What Are Loyalty Points?
Whether you have been collecting points for years or you just noticed an "earn rewards" badge on a hotel booking page, this guide explains exactly what loyalty points are, why they matter, and how to get real value from them.
The Core Idea: Your Spending Earns a Second Currency
Loyalty points are a second currency earned through ordinary spending. Airlines, hotels, banks, and credit card companies award them when you book flights, stay at hotels, or use a rewards credit card for everyday purchases like groceries, petrol, and subscriptions.
Accumulate enough of this second currency and you can spend it on travel — free hotel nights, flights, upgrades, and experiences — that would otherwise cost real money. The most dedicated points collectors fund business class flights and luxury hotel stays almost entirely with points. Most travellers, however, find that points simply stretch their travel budget in a meaningful way: a free night here, an upgrade there.
The programmes that issue and manage points are called loyalty programmes (or rewards programmes). Joining one is free. The only cost is time spent learning how the programme works.
Types of Loyalty Points
Not all points are created equal. There are three main categories.
1. Hotel Loyalty Points
Earned when you stay at participating hotels. Each major hotel group runs its own programme:
- Hilton Honors — for Hilton, Waldorf Astoria, Conrad, DoubleTree, Hampton, and more
- IHG One Rewards — for InterContinental, Kimpton, Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza, and others
- World of Hyatt — for Park Hyatt, Andaz, Grand Hyatt, Thompson, and Alila
- Marriott Bonvoy — for Marriott, Sheraton, Westin, W Hotels, Ritz-Carlton, and more
- Accor Live Limitless (ALL) — for Accor properties including Sofitel, Novotel, and Mercure
Points are earned per pound (or per dollar) spent on qualifying room rates and, in some cases, food, drinks, and spa charges. You redeem them for free award nights, upgrades, and other hotel perks.
2. Frequent Flyer Miles
Earned when you fly with an airline or its partners. UK-relevant programmes include:
- British Airways Executive Club (Avios) — the most widely used programme for UK travellers
- Virgin Atlantic Flying Club (Virgin Points)
- Flying Blue (Air France/KLM) — useful for European routes
- Emirates Skywards — popular for long-haul
Miles are primarily redeemed for award flights and upgrades. Avios in particular can unlock excellent value on short-haul European routes when booked at the right time.
3. Transferable Points (the Most Flexible)
These are earned through credit card spending and can be converted into multiple hotel and airline programmes. Think of them as a master currency that keeps your options open.
In the UK, the most useful transferable currency is American Express Membership Rewards. Points earned on the Amex Preferred Rewards Gold Card, Amex Platinum, or Amex Business cards transfer to Avios, Virgin Points, Hilton Honors, and around 17 other programmes. The typical transfer rate is 1 Amex point to 1 airline mile (1:1) or 1 Amex point to 2 Hilton Honors points (1:2).
Key advantage: If a hotel programme devalues its currency overnight, your Amex points remain flexible. Transfer only when you have a specific, confirmed redemption in mind.
Key Terminology
Understanding a handful of terms unlocks most of the conversation around points.
Award Night / Award Flight
A free hotel stay or flight booked using points instead of cash. The number of points required varies by programme and property.
Standard Award vs. Premium Award
Many hotel programmes distinguish between standard room awards (booked from a fixed or capped inventory at a lower points cost) and premium room awards (which reflect the full cash value of the room, recalculated in points). Standard awards almost always deliver better value. Avoid premium awards unless the maths works out favourably.
Award Chart vs. Dynamic Pricing
Historically, many programmes published an award chart: a fixed table showing exactly how many points a given property or flight costs. Increasingly, programmes are moving to dynamic pricing, where the points cost fluctuates with demand and cash rates. Dynamic pricing makes it harder to plan ahead but can still offer excellent value when cash rates are high.
Peak and Off-Peak Pricing
Some programmes layer peak and off-peak pricing on top of dynamic rates. During high-demand periods (school holidays, major events, peak season), points costs are higher. During quieter periods, costs drop. Flexibility on travel dates is one of the most powerful tools a points collector has.
CPP / PPP (Cost Per Point / Pence Per Point)
The standard way to measure whether a redemption is good value. Divide the cash equivalent of your booking by the number of points spent.
Example: A hotel night costs £200 in cash. You redeem 50,000 points. That is 0.4 pence per point (£200 / 50,000 × 100). As a rule of thumb: aim for at least 0.5p per point for hotel programmes and at least 1p per point for airline miles.
Points Expiry
Points do not last forever. Hilton Honors points expire after 24 months of account inactivity — meaning no earning and no spending. Most programmes reset the expiry clock with any qualifying activity. Keep at least one transaction per year to protect your balance.
