If you’ve been traveling for a while, chances are you have dozens of frequent flyer and hotel loyalty accounts. Some of them you use regularly; some you don’t. As a result, some of your less-used accounts may have small balances of points or miles that have gone unused over the years.
But it doesn’t have to stay that way.
Many loyalty programs offer ways to redeem a small number of points or miles. For example, say you have 2,000 Hilton Honors or Marriott Bonvoy points left over with no plans to use them. You could give them to another member for free. Likewise, if you have a small number of Southwest Rapid Rewards points kicking around, consider applying them toward a points-and-cash booking to save on your next flight.
In this article, we’ll show you different ways to redeem small amounts of airline miles or hotel points so you can get value from the rewards you might not otherwise use. Note that this article focuses solely on airline and hotel loyalty programs, but the same principles often apply to redeeming small amounts of transferable credit card points.
Keep an Eye Out for Low-Cost Redemptions
Just because you have a small number of points or miles in a loyalty account doesn’t mean you don’t have enough miles to redeem for an award flight or hotel night. With the move to dynamic pricing, many loyalty programs offer low-cost awards on off-peak dates. Sometimes, you can book a flight or hotel for well under 10,000 points.
Delta SkyMiles is a great example of this. Oftentimes, you can book short-haul flights on off-peak dates for 5,000 SkyMiles or less in basic economy. For example, this flight from New York (JFK) to Washington, D.C. (IAD) costs 4,800 SkyMiles and $5.60 in taxes and fees. Plus, you can save another 15% if you have an eligible Delta co-branded credit card from American Express.
Likewise, Alaska Airlines’ new Atmos Rewards loyalty program prices short-haul partner award tickets within North America from 4,500 points one-way. This includes flights under 700 miles on American Airlines, Porter Airlines, and others. As an example, these Porter flights from Chicago (MDW) to Toronto Billy Bishop (YTZ) cost 4,500 points and $19 in taxes and fees.
If you have Wyndham Rewards points, you can redeem as few as 7,500 of them for a 1-night stay at select properties. One of these properties is the Ramada by Wyndham Dubai Deira, near Dubai International Airport (DXB). This example night would otherwise cost roughly $90 for the cheapest prepaid rate.
Before looking at other redemptions in this article, check and see if you can use your small amount of points or miles to book a low-cost award. You never know when a few points could help make a future trip more affordable.
Share or Pool Your Points and Miles
We’ve seen more loyalty programs add the ability to transfer points to other members or pool points with friends and family. These features make it easy to share small amounts of points with someone else who may need to top up their account to book their desired award ticket or hotel stay.
However, each program treats points, transfers, and pooling differently. For example, many hotel chains let you freely move points between accounts, up to an annual limit. Meanwhile, United’s free miles-pooling feature has strict eligibility requirements for who can redeem pooled miles, and United pooled miles cannot be redeemed on partner airlines.
These loyalty programs offer points and miles transfers, wherein you can transfer points to another member for free:
- Best Western Rewards: Members can transfer points to other members for free, with a maximum of 70,000 points per transaction and 150,000 points per year. You must contact Best Western Rewards to initiate a points transfer.
- Hilton Honors: Points can be transferred between members for free via this page on Hilton’s website. Members can send up to 500,000 points per year and receive up to 2 million points per year.
- IHG One Rewards: The program charges $5 per 1,000 points transferred, but this is waived for Diamond Elite and Business Rewards members for up to 100,000 points.
- Marriott Bonvoy: Members can use the free Points Transfer Tool to send up to 100,000 points per year and receive up to 500,000 points per year.
- World of Hyatt: There is no stated limit on how many points members can transfer to another member. To initiate a transfer, both members must fill out this PDF form and email or mail it to Hyatt
Meanwhile, the U.S. airline loyalty programs listed below offer free points pooling. This is when you can share points or miles with a group and redeem them together.
- Air Canada Aeroplan: You can use Aeroplan Family Sharing to share points within your family unit. The family lead can choose who can redeem points from the pool.
- Frontier Miles: If you have Frontier Silver status (or higher) or a Frontier co-branded credit card, you can make a mileage pool and invite up to 8 friends or family members. The person who created the pool can redeem the pooled miles.
- JetBlue TrueBlue: JetBlue offers a free points pooling program for up to 7 people. Once in a pool, all TrueBlue points earned by members are added to the pool. Designated members can redeem the pooled points.
- United MileagePlus: Any MileagePlus member can create a mileage pool for up to 5 people. Everyone can contribute miles to the pool, and authorized members can redeem them. There are restrictions, such as the aforementioned fact that you cannot redeem pooled miles on partner flights.
If you have an orphaned amount of points stuck with one of these programs, consider giving them to a friend or family member who can use them. After all, a couple thousand points or miles could help them book the trip of a lifetime.
Get a Discount on Your Travel With Points-and-Cash Redemptions
Some airline and hotel loyalty programs let you use a small amount of points to offset part of the cost of paid travel. These are generally referred to as points-and-cash bookings and are becoming more common across the industry. These redemptions often offer less per-point value than booking award travel outright with your points, but they can be a good way to get value from small amounts of unused points.
