Credit card rewards face ‘shrinkflation'—but there are still ‘plenty of sweet spots,' says points expert

Amid rising prices, consumer advocates have sounded the alarm on so-called — the phenomenon in which retailers reduce the size of their products, but sell them for the same price.

The tactic isn't just hitting consumers at the grocery store. If you have a cache of credit card rewards, you may have noticed that you're getting less bang for your buck recently.

Earlier this year, World of Hyatt , making it more expensive to book 118 of its properties on points. In March, Southwest Airlines' rewards program you get per dollar on certain fares. And as of late last year, British Airways had bumped up the points needed to book partner flights on American and Alaska Airlines by .

In the credit card industry, these moves are known as "devaluations" — and they're getting more and more common, says Madison Blancaflor, a managing editor at The Points Guy.

"We see devaluations day after day across the board — airlines and hotels," she says. "It's a trend that we're noticing across the industry."

That isn't to say credit card rewards programs aren't still a good deal. If you pay off your balance every month, a rewards card can be a great way to earn benefits from spending you'd be doing anyway. But given that the value of your points may decline, it behooves you to be savvy about wringing .

"There are still plenty of sweet spots, lots of great deals that you can find, if you're strategic," Blancaflor says.

Here are her three best tips for making the most of your rewards.

1. Don't hoard points

Part of the fun of earning rewards points is being able to redeem them guilt-free for travel you may not have otherwise been able to justify spending on. So go ahead and save for that dream destination or first-class seat, Blancaflor says — just don't overdo it.

"Do not hoard your points," she says. "You should not be using your points as a long-term investment."

The reasoning is simple. Based on inflation alone, the value of your points declines over time as prices rise. Plus, by waiting you run the risk that a rewards program could drastically increase how many points you need to redeem the same rewards.

"If you see a great redemption and have the points or miles to book it, do it," Blancaflor says. "Because there's no guarantee that the same redemption will be there tomorrow — and certainly not in years to come."

2. Be flexible

In years past, Blancaflor says, airlines had more rigid rewards systems in which flights from one region to another could be redeemed for a fixed number of points. A certain number of points would allow you to fly to Europe from the East Coast, for example, regardless of the time of year.

"That's no longer the case," she says. "Everyone is using algorithms and predictive pricing models. On a day-to-day basis, the price of a flight can change."

In other words, there's no telling exactly how many points you'll need for your next trip. To get the best bang for your buck, you'll have to take a flexible approach to booking travel — "your dates, locations and routes," Blancaflor says.

She recommends using tools such as to track cash airfares over dates and destinations you may be interested in and to find estimates for booking with points.

Click around the calendar when booking hotels, too, she says: "Switching up one day of your stay can make a big impact."

In general, it pays to keep your options open and let the deals come to you. That may mean switching destinations when flights look cheap, and therefore require fewer points to book. Blancaflor says she recently did just that when she scrapped a planned vacation in Spain in favor of a cheaper trip to France.

Or keep an eye out for transfer deals. Many rewards programs will offer you a multiplier for moving your points over from another card. "We've seen 100% transfer bonuses," Blancaflor says. "That one move doubles the value of your points."

3. Pick the right card

Travel credit cards tend to come in two varieties: general purpose miles or points cards, and those that are branded to a particular airline or hotel chain.

To decrease the impact of devaluations, it's smart to rack up at least some of your points on the former type of card, Blancaflor says.

"We really recommend for people to have at least one card that earns a flexible currency in their wallet," she says. "Because then, if [a particular airline] devalues, you have a bunch of other transfer partners as options, rather than being beholden to one specific currency."

For frequent travelers with favorite hotels or airlines, however, putting some spending on a co-branded credit card can still make sense.

"Whereas previously, you had to be loyal to an airline to get certain perks, now we're seeing that if you're spending a certain amount on these co-branded cards, you can basically buy your way to elite status," Blancaflor says.

That could qualify you for perks such as seat upgrades, early boarding and free checked bags, which could be highly valuable to frequent travelers, but not everyone, says Blancaflor.

"If you're a casual traveler, if you're booking one to two vacations a year, that's probably not the route you want to go," she says.

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