How Much Are Airline Miles Worth?

The average airline mile across major U.S. companies is worth $0.013. The value of an airline mile depends on a few factors, including the airline, whether you are flying international, domestic, economy or business, and the day of the week that you are flying.

ValuePenguin examined how valuable American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, JetBlue, Southwest Airlines and United Airlines miles are. We found that Delta had the most valuable miles, worth $0.015 by our estimates. We also found that international flying is the best way to squeeze value out of your airline miles, offering more than 50% more value over domestic routes with some airlines.

But when it comes to using your miles, Southwest comes out on top. Their miles were the best compared to other airlines when it came to factors like daily departures, ease of booking award flights and award availability.

Value of airline miles by airline

The average airline miles is worth $0.013, with Delta SkyMiles offering the most value at $0.015 on average. In order to calculate this value, we collected dozens of itineraries for popular one-way domestic and international routes in both economy and business class. We then divided the price for each flight by the number of miles it takes to fly the same route. We sampled peak and off-peak dates for each route, and then calculated an average of all itineraries to get a single number for the value of an airline mile.

We discovered that Delta's miles are worth 15% more than average and 25% more than American Airlines' miles, which are the least valuable of the group.

We detected large differences in the value of airline miles depending on the details of the flight. The most interesting differences exist when looking at international flights, selecting business class and flying during the weekend.

Airline miles value: domestic vs. international

If you’re trying to maximize the value of your miles, you’re better off booking international travel over domestic with many airlines. Among the itineraries we surveyed, international bookings consistently had a higher mile value than domestic flights.

Southwest and JetBlue — which have very limited international routes — were the exception to this trend (JetBlue had more valuable domestic miles). But the difference was especially significant with United Airlines and American Airlines. Combined, these programs offer 50% more value for international award flights. Since United and American Airlines have such low domestic miles value, you may be better off booking your U.S. award flights on another airline. Southwest, with the highest domestic mile value, might be a good candidate.

You should be aware that your miles usually don't cover taxes and fees, and that these taxes can be especially high for international flights. While the specific taxes you’ll have to pay will depend on what country you’re visiting, the highest taxes include air passenger duty, passenger service, airport security charges and passenger facilities charges. You'll need to determine whether the additional mile value outweighs the taxes for international flights.

Airline miles value by seat class

On average, the value of an airline mile is nearly the same whether booking economy or business class. However, this doesn't hold true for every airline rewards program. When redeeming for a business-class flight with American Airlines, for example, the value of a mile is 50% more than an economy class fare. Southwest, on the other hand, offers more value for economy flights.

Airline miles value by peak vs. off-peak

While the value of your miles can vary throughout the year, airline miles are generally worth more during off-peak season than they are during busy season. For every airline we examined, off-peak miles were more valuable than peak miles. The most valuable off-peak miles are Southwest's, and the most valuable peak miles are Delta Air Lines's.

Note that, since the difference was small across all the airlines in our survey, you're likely to get a solid value for your miles regardless of whether you book an award flight during peak or off-peak season.

Reward program usability

Mile value isn't the only thing to take into consideration when determining the best rewards program for you. How easy your miles are to use and how complicated the rewards program is also play important factors.

We found Southwest miles to be the most simple and usable miles. Although Southwest lacks the airline partners and destination roster that other airlines have, Rapid Rewards points never expire, you'll find award availability on almost every open flight, and you'll likely find its terms and conditions easier to understand than other programs.

Delta Air Lines, on the other hand, while offering the most valuable miles in our survey, also had the lowest usability score. In particular, we found its award website more difficult to navigate and the terms and conditions of its program to be particularly dense.

Best way to earn airline miles

If you do not travel frequently, it can be difficult to earn a large amount of airline miles. Additionally, each airline program has unique policies around points expiring, so a very infrequent traveler may find themselves earning and losing points. If this pertains to you, you may want to consider adding an airline miles credit card. These cards will earn you