Virgin Atlantic Flying Club is one of my favorite frequent flyer programs since they offer some really cool redemptions on unique airlines:

• Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Overview
• Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Sweet Spots (VS, NZ, DL, SQ, VA)
• Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Sweet Spots (AF/KL, NH, HA, SA)

Transferring Points to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points are fairly easy to acquire since you can transfer them in from most major transferable bank points programs:

• American Express Membership Rewards
  • 1:1 transfer ratio
  • instant transfer
• Capital One Rewards
  • 1:1 transfer ratio to the Virgin Red program
  • instant transfer
• Chase Ultimate Rewards
  • 1:1 transfer ratio
  • instant transfer
• Citi ThankYou Points
  • 1:1 transfer ratio
  • instant transfer
• Marriott Bonvoy
  • 3:1 transfer ratio (for every 60k Marriott Bonvoy points you transfer, you will get a bonus of 5k Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points)
  • average transfer time is 1-2 days

The transferable bank points programs frequently offer transfer bonuses, for example, like 30% more airline miles/points. Under a bonus like this you would receive 30% more Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points when transferring from a bank program.

Sweet Spots: Redeeming Flying Club Points on Delta Air Lines

One of the best ways to redeem your Virgin Atlantic points is on Delta Air Lines flights, here are a few of the best ways to redeem (sweet spots):

• UK <-> US (BOS, JFK): Economy Class: 15k, Delta One: 47.5k
• UK <-> US (ATL, DTW, MSP): Economy Class: 17.5k, Delta One: 47.5k
• UK <-> US (SLC): Economy Class: 20k
• Europe (excluding the UK) <-> US: Delta One: 50k
• all other flights with range of 0 – 500 miles flown: Economy Class: 7.5k
• all other flights with range of 501 – 1,000 miles flown: Economy Class: 8.5k
• all other flights with range of 1,001 – 1,500 miles flown: Economy Class: 11.5k
• all other flights with range of 1,501 – 2,000 miles flown: Economy Class: 12.5k
• all other flights with range of 2,001 – 3,000 miles flown: Economy Class: 15k
• all other flights with range of 3,001 – 4,000 miles flown: Economy Class: 22.5k

Partner Delta Award Availability

Delta has a terrible frequent flyer program. They regularly charge 350k+ miles for a one-way Business Class ticket to Europe while other airlines charge somewhere around 50-80k miles/points for the same routing. Thankfully, Delta does release award availability to partner airlines which means you can book the same flight for less miles through Delta’s partners – while the amount of award space may not be huge, they still do release it.

Up until now, it has been a pain to check award availability on Delta’s flights that are bookable through partner airlines – you basically had to check day-by-day using Air France/KLM or Virgin Atlantic and then if found, book it through one of these programs as the amount of miles required is significantly less than if booking through Delta.

Virgin Atlantic’s New Award Availability Tool

Virgin Atlantic has just introduced an incredible new tool that shows you an award availability calendar for either their own flights or Delta Air Lines flights – the incredible thing is that the calendar shows exactly how many seats are available both in Economy Class and Business Class each day of the month.

For example, let’s say we want to fly from London (LHR) to Seattle (SEA) on Delta. We would visit Virgin’s new award search tool:

https://travelplus.virginatlantic.com/reward-flight-finder

and then simply input our flight details:

Virgin Atlantic’s New Award Availability Tool

then we get a wonderful month’s view and are shown what is available and what isn’t:

Virgin Atlantic’s New Award Availability Tool

and based on that information, we can quickly confirm (using a new search on Virgin’s main page) that the flight is in fact available:

Delta award availability using Virgin Atlantic points

and, just for laughs, compare how many miles Delta wants for their own flight:

Delta award availability using Delta miles

The award availability we find on Virgin’s calendar for Delta flights should also exactly match what we can find with Air France/KLM since Delta will simply release seats either to no partners or all partners – so if a Delta flight is bookable through Virgin Atlantic, it should also be with AF/KL.

All in All

I love both flying Virgin Atlantic and redeeming their points. While their frequent flyer program may not be able to take you to every place in the world, it does offer some unique redemption opportunities on a number of airlines. The best part is that most of Virgin Atlantic’s phone agents are very competent and know what you are talking about when you want to make a booking on a partner airline using points.

Virgin Atlantic’s new award availability tool is incredible – to be able to easily check a month’s worth of availability quickly is very powerful. While this tool was just launched, my hope is that Virgin Atlantic makes searching for award space on more of their partner airlines available this way – and that eventually all of their partners will be fully bookable online (right now you have to call to book some of their airline partners).

The post New & Easy Way to Check Partner Delta Award Availability appeared first on Travel Miles 101.

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club is a very interesting frequent flyer program in that it won’t solve all of your award travel needs, but it does nicely complement other programs. And where other frequent flyer programs may not provide the best value, that’s where you might be able to use Virgin Atlantic points at an exceptional value – let’s cover some of the best Flying Club Sweet Spots in the program.