Why Points Matter: The Value Proposition
A standard room at the Conrad London St. James — a five-star hotel in Westminster — costs upwards of £350–£500 per night in cash. That same room, booked as a standard award through Hilton Honors, might cost 70,000–90,000 points. If you earned those points through everyday credit card spending and a hotel stay or two, you have essentially converted ordinary UK spending into a luxury hotel night.
Multiply that across a family holiday — four or five nights, two rooms — and you are looking at savings that dwarf the annual fee of any UK travel credit card.
Luxury travel at reduced cost
A Waldorf Astoria room costing £600/night in cash may cost 100,000–130,000 points. Earn those at a fraction of the cash value.
Room upgrades
Elite status (through stays or credit cards) often unlocks room upgrades, breakfast, and lounge access with no additional points outlay.
The fifth night free
Hilton Honors Silver and above get every fifth night free on award stays — a 20% saving on five-night bookings.
Business class for less
Avios and airline miles can unlock business class rewards at a far better rate than cash, particularly on long-haul routes.
Transferable Points and the "Points Currency" Concept
The most sophisticated travel hackers think in terms of points currencies rather than individual programmes. The goal is to accumulate a flexible currency — like Amex Membership Rewards — and convert it at the right moment into whichever programme offers the best redemption for a specific trip.
Diversification
No single programme can devalue all your points overnight.
Optionality
You can decide on flights or hotels later, once you know your destination and dates.
Transfer bonuses
Periodically, credit card programmes offer bonus transfer rates (for example, a 30% Avios transfer bonus from Amex). Waiting for these before transferring can significantly increase the miles or points you receive.
UK tip: The Amex Preferred Rewards Gold Card (no annual fee in year one) is widely considered the best entry point for UK travellers who want to start collecting a flexible points currency.
Tips for Maximising Point Value
Always book directly.
Hotel points are only earned on direct bookings — through the hotel's website, app, or phone. Booking via Booking.com or Expedia typically earns no hotel points.
Double-dip wherever possible.
Use a travel rewards credit card when booking hotels or flights. You earn hotel or airline points from the stay AND credit card points on the same spend.
Target the 5th night free.
If you are staying five or more nights, book as one consecutive award stay to trigger Hilton's fifth night free benefit.
Check cash prices before redeeming.
Never spend 80,000 points on a night that costs £80 in cash — that is 0.1p per point, terrible value.
Watch for devaluations.
If you have a significant balance and a specific redemption in mind, book it sooner rather than later.
Use points for aspirational trips.
Points deliver their best return at luxury properties and in premium cabins. Spending points on a budget hotel you could book for £60 cash is rarely the right call.
Sign up for every programme — for free.
Loyalty memberships cost nothing to join. Even a handful of nights per year at a particular chain earns something.
Chase elite status strategically.
Gold or Diamond status benefits — free breakfast, upgrades, lounge access — can be worth hundreds of pounds per year.
How Rewardo Helps
Finding good award availability used to mean hours of searching across multiple programme websites, often to discover the dates you wanted were showing no availability at all.
Rewardo approaches this differently. When community members search on hotel loyalty programme websites with the Rewardo browser extension installed, the availability and pricing data is automatically captured and shared. The more people who contribute, the more comprehensive and current the data becomes.
The result: you spend less time searching and more time planning the trip itself.
Getting Started: A Simple Action Plan
Identify your travel goals. A family beach holiday? A city break in Europe? A long-haul business class flight? Your goal shapes which programmes matter most.
Join the relevant programmes now. Free, and there is no minimum balance required to hold an account.
Get a UK travel credit card. The Amex Preferred Rewards Gold (no fee year one) or Amex Platinum are the best starting points.
Book hotels directly to ensure points are credited to your loyalty programme account.
Search on Rewardo to see what award availability looks like for your dates and destination before committing.
Points collecting rewards patience and a basic understanding of the landscape. Set up the right structures — the right card, the right accounts — and the points accumulate in the background while you live your life.
Frequently Asked Questions
Related Guides
Hilton Honors Guide
The complete UK guide to Hilton Honors — tiers, earning, dynamic pricing, the fifth night free, and how to get the best value from your points.
IHG One Rewards Guide
The complete UK guide to IHG One Rewards — tiers, earning, dynamic pricing, InterContinental, Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza, Kimpton, and more.
World of Hyatt Guide
The complete UK guide to World of Hyatt — Park Hyatt, Andaz, Grand Hyatt, the category-based award chart, and why it is often considered the best programme.
Marriott Bonvoy Guide
The complete UK guide to Marriott Bonvoy — 40+ brands, dynamic pricing, UK credit and debit cards, airline transfer partners, and the fifth night free.