Once upon a time, the best use of Ultimate Rewards points from the Sapphire Preferred was to transfer them to United to redeem for awesome premium
cabin redemptions on United's partners such as Lufthansa and Swiss Air.
It also offers plenty of first class availability and affordable premium
cabin redemptions on its own flights.
The second sweet spot is international premium
cabin redemptions on partner airlines.
I wouldn't speculatively buy AAdvantage miles for ~ 2.0 cents each just for giggles, but if you have a premium
cabin redemption on Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines, Etihad, Qatar, etc., in mind, it's tough to go wrong.
Not exact matches
Valuation: The new British Airways award chart went into effect at the end of April, dramatically increasing the mileage requirements for most premium
cabin redemptions, particularly
on long - haul flights.
These aren't the best premium
cabin redemptions out there, especially if you are looking to connect
on to a further destination (since British Airways charges separately for all flights).
These aren't the best premium
cabin redemptions out there, especially if you are looking to connect
on to a further destination (since British Airways charges separately for all flights), but it's not a bad option if you want to experience Japan Airlines or American Airlines business or first class.
If you're looking for a premium
cabin redemption, this is another great option that lets you test out some great business and first class products
on less expensive routes.
The March 2016 devaluation had the least effect
on premium
cabin redemptions to Central and South America.
You can't term these as the best possible premium
cabin redemptions, more so if you need to take a connecting flight to another destination (as British Airways charges you separately for different flights), it's still a good deal if you're keen
on experiencing the Japan Airlines travel in its first or business class.
The flip side of that are the huge taxes and fees levied
on long - haul Avios
redemptions on British Airways flights through London, which mean those
redemptions, particularly in premium
cabins, are almost never worth making compared to Delta or United
redemptions connecting in Continental Europe.
Only the business version has the new 50 % rebate
on points
redemptions for premium
cabin travel
on any airline — the personal card doesn't have it.
These aren't the best premium
cabin redemptions out there, especially if you are looking to connect
on to a further destination (since British Airways charges separately for all flights).
Some
redemptions, particularly for premium
cabin seats
on international flights, can get over five cents per point.
Conversely, longer flights in premium
cabins can cost a fortune compared to what other airlines charge for the same
redemption, even
on the same exact flight.
The best
redemptions are typically for JetBlue's Mint premium
cabin product
on transcontinental or Caribbean flights.
Remember, if you're transferring from one of your flexible mileage currencies, you're giving up the possibility of using those points
on a potentially much more valuable international premium
cabin redemption.
Yesterday, while most people's attention was focused
on the addition of Premium Economy
redemptions to the Singapore Airlines award chart (more
on that in a separate post), the airline slipped in a change to the charts in a way that increased the cost of Premium
Cabin Saver Awards to certain European cities.
While the number of miles needed for a Business Class
redemption isn't exactly low (you're better off trying to get to / from Europe
on United's own aircraft which will only cost 115,000 for roundtrip Business Class), the taxes for a premium
cabin award are low for a European route.
This means that if you can see availability for an Avios
redemption on BritishAirways.com (for the
cabin you wish to upgrade into) you can also upgrade into that
cabin as long as it's only one
cabin above the one you're already booked into.
The loyalty program of Air France and KLM puts flights
on sale for award
redemptions each quarter, and it releases a list of specific routes and
cabins of service in advance.
The 56.3 % increase in miles needed for a First Class
redemption between Europe and the Middle East / Indian Subcontinent is a hammer blow to anyone wanting to book Etihad's First Class
cabin and, at 230,000 AAdvantage miles for a round trip First Class award to Australia
on Qatar Airways, that award just became a whole lot harder to achieve.
Using Asiana miles to fly in a premium
cabin from the U.S. to Europe
on a Star Alliance airline during the low season will save you 20 to 45 percent compared to United's
redemptions.
Economy
cabin awards
on this route are often easier than premium seat
redemptions.