You can easily gain more points by transferring in from:

• American Express Membership Rewards
• Capital One Rewards
• Chase Ultimate Rewards
• Citi ThankYou Points
• Marriott Bonvoy

Flying Club Sweet Spots Notes

The sweet spots listed below are valid for one-way travel during the regular/low/standard season. Virgin Atlantic does also publish peak season award charts – the season is determined by the date you fly and can be viewed directly on Virgin’s website. Standard and Peak Season award rates may or may not apply to partner airlines; if a connecting flight is required, you may be charged for each flight separately on some partner airlines (though some partner airlines also allow “free” connecting flights within the same region).

This post will cover Flying Club sweet spots on AF/KL, NH, HA, SA. Read about other sweet spots here.

In addition to the mandatory airline taxes and fees that must be paid on an award ticket, some airlines also charge fuel surcharges – which can be hundreds of dollars in some cases. Sadly, Virgin Atlantic does charge fuel surcharges on some award tickets – in some cases these can be very high (especially on their own flights). The good news is that for travel on some of their airline partners, fuel surcharges can be relatively low – this depends on the airline you are flying, the route, class of service, and more. Expect to pay more in taxes/fees and fuel surcharges if redeeming points for Business Class flights.

fly KLM using Flying Club Sweet Spots

Sweet Spots: Air France/KLM Royal Dutch Airlines

search for award space: directly on Virgin Atlantic’s website or using Delta Air Lines SkyMiles

Short-Medium Haul flights:

• flights 600 miles or less: Economy Class: 4k, Business Class: 8k
• flights in distance of 601 – 1,249 miles: Economy Class: 7.5k
• flights in distance of 1,250 – 1,749 miles: Economy Class: 9k

Long Haul flights:

• Zone 1: UK, Germany, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Ireland, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Spain, Portugal, Austria, Denmark, Finland, Italy, Malta, Norway, Sweden
• Zone 2: Albania, Algeria, Armenia, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Croatia, Canary Islands (Spain), Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Israel, Libya, Lithuania, Latvia, Macedonia, Madeira (Portugal), Moldavia, Morocco, Poland, Czech Republic, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkey, Tunisia, Ukraine, Montenegro, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan
• Zone 3: Saudi Arabia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Egypt, UAE, Georgia, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Syria, Qatar, Uzbekistan, Djibouti
• Zone 4: Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Congo, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Uganda, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Senegal, Sudan, South Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Chad, Zambia, Sierra Leone
• Zone 5: Angola, South Africa, Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mauritius, Reunion Island (France), Seychelles, Mayotte (France), Comoros, Madagascar, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka
• Zone 6: USA (Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Washington D.C., West Virginia, Virginia, Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin, Illinois, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Florida), Canada (Ontario, Quebec, Newfoundland, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island), Antigua, Barbados, Bahamas, Cuba, Bermuda, Dominican Republic, French Guyana, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Cayman Islands, Turks and Caicos, Virgin Islands, Jamaica, Martinique, Haiti, Puerto Rico (USA), Trinidad and Tobago, Saint Marteen
• Zone 7: USA (Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Idaho, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, Washington, Oregon, Nevada, California, Hawaii, Alaska), Canada (Nunavut, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, Northwest Territories, British Colombia, Yukon), Mexico, Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, Nicaragua
• Zone 8: Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay
• Zone 9: China, South Korea, Japan, Mongolia, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Laos, Macau, Myanmar, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam
• Zone 10: Australia, Fiji, Guam, Mariana Islands, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, New Zealand, Palau, Vanuatu, Wallis and Futuna, New Caledonia, French Polynesia

The cost of a flight in miles is determined based on the zones you are traveling between. Zone 1 and Zone 2 covers Europe and since that’s where Air France/KLM flights originate, here are the sweet spots:

• Zone 1 <-> Zone 2: Economy Class: 9k
• Zone 1 <-> Zone 3: Economy Class: 12k, Premium Economy Class: 24k
• Zone 1 <-> Zone 4: Economy Class: 12k, Premium Economy Class: 24k, Business Class: 48.5k
• Zone 1 <-> Zone 5: Economy Class: 15k, Premium Economy Class: 30k, Business Class: 61k
• Zone 1 <-> Zone 6: Economy Class: 12k, Premium Economy Class: 24k, Business Class: 48.5k
• Zone 1 <-> Zone 7: Economy Class: 15k
• Zone 1 <-> Zone 8: Economy Class: 17k, Premium Economy Class: 34k
• Zone 1 <-> Zone 9: Economy Class: 21k
• Zone 1 <-> Zone 10: Economy Class: 31k
• Zone 2 <-> Zone 3: Economy Class: 20k
• Zone 2 <-> Zone 4: Economy Class: 20k, Business Class: 65k
• Zone 2 <-> Zone 5: Economy Class: 23k
• Zone 2 <-> Zone 6: Economy Class: 20k
• Zone 2 <-> Zone 7: Economy Class: 23k
• Zone 2 <-> Zone 8: Economy Class: 26.5k
• Zone 2 <-> Zone 9: Economy Class: 30k
• Zone 2 <-> Zone 10: Economy Class: 39.5k

