Even if you don't know anything about navigating
transfer partner award charts and making award bookings, the difference in sign - up bonus alone is more than enough to make up the difference in annual fees.
Not exact matches
JAL uses a distance - based
award chart and is not only part of Oneworld; it also
partners with Emirates (and hasn't devalued first - class redemptions like Alaska, another SPG
transfer partner).
If you
transfer your points to
partners with valuable
award charts, it is not very difficult to achieve redemption values of at least 2 cents / point (often 3 - 4) which widens the value disparity even more.
Aside from the fact that this is a great airline with an excellent
award redemption
chart and exceptional service in all cabins, ANA is also a Star Alliance member and
transfer partner with the Amex Membership Rewards and Starwood Preferred Guest programs.
Additionally, remember you can now
transfer your miles to Alaska Airlines and make use of Alaska's
award chart and
partners.
In order to find the best values, you have to navigate the terms and conditions of each
transfer partner — understanding the routing restrictions and keeping an eye out for fuel surcharges and other hidden fees — and you need to familiarize yourself with their
awards charts.
Singapore Airlines has a pretty good Star Alliance
partner award chart right now, and Singapore miles are insanely easy to get ahold of considering that they are 1:1
transfer partners of American Express Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi ThankYou Points, and Starwood Preferred Guest Starpoints.
Airlines like Delta (Amex MR
transfer partner), Southwest Airlines (Chase UR
transfer partner) and even United (Chase UR
partner) have adopted a variable
award chart for all or some of their flights.
If you
transfer your points to
partners with valuable
award charts, it is not very difficult to achieve redemption values of at least 2 cents / point (often 3 - 4) which widens the value disparity even more.
Its airline
transfer partners are mostly foreign carriers with pretty weak
award charts, but it recently added JetBlue.
With over 30 airline
transfer partners to choose from, you can analyze
award charts to find the best value and
transfer Starpoints over to make the booking.
Aside from the fact that this is a great airline with an excellent
award redemption
chart and exceptional service in all cabins, ANA is also a Star Alliance member and
transfer partner with the Amex Membership Rewards and Starwood Preferred Guest programs.
They say it's because they have mastered information that most of us find arcane:
award chart nuances, airline alliances, credit card point
transfer partners and ticketing rules.
The best way to use Citi ThankYou points is to
transfer them to a
partner program with a fixed
award chart, such as Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, and redeeming for business class.
Since Jet Airways» JetPrivilege (aka JPMiles) is one of a few
transfer partners of Citi, I decided to give a peek and remake their
award chart so it's easy to understand.
If you need a one - way
award flight, you can further narrow this down by looking at the second
chart of Starwood
transfer partners to determine that Flying Blue (Air France and others), Alaska, and GOL will allow a one - way
award, but that JAL will not.
The Turkish
partner award chart is fairly competitive, but there's no credit card for US residents, and no
transfer partners.
Ethiopian's Star Alliance
partner award chart is somewhat competitive (105,000 miles from North America to Europe in business class), but there's no credit card offered to US residents or any
transfer partners.
Amex has a lot of international
transfers partners like ANA which is has a decent distance
award chart, allows a bunch of stopovers, and is star - alliance.
Previously, United miles were the best value
transfer partner for Ultimate Rewards points, but that changed as of 2/1/14 due to the massive United
Award Chart Devaluation.
In the past I've
transferred to Aeroplan, but since they devalued their
award chart and started imposing surcharges on most
partner flights, I probably won't be
transferring to them again, especially when those flights can be booked more cheaply with United miles earned from Ultimate Rewards.
JAL uses a distance - based
award chart and is not only part of Oneworld; it also
partners with Emirates (and hasn't devalued first - class redemptions like Alaska, another SPG
transfer partner).