37 Compelling Credit Card Reward Redemption Statistics

It’s one thing to earn credit card rewards and another to redeem them. Americans who let card rewards go unused would kick themselves twice for not cashing in if they considered where rewards come from.

Card companies implement rewards programs to beat the competition. The money comes from the interest and fees consumers pay to use the cards. It’s a fair deal when people use cards wisely and take what’s coming to them.

They shoot themselves in the foot when they don’t. Here are some compelling statistics to get you thinking about consumer decision-making in the credit card rewards marketplace.

1. Nearly a quarter (23%) of consumers said they did not redeem card rewards they had coming to them in the past year. But most (51%) said they were waiting for a specific opportunity to use them.¹

2. Inflation is a compelling reason to use card rewards. Nearly half (49%) of rewards cardholders claimed to use rewards to offset everyday purchase costs.²

3. Almost all respondents (87%) said they had a rewards card. But 69% of those had unused cash back rewards, points, or miles.³

4. The cost of rewards as a share of total credit card transaction volume increased 25% from 2015 through 2021.⁴

5. Credit card interchange fees are a source of revenue to pay for rewards. A 2023 study found that when rewards increase, so do fees.⁵

6. Credit card rewards redistributed about $15.1 billion in annual rewards value from poorer to more affluent people in 2022.⁶ A 2023 New York Times article characterized it as “essentially a tax on less affluent consumers.”⁴

7. More than half (55%) of Americans reported that rewards encouraged them to use their cards most frequently. Convenience (40%) and credit limit (37%) were other leading factors.⁷

8. Americans don’t compare rewards card deals very often. Only 48% shop for a new card every three years or less.⁸

9. The six biggest U.S. credit card issuers (JPMorgan Chase, American Express, Citi, Capital One, Bank of America, and Discover) spent $67.9 billion in 2022 to pay reward redemptions and make partner payments, up 23.7% year over year.⁹

10. More than three-quarters (81%) of American consumers consider earning travel rewards important.¹⁰

11. Almost a quarter (23%) of rewards cardholders didn’t redeem any of their rewards in the past year.¹¹

12. Low-income households are less likely to redeem card rewards. About one-third (31%) of households with less than $50,000 in income left rewards unused in the past year. But only 22% of those with incomes between $50,000 and $79,999 and 20% of households with incomes between $80,000 and $99,999 left money on the table. And only 12% of those with incomes of $100,000 or higher left rewards unused.¹

13. Nearly two-thirds (63%) of baby boomers reported being influenced by a rewards offer to apply for a card. That figure was 56% for Gen Xers, 52% for millennials, and 40% for Gen Z members.⁷

14. Cardholders with the highest credit scores benefit the most from rewards programs. Those in the superprime category earned $9.50 on average in rewards, while paying $7.10 less interest than peers using classic cards. In contrast, subprime cardholders earned $1.80 while paying $6.40 more in interest.⁶

15. Most rewards cardholders (53%) said they shopped around before applying for a card. Those who compared offers were slightly less likely to have unused rewards (66%) than those who didn’t (73%).³

16. Among the 23% of consumers who reported that they didn’t cash in their rewards in the past year, 51% said they were waiting to use them. That left a near majority who planned to leave rewards on the table permanently, including 23% who considered them too low in value, 11% who didn’t know how to redeem them, 9% who considered rewards programs too confusing, and 9% who regarded themselves as too busy to bother.¹

17. Only 39% of cardholders spend all the value on their rewards cards. Common reasons for not redeeming credit card rewards include inadvertently letting them expire and spending them on trips where plans change. But many also prefer to save rewards.⁸

18. Nearly 70% of cardholders reported having unused rewards. Of those, 49% had unused cash back in their account, 13% had unused airline miles, and 11% had unused fuel points. Nearly a third (31%) had saved at least $100.³

19. Nearly three-quarters (73%) of Americans claimed rewards were the top consideration when opening a new credit card. Other factors included interest rates (47%), security and fraud protection (44%), user experience (31%), existing relationships with issuers (22%), and status (19%).⁷

20. A small, yet significant number (15%) of rewards cardholders reported that some rewards expired before they could use them.³

