Cents per Mile (CPM)
Last updated April 23, 2025
Cents per Mile (CPM), also stylized as ¢/Mile, is a measure of the redemption value you are getting for every Rove Mile you are spending on a booking. Generally speaking, a higher CPM means you are getting a better deal.
How is it calculated?
The calculation behind the CPM of any given deal is relatively straightforward.
Let's use an example: a ticket from New York (LGA) to Miami (MIA).
- On Rove Miles, this flight is available on some dates via direct booking for 4,000 Rove Miles inclusive of all fees and taxes.
- If you were to book the flight in cash directly with the airline (or through sites found on Google Flights), the retail price is $54.
- To calculate the CPM, we multiply the retail price by 100 (to go from dollars to cents), then divide by the number of miles needed to redeem the flight.
- In this case, the CPM would be about 1.35, meaning this redemption made your Rove Miles worth 1.35 cents each (35% higher than standard redemption value on credit card travel portals). Deals above 1 CPM are generally considered above average, with this specific deal being slightly above average, and deals that surpass 2 or even 3 CPM as exceptional value.
- Note that in some cases (partner bookings), taxes and fees on a mile redemption booking need to be paid with cash. In these cases, we subtract the fees and taxes from the original cash price before dividing to compute the CPM. This is done as an adjustment to account for the cash fees before assessing the value of the deal.
Note that the pricing used in this example is based on a real flight at the time of writing this article. However, flight prices and availability vary, and this example is purely for illustrative purposes.
Is CPM a good measure?
Yes, but not always. CPM is a holistic way of viewing how good a deal is in miles compared to if you were to have booked it in cash. Overall, it's a great metric to quickly assess how good of a deal you're getting with your redemption.
However, it does not take into account certain factors, such as if you were willing to have even paid that much for the cash ticket in the first case. For example, a first class ticket may have a significantly higher CPM than a business class ticket on the same flight, but that might just be because the airline priced their first class ticket at a disproportionately higher price than a business class ticket. To most people, paying the cash price for the first class ticket (which is what CPM compares the miles price to) was never a consideration in the first place.
Another reason CPM is not always the only thing to consider is that there may be other equivalent flights that are the same in miles, but also lower in CPM, just because the cash price happened to be lower. For example, say there is an equally priced in miles Delta flight and an Air France flight from New York to Paris, running on the same day at similar times. To most people, the product is functionally the same (or similar). However, due to availability or other reasons, the Delta flight might be priced in cash significantly more than the Air France flight on that given day. This would artificially boost the CPM on that flight, even though the real "value" you would get out of flying either flight is similar.
Conclusion
Cents per Mile (CPM) serves as a useful benchmark to quickly evaluate the redemption value you're receiving when using Rove Miles for travel bookings. While a higher CPM typically indicates better value, it's crucial to recognize the metric's limitations. CPM doesn't reflect your personal willingness to pay cash prices, nor does it account for comparable alternatives available at lower costs. Therefore, while CPM is valuable for initial assessments, travelers should also consider personal preferences, flight availability, convenience, and overall travel experience when determining the true value of a redemption.