If you're able to find
saver level award space on the dates you need, the process of searching and booking is pretty straightforward and can be completed entirely online.
We did this recently when we booked
saver level awards on the new Delta One Suite (see: How to book Delta One Suite saver awards).
Use Delta or KLM / AirFrance to find
saver level award ticket availability, then book the ticket on Korean Air's website.
Cardholders receive access to extra
saver level awards for economy class and guaranteed standard level awards as long as a seat is available for purchase.
Since British Airways has a distance - based award chart and American Airlines is a Oneworld partner, you can use Avios to book any AA flight
with saver level award availability and have the price based on the Avios chart.
For example, a round -
trip saver level award within the continental U.S. costs 2,000 points, an Admirals Club day pass is 300 points, and AAdvantage Gold elite status is 2,400 points.
It's too early to say whether Singapore Airlines will make another Suite
Saver level award available later, closer to the date of departure or not.
Unfortunately, American rarely
releases saver level award space on their own flights, so at this point we can't recommend buying miles to book an award on American.
These Premium Air Rewards should be though of
as saver level awards — we're not always going to be able to book them.
However, if you can find award space on Virgin Atlantic and a
separate saver level award for a connecting flight, there is a way to make this work.
Take a look at the table below to see
what saver level award prices (round - trip) you need to find as well as a rough estimate of the taxes and fees you can expect.
Singapore Airlines allows a stopover on round - trip bookings at no extra cost or for a fee on one -
way saver level awards (the only awards you should book if at all possible).
That was pretty unfortunate, given that Virgin Australia is the airline which releases the most premium
cabin saver level award space between the US and Australia, making it one of the best uses of SkyMiles.
I think I can say with near certainty that there's not another airline that releases as
much saver level award space to Asia as Korean Air.
If you're not familiar with how award space works, this post about American
Airlines saver level award tickets gives a little more info (which applies to most airlines).
Miles earned on your Platinum Delta SkyMiles card can be redeemed for a variety of awards, but the best value is realized on
saver level award tickets.
United saver level award flights from the U.S. to the Caribbean are 35,000 miles roundtrip in economy and 60,000 in first.
None of the changes to award fees can be classified as good news for travelers, especially if you're
booking saver level awards — why would you do anything else?!
The same flight would cost 25,000 miles with United or American assuming you can
find saver level award availability.
If you happen to find
saver level award space on American Airlines, Avios are also great for short flights within the U.S.
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.
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.
Our research has shown that when you redeem SkyMiles,
the saver level awards on domestic flights will vary between 10,000 and 25,000 SkyMiles for a round - trip booking in economy class.
We haven't seen
any saver level award availability on these 3 routes for Delta One suites.
Using yesterday's example, if there were
no Saver level awards on AA we would be stuck without a flight to book with BA Avios.
The initial award cost isn't surprising given that it's the first flight with a new product, but we hope Delta will start to release
some saver level award seats to make redeeming SkyMiles worth it.
As a Hawaiian Airlines cardholder, you also get access to discounted award flights which can be even cheaper than
saver level awards.
people in Business Class (the dates with 70k are
saver level awards, bookable with United miles):
If Global Services member books a cash ticket, she or he may bring along a companion for the cost of
a saver level award ticket.
While this is a very poor use of points (you should always look for
saver level awards), the ability to book an award seat at any time can be very useful in a pinch.
I remember just a couple years ago flying my family of 4 to Maui for spring break on AA BOS - DFW - OGG on
saver level awards.
Stopovers on round - trip
saver level awards are free but will cost $ 100 on one - way award tickets.