Case study · City breakWith proof
Plovdiv and Sofia, August 2025
2 flights, 1 night in 1 hotel, 7 days.
Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Short answerPlovdiv and Sofia in August 2025: 2 flights and 1 hotel night for $148 paid, against a documented comparison value of $975. We used 39,000 points and miles, 2.1¢ per point on average. Anything paid in cash appears without a comparison value. The comparison value is not money paid out.
Key figures
$148 paid, $975 documented comparison value. The 85% difference came from 39,000 points and miles.
Paid
$148
flights, hotels and transfers
Comparison value
$975
documented cash value
Difference
85%
$827 documented
Points and miles
39,000
2.1¢ per point
At a glance
- Booking classes
- Economy (2)
- Flight numbers
- Outbound flight Airport → Sofia
- Return flight Sofia → Airport
- Airports
- Sofia (SOF)
- Hotels
- Hyatt Regency Sofia, Sofia (1 night)
Day by day
10 August 2025
AirportSofia SOFEconomy
- Paid
- $48
- Value
- $291
- points
- 16,000
- per point
- 1.5¢
15 August 2025
Hyatt Regency Sofia
- Paid
- $0
- Value
- $248
- points
- 8,000
- per point
- 3.1¢
16 August 2025
Sofia SOFAirportEconomy
- Paid
- $100
- Value
- $436
- points
- 15,000
- per point
- 2.2¢
The whole trip
| Category | Paid | Comparison value | Difference | Points and miles |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flights (2) | $148 | $727 | $579 80% | 31,000 |
| Hotels (1 stay, 1 night) | $0 | $248 | $248 100% | 8,000 |
| Total (3 bookings) | $148 | $975 | $827 85% | 39,000 |
Proof
Excerpts from the booking confirmations, personal data and booking codes made unreadable.
4 records · swipe or use the arrows, click to enlarge4 records · swipe, tap to enlarge
Editorial noteThis case study is our own trip analysis and not tax, legal or financial advice. Award prices, availability and cash prices change all the time.
Terms in this trip
- Award ticket: An award ticket is a flight paid for with miles or points instead of cash; taxes, fees and surcharges almost always still have to be paid in money.
- Award availability: Award availability is the number of seats an airline releases on a given flight for redemption with miles, which is usually far smaller than the number of seats still on sale.
- Cents per point: Cents per point is the measure of a redemption's value: the cash price avoided, minus any co-payment, divided by the number of points spent.
- Hotel award category: A hotel award category is the price tier a loyalty programme assigns to a property, from which the points price per night follows.
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