Stick with
flight redemptions if you really want to get the most bang for your points.
Not exact matches
Like the American Express program, points are best used for gift cards and
flight redemption and suffer heavily
if used for any other mechanism.
If a
flight is cheap, there is a good chance that the
redemption value is pretty low to redeem miles.
If you're not a frequently flier, look for a travel rewards card with multiple
redemption options — so you can choose whether to redeem earned rewards for
flights, hotels, rental cars, or free gasoline.
Like the American Express program, points are best used for gift cards and
flight redemption and suffer heavily
if used for any other mechanism.
If the
flights required
redemption of miles or points, we used the average number of points needed for those
flights, based on the
redemption schedules as published by the provider.
They don't have the best
redemption rates, but the program is easy to use and won't require more miles
if you need a connecting
flight.
From the east coast, using American AAdvantage miles during their off - peak timeframe is still a solid
redemption but,
if you have a lot of SPG Starpoints, considering transferring them to JAL Mileage Bank to book the same
flight on American Airlines for 39,000 miles.
This means that assuming each Thank You Point = $ 0.01, your maximum rebate is 2 % (ie,
if your ordinary purchase point is 20,000 per year, no matter how many miles you fly, only 20,000
flight points can be converted into redeemable Thank you points, you can only turn 20,000 purchase points + 20,000
flight points = 40,000 Thank you points eligible for
redemption).
If you used just 7,500 points transferred to British Airways from your Chase Ultimate Rewards portal for that
flight instead of paying $ 300, then your
redemption value is around 4 cents per point on that transaction.
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).
Once the changes are implemented, it is likely that certain
redemption options will devalue Rapid Rewards points below this $ 0.01 value on certain
flights — meaning users will have to be much more careful about selecting which
flights they want to redeem their points on
if they want to maximize their value.
If the
flights required
redemption of miles or points, we used the average of the appropriate
redemption schedules as published by the provider.
And chances are you could get a better value for your
redemptions if you spent some time researching your
flight options.
These
redemptions can be a great deal, especially
if there is availability at the last minute when
flight prices tend to be higher.
While Delta SkyMiles can be tough to use for booking award
flights to Australia because of incredibly high
redemption rates, your miles can be useful
if you find saver level award space.
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 the
flight costs between $ 100 - $ 179, then
redemptions fall between 15,000 miles and 20,000 miles.
If you've been avoiding using those Avios points because of the hefty fuel surcharges that eat into
redemptions for overseas
flights on British Airways, look into using your points on domestic fares instead.
If your
flights are more than 650 miles, you can still find some great value with British Airways Avios when flying within Asia and Europe, as they often have some of the better
redemption rates for both economy class and business class.
Singapore Suites and first class are certainly among the top
redemptions available
if you're looking for a luxury
flight experience.
If you are fortunate enough to have the US Airways Premier World Mastercard, you know that you get a discount of 5K miles on each award
flight redemption.
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.
This presents the potential for great
redemption rates on short
flights if award space is available.
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
redemptions can be a great deal, especially
if there is availability at the last minute when
flight prices tend to be higher.
When traveling domestically, United has the same
redemption rates as other major U.S. carriers (25,000 miles for the lowest - priced round - trip
flight), so their MileagePlus miles are only of special value
if you are trying to go somewhere that is primarily served only by Untied.
Often the best
flight, in terms of schedule, stops, or experience, is offered on a partner, so you want to make sure you see them.Click your preferred dates on the award calendar, even
if the days are marked in white, which implies there is no space in the lowest
redemption categories.
If BA starts linking the cost of
flights to the number of Avios needed and doesn't keep any kind of standard award in place the days of great
redemptions on routes like NYC — Boston are over.
(Details are somewhat sketchy here, but
if the program is similar to that of AirTran, tickets for international
flights will require a hefty
redemption of points... but at least it's an option for members who've banked lots of points.)
Just take a look at the
redemption below... the $ 93 in total fees pale in comparison to what you would have to pay
if you booked a British Airways
flight on its own metal.
Not only would we be doing better with any of those fixed
redemption options, we'd also be accumulating US Airways miles for flying the paid ticket — not too many given that it's just a 370 mile trip, but that
flight gets us an extra 500 miles
if we have any sort of elite status with US Airways.
If you have to pay high fees or fuel surcharges on an economy or short - haul
flight, you should be especially cautious about using points for that
redemption.
There are no minimum
redemption requirements, so you can even redeem your balance of $ 1 on your next United
flight if you desire.
Often
if you're low on points on a certain airline, or having trouble finding low - level
redemptions in both directions on the
flights you need, it makes sense to split your itinerary on two airlines, but there's no point doing this with Delta.
If you do not have the Frontier Airlines credit card, then the carrier adds an award
redemption fee to
flights booked less than 180 days out.
Redemptions using HawaiianMiles on Hawaiian Airlines - operated
flights are very straightforward, though they can be costly
if you don't snag the lowest
redemption level called Coach SuperSaver.
You'd have plenty of points / miles for
flights or hotel
redemptions if you signed up for just the $ 0 fee cards, but you'd also be leaving a lot of value on the table (notice all 4 of the fee cards have bonuses valued at $ 1K).
In frequent flyer forums, I keep seeing the same question:
If my
flight is cancelled because of weather, do I have to wait for an award seat at the same
redemption rate to open up on another
flight?
If you're getting the Optimum rate, it's hard to find a bad
redemption in the S7 Priority program, though
flights between North America and Africa, India or the South Pacific are a little steep at 100,000 miles roundtrip.
They don't have the best
redemption rates, but the program is easy to use and won't require more miles
if you need a connecting
flight.
From the east coast, using American AAdvantage miles during their off - peak timeframe is still a solid
redemption but,
if you have a lot of SPG Starpoints, considering transferring them to JAL Mileage Bank to book the same
flight on American Airlines for 39,000 miles.
However, in my analysis of SPG Nights and
Flights awards, I described how —
if you keep the cost of the free nights the same as a normal
redemption — it is equivalent to getting a discount on the miles.
From the FAQs, it looks as
if the number of Avios required to book these
flights will only increase for bookings made after 2 February 2016 so you can still make bookings for
flights after this date at the lower
redemption level:
So, given that you have limited options to use your Alaska miles for things other than free
flights, and
if we assume you don't want to travel more, I think TSA PreCheck is a good
redemption.
Flight redemptions are the best way to use FlexPoints, so that should be your plan
if you decide to get this card.
If you change your
flight date, route,
flight, or carrier on partner
redemptions you will owe $ 50 instead of the previous $ 20.
If you snagged a paid fare for the JFK to TLV
flight you would pay $ 2,267.99, which means that a 50,000
redemption would come out to a value of approximately 4.2 cents per mile for this trip which is excellent and honestly a somewhat conservative valuation given how much those tickets can cost.
If you snagged the cheapest paid fare for the JFK to TLV
flight you would pay $ 2,267.99, which means that a 50,000
redemption would come out to a value of approximately 4.2 cents per mile for this trip which is excellent and honestly a somewhat conservative valuation given how much those tickets can cost.
If you can't find an award
flight on the dates you want at the lowest
redemptions rates, you'll just have to pay more or use your miles for something else.