Economics depends on the spend numbers. I personally find cashback more easy :) So groceries has 6% (max 6k) and gas has 3% ( don't know the cap but lets say 6k) and dining will have 1% cashback. Now you can calculate how much you are going to save. Similarly for points, multiply your spend numbers from the points multipler you will get through gold like 4*dining spend etc etc. You have the total points. Now value depends on how you chose to use those points but average of all categories will be around 1 cent like amex gift cards, amazon buys, trnasfers to otger partners with maximum on transfer to other partners which would be around 1.9 cents.