Points Value Index: September 2026

What the September 2026 numbers show

1. Cash-out runs from 0.50¢ to 1.00¢ per point. Chase pays 1.00¢; Citi pays 0.50¢, 0.75¢, or 1.00¢ depending on the card; Amex pays 0.60¢ to cover charges. Capital One publishes no fixed cash-out rate on its public pages.
2. The same Amex point is worth 67% more on a flight than as a statement credit. Amex Travel flights redeem at 1.00¢; covering card charges redeems at 0.60¢ (1.00 − 0.60 = 0.40; 0.40 ÷ 0.60 = 67%).
3. For Citi, the card decides the transfer ratio. 1,000 points become 1,000 AAdvantage miles on Strata Premier, Strata Elite, or Prestige, but 700 on Strata, Double Cash, or Custom Cash. At 700, an award must return more than 1.00 ÷ 0.7 = 1.43¢ per mile just to match the 1.00¢ Citi Travel rate.
4. Chase’s portal ceiling is promotional. Chase Travel is 1.00¢ per point; Points Boost lifts select flights and hotels to up to 1.50¢ (Sapphire Preferred, Ink Business Preferred, Ink Plus) or 2.00¢ (Sapphire Reserve family). The range is 1.00–2.00¢, but only the 1.00¢ floor applies to every booking.
5. Chase to Hyatt is now 4:3 for new accounts. 1,000 points become 750 Hyatt points for accounts opened on or after June 15, 2026, so a Hyatt award must return 1.33¢ per Hyatt point to beat 1.00¢ cash back. Older accounts keep 1:1 through September 30, 2026.
6. Capital One publishes ratios, not fixed values. Its airline partners range from 5:3 (JetBlue) to 1:1, but no fixed cash-out or travel rate appears on the public pages checked; use the Capital One calculator with the rate on your own screen.

The index: cents per point by redemption mode

“Not published” means the issuer’s public pages we checked state no fixed rate for that mode. Transfer value in cents per card point is always ratio × the value your specific award returns per partner mile, so the index reports the ratio and the break-even instead of a single number.

How this index is computed

1. Collect only published inputs. On September 15, 2026 we read each issuer’s public U.S. pages for three things: the cash-out rate, the travel-portal rate, and the transfer ratio to each partner. An input enters the index only if the page states it as a rate, a ratio, or a dollar amount for a stated number of points.
2. Convert every input to cents per point. Where an issuer states a dollar amount (Citi’s tool shows 5,000 points as $37.50), we apply the site’s value-per-point formula: $37.50 ÷ 5,000 × 100 = 0.75¢.
3. Form ranges. For each currency and mode, the range runs from the lowest to the highest published rate across the cards and booking types the issuer lists. Promotional ceilings (Chase Points Boost) are included and labeled.
4. Report transfers as ratios and break-evens. A transfer’s value depends on the award you book, which no issuer or program publishes as a rate. So the index shows the published ratio and the partner value at which the transfer only matches the issuer’s standard fixed rate.
5. Date and freeze the snapshot. This page records the inputs as of September 15, 2026. Later changes go into a new dated snapshot rather than silently editing this one; corrections, if any, are listed at the bottom of this page.

The formulas

cents per point (from an issuer example) = dollars ÷ points × 100
fixed-rate value ($)                    = points × rate (¢/pt) ÷ 100
transfer value ($)                      = points × ratio × partner value (¢/mile) ÷ 100
effective ¢ per card point (transfer)   = ratio × partner value
break-even partner value (¢/mile)       = standard fixed rate ÷ ratio

The standard fixed rate is the highest non-promotional fixed rate every card in the currency can use: cash back or Chase Travel standard, 1.00¢ for Chase, flights via Amex Travel, 1.00¢ for Amex, and Citi Travel, 1.00¢ on every listed card for Citi. Capital One has none published, so its break-even is shown as a multiple of whatever rate you see (1 ÷ ratio).

Transfer ratios for the programs this site covers

Each cell is card points : partner units as the issuer lists it, followed by the break-even value per partner unit against that issuer’s standard fixed rate.

Full partner lists (including programs not shown above) are in the JSON download.

Inputs and sources

Limitations

• Public pages only. Logged-in screens can show different rates, targeted offers, or card variants the public pages do not name. Your own screen wins.
• No partner-mile valuations. The index never assumes what an airline mile or hotel point is worth; that depends on the award, date, cabin, taxes, and the cash fare you would really pay. Compute it for your trip with the points vs cash calculator.
• Promotional ceilings are not typical values. Chase Points Boost applies to select bookings only; the floor is what every booking gets.
• Gaps are reported, not filled. Capital One’s cash-out and travel rates, and Citi’s Leaders Club ratio, were not published on the pages checked, so they are absent rather than estimated.
• U.S. programs, one date. Rates and partner lists differ by country and change without notice; this snapshot is correct only as of September 15, 2026.
• Rounding. Ratios and cents are rounded to two decimals for display; the JSON keeps the issuer’s raw point counts.

How to cite

Travel Points Math, “Points Value Index: September 2026,” inputs checked September 15, 2026, https://travelpointsmath.com/index/2026-09. Please link to this dated snapshot rather than the index hub so readers see the numbers you quoted.

Cents-per-point ranges for Chase Ultimate Rewards, Amex Membership Rewards, Citi ThankYou, and Capital One miles by redemption mode (cash-out, travel portal, transfer partner), computed from rates and transfer ratios published on each issuer's own pages and checked on September 15, 2026. Transfer mode is reported as published ratios and the break-even value per partner mile, not an assumed valuation.

Run the same math on your balance

• Chase points to dollars calculator — same inputs, your balance and your award.
• American Express points to dollars calculator — same inputs, your balance and your award.
• Citi points to dollars calculator — same inputs, your balance and your award.
• Capital One miles to dollars calculator — same inputs, your balance and your award.

Corrections

None as of publication.