MyPoints rewards get a little less juicy

As I mentioned back in January, I've been saving the points in my MyPoints account for the reward that is by far the best deal: the $75 travel certificate from United Airlines, which works out to be 1.3 cents per point.

However, now that I'm finally closing in on this goal, that award is no longer listed on the site.

*&#^%$#*@

Guess I'll have to figure out something else to spend my 4475 points on. I could wait til I have 5000 points and trade them in for 2500 United Mileage Plus miles, but it's such a pain in the neck redeeming travel awards that I'd rather focus on cash. And besides, I like American Airlines miles better because I can trade them for cash through Upromise.

But the only other reward that makes sense for me is a Barnes and Noble gift card, at 3250 points for $25, or 7 tenths of a penny per point.

Let's see. If I figure a round trip ticket on United will cost at least $200, and you need 25,000 mileage plus miles to get a ticket, then each mile is worth 8 tenths of a penny.

So the United Miles are worth a whole tenth of a penny more per point than the Barnes and Noble gift card.

Guess that's what I'll have to do then. Somehow it doesn't make me too inspired to keep clicking on all those 5-point-per-click MyPoints emails.