The number of points
required for an Award Flight varies because it is based on the published base fare at the time you book.
The amount of taxes and fees
required for an Award Flight is listed next to the applicable point requirement and is subject to change as required by law.Click here for details on government taxes and carrier fees.
These awards are available for a special selection of destinations and are offered for a reduced number of miles: between 25 % and 50 % off what would normally be
required for an award flight!
However, its SkyMiles frequent flyer program is frequently derided for the large number of miles
it requires for award flights, and for its lack of transparency.
This is the fewest points
required for an award flight that I can recall.
Not exact matches
Maximizing rewards to book
award flights can
require a lot of research and strategizing, so it definitely isn't
for everyone.
So if I am earning miles from credit card spending to use
for a domestic round trip economy
award that
requires 25,000 miles, it has to be
for a
flight that I would have paid at least $ 500
for.
When looking
for ways to book
award flights to London, you will want to keep an eye on carrier - imposed surcharges as well as the miles
required by the frequent flyer program you are using.
With a distance - based
award chart, you also need to remember that any connecting
flights will add to the total
flight distance used to calculate the number of miles
required for your
award ticket.
As you can see, Flying Blue
requires 5,000 more miles to fly Delta than Korean Air SkyPass, but it has the same redemption rate
for award flights on Alaska Airlines.
Singapore Airlines has an entirely separate
award chart
for flights on Virgin Atlantic and
requires few miles than using your Singapore miles on Star Alliance
flights.
American AAdvantage devalued their
award chart in early 2016, but Alaska Airlines has not changed the miles
required for flights on American Airlines.
Similarly,
for customers needing more than 1
award seat on a particular
flight (maybe a family of 4), booking
requires a great deal more points and more work to find multiple
award seats.
Try to avoid this unless you are very close to the
required mileage
for an
award, you have found
award space, and you need the
flight on a very specific date.
And because British Airways has an
award redemption chart that's organized by distance flown instead of region, you'll only to cash in 25,000 British Airways miles on a roundtrip ticket from Los Angeles to Honolulu instead of the 45,000 miles American
requires for that same
flight.
However, adding a short - haul economy
flight to a long - haul business or first class
flight may, as in my example, drastically reduce the number of Iberia Avios
required for your
award redemption.
In theory, Delta also has a region - based
award chart... but they often
require more miles
for connecting
flights.
That means two
awards» worth of points will be
required for travelers who must fly through an AA hub on a connecting
flight.
While Virgin Atlantic charges half of the miles
required for a round - trip
award on its own
flights, the
award rates will vary if you book a
flight on one of their partners.
Three of Delta's partners
require other search methods plus a call to Delta to redeem SkyMiles
for award flights.
Flying Club provides a distance - based
award chart
for Jet Airways
flights, meaning the longer a
flight is the more miles will be
required to book.
As you can see, Flying Blue
requires 5,000 more miles to fly Delta than Korean Air SkyPass, but it has the same redemption rate
for award flights on Alaska Airlines.
There is no separate registration
required for this bonus miles offer, and the miles should credit to your account along with the usual miles
awarded for your
flight.
A 2014 study ranked US Airways 24th out of 25 airlines worldwide
for lowest - level
award availability, and found that
award flights on US Airways
required more miles on average than any other major U.S. or Canadian airline.
You can check the miles
required for a given
award flight on airlines redemption chart, but there is no easy guide to the additional fees you'll be charged.
Most
award flights require a tedious call that can last
for hours.
JetBlue changed its
award program in 2009 to tie the number of points
required for a
flight to the current cash price of the
flight.
Earn 500
award miles per Business class segment or 750
award miles per First class segment on Acela Express trains (no connecting
flight required) between New York's Penn Station and the following train stations: Boston's South Station, MA; Boston's Back Bay Station, MA; Boston's Route 128 Station, MA; Washington D.C..