That award chart is particularly valuable for premium
cabin redemptions, since business class and first class awards cost 2 and 3 times the cost of economy, respectively, instead of the 3 and 4 times charged
on the standard Executive Club award chart.
I'm as guilty as the next blogger of focusing
on premium
cabin redemptions and that's because, more often than not, that's where the real value is to be had out of our miles balances.
American Airlines AAdvantage miles are very hard to use economically thanks to the dearth of premium
cabin SAAver awards, United Miles are ok but 100,000 won't get you a roundtrip Business Class award to any major long - haul destination (if you're heading east or west) while 100,000 Alaska Miles will get you some nice roundtrip
redemptions on Cathay Pacific and even American (subject to award availability).
Another excellent
redemption option is flying between New York and Los Angeles or San Francisco
on United in a premium business class
cabin with lie - flat beds for 30,000 miles roundtrip.
100,000 miles (plus the 6,000 miles you'd earn from meeting the minimum spend) can get you one way
redemptions on many of the top first class
cabins between different regions.
Thus, there's not a lot of high earning potential for ThankYou Points with Citi and that means they're not usually a great option for chasing after
redemptions on premium
cabins.
Some of the best include the following: United Airlines, which opens up access to the huge Star Alliance network of carriers; British Airways, offering great value
on short - haul nonstop flights due to their distance - based award chart; Korean Airlines, with amazing award availability in their first class
cabins; and Hyatt, which is widely recognized as offering some of the highest value point
redemption opportunities of any hotel chain.
Depending
on how you like to redeem your airline and hotel miles, you can truly maximize the value of your points, especially
on premium
cabin redemptions, by transferring to partners.
This is especially interesting because Condor operates a Business Class
cabin on flights to North America, making it a potentially lucrative
redemption for your orphaned topbonus miles.
Even domestic
redemptions (
on United) an be an excellent value at 40,000 miles round - trip in a premium
cabin, compared with 50,000 United miles for the exact same flights.
I would never hesitate to speak for Scott, so what I think Scott was trying to say is that certain points (such as American Express Membership Rewards earned
on a Platinum card, which was the actual subject of his post) are so incredibly valuable when used for premium
cabin award
redemptions on a regular award chart that it's almost a shame to not maximize them for that purpose.
Considering neither my mom nor sister had flown first class
on an international carrier before, and I had more than enough AAdvantage miles to cover a premium -
cabin Oneworld
redemption thanks to enormous sign - up bonuses from my two Citi / AAdvantage Executive World Elite MasterCards, I quickly settled
on Cathay Pacific for the outbound segment.
will purchase AS miles for first
cabin redemptions from here
on out.
Bottom line: The Lufthansa 50,000 mile offer is likely going away June 30, so if you know how to use those points for good
redemptions (domestic / intra - North / South America / Caribbean) that have low fees or premium
cabins tickets, then hop
on it now.
If you need to choose between earning 1.5 Ultimate Rewards points with a Chase Freedom Unlimited card or 2.625 % cash back
on a BankAmericard Travel Rewards card, the obvious reason to do so is if you expect to get more than 1.75 cents per Ultimate Rewards point, for example
on a premium
cabin United
redemption, expensive Hyatt stay, or Wan na Get Away fare
on Southwest.
«Classic Upgrade Reward» or «Flight Upgrade Award» or «Upgrade Reward» means the
redemption of Qantas Points for travel in a higher
cabin than the class for the fare tendered, as further described in clauses 16 and 17, and includes
On Departure Rewards;
Redemptions on Japanese domestic flights may only be booked two months from the date of return flight and only in the economy
cabin.
The
redemption rates
on Virgin America metal are a bit complex, and not particularly great (40K for transcon return in economy) but there is an option for Main
Cabin Select
redemption if you're in to that.
The voucher can only be used for travel
on reward flights listed in the Executive Club
Redemption table operated by BA, in any
cabin class, as long as the Member has sufficient Avios to complete the booking for their desired journey.