Currently there's a workaround if you book a domestic Delta flight
at the saver award level to add on a partner award at the old rates.
And lo and behold, Aer Lingus BUSINESS CLASS is showing up
at the Saver Award level!
Since posting Singapore Airlines Suites Class Available
at Saver Award Level on KrisFlyer, I've been getting questions about redeeming for Singapore Suites on Singapore Airlines, and thought it would be helpful to answer these in a post rather than individual emails.
The partner chart doesn't have a Standard level because partner awards always price
at the Saver award.
Flights between L.A. and Sydney feature a 777 - 300ER with excellent configuration in both first and business class cabins, but premium class seats on this route are virtually impossible to get
at saver award rates.
In the entire month of October, I found one day with availability on the LAX — JFK non-stop flight
at the saver award level.
Since business travel plummets during holiday weeks, airlines often make first - class awards available
at the saver award level even when economy seats are selling like hotcakes.
The next morning, a flight on United from San Jose to Newark is available
at their Saver award level.
Not exact matches
GuestSeat is similar to «
saver»
awards at other airlines, but these may not be available.
These Reduced Mileage
Awards can save you up to 7,500 miles per person on round - trip tickets purchased
at the
saver level.
> Value: 50,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points are good for $ 625 in travel credit, 2 domestic
Saver award tickets on United, a possible $ 700 + in Southwest «Wan na Get Away» fares on some flights, or 2 +
award nights
at most Hyatts.
We'll also take a look
at an easy way to gain access to more economy class
saver level
award space with United.
You can redeem your miles for
award flights with United Airlines, starting at 25,000 miles for a round - trip flight or 12,500 miles for a one - way Saver Award fl
award flights with United Airlines, starting
at 25,000 miles for a round - trip flight or 12,500 miles for a one - way
Saver Award fl
Award flight.
At times, United gives its own MileagePlus members access to more
saver level
award space than its partners.
Note: You are looking for
award space
at the
SAVER level.
Availability for those
saver - level
awards is usually plentiful, and,
at peak summer travel season when cash prices are extremely high, that can get you a value of more than 2 cents per SkyMile.
Hawaiian Airlines also offers premium cabin
awards: First Class
Saver at 15,000 miles and First Class Flex
at 30,000.
Simply looking
at the United
award chart, things are already looking up: it takes just 40,000 miles each way on flights with Economy
Saver availability, adding up to a total requirement of 80,000 miles.
There are some other
awards that can be used for
Saver award levels, but I just don't trust American's
Saver award space
at the moment to redeem for those certificates.
You can also upgrade your flight to the First Class
Saver award if you call reservations
at least 26 hours before your flight departure.
Their domestic economy
award availability
at the
saver level isn't perfect, but it is decent.
Here we had a stroke of luck, depending on how you look
at it: while the direct service flight from Los Angeles did not show availability for a Business Class or First Class
Saver Award on most dates, a mixed class award connecting through San Francisco was avail
Award on most dates, a mixed class
award connecting through San Francisco was avail
award connecting through San Francisco was available.
Airlines will generally issue a limited number of lower mileage «
saver»
award tickets on a flight in each class of service, and then offer additional
award seats to flyers
at a premium.
Airlines balance a multitude of different factors when deciding how many
award seats to release
at the low level (
saver) and higher levels.
While this is a very poor use of points (you should always look for
saver level
awards), the ability to book an
award seat
at any time can be very useful in a pinch.
At the
saver level, business class
awards cost twice the price of economy
awards on the same route, and first class
awards cost three times as much.
Aside from those, however, the increase in price to international business class
saver awards are not terrible
at all.
Delta flies 757s and 767s between JFK and Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle, but finding its business class
award at a
Saver rate is virtually impossible.
I do think Hawaiian has good service if you've never tried them before, but
awards from North America to Hawaii are 20,000 miles one - way
at the SuperSaver level, and you're more likely to find them
at the 30,000
Saver level.
And partners will still be booked
at Saver levels so the dynamic pricing of Everyday
awards (which appears to be capped
at reasonable limits) doesn't appear to be a hugely negative factor.
It is true you may have to spend more miles to fly on a peak date than an off - peak date, but it can be done, and if you use some strategy you can sometimes fly home for the holidays
at the lower,
saver award level.
Looking
at several dates, United Airlines
saver awards were pretty much non-existent.
In theory, Delta charges 50,000 miles for business class
awards from LAX — JFK
at the low
saver level.
American Airlines is very bad
at releasing
Saver Award seats so it's dangerous to assume that you'll be able to find an economical use for the miles with any great ease.
The
award calendar is meant to show the
saver economy / premium
award availability across a two - month period, so that you don't have to check one day
at a time.
As an example of how one program works, United normally offers its
saver award seats in the lower 48 states
at 12,500 miles each way, but when a
saver award isn't available, those with a United co-branded credit card or United elite status typically can secure an
award seat
at the 25,000 - mile standard
award level each direction, as long as seats are still available for sale with cash.
35,000 points is enough for any Marriott Property on a Point
Saver Award or 1 night
at any category 7 or below properties.
I kept monitoring it to see how it trended as the dates got closer and although economy
award space still hasn't opened up I suddenly saw wide open availability to Europe
at saver levels the entire months of July and August: All summer!
If off - peak,
saver award availability is there, it automatically prices out
at the lower rates on aa.com.
If you can see that an
award you'd like to book is available right now (or if your research tells you that the
award you're looking to book isn't scarce) then buying miles
at 1.72 cents each may be a good money
saver....
At the time of writing, most of the economy
award inventory on United from Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York to Rio has been wiped out, but there are a handful of first class
saver awards available for the final week and a half of games.
We see lots of economy class
awards at the
Saver level, but all the first class
awards are
at the Standard level.
Deltas
Saver award availability to Rome is not bad
at all, and its Business Elite class is excellent with flat - bed seats and extensive entertainment choices.
When I have a sizeable rewards balance I also transfer over to the Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer program (that's how I booked Joanna and I into Singapore Airlines Suites between Hong Kong and Singapore and the Singapore and London) and I always keep an eye out for American Airlines
saver awards just in case there's an opportunity to transfer Membership Rewards points over to Etihad and book American Business or First Class
at a favorable rate.
Another way to look
at it is that I've used the rules to turn an anytime
award into two
saver awards.
You can redeem your miles for
award flights with United Airlines, starting at 25,000 miles for a round - trip flight or 12,500 miles for a one - way Saver Award fl
award flights with United Airlines, starting
at 25,000 miles for a round - trip flight or 12,500 miles for a one - way
Saver Award fl
Award flight.
United's threshold is 700 miles; any flights of 700 miles or less price out
at 10K miles each way for
Saver awards.
These can be as low as 20,000 miles each way for a Super
Saver award, but you will find much better availability
at the
Saver level for 30,000 miles.
Leaving aside my amazement
at the fact that American Airlines
saver awards were available (they're rarer than a Dodo) I was impressed
at the breadth of search that this tool allows.....
This is assuming
award tickets are available
at the
saver level.