21. Issuers could do a better job of explaining how their rewards programs work. More than 1 in 10 cardholders (14%) reported difficulty understanding how to earn and spend rewards.²

22. Most people consider young consumers less financially responsible than older ones. But baby boomers (28%) and Gen Xers (28%) were less likely to have used card rewards than millennials (15%) and Gen Z members (18%).¹

23. Buyer’s remorse is a factor in spending credit card rewards, with 14% of cardholders reporting they regretted redeeming rewards on unnecessary purchases.³

24. Counterintuitively, Gen Zers (17%) were most likely to redeem rewards at least once a month. Millennials (11%), Gen Xers (9%), and baby boomers (9%) trailed.³

25. More than half (55%) of respondents preferred cash back and gift card rewards over other perks. Only 17% earned $300 or more.¹

26. Among cardholders who redeemed rewards in the past year, 71% redeemed cash back, 21% redeemed points or gift cards, 12% earned a free flight, and 12% earned a free hotel stay.³

27. More than three-quarters (77%) of American consumers said they redeemed travel rewards within a year after earning them.¹⁰

28. Travel redemptions such as free or discounted hotel stays and flights are less popular redemption options than cash back and gift cards, with only 16% choosing a free hotel stay and 13% a free flight.¹

29. Brand loyalty was the lowest consideration (17%) among Americans reporting on their card preferences and usage.⁷

30. Nearly a quarter (22%) of rewards cardholders redeemed $300 or more in cash back or gift cards over the past year of usage.¹¹

31. Gen Zers (28%) and millennials (26%) were most likely to choose a free hotel stay as a reward. Gen Xers (12%) and baby boomers (7%) were less likely to do so.¹

32. Nearly three-quarters (73%) of American consumers track the points they earn on travel reward credit and charge cards.¹⁰

33. Older consumers are less likely to redeem credit card rewards. Among the more than 39 million Americans who failed to take all that was coming to them in 2023, only 15% were of the Millennial generation, and 18% were of Gen Z age. But 28% of Gen X members and baby boomers were in that category.⁸

34. About a quarter (23%) of households with annual earnings above $100,000 reported saving airline miles. Only 4% with less than $35,000 in yearly income had airline miles.³

35. Large card issuers are setting aside more and more revenue to cover the costs of rewards they expect customers to redeem in the future. What some issuers call “credit card rewards liabilities” have grown by 52.5% ($11.4 billion) since 2019.⁹

36. More women than men (27% versus 20%) said they did not use their card rewards in the past year.¹

37. Among nearly half (49%) of cardholders who hadn’t redeemed all the cash back available to them, 11% were sitting on at least $200.³

Card companies invest heavily in rewards. Consumers leave a lot on the table after earning them. Knowledge is power: It’s only fitting for cardholders to reap the benefit of rewards when the interest and fees they pay help fund them.

Counterintuitively, those most financially well-off gain the most from rewards. These reward redemption statistics reveal compelling demographic tendencies and a pattern of unrealized consumer financial potential.

¹ https://www.creditcards.com/statistics/unused-credit-card-rewards-poll
² https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220802005244/en/New-Study-Americans-Lean-Into-Credit-Card-Rewards-to-Offset-Rising-Costs-Including-Travel
³ https://www.lendingtree.com/credit-cards/study/unused-rewards
⁴  https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/04/opinion/credit-card-rewards-points-poor-interchange-fees.html
⁵ https://luluywang.github.io/PaperRepository/payment_jmp.pdf
⁶ https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/feds/files/2023007pap.pdf
⁷ https://www.cuinsight.com/press-release/americans-commonly-choose-top-of-wallet-credit-cards-based-on-loyalty-and-rewards-according-to-cora-group-survey/
⁸ https://bankbonus.com/statistics/credit-card-statistics
⁹ https://www.lendingtree.com/credit-cards/study/reward-payments
¹⁰ https://www.airlines.org/news-update/new-polling-shows-consumers-highly-value-airline-credit-card-points
¹¹ https://www.bankrate.com/credit-cards/news/credit-card-rewards-survey