Make sure
the award ticket you want is available before transferring your points to miles.
Tip: Since they post so fast, this is also a great way to top off your account if you're close to having enough United miles for
an award ticket you want to book.
Not exact matches
Other airlines generally require you to purchase a much more expensive
ticket if you
want to be able to cancel it, and will charge a fee to cancel
award tickets unless you have status with that airline.
In this case, you'll
want to confirm that they have the
award, but not book it, as that will cause
ticketing issues for U.S. customers.
The biggest issue is that it no longer works on
award tickets which was the only time I really
wanted to use them.
Other airlines generally require you to purchase a much more expensive
ticket if you
want to be able to cancel it, and will charge a fee to cancel
award tickets unless you have status with that airline.
So you could get the sign - up bonus from the US Bank Korean Air SkyPass card, then transfer points from Chase Ultimate Rewards if you
want more miles for an
award ticket.
If you need to go somewhere that requires purchasing an expensive
ticket, you'll
want to check out
award options on one of the carriers that charges the same no matter how much the
ticket costs, like United or American.
Because British Airways calculates the price of an
award based on individual flight segments, this means you can actually make a stopover for as long as you
want and the
ticket will cost the same.
If Delta has
award availability on a flight you
want, this fee probably shouldn't be enough to stop you from transferring your miles and booking the
ticket, but it's something to be aware of nonetheless.
You just
want to make sure that this is still in line with the rules of the
award ticket (ie roudtrip / stopover rules are not being violated when combining this leg with any other legs of the journey).
To figure out the price the
award ticket should cost you'll
want to consult your
award chart, in this case Delta publishes their current charts here.
And if you
want to change or cancel your
award ticket, be prepared to dig deep into your wallet — those fees can run up to $ 200.
Last night I received a call from a friend who was in a jam — and
wanted my help with booking an
award ticket using his US Airways miles.
If you don't
want to splurge on a more expensive
award ticket to fly a partner airline across the Pacific Ocean, you can still get a taste by booking an intra-Asia
award.
You'd never be
want to pay for those seats using Flexperks or Arrival points as you'd have to spend ungodly amounts to cover the cash cost of the
tickets) To me, the flexibility to book seats I
want, when I
want, vastly outweighs maximizing the value I could theoretically obtain IF I could find availability using «optimal»
award programs.
The airline that
ticketed the
award still needs to communicate with the airlines that operate each flight, so if you booked a partner
award you may
want to wait a couple days and then call the other airline to confirm it has your reservation on file.
Other airlines generally require you to purchase a much more expensive
ticket if you
want to be able to cancel it, and will charge a fee to cancel
award tickets unless you have status with that airline.
If you
want to book
award tickets with any of Cathay Pacific's other partners, you will need to call Cathay Pacific.
If Delta has
award availability on a flight you
want, this fee probably shouldn't be enough to stop you from transferring your miles and booking the
ticket, but it's something to be aware of nonetheless.
These
award tickets are popular, so start your search as soon as you know when you
want to travel.
Because British Airways calculates the price of an
award based on individual flight segments, this means you can actually make a stopover for as long as you
want and the
ticket will cost the same.
Simply put, if you
want to experience this product, there is no other way to get this
award ticket, other than transferring your points to Singapore — because Singapore doesn't release its first class
award seats to its partners.
In other words, certain
award tickets are easiest to book with American Airlines miles, and you'll
want to focus your efforts on this particular
awards before the coming devaluation in late March.
As far as booking an
award ticket on a partner flight goes, let's clear something up: If you
want to use Flying Blue Miles to fly to Hawaii on Delta Airlines, you would transfer your UR points to the Flying Blue program, NOT Delta's, and then call Air France or use their website to book the partner flight on Delta.
That's enough for a free round - trip domestic
ticket — assuming you can find an available
award seat when you
want.
The best process for booking
award tickets via Asiana depends on if you
want to fly on Asiana metal or if you
want to book a partner
award.
If you're not an Executive Platinum member or if you simply don't
want to trust in the upgrade Gods then a one - way
award ticket will set you back 25,000 AAdvantage miles if you
want to sit upfront.
British Airways flights are also available, but you are well - advised not to book unless you
want to pay hundreds of dollars in fuel surcharges for your
award ticket.
If a traveler makes an
award booking and then fails to cancel the
ticket before the flight departs a fee of $ 125 will be levied if the traveler
wants the miles restored to his / her account.
Since Qatar's new product is going to be as nice as a first - class product, you may
want to book this product and save an incredible 90,000 miles for a round trip
ticket versus a first - class
award.
You
want to redeem your airline miles for a flight soon, but you don't have enough to get that travel
award ticket.
Though I'm primarily discussing economy redemptions here, I also
wanted to mention that booking through Virgin Atlantic, you can get first - class
award tickets for domestic travel in the U.S. for an absolute steal: just 45,000 miles.
Points - Earning Power: You will
want to ensure the cards in your wallet allow you to accrue enough points and miles to book the
award tickets you seek.
I'd pick the former, and that's why I recommend the Barclaycard Arrival to most travelers who
want to use their points to book any
ticket without worrying about
award availability.
If you
want the full round - the - world
ticket experience, Air Canada also lets you buy that as an
award.
If you're planning a trip to Istanbul, you might
want to snag your
award tickets now.
While we all enjoy booking an extravagant first class
award to Asia and getting a massive amount of value out of our miles, the truth is
award tickets simply aren't available every time we
want to book and some travel needs like domestic economy
tickets don't offer such great value.
SPG allows you to transfer points to over 30 airlines which presents tons of opportunity to find the cheapest
award ticket no matter where you
want to go.
In this case, you'll
want to confirm that they have the
award, but not book it, as that will cause
ticketing issues for U.S. customers.
Why, because of their greed, you see the way the frequent flyer system is going, in most cases you have to pay a fee to get an
award, if you
want a
ticket in a week you have to pay a lot of money.
There are several strategies for earning the most miles, but if you do
want to eventually redeem an
award ticket, you don't
want orphaned miles in an account you won't be able to top up.
You'll only be getting one cent per mile, but the option could be useful if
award tickets are not available on the dates you
want.
However, since Citi ThankYou Points can take a few days to transfer to your Garuda Miles account, you might
want to consider calling to put an
award ticket on hold.
This is just another reason I'm not surprised they changed their Star Alliance
award chart, as I'm sure they
want to ensure that booking an
award ticket to experience this new product cost a premium regardless of how it is booked.
With these changes in mind, here are some
award tickets you might
want to book after June 1.
But the annoying thing is that when I go to book an
award ticket, the flight that I
want to take does not have any
award seats available, so I can't use the miles.
With transferable points, you can use whichever program offers the best rates, or use the travel portal if you can't find an
award ticket or the price you
want.
If you need to go somewhere that requires purchasing an expensive
ticket, you'll
want to check out
award options on one of the carriers that charges the same no matter how much the
ticket costs, like United or American.
How about if you
want to cancel or change your
award ticket at the last moment... Does it help with the charge they give for that?