Status: checked against official sources; automated independent review
GUIDE
Start here: your first trip with a points budget
A points budget is a spending plan made before any search: how many miles or points the award takes, how much cash the award still costs in taxes, fees and any cash co-payment, and what you would lose if you changed or cancelled it. [1] [2] [3] Airline awards and hotel reward stays carry separate cash charges and separate change rules, so the budget is built one programme at a time rather than from a single conversion rate. [1] [2] [4]
Facts checked: 18 October 2026
Key takeaways
- An award ticket still costs cash. Delta says taxes and fees for Award Travel are the passenger's responsibility and must be paid when the ticket is booked, including a September 11th Security Fee of $5.60 per one-way trip. [2]
- American sells a partial-cash award only under narrow conditions: cash and miles requires at least 500 AAdvantage miles, a valid U.S. home address on the profile and flights marketed and operated by American within the contiguous 48 states. [1]
- Hilton makes every fifth night free on an all-points Standard Room Reward Stay of five or more nights, with no more than four free nights per stay. [3]
- Hilton and Marriott both tie a balance to activity: each requires eligible account activity at least once every 24 consecutive months, after which points can be forfeited. [3] [4]
Four lines in the budget
The award price. This is the number of miles or points the award takes, and it is not a fixed figure. Delta's program rules say Award Travel is subject to availability and that award seats may be limited and not available on all Delta Connection or airline partner-operated flights. [2] Marriott's rules say the programme may change redemption levels and award availability with or without notice, even where such changes affect the value of points already accumulated. [4]
Cash on top of the award. Delta requires immediate payment of applicable taxes and fees when an award ticket is issued, and its published figures include the $5.60 per one-way September 11th Security Fee, at least $11.20 in U.S. government taxes and fees on a domestic itinerary, and up to $600 of foreign government taxes and fees and carrier-imposed fees on an international itinerary. [2] Delta also notes that some airline partners charge a fee for award redemptions flown on their aircraft, collected at booking. [2] When an American award trip is cancelled, American says it refunds all taxes and fees in full except sale-imposed nonrefundable taxes, taxes the airline must pay whether or not you travel, and charges on a trip that has already started, and it warns that some countries apply their own refund rules. [1]
A cash co-payment, if you use one. American's cash and miles option can be booked only on aa.com or in the American app, and the member needs a valid U.S. home address saved in the AAdvantage profile and at least 500 AAdvantage miles. [1] It covers flights marketed and operated by American within the contiguous 48 states and is excluded on Basic Economy fares, flights to, from or within Alaska or Hawaii, international flights, multi-city bookings, trips that include another airline, reservations that mix cabins, AAdvantage Business bookings and TripLink bookings. [1] Delta's Miles + Cash is a different product: it is offered on select round-trip flights during booking, its cash portion is nonrefundable, and a refund of the mileage portion bought with cash comes back as miles, with vouchers, eCredit, gift cards and unused tickets unusable on such an itinerary. [2]
The balance you are drawing down. None of these programmes treat a balance as your property: Delta says miles are not the property of any member and may not be sold or transferred except as its rules allow, [2] Hilton says accrued points and certificates do not constitute members' property and are not transferable except as provided, [3] and Marriott says points have no cash value and may not be sold, bartered or transferred except as its rules permit. [4] If a balance lapses, American lets members reactivate expired miles for a fee within 24 months of expiry in a single transaction capped at 500,000 miles, with unreactivated miles from the same expiry date forfeited, and the reactivated miles post as a bonus that does not count towards AAdvantage status or Million Miler status. [1] Hilton points are subject to forfeiture after 24 consecutive months without a qualifying stay, an earning transaction through Hilton or a third party including a co-branded card, a points purchase or a donation, and forfeited points cannot be retrieved. [3] Marriott requires Qualifying Activity at least once every 24 months, counts earning, redeeming, purchasing or converting, and explicitly does not count gifting, transferring or receiving points from another member. [4] Delta's Mileage Expiration policy says miles do not expire, but Delta reserves the right to close an account and remove all miles in it in listed circumstances, including fraud. [2]
