8 Microsoft Copilot prompts that make you a better travel hacker.

Copilot doesn't take Points or Cash as a connector here. Use the prompts as they are, and check ratios and award prices on pointsorcash.app.

• For a work trip, start with the work-trip prompt: who pays changes the answer.
• Ask it to cite where each ratio comes from, and the date.
• Paste your company's travel policy text and ask what it says about points and award tickets.

1. Points or cash, decided

   CopyI'm looking at [route] in [cabin] on [date]. Cash is [price]. The award is [miles] [program] miles plus [taxes and fees]. Work out cents per point after the fees and after what the cash ticket would earn me, compare it with 1 to 1.5 cents as a normal good redemption, and tell me in one line: use points or pay cash.

   It forces the maths most people skip: fees come off the cash price, and a cash ticket earns miles you give up by redeeming.

2. Find the cheapest transfer path

   CopyI hold [balances, e.g. 120k Amex Membership Rewards, 40k Chase Ultimate Rewards]. My cards are issued in [country]. I want [the award, e.g. business class Brussels to New York]. List every way my points can reach a program that prices it, with the transfer ratio for my card's country, how many bank points each path costs, and which is cheapest.

   Transfer ratios differ by the card's country (a Belgian Amex is 2:1 to Flying Blue, a US one 1:1), so the issuing country changes the answer.

3. Shortlist the programs that price your route well

   CopyI'm flying from [home region] to [destination region] in [cabin], one way. Which loyalty programs usually price this well on saver awards, roughly how many miles each, and which ones add high fuel surcharges I should avoid?

   Asking for surcharges too stops the classic trap: a cheap-looking miles price with hundreds in fees on top.

4. The check before you move your points

   CopyBefore I transfer [points] to [program] for [flight and date], give me a short checklist: how to confirm the seat is really bookable, the taxes I'll pay, how long the transfer takes, whether it can be undone, and what to do if the seat disappears.

   Transfers are one way. Checking the seat first is the one habit that saves people from stranded miles.

5. Plan your lounges for the whole trip

   CopyMy trip is [airports in order], flying [airline and cabin], with [cards and airline status]. For each airport, list the lounges I can use, how I get in (ticket, status, card or Priority Pass), guest rules, and any that often turn Priority Pass members away.

   Lounge access depends on the ticket, the status and the card together, and card benefits change by issuing country.

6. Value what paying cash earns you

   CopyIf I pay [price] cash with [card], what do I earn back in points, miles or cash back, what is that worth at a conservative 1 cent a point, and does it change whether I should use points instead?

   Cash back and card points are part of the cash option. Leaving them out makes points look better than they are.

7. Rescue miles before they expire

   CopyHere are my balances and the last time each one earned or spent: [list]. Which expire soonest, what is the cheapest way to keep each one alive, and is any balance worth topping up for an award I would actually take?

   Most miles survive with one small earn or spend. It's cheaper to keep a balance than to rebuild it.

8. A work trip: should you use your own points?

   CopyThis trip is for work and [my company pays the fare / I run my own company]. Should I use my own points? What do I earn on the cash ticket, and what would the company earn if it joined [bluebiz / PartnerPlusBenefit / On Business]?

   When the company pays, the cash fare costs you nothing: keep your points and earn on the ticket. Company programs add a second earn on the same flight.