- Miles & More is the mileage program of Lufthansa as well as Austrian and SWISS, and members get more access to premium award tickets - All three airlines are part of Star Alliance, so you can use these miles on any of the 27 partner airlines including US Airways and United (and Miles & More awards can be booked one - way, which US Airways awards can not)- You can book a roundtrip
domestic business class award on United and US Airways for 35,000 miles, or a first class ticket for 50,000 miles.
For example, a one way
domestic business class award ticket in the contiguous U.S. redeemed through Singapore Airlines will cost 20,000 miles, 17,500 economy to Hawaii or 30,000 business to Hawaii.
United's old pricing was directly in line with what American changes for
its domestic Business Class awards... but not any longer.
I hardly found
any Domestic business class awards that are reasonably priced, Delta uses dynamic pricing based on the demand, availability for sky miles redemption.
The only positive change is the lesser number of miles needed for
some domestic business class awards.
Not exact matches
Well, United Airlines may call its
domestic premium cabin «first
class», but it codes
award space as
business class.
If you'd rather not spend that much, Miles & More has great deals on
domestic round - trip
business class award tickets.
Domestic awards from Kuala Lumpur to East Malaysia (Malaysian Borneo) come to 30,000 miles in economy and 50,000 in
business class.
For example,
domestic round - trip
awards from Kuala Lumpur to the West Malaysia region (Malay Peninsula) come to just 20,000 miles in economy
class and 40,000 miles in
business.
As Delta has massively devalued its own
award chart, many SkyTeam travelers are now taking a closer look at Flying Blue as their gateway to not only
domestic Delta flights, but also the glamorous Air France
business and first
class, which is primarily only available to Flying Blue members with elite status.
Domestic business awards are double the price of economy, so you could get one
business class award seat for 50,000 United miles.
I felt that I could still redeem my miles for
domestic flights and certain
business class awards at reasonable rates while using other means to earn and redeem
awards with partners like Lufthansa and Singapore.
Well, United Airlines may call its
domestic premium cabin «first
class», but it codes the
award space as
business class.
Similarly, the O fare
class used for
business class awards on Delta One flights (international
business class and some premium
domestic routes) will match the OP fare
class used for mileage upgrades.
Domestic economy class tickets are a good value at 15,000 miles, but the real bargains are domestic economy plus and business class
Domestic economy
class tickets are a good value at 15,000 miles, but the real bargains are
domestic economy plus and business class
domestic economy plus and
business class awards.
On the redemption side, the program offers very cheap short - haul
awards (as low as 4,500 miles in economy or 9,000 in
business class), thus perfect for
domestic flights within Japan (with no taxes!)
Why it's worth it: Even if you don't spend a total of $ 10,000 in the first year to earn 75,000 Avios, earning 50,000 Avios can open the door to some great redemptions, such as
domestic business -
class awards on American and off - peak Aer Lingus flights to Europe.
Normally, a
domestic business class ticket costs 50,000 miles roundtrip (possibly less if you're booking a distance - based
award), a roundtrip to Europe is 50,000, while Asia is around 110,000.
On occasion I have had to purchase a
domestic positioning leg if I want to find
business or first
class award space, but at least United checks my bags through and protects me in the case of a missed connection.»
That chart has some real values, such as the ability to fly
business class between the US and Europe for 90,000 miles roundtrip instead of the usual 100,000, the ability to pop around Europe with several extra flights thrown in for 115,000 miles in
business class instead of 100,000 miles roundtrip plus another 20,000 miles for each and every additional intra-European flight, and the ability to fly to Australia in
business class via Asia (not normally allowed on a single
award ticket) for an extra 25,000 miles — and make stopovers in Asia, and throw in Australian
domestic flights at the same time.
Many of the increases from airlines and hotels are on
business - and first -
class flights and luxury hotels, with basic
awards such as
domestic coach flights generally unaffected.
Booking
awards: Miles & More basics are laid out in this post, but the key things to keep in mind are that you can only have two stopovers and two open jaws on round - trip
awards, that you can score deals like 30,000 - mile economy
awards between select cities in the US and Europe, and that its
award chart is not the best deal overall, but there are some interesting redemptions like North America to Hawaii for 40,000 miles round - trip in economy,
domestic business - and first -
class awards for 35,000 / 50,000 miles respectively, and
business class to Central and Southeast Asia as well as Australia / New Zealand for 135,000 miles.