Reading Recommendation Cards

Overview

When Best Path analyzes a trip, it presents results as recommendation cards — each one representing a different way to book. Here's how to read them so you can make a fast, informed decision.

Card Anatomy

Each recommendation card shows four things:

• Strategy label — A short description like "Transfer Amex to ANA," "Cash fare + earn miles," or "Burn United miles direct." This tells you what the path is at a glance.
• Value score — Cents per point (cpp) for award redemptions, or effective savings compared to retail cash price. Higher is better. Anything above 1.5 cpp is solid; above 2.0 cpp is a sweet spot.
• Confidence level — How certain Best Path is about this recommendation. High confidence means availability is confirmed and pricing is stable. Medium means availability was recently checked but could change. Low means it's based on historical patterns and needs verification.
• Reasoning breakdown — A plain-language explanation of why this path scored the way it did. It flags tradeoffs: "Great value per point, but uses 80% of your United balance" or "Cash fare is $40 more but earns 3,200 qualifying miles toward Gold."

Action Steps

Below the reasoning, each card shows what to do: which site to book on, what transfers to initiate, and any time-sensitive factors (like a transfer bonus expiring in 3 days).

Key Details

• Cards are ranked by overall value, but you can re-sort by cost, points spent, or confidence.
• Tap any card to expand the full reasoning and see alternatives.

Tips

1. Don't always pick the highest value score. Factor in confidence and whether you can afford to spend those points.
2. Check the reasoning for hidden tradeoffs — a "best value" path that drains your balance might not actually be best for you.