Something which a lot of travelers forget is that American Airlines has an off - peak season for award travel on it's own planes (this doesn't apply to
flights on partners such as British Airways)-- as illustrated by this handy table buried deep inside AA.com:
Not exact matches
If you book an award
flight with a
partner airline
such as American Airlines and do not include a
flight operated by British Airways
on your reservation, you'll be required to pay peak - level award prices.
Korean Air's SKYPASS frequent flyer program allows you to earn miles and redeem for
flights on Korean, Sky Team
partners, and additional
partner airlines
such as Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines.
Additionally, even if your goal happens to be short
flights on American Airlines within the U.S., AA has sharply reduced their saver award space (which is the space open to
partners such as British Airways) so Avios are less useful for those awards.
Do: Delta doesn't charge a fuel surcharge
on most
partner flights (when the
flight originates from the U.S.),
such as
on Air France, Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Australia, and China Airlines.
Business class
flights to Europe
on United Airlines are 60,000 miles one - way, while you need 70,000 miles one - way for a Star Alliance
partner such as Lufthansa.
If you're someone who's comfortable travelling economy class, you'll need to shell out only 40,000 MileagePlus miles for booking a round - trip
flight to and from Northern part of South America
on United or
on any of United's Star Alliance
partner airlines
such as Copa Airlines etc..
That means, starting
on Thursday, the number of KrisFlyer miles needed to redeem a
flight on a Star Alliance
partner such as ANA, EVA, Lufthansa and United will be increased.
Delta SkyMiles can be used to book award
flights on Delta, any of their SkyTeam
partners, or individual airline
partners such as Virgin Atlantic or Virgin Australia.
The MQDs you will earn when traveling
on select
partner marketed
flights not ticketed through Delta (i.e. the ticket number does not start with «006») as well as when traveling
on «exception fares» (
such as consolidator, cruise, vacation packages, inclusive tour and other tickets) will be equal to one - fifth of the base miles and Class Bonus miles (when applicable) earned
on the itinerary.
Your spending
on flights with Group 1, Group 2 and Group 3
partner airlines that are ticketed through a Delta channel (the ticket number will begin with «006») count toward MQDs as well as certain specialty tickets
such as bulk, consolidator or other vacation packages.
You can take a
flight, spend
on the credit card, transfer points from the Chase Ultimate Rewards program, redeem points or earn points through a
partner,
such as a hotel, rental car company or dining program.
You can't fly any airline, but thanks to airline alliances,
such as Oneworld, SkyTeam, and Star Alliance, you can book award
flights on partner airlines.
MQDs are calculated based
on the SkyMile member's total spend
on flights that are marketed by Delta (i.e. the
flight number has the DL airline code, not a code from a
partner airline
such as KLM or Air France).
However, the quality of the service and overall experience may be better
on some
partners,
such as Lufthansa or Singapore Airlines — and United can charge a lot for
partner flights in premium cabins.
Flights on partner airlines usually count toward elite status, which starts getting you perks
such as upgrades and free checked bags.
Most of the rest of the Membership Rewards airline
partners (
such as Air France, ANA, Aeroplan) charge stupid fuel surcharges
on most of their
flights, which makes them mostly useless for those of us who are so cheap that we don't even want to pay a few hundred dollars for a premium redemption.
For example, miles can be transferred to ANA Airlines of Japan, and 104,000 ANA miles can be redeemed for a round - trip award
flight in business class between the United States and Africa
on any of ANA's Star Alliance
partners such as Lufthansa, Turkish, Ethiopian, or South African Airlines.
In another announcement last year, United said it would begin charging many more miles for award
flights on its
partner carriers,
such as Lufthansa, Thai, and Singapore.
Korean Air's SKYPASS frequent flyer program allows you to earn miles and redeem for
flights on Korean, Sky Team
partners, and additional
partner airlines
such as Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines.
If you book an award
flight with a
partner airline
such as American Airlines and do not include a
flight operated by British Airways
on your reservation, you'll be required to pay peak - level award prices.
Despite these changes, British Airways Avios miles are still a terrific value for short
flights, especially
on partners such as American Airlines, US Airways and Alaska Airlines.
