Point Me To First Class · Monday, August 10, 2026
Devin Gimble argues that while redemption value is a calculable metric for points and miles, it's not the sole indicator of skill. He emphasizes that understanding and optimizing points earning potential from expenses is a more complex but crucial aspect of the hobby, offering significant untapped value for many users.
“I am not suggesting that calculating or knowing your average cents per point redemption value is a marker of how quote good you are at redeeming points, or how good you are at award travel in general.”
“But when it comes to points, especially earning points, what exactly are we measuring? How do we know? At least for ourselves, whether we're actually tapping into the full potential value of our expenses in terms of optimizing our ability to earn points?”
“Now, that is a much more challenging question to answer. Because there's no clean formula that we can apply to points earning in the same way that we can calculate redemption value for points redeeming with the flaws and the controversies that exist around that anyway.”