Travel Hacking Dictionary – CPM

Today I am launching a new series called Travel Hacking Dictionary where I will provide clarity around some of the common phrases and acronyms that are thrown around in the community so you can get better acquainted with the what everyone is talking about.

Today we are going to talk about CPM or Cents Per Mile.

What is CPM

CPM is a yardstick by which we measure the value of a deal.  Once you know your CPM, you can answer a multitude of questions including:

• Should I pay for my flight or use points?
• Should I pay for points when they are on sale from an airline or hotel?
• What value did I get out of my redemption?

CPM Calculation

CPM is quite a simple mathematical equation.

CPM = (Cost / Miles) x 100

Ready for some math?  Okay, then let’s look at it from a couple different perspectives.

CPM Earning

When we earn miles, there are some miles that are free and some that cost money.  An example of free miles are credit card sign ups that have a sign up bonus AND no annual fee for the first year, otherwise known as First Year Free (FYF).

For example, the American Express Gold Card currently offers 25,000 Membership Reward Points and the First Year Free so the calculation for the first year would be:

CPM = (Cost / Miles) x 100
CPM = $0 / 25,000
CPM = 0.00

If we look at a card that does not have an annual fee waiver such as the Capital One Aspire Card, we see that the current offering is for 40,000 Capital One Aspire Points with an Annual Fee of $150, so the calculation here would be:

CPM= (Cost / Miles) x 100
CPM = ($150 / 40,000) x 100
CPM = 0.375

CPM Burning

Now that we know the cost to acquire our points, let’s take a look to see how much value we are getting out of our points.

To make things simple, I will take the example from my most recent redemption as an example.  I am going to be going to Roatan, Honduras in January and I used points to book my flights.

The retail cost of the flight for 2 people was $1,663.42.

The cost for our flight using points was $357.02 and 80,000 Aeroplan Points.

In order to find out the value of each Aeroplan point we used, you first need to find the value of the flight less taxes.  We take the taxes off the calculation because we have to pay for them out of pocket so we get no value from the points.

Redeemable Value = Retail Cost of Flight – Taxes
Redeemable Value = $1,663.42 – $357.02
Redeemable Value = $1,306.40

Now that we know the Redeemable Value and we know how many points we cashed in (80,000), we can now calculate the CPM.

CPM = (Redeemable Value / Points Redeemed) x 100
CPM = ($1,306.40 / 80,000) x 100
CPM = 1.633 

Okay, I Can Calculate CPM … Now What?

Well now that you understand how much it cost you to earn your points, you can use that information to determine if your redemption is a good use of miles.

In my example above, I actually used my American Express Membership Rewards and transferred them over to Aeroplan and I know that I historically earn my Membership Rewards Points at less than 1¢/mile.  Based on that, I know that I am extracting more value out of the points than it cost me to earn them because my CPM Burn Value is 1.633¢/mile and my earn rate is less than 1¢/mile.

Admittedly, this redemption does not represent great value but I do extract more value than the point cost which ultimately is a win.

These are the benchmark numbers that I personally use to determine if a redemption is a good deal:

• Economy Class Flight – should be worth at least 2¢ per mile.  If you can find an economy redemption over 4¢ per mile, you are getting very good value.
• Business Class Flight – should be worth at least 5¢ per mile.  If you can find a business redemption over 8¢ per mile, you are getting very good value.  My most recent mini-RTW trip provided me a value of over 15¢ per mile so extreme redemptions are possible.
• First Class Flight – should be worth at least 8¢ per mile.  I have yet to redeem for First Class but with the extreme cost of First Class, I would expect the average to be closer to 15¢ per mile.  As an example, I searched for YYC-SEA-LAX-SYD on Quantas and the one-way value of the ticket without taxes was $9,875.  I know that I can redeem 70,000 Alaska Airlines Miles to get that redemption so the value there is 14.1¢/mile ($9,875 / 70,000 x 100).

My general goal is to earn points at less than 1¢/mile.

Suggestions

If you are a nerd like I am, you may want to consider keeping a spreadsheet to determine what CPM you are earning your points at.  This way, you can definitively know the average cost of each point in your portfolio which then allows you to make informed decisions on whether or not you are getting good value from your points at redemption.

As I mentioned in my last post, the name of the game here is to earn and burn so while I do recommend knowing how much your points cost, don’t wait around for the perfect deal to come along in order to squeeze those last few pennies out of your points.  If the award is valued at more than you earned the points at, the flights are convenient and it goes to a destination you want to visit, go ahead and redeem.

You can always earn more points.