The Points and Miles Devaluation Index

By Bryce Casson, Founder · Cardocrat · Updated August 2026

The short answer: Drawing on our tracker of 39 major airline and hotel loyalty programs from 2015 to 2026, the pattern is unmistakable. More than a dozen have abandoned fixed award charts for dynamic or revenue-based pricing, premium-cabin awards on the programs that raised them have climbed anywhere from 20 percent to over 200 percent, and only a handful have held their value. Points are a depreciating asset, and the data shows it plainly.

The headline findings

We maintain a dated tracker of devaluations across 39 major airline and hotel programs. Pulled together, the data tells one clear story.

Finding	Figure
Major airline and hotel programs tracked, 2015 to 2026	39
That replaced fixed award charts with dynamic or revenue-based pricing	More than a dozen
Range of premium-cabin award increases on programs that raised them	20 percent to over 200 percent
Programs that have effectively held their value	A handful, led by Accor
Programs that went to zero when the airline failed	1 (Spirit, 2026)
Overall direction of award prices	One way: up

No major program in the set has made its awards meaningfully cheaper and held them there. The movement is almost entirely upward, whether through higher chart numbers or the switch to dynamic pricing that lets prices float up with cash fares. See the full devaluation tracker.

The average devaluation, by the numbers

A spread of 20 to 200 percent is hard to feel, so here is the average behind it. Across all 39 programs we track, the cost of a representative award has risen by an average of about 37 percent since 2015, with a median near 35 percent, which works out to roughly 3.2 percent a year. Turned around, each point or mile has quietly lost about 3 percent of its value every year, a bit more than a quarter of its worth across the decade.

Segment	Programs	Avg. award-price rise (2015 to 2026)	Annualized
Airline programs	32	+36%	about 3.1% a year
Hotel programs	7	+39%	about 3.3% a year
All 39 programs	39	+37%	about 3.2% a year

Hotels crept up a little faster than airlines, and both averages are held down by a few programs that barely moved, so the steepest offenders sit well above these lines. These figures also capture each program’s own award chart only; a newer hit, the bank-to-partner transfer ratios that held at one to one for years and are now starting to slip, stacks on top for anyone redeeming through transfers. For the full program-by-program ranking, the transfer-ratio layer, and how we built these figures, see how fast points and miles lose value.

The big shift: from charts to dynamic pricing

The defining trend of the decade is the death of the fixed award chart. Delta started it in 2015, and a cascade followed: Air France KLM Flying Blue in 2018, United in 2019, Hilton having dropped its chart in 2017, Marriott in 2022, American on its own flights in 2023, and Lufthansa Group on its own flights in 2025, with low-cost programs like Southwest, JetBlue, Frontier, and Finnair moving to revenue-based pricing. A published chart lets you plan; dynamic pricing removes the reference point and lets award costs rise continuously with demand. See award charts versus dynamic pricing.

The steepest cuts, and the rare stable ones

The extremes are striking. Emirates nearly doubled its premium awards and raised fees by up to 800 percent, Etihad unified partner chart sent some redemptions up more than 200 percent, Japan Airlines raised first class by up to 80 percent, Aeroplan lifted premium cabins 20 to 67 percent, and Hilton standard-room cap climbed from 95,000 to 250,000 points. Against all that, the exceptions stand out: Accor has held a fixed value of two euro-cents per point and simply never devalued, and a couple of niche programs stayed quiet. And one program went all the way to zero, when Spirit Airlines failed in 2026 and its miles became worthless. See the Accor exception and the Spirit collapse.

What the index means for you

The conclusion is the same one our tracker points to over and over: treat points as a depreciating asset, not a savings account. Earn toward a specific trip and burn promptly rather than banking a balance while prices climb. Favor transferable bank points, which let you move to whichever program has not yet devalued your route, and value every currency at a flat cent as a baseline so any devaluation is immediately obvious. See why you earn and burn and what points are worth.

See exactly what an award costs

Stop guessing at point values. Look up the real award price and live availability for a specific trip before you transfer.

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Frequently asked questions

How many loyalty programs have devalued?

We track 39 major airline and hotel programs, and the trend is near-universal. Almost every one has raised award prices, moved to dynamic pricing, or cut transfer ratios, with only a handful holding their value.

How many programs have moved to dynamic pricing?

More than a dozen of the major programs have abolished or gutted their fixed award charts in favor of dynamic or revenue-based pricing, starting with Delta in 2015 and cascading through United, American, Marriott, Hilton, and others.

Which program has devalued the most?

Among the worst are Delta, whose dynamic SkyMiles earned the SkyPesos nickname, Emirates, which nearly doubled premium awards and spiked fees, and Hilton, whose standard-room cap climbed from 95,000 to 250,000 points.

Which programs have held their value?

Very few. Accor Live Limitless is the standout, with a fixed value of two euro-cents per point that has never devalued, and a couple of niche programs have stayed quiet. Everywhere else, the direction is up.

What does the devaluation trend mean for me?

Treat points as a depreciating asset. Earn toward a specific redemption and use them promptly, favor flexible transferable points so you can move to a program that has not devalued your route, and never bank a large balance expecting it to hold value.