About Points Compass
Points Compass is an iPhone app for people who earn credit card and loyalty points — many of them through a small business — and want to turn those points into a real trip with their family.
Most rewards tools answer the question "How many points do I have?" Points Compass answers a different one: "When can I actually book this trip, and what does waiting cost me?"
Why we built it
Points and miles feel like savings, but they behave more like a depreciating asset. Two things tend to happen while a balance sits unused:
- Each point can lose value. Programs change award charts, transfer ratios and redemption rules. In 2026 alone, NerdWallet reported that Marriott Bonvoy points fell from an estimated 0.8 to 0.7 cents each after award prices rose at roughly 95% of Marriott properties, and Chase moved several cards, including the Ink Business Preferred®, to a 4:3 transfer ratio to World of Hyatt.
- The trip can get more expensive in points. Award prices tend to drift upward over time, especially in programs that use dynamic pricing.
For a busy business owner who puts real spending on a business card, those small shifts add up. Points Compass puts a dollar figure on them so you can decide — with your own numbers — whether to book now, keep earning, or simply pay cash.
What the app does
You type in what you hold and describe a trip. Points Compass then works out:
- Your booking month. The app plots the points you are projected to hold against the points the trip is projected to cost. Where the two lines meet is the earliest month you could book.
- The cost of waiting. The gap before that month is priced in dollars and split into two parts: award inflation and devaluation.
- What each currency is shedding. An estimate, in dollars per month, of how each balance you hold is drifting.
- Expiry cliffs. Where hard expiration dates sit, the last safe date to reset each one, and what missing it would cost.
- Cash versus points. Whether this particular redemption beats simply paying cash, using assumptions you control.
- Your real earning rate, derived from your own balance updates rather than a number you guess.
- A decision log, graded later against what actually happened — including the times the app was wrong.
Every figure comes with a "How this was worked out" view that shows the arithmetic and lets you edit each assumption. There is no score and no number the app won't explain.
How it's different
No connections. There is no airline login, hotel login or bank connection. The app is not connected to any of them and never asks. You enter balances by hand. It takes a minute longer, and in exchange your financial accounts stay yours.
Honest in both directions. Sometimes the right answer is to keep waiting — for example, when a currency has held its value or an award price has stayed flat. Sometimes the right answer is to pay cash. Points Compass says either one.
Estimates, clearly labeled. Every cents-per-point, drift and award-inflation figure in the app is an estimate you can change, not a live data feed. Published valuations from sources such as The Points Guy and NerdWallet can differ meaningfully from each other, and from what you will personally get. We would rather show you the range than pretend there is one right number.
Who it's for
Points Compass is built for thoughtful travelers, and especially for small-business owners who:
- earn points on a business card and a personal card, sometimes across several programs;
- are saving toward a specific family trip rather than collecting points for their own sake;
- don't want to hand banking credentials to another app; and
- want to see the math before moving points they can't move back.
Plans
- Free: one complete trip projection, including the booking month, waiting cost, cash-versus-points verdict and fully editable assumptions. The free plan is not a demo.
- Points Compass Pro: $4.99 per month or $39.99 per year, with a 7-day free trial for eligible accounts. Pro adds unlimited trips compared side by side, burn order with the reason for each placement, transfer paths, full month-by-month history, the complete decision log, and a plain-English second opinion written from your own numbers.
Subscriptions are billed through your Apple ID and renew automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. You can manage or cancel them anytime in your App Store account settings.
What we don't do
Points Compass is an educational planning tool. It opens no account and moves no money. Always confirm award pricing, availability and transfer rules directly with the program before you book or transfer.
Points Compass may earn compensation from some partner links. This never changes how we value your points. Not financial advice. See our Advertiser Disclosure.
Our educational articles, in the Learn section, follow the same rules: point values are presented as dated estimates with sources, and we never promise approvals, bonuses or savings.
Get in touch
Questions, corrections or feedback: support@PointsCompass.app
Points Compass is not a financial advisor, and nothing on this site or in the app is financial, tax or legal advice. Point and mile values are estimates that change over time.
Sources: NerdWallet, "How Much Are Travel Points and Miles Worth in 2026?" (updated Sept. 14, 2026); NerdWallet, "What's the Value of Chase Ultimate Rewards Points?" (updated Sept. 22, 2026).