Sizing the flight and hotel lines
American says award travel can be booked to more than 1,000 destinations on aa.com and in the American app, that partner airline flights appear in award search results, and that results can be filtered by airline on the "Choose flights" screen. [1] Delta limits an award itinerary to two connections per origin and destination for domestic travel and three for international travel. [2]
On the hotel side, Hilton's fifth-night benefit applies only to five consecutive nights within the same all-points Standard Room Reward Stay at the same property, up to 20 nights, is confirmed at booking, is lost if the free night is declined, the reservation is cancelled or check-out happens first, and does not apply to paid stays or Points & Money Rewards stays; a Standard Room is defined by each hotel and remains subject to availability. [3] Neither hotel document publishes a points price for a specific night, so only the fifth-night benefit and the availability conditions can be costed in advance. [3] [4]
Earning rates, by contrast, are published and set the pace at which a paid stay feeds the next budget. Hilton members earn ten Base Points per U.S. dollar of Eligible Spend at most brands, five at Homewood Suites, Home2 Suites, Spark, Tru, Apartment Collection and YOTEL, and three plus 3,000 bonus points for every ten nights completed in the same stay at LivSmart Studios, while Home2 Suites hotels in China pay ten. [3] Marriott members earn ten base Points per U.S. dollar on Qualifying Charges at most brands, five at Apartments by Marriott Bonvoy, City Express, Element, Four Points Flex, Homes & Villas, Marriott Executive Apartments, Protea, Residence Inn and TownePlace Suites, and four at StudioRes, and at Marriott Executive Apartments they earn only on Qualifying Rates. [4] Hilton adds that Reward Stays count as Stays and nights towards Elite Tier Status qualification, status gifting and milestone bonuses. [3]
Pricing in flexibility
American states that there are no change fees for award tickets, though the fare difference may be payable, that miles are reinstated to the original AAdvantage account, and that up to 72 hours should be allowed for the reinstatement to process. [1] A member who no longer wants to travel can cancel on aa.com and have miles reinstated and eligible taxes and fees refunded at no charge up to one year from the date the ticket was purchased, provided the cancellation happens before the first flight departs. [1]
Delta's rule depends on where the journey starts. For travel originating in the United States and Canada, members may change origin, destination, routing, date and time, or cancel an award ticket without a redeposit or change fee, except on Delta Basic experience fares, where a change fee applies if changes are permitted; for some travel originating outside the United States and Canada, restrictions vary and a ticket may be non-cancelable or changeable for a fee, with any mileage difference, taxes and fees applying to a change. [2] Once travel has begun, the award counts as used and miles are not credited back for the unused portion, and name changes are not permitted once a Delta award ticket has been issued. [2]
Exceptions and limits
- Delta award tickets for travel within or originating in China, Russia, Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, Brazil and any country in Africa require 72-hour advance purchase, and travel inside that window must be ticketed at the airport, with no exceptions. [2]
- American's cash and miles bookings are not eligible for voluntary changes or exchanges; a member who wants to change one must cancel it and make a new reservation. [1]
- American asks members to contact Reservations rather than the website to reinstate miles on a trip that has already started, involves partner airlines, or was changed because of an uncontrollable event. [1]
- American takes missing-mile requests online within 12 months of the flight date and asks for up to 10 days on American flights and up to 30 days on partner flights; missing non-airline partner miles are handled by the partner directly. [1]
- Delta prices award travel for children and infants on the same terms and conditions as for adults. [2]
Sources
Sources accessed on 18 October 2026. The four documents cover AAdvantage, SkyMiles, Hilton Honors and Marriott Bonvoy only; the Hilton terms shown carry an effective date of 15 July 2026 and the Marriott rules are marked as updated October 2026. [3] [4]
- American Airlines: Using miles for travel, checked 18 October 2026
- Delta SkyMiles program rules, checked 18 October 2026
- Hilton Honors terms and conditions, checked 18 October 2026
- Marriott Bonvoy loyalty program terms and conditions, checked 18 October 2026