points Path user does a search and gets both the cash and points results for a set of flights, Points Path stores those results for valuation analysis, analytics purposes and to assist in future user searches. Data is anonymized or deidentified, and aggregated for analysis so that no personal user information can be connected to the results.
In compiling this report, TPG utilized data from all searches conducted using the Points Path browser extension from Jan. 1, 2024, through 2 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. This consisted of 7,215,830 individual sets of search results — a cash price and an award price — which were then classified into one of three categories based on the date(s) of the flight(s), regardless of when the search actually took place:
- Thanksgiving: A one-way or round-trip flight departing between Friday, Nov. 22, and Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024
- Christmas/New Years: A one-way or round-trip flight departing between Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, and Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025
- 2024: A one-way or round-trip flight departing on any other date in 2024
We then calculated the redemption value for each data pair on a cents-per-point or cents-per-mile basis by subtracting the taxes and fees from the cash price and dividing that result by the award price.
For Alaska, American, JetBlue and United, we added a small markup of roughly 0.2 cents to each value. This accounts for the fact that award rates are shown for regular economy while paid rates are shown for basic economy; this markup was validated by Points Path across thousands of searches.
Finally, we averaged all individual data points and used specific criteria to filter the results for each of the above sections.
For the list of most-searched destinations, we based our analysis on the number of unique users who searched for flights to a given city. One traveler could do multiple searches for a destination, but that’s still just one travel party looking to go there.
However, while this data provides an interesting look at millions of data points, there are a few important limitations:
- This analysis is based on actual searches, and since it’s a sampling, it doesn’t guarantee the conclusions hold true for every individual route/date combination.
- It doesn’t include award travel discounts for elite travelers or those with select airline credit cards.
- It doesn’t include the fact that you earn miles on tickets paid in cash.
Thankfully, if you’re looking to use your points and miles for holiday travel, you can download the Points Path browser extension, which will flag for you whether a specific redemption is a good deal or not.
Related: How to use Points Path to compare airline cash and award rates
Bottom line
Using points and miles during peak travel times can be a great way to offset high flight prices and keep money in your pocket for other purchases. Unfortunately, in almost all cases, these redemptions offer lower value during Thanksgiving and Christmas than during other dates across 2024.
But you’re not totally out of luck if you want to put your rewards to use over the holidays. Based on data from our partners at Points Path, first- and business-class flights tend to offer a higher value per mile than economy award tickets, and some carriers — namely Delta and JetBlue — have relatively stable values throughout the entire year, regardless of your travel date. You can also expect to get slightly more value from your points and miles during the holidays when traveling internationally compared to domestically.
And even if you’re not happy with the points or miles you need to use for a flight, remember that the vast majority of award tickets offer free changes and cancellations, allowing you to lock in a trip now and monitor for price drops in the future.
Nevertheless, it’s disheartening to see that many major airlines are delivering worse value for redeeming miles over the holidays compared to the rest of the year. And if that’s not a recipe for coal in their stockings, we don’t know what is.
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