Skypesos are barely worth 1cpp, the least valuable of
all airline award currencies ime.
Not exact matches
Avios are the shared mileage
currency of British Airways and Iberian
Airlines — but you can use them for far more than travel on these two European carriers, and you can take advantage of their distance
award chart for short flights.
In addition, you're insulated from any changes to
award rules in a way you're not if you focus heavily on just one
airline or hotel program's
currency.
However, it's more common for
airlines to devalue their
currencies — most often by increasing the amount of miles needed for
award flights.
With transfer options like JAL, Alaska
Airlines, Etihad and even American
Airlines Starpoints is hugely powerful transferable
currency for travelers looking to book
airline awards.
And some
airlines like Southwest and Jet Blue offer
awards based on
currency so their
award values are not going to fluctuate much, although appreciable fluctuations still do occur.
Hawaiian
Airlines also isn't a member of any alliance, but it does have a partnership agreement with American, which means you can book
award seats using AAdvantage
currency.
Although I don't fly United very often (mostly because when I do I deal with nasty / clueless employees or my travel reservations simply aren't honored), I rank their frequent flyer miles as the most valuable mileage
currency out there thanks to low fees on
award tickets, the ability to book one - way
awards and great
airline partners in Star Alliance.
Both loyalty
currencies cost around the same in the promotions but with MileagePlus miles you can avoid paying fuel surcharges when using them on United and a number of other
airlines and, on top of that, you can purchase long - haul premium cabin
awards on United for fewer miles than you can on British Airways.
Airberlin is a member of the oneworld alliance so
awards on the
airline can be booked using American
Airlines AAdvantage Miles as well as Avios and all the other oneworld
currencies.
Usually the best value you can get from these points is to, as is usually the case with all transferable reward
currencies, transfer them into
airline programs for
award flights.
Firstly I'll look to use my AAdvantage miles on
airlines like JAL and Cathay Pacific but, if those don't turn up what I'm looking for, I'll also delve in to my transferable currencies and see if I can find awards on the likes of Korean Air or Singapore A
airlines like JAL and Cathay Pacific but, if those don't turn up what I'm looking for, I'll also delve in to my transferable
currencies and see if I can find
awards on the likes of Korean Air or Singapore
AirlinesAirlines.
Next to Alaska
Airlines, they're one the more flexible mileage
currencies available, and
award space is still relatively easy to find compared to, say, American
Airlines — although this is highly route dependent.
Avios are the shared mileage
currency of British Airways and Iberian
Airlines — but you can use them for far more than travel on these two European carriers, and you can take advantage of their distance
award chart for short flights.
The thing that people often forget however, is that the price of an
award ticket is determined by the
currency you're spending, not the
airline you're flying.
Starpoints are great because 1) Has the most
airline partners of any flexible
currency by far at a 1:1.25 ratio, 2) Partners with Alaska, which has the best
award chart (especially for flying on Cathay / JAL F), 3) Great Nights & Flights redemption options.
Flexible points
currencies like Chase Ultimate Rewards offer more protection against
airline and hotel
award program changes.
Hoarding miles, however, is never recommended as this type of mile - based
currency only devalues over time as
airlines raise
award ticket prices, tighten availability and adjust their programs to discourage loyalty among lower - spending travelers.
Points in the Starwood hotel's Preferred Guest program are widely considered to be among the most valuable points
currencies available in part because they can be transferred to miles in 31 different
airline programs and in turn, used for
award flights with all of these
airlines» partners.
Why it's worth it: While the personal Starwood Amex isn't currently offering an elevated bonus, it's still a great card, especially since Starpoints are my highest - rated loyalty
currency and there are so many ways to redeem them, from transferring to
airline partners to SPG Moments to Starwood and Marriott
award stays.
Starpoints are the most valuable loyalty
currency in TPG's June valuations, and are easy to redeem for both hotel
awards and transfers to
airline partners.
Although we're saddened — but not surprised — by the American
Airlines award chart devaluation, AAdvantage miles will continue to be a valuable
currency.
What
award currency do I earn (for example, Amex Membership Rewards or Chase Ultimate Rewards) and to which hotels and
airlines can I transfer those points?