By Bryce Casson, Founder · Cardocrat · Updated June 2026
The short answer: Airlines run online mileage malls and catalogs where you can spend miles on gift cards, magazines, electronics, and merchandise, almost always at well under a cent per mile. Because airline miles are worth more than a cent when redeemed for flights, especially premium cabins, spending them on merchandise is an even worse deal than doing the same with bank points. Keep miles for flights.
How airline mileage malls work
Most major airlines let you redeem miles for things other than flights: gift cards, magazine subscriptions, electronics, hotel and experience bookings, even charity, through a mileage mall or rewards catalog. The airline sets the price, and it is consistently terrible, often half a cent per mile or less. A magazine that costs a few dollars can run thousands of miles, an implied value a fraction of what the miles are worth in the air.
Why miles are the worst currency to waste this way
Airline miles are not flexible cash, they are a specialized currency whose value comes almost entirely from flights, where a good redemption returns two to five cents or more per mile in business or first class. Spending them on a gift card at half a cent is therefore even more wasteful than cashing out bank points, because you are giving up a higher ceiling. If you want gift cards or merchandise, buy them with a cash-back card and keep the miles for what they do best. See what points are worth.
What to do instead
Treat airline miles as flight currency, full stop. If you have a small, orphaned mileage balance that will never reach a flight award and is about to expire, the mall can beat losing it outright, but that is the only case. Otherwise, pool or top up toward a flight redemption, and pay for everyday goods with a rewards card. The mileage mall exists to clear the airline cheap liabilities, not to give you value. See the bank-points version and worst redemptions.
Frequently asked questions
Can you redeem airline miles for merchandise?
Yes, most airlines offer a mileage mall or catalog for gift cards, magazines, electronics, and other merchandise, but the value is poor, usually well under a cent per mile, far below what the miles are worth redeemed for flights.
How much are airline miles worth for merchandise?
Often half a cent per mile or less, the rate the airline sets. Since miles are typically worth two to five cents redeemed for premium flights, merchandise is one of the worst possible uses.
Why is spending miles on merchandise worse than bank points?
Because airline miles draw nearly all their value from flights, where the ceiling is high, while bank points are more flexible. Spending miles on a half-cent gift card forfeits a larger potential value than doing the same with cash-back points.
When is the airline mileage mall ever worth it?
Only when you have a small mileage balance that will never reach a flight award and is about to expire. Redeeming it for a gift card then beats losing it, but in every other case miles belong on flights.
Bryce Casson, Founder of Cardocrat. Every card is ranked by what it actually returns, with all points valued at a flat 1 cent and offers verified against issuer sources. About the author.