Most major hotel loyalty programs, including Hilton Honors, IHG One Rewards, Marriott Bonvoy, and World of Hyatt, offer their own form of points-and-cash redemptions. The specifics vary by program, but you can generally expect to redeem a few thousand points in exchange for cash off your next hotel stay. Some programs, such as Hilton Honors, use dynamic pricing, while others have a dedicated points-and-cash award chart.
Points-and-cash redemptions are becoming more common among airlines, as well. They’re more common in fixed-rate loyalty programs like JetBlue TrueBlue and Southwest Rapid Rewards, but other, more traditional airline loyalty programs, such as United MileagePlus, have also added some form of points-and-cash redemptions.
Here’s a list of U.S. airlines that offer points-and-cash awards:
- Delta SkyMiles: Only available to Delta American Express cardholders, 5,000 SkyMiles equals a $50 discount on a Delta-operated cash fare.
- JetBlue TrueBlue: Redeem as few as 500 TrueBlue points for a discount on a cash ticket.
- Southwest Rapid Rewards: Redeem Rapid Rewards points for a discount on a cash fare, but redemption rates vary by ticket price.
- United MileagePlus: United’s Money + Miles redemptions let you redeem a set number of miles for a small discount. Just toggle that option when searching for a cash fare.
Redeem for Gift Cards or Merchandise
A handful of loyalty programs let you redeem a small number of points or miles for third-party gift cards or merchandise. Prices vary based on the loyalty program you’re redeeming with, but know you’re not likely to get as much value per point or mile as you would when redeeming for a flight or hotel stay.
You can find these redemptions in marketplaces operated by these loyalty programs. Here’s a partial list of merchandise and gift card portals from U.S. airlines and major hotel loyalty programs:
- American Airlines AAdvantage Exchange: Redeem miles for merchandise from various brands, including Apple, Dyson, Tissot, and others. Note that most redemptions are pricey, but cheaper products like charging cables may help if your goal is to redeem a small amount of miles.
- IHG One Rewards Catalog: Redeem your IHG points for everything from gift cards to merchandise and gift cards. You can buy $5 gift cards to many third-party merchants for roughly 3,000 points.
- Marriott Bonvoy Shop with Points: You can redeem Marriott points for everything from gift cards to chargers, luggage, and home goods. You can buy $5 gift cards starting at 5,000 points.
- United MileagePlus eGift Cards: Redeem United miles for gift cards from hundreds of big-name merchants. A $5 gift card to most merchants starts at 1,666 United miles.
- United MileagePlus Merchandise Awards: You can redeem United miles for everything from phone chargers to luggage. Merchandise is expensive, but you can find deals under 5,000 miles.
- Wyndham Rewards More Ways to Redeem: Redeem leftover Wyndham points for gift cards, AAA subscriptions, merchandise, and more. Gift cards start at 2,200 points.
Donate Your Rewards to Charity
Many airline and hotel loyalty programs let you donate hotel points or airline miles to charity. Charities vary by loyalty program, with many offering a range of causes to choose from. Here’s a look at major U.S. airlines that let you donate miles to charity:
- Alaska Airlines Atmos Rewards: Donate to a list of eligible charities through Atmos Giving.
- American AAdvantage: Donate miles to a handful of charities covering interests like social good, global health, and well-being on the Let Good Take Flight page.
- Delta SkyMiles: Donate your SkyMiles to regional charities around the world through the SkyWish donation page.
- JetBlue TrueBlue: Visit the JetBlue donation page and donate your points to a charity of your choice.
- Southwest Rapid Rewards: Use Southwest’s donate points page to donate Rapid Rewards points to a cause of your choice.
- United MileagePlus: Donate miles to one of a handful of charities on the Miles on a Mission page.
And these are the hotel loyalty programs that allow you to donate miles to charity:
- IHG One Rewards: Donate your points to IHG’s partner charities here.
- Marriott Bonvoy: Donate as few as 2,500 points to one of Marriott’s 20-plus partner charities.
- Wyndham Rewards: Donate points to Wyndham’s partner charities, starting at 500 points.
Save Points or Miles That Don’t Expire
These days, more and more airline and hotel loyalty programs are removing point expiration. This means they can stay in your account indefinitely until you’re ready to redeem them. Likewise, except for a handful of international airlines, you can keep your miles active indefinitely by earning or redeeming a single point or mile before they expire.
If you have a small amount of points or miles with a program whose miles don’t expire, consider holding on to them. You never know when they might come in handy or even save you valuable transferable points the next time you need to book a flight.
For example, if you have 2,000 Delta SkyMiles in your account, you can top them up with American Express Membership Rewards points later down the line if you need to book a Delta award ticket. In turn, you’d effectively save yourself 2,000 Membership Rewards points if you kept them in your account.
Final Thoughts
From low-cost awards to transfers to a friend or family member, we’ve outlined your options for redeeming a small amount of airline miles or hotel points. Keep these ideas in mind the next time you’re looking to spend down your rewards. Depending on the loyalty program, they could go further than you think.