A good everyday card earns 2 to 3 points per dollar on everything. A deal is worth stopping for at 10 points per dollar or more, great at 20, and rare at 50. Those thresholds only work if the points are worth something, so always convert the rate to cents per dollar before you decide.
The Baseline: What Cards Earn On Everyday Spend
Points per dollar is the number of points (or miles) you get for each dollar you spend. Here is what four common cards earn on purchases with no bonus category, from each issuer's own page, read 2026-09-30:
| Card | Earn On Other Purchases | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Chase Freedom Unlimited | 1.5% cash back (1.5 points per dollar) | Chase |
| Citi Double Cash | 2% (1% when you buy, 1% as you pay) | Citi |
| Capital One Venture | 2 miles per dollar | Capital One |
| Hilton Honors Amex (no annual fee) | 3 points per dollar | American Express |
On raw points, the Hilton card wins at 3 per dollar. Now convert to cents, which is what matters.
Convert Points Per Dollar To Cents Per Dollar
Cents back per dollar = points per dollar times cents per point.
Using Frequent Miler's Reasonable Redemption Values (read 2026-09-30): Capital One miles 1.45 cents, Hilton points 0.35 cents.
- Capital One Venture: 2 times 1.45 = 2.9 cents per dollar. Cashed out through Capital One's own 1 cent value (Capital One), it is 2 cents.
- Hilton Honors Amex: 3 times 0.35 = 1.05 cents per dollar. At The Points Guy's higher 0.4 cents (September 2026), it is 1.2 cents.
- Citi Double Cash: 2 cents per dollar, as cash.
- Chase Freedom Unlimited: 1.5 cents per dollar, as cash.
The card with the highest points per dollar comes last once you price the points. That is the whole reason to convert.
So for everyday spend, a good rate is anything worth 2 cents per dollar or more. In points, that means about 2 per dollar on a bank currency worth 1 to 1.5 cents, or about 5 to 6 per dollar on a hotel currency worth under half a cent.
What Counts As A Good Deal
Everyday earning is the base. Deals are where the real return is, and they are why a points per dollar number helps: it puts a cash back offer, a miles promo and a hotel bonus on one scale.
Pointsflare's grades, which are our opinion and our method, not an industry standard:
| Grade | Points Per Dollar |
|---|---|
| Good | 10 or more |
| Great | 20 or more |
| Excellent | 50 or more, or no spend required |
To put cash and points on one scale, we count $1 of cash back as 100 points. So 25% back is 25 points per dollar. We also add what your best card earns on the same spend, because you pay with a card either way. Card sign up bonuses, bank account bonuses and sales of points are left out.
Two Real Offers From September 2026
Both were reported by Frequent Miler on September 29, 2026, and both are targeted, which means only some cardholders see them.
- Frontier Airlines Amex Offer: spend $200, get $50 back, through December 31, 2026 (Frequent Miler). $50 on $200 is 25% back, so 25 points per dollar. Paid with a card earning 3 points per dollar, the stack is 28. Great.
- JetBlue Amex Offer: spend $200, get $40 back, through December 14, 2026 (Frequent Miler). That is 20 points per dollar from the offer, 23 with a 3 point card. Great.
Compare that with the 1.5 to 3 points per dollar from everyday cards: a single offer can be worth ten times normal earning, on a purchase you might make anyway.
The Catch: Not All Points Are Equal
A points per dollar grade treats every point the same, so a Hilton point and a Hyatt point count equally. That makes low value currencies look better than they are.
Example: Hilton is running a promotion for its cobrand cardholders, 10,000 bonus points for one paid stay of at least three consecutive nights booked between September 28 and November 9, 2026 and completed by January 3, 2027 (Frequent Miler). If those three nights cost $600 (our example price), 10,000 points is 16.7 points per dollar before card earn, which looks close to Great. But 10,000 Hilton points at 0.35 cents is about $35. That is 5.8% back ($35 divided by $600).
That is still a decent bonus on a stay you were going to book. It is not the same as 16.7% back. This is why the Pointsflare app shows an estimated dollar value on each deal next to its points per dollar.
Rule of thumb: for bank points and airline miles worth 1 to 2 cents, points per dollar is a fair guide. For hotel points worth under 1 cent, multiply by the cents per point before comparing.
When A High Rate Is Still Not Worth It
- You would not buy it anyway. 25% back on a $200 flight you did not need is spending $150 you did not plan to spend.
- The spend requirement is out of reach. An offer that needs $1,000 of spend before it pays anything is worth nothing if you spend $600.
- It takes more time than it pays. A $3 rebate at 50 points per dollar can cost you 20 minutes of forms. Pointsflare drops deals worth under $5 for this reason.
- It needs a new account. A bank bonus or card sign up can look huge in points per dollar, but it costs a credit check or a deposit. We leave those out of the ranking.
FAQ
What Is A Good Points Per Dollar Rate For A Credit Card?
On everyday, non bonus spend, 2 points per dollar on a transferable bank currency is a strong rate; 1.5 is typical for no fee cash back style cards. For hotel cards worth about a third of a cent per point, you need about 6 per dollar to match 2 cents (6 times 0.35 is 2.1).
How Do I Compare Cash Back With Points?
Convert both to cents per dollar. 2% cash back is 2 cents per dollar. 2 miles per dollar at 1.45 cents per mile is 2.9 cents. Pointsflare does the reverse and counts $1 of cash as 100 points, so 25% back reads as 25 points per dollar.
Is 10 Points Per Dollar Good?
For a deal, yes. It is about five times what a good everyday card earns, and it is Pointsflare's threshold for a Good deal. For hotel currencies, check the dollar value too, since 10 Hilton points is worth about 3.5 cents.
Why Does Pointsflare Count Cash Back As 100 Points Per Dollar?
Because most bank points and airline miles are worth around 1 cent or more each, 1 cent per point is a simple, conservative exchange rate. It lets a 25% cash offer and a 25 points per dollar miles promo sit on the same scale.
Should I Chase A Targeted Offer I Do Not Have?
No. Targeted offers only appear for some cardholders. Check your card's app; if the offer is not there, move on to the next one.
See every deal graded by points per dollar, with the dollar value next to it: open the Pointsflare app.