As a general rule, the best ways to redeem your Delta SkyMiles are for short
flights in the U.S. for as little as 5,000 miles; for international
partner bookings in premium cabins, like Air France business class to Europe; or for bookings between zones that don't include the U.S.,
such as Japan to Australia
on Air New Zealand.
Just make sure you're booking a
flight on Delta as the mileage requirement jumps to 85,000 miles to book with
partner airlines
such as Air France, Alitalia, KLM and Virgin Atlantic.
Searching about 5 to 6 months out, it was very easy to find awards for
partners,
such as ANA or Asiana in business class but a bit more difficult for me to find actual United
flights on its own metal.
The Avianca LifeMiles program is part of the Star Alliance so you'll be able to use your miles to book
flights on partners,
such as United, Lufthansa, Singapore and others.
The Asiana website does not bring in
partners flights on award searches, so you need to find availability
on another Star Alliance
partner's website
such as United, and then call to book.
Asiana does edge out its
partners on flights to Asia though, because it offers excellent premium products
such as Business Smartium and First Suite Class.
For
flights to Europe, you might only find availability
on a
partner airline that adds huge carrier surcharges (fees charged
on top of the base fare),
such as British Airways.
These include
flights operated by
partner airlines, as well as
flights on KLM and Air France that you can book with miles from another program
such as Delta Air Lines.
You don't get good availability
on Lufthansa
flights when you book through other Star Alliance
partners,
such as United and Air Canada, and if you book them through Miles & More, you're facing hefty fuel surcharges.
The changes are largely irrelevant if you live in the United States and tend to redeem your points for domestic
flights on BA's
partners such as American Airlines, Alaska Airlines, and US Airways.
American is part of the OneWorld Alliance which allows you to use your miles to book award
flights to Singapore
on partners such as JAL, Cathay Pacific, and Malaysia Airlines.
Such changes and delays are beyond our control and while we and our floatplane partners do our best to adhere to plans, sometimes, for the safety of passengers, scheduled flights are cancelled or delayed until such time as pilots receive the all - clear to take off from YVR South Terminal to fly direct to the resort, or other destination on Vancouver Island to be supplemented by ground and / or boat trans
Such changes and delays are beyond our control and while we and our floatplane
partners do our best to adhere to plans, sometimes, for the safety of passengers, scheduled
flights are cancelled or delayed until
such time as pilots receive the all - clear to take off from YVR South Terminal to fly direct to the resort, or other destination on Vancouver Island to be supplemented by ground and / or boat trans
such time as pilots receive the all - clear to take off from YVR South Terminal to fly direct to the resort, or other destination
on Vancouver Island to be supplemented by ground and / or boat transfer.
Yes, plus Alaska miles are valuable for
flights on Alaska
partners such as Emirates and Cathay Pacific
Book European awards using British Airways miles — you'll be hit with massive surcharges
on BA
flights, which all go through London and are heavily taxed; even
on partners such as American there will be high fees
SO earns Diamond thru biz
flights, but despite being Diamond, we've literally never flown Delta for personal travel in last 5 years — always been better routings or product alternatives (inability to fly F
on Delta, let alone
partners is
such a fail, it's contemptible).
But as I researched it more, I came to understand that it can be a worthwhile card because Avios miles can be used to book
flights on British Airways» Oneworld alliance
partners such as American Airlines, Iberia and Cathay Pacific, as well as non-allied
partners such as Alaska Airlines.
Considering the fact that United does not pass
on carrier imposed fuel surcharges for award tickets even
on partners, some people prefer to book
partners such as Lufthansa with United miles to avoid these charges, even though 70,000 miles is higher than other programs would charge for that
flight in business class.
Additionally, even if your goal happens to be short
flights on American Airlines within the U.S., AA has sharply reduced their saver award space (which is the space open to
partners such as British Airways) so Avios are less useful for those awards.
Accumulated miles can be redeemed for various benefits and rewards,
such as
flight tickets,
flight class upgrade, in -
flight meals, additional baggage allowance, free hotel stays, as well as products available
on the Air France Shopping site and
partner sites.