For reservations for the Acela Express markets listed above, call Amtrak at 1 -800-USA-RAIL (1-800-872-7245) and be sure to provide your MileagePlus number to receive award mileage cred
For reservations
for the Acela Express markets listed above, call Amtrak at 1 -800-USA-RAIL (1-800-872-7245) and be sure to provide your MileagePlus number to receive award mileage cred
for the Acela Express markets listed above, call Amtrak at 1 -800-USA-RAIL (1-800-872-7245) and be sure to provide your MileagePlus number to receive
award mileage credit.
Flying Club
requires 35,000 miles
for round - trip
award flights between the U.S. and the Caribbean in economy class and 60,000 miles in business class.
As Southwest ties the number of points
required for an
award to the price of the
flight, you can calculate a specific rate of return on your spend.
When looking
for ways to book
award flights to London, you will want to keep an eye on carrier - imposed surcharges as well as the miles
required by the frequent flyer program you are using.
For example, if you fly from Philadelphia (PHL) on American Airlines to Chicago (ORD) to catch a Japan Airlines
flight to Tokyo Narita (NRT), you will need to look at the partner
award chart to determine how many miles will be
required.
They also have regular and low season
awards for flights operated by ANA, so you'll want to book low season when possible as they
require fewer miles.
With a distance - based
award chart, you also need to remember that any connecting
flights will add to the total
flight distance used to calculate the number of miles
required for your
award ticket.
Getting beyond Tahiti
requires a
flight on Air Tahiti (not the same company as Air Tahiti Nui), and its
flights are not available
for award redemption.
This
flight required a bit of a judgement call and a lot of luck because there was absolutely no
award availability on the one
flight that I could trust to get me into Helsinki on time to catch the A350 (
for the trip back).
I then searched
for an
award flight from Washington, DC to New York City and found the
required award space.
These
awards are usually ideal
for short - haul
flights that would
require many more miles with a traditional region - based chart.
It doesn't offer miles - plus - cash
awards or free stopovers, and it
requires at least one paid
flight in the last 24 months as a condition
for booking an
award.
The chart shows the number of points
required for an upgrade from Economy, from a Flexible Economy, Discount Economy or Classic
Flight award.
Flexi
awards gives you access to any seat on an in - demand
flight for twice the miles typically
required, which is better than many airlines that charge three to four times the lowest rate
for this privilege.
Avios is also a distance - based mileage redemption program, so short - haul
awards require fewer miles than long - haul
awards, with redemptions starting at just 4,500 Avios each way
for flights under 600 miles, such as those between New York and Montreal.
The promotion, called «Reward
Flights For Less», allows passengers to book awards in Economy Class (World Traveller) for 40 % fewer Avios than would normally be requir
For Less», allows passengers to book
awards in Economy Class (World Traveller)
for 40 % fewer Avios than would normally be requir
for 40 % fewer Avios than would normally be
required.
Members can determine points
required for award redemptions online and request
award redemption upgrades online or by calling Ufly Rewards at (855) 263-8359 within 24 hours of
flight departure.
An annual fee is
required for most travel rewards cards, but «
for consumers who want to pay no annual fee, a 2 % cash back card like the Citi Double Cash is usually a better bet than using a travel rewards card
for domestic
flight awards,» the study states.
When you use LATAM Pass kilometers on
flights operated by LATAM and its subsidiaries, the number of kilometer
required are governed by one of two
award charts, an international chart that breaks down the number of kilometers
for travel within South America by country and a domestic
award chart that breaks down the kilometers
required for each city pair in Chile, Argentina, Peru, Ecuador and Columbia.
This discount
requires flying a United - operated non-stop between the US and China or Hong Kong
for your transpacific segment, with roundtrip saver
award flights booked between August 11 and August 22
for travel August 29 through April 30.
AAdvantage would
require you to redeem at least 17,500 miles each way
for a total of 35,000 roundtrip on its lowest MileSAAver Off Peak
award seats, but using British Airways Avios
for the same
flights would cost just 12,500 each way since it's considered a medium - haul, so you're saving 10,000 miles on a very popular route.
Theoretically the Dynamic
Awards should
require fewer miles, but on the
flight I checked — Miami to Portland, Ore. — a MileSaver
Award was available
for 12,500 miles each way on the mid-March dates I chose, while a Dynamic Aware would have
required 20,000 miles each way.