Sweet Spots: ANA All Nippon Airways

search for award space: using Air Canada Aeroplan or United Airlines MileagePlus

• Japan <-> Japan: Economy Class: 7.5k
• Japan <-> South Korea: Economy Class: 9k
• Japan <-> China/Guam/Hong Kong/Taiwan/Philippines: Economy Class: 11.5k, Business Class: 22.5k, First Class: 30k
• Japan <-> Malaysia/Myanmar/Singapore/Thailand/Vietnam: Business Class: 32.5k, First Class: 40k
• Japan <-> Hawaii/India/Indonesia: Economy Class: 22.5k, Business Class: 35k, First Class: 45k
• Japan <-> Australia/Canada/West Coast USA: Business Class: 45k, First Class: 55k
• Japan <-> Europe/Mexico/Rest of USA: Business Class: 47.5k, First Class: 60k

Sweet Spots: Hawaiian Airlines

search for award space: using Hawaiian Airlines Hawaiian Miles at the low/saver award levels or for international Hawaiian Airlines flights, using American Airlines AAdvantage

• Hawaii <-> Hawaii: Economy Class: 7.5k
• Hawaii <-> West Coast USA: First Class: 40k
• Hawaii <-> South Pacific: Economy Class: 27.5k, Business Class: 47.5k

There’s a few other routes you can redeem on, but the value isn’t that great so they aren’t considered sweet spots.

Sweet Spots: South African Airways

search for award space: using Air Canada Aeroplan or United Airlines MileagePlus

• Domestic South Africa <-> Domestic South Africa: Economy Class: 10k, Business Class: 15k
• South Africa <-> Botswana/Lesotho/Madagascar/Malawi/Mozambique/Namibia/Swaziland/Zambia/Zimbabwe: Economy Class: 10k, Business Class: 15k
• South Africa <-> Angola/Benin/Cameroon/Côte d’Ivoire/DR Congo/Republic of Congo/Gabon/Ghana/Kenya/Nigeria/Senegal/Tanzania/Uganda: Business Class: 25k
• South Africa <-> Indian Ocean: Economy Class: 20k, Business Class: 25k

There are a few other sweet spots for travel on South African Airways, however given the airline’s recent financial trouble, they aren’t operating many flights at the moment and aren’t flying to the USA/Europe/South America/Australia – so booking those other sweet spots is not possible right now.

visit Japan with Flying Club Sweet Spots

Flying Club Sweet Spots: All in All

As you can see by the various sweet spots above, Virgin Atlantic’s program can truly be powerful when redeeming points on different airlines in several regions. Remember that fuel surcharges do vary based on your airline, route, class, etc. Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points are relatively easy to earn as you can transfer in from a bunch of transferable bank points programs and from Marriott Bonvoy.

Remember that not all redemptions can be done directly on Virgin’s website and some do require you calling in; changes and cancellations are also simple with Flying Club for a small fee of GBP30 or USD50. Redeeming miles for award tickets through Flying Club can be an incredible deal in many cases – just make sure the surcharges on your itinerary aren’t too expensive.

The post Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Sweet Spots (AF/KL, NH, HA, SA) appeared first on Travel Miles 101.

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club is a very interesting frequent flyer program in that it won’t solve all of your award travel needs, but it does nicely complement other programs. And where other frequent flyer programs may not provide the best value, that’s where you might be able to use Virgin Atlantic points at an exceptional value – let’s cover some of the best Sweet Spots in the Virgin Atlantic Flying Club program.

You can easily gain more points by transferring in from:

• American Express Membership Rewards
• Capital One Rewards
• Chase Ultimate Rewards
• Citi ThankYou Points
• Marriott Bonvoy

Flying Club Sweet Spots Notes

The sweet spots listed below are valid for one-way travel during the regular/low/standard season. Virgin Atlantic does also publish peak season award charts – the season is determined by the date you fly and can be viewed directly on Virgin’s website. Standard and Peak Season award rates may or may not apply to partner airlines; if a connecting flight is required, you may be charged for each flight separately on some partner airlines (though some partner airlines also allow “free” connecting flights within the same region).

This post will cover sweet spots on (next post will cover other airline partners):

• Virgin Atlantic
• Air New Zealand
• Delta Air Lines
• Singapore Airlines
• Virgin Australia

In addition to the mandatory airline taxes and fees that must be paid on an award ticket, some airlines also charge fuel surcharges – which can be hundreds of dollars in some cases. Sadly, Virgin Atlantic does charge fuel surcharges on some award tickets – in some cases these can be very high (especially on their own flights). The good news is that for travel on some of their airline partners, fuel surcharges can be relatively low – this depends on the airline you are flying, the route, class of service, and more. Expect to pay more in taxes/fees and fuel surcharges if redeeming points for Business Class flights.

redeem Flying Club miles for Virgin Atlantic flights

Sweet Spots: Virgin Atlantic

search for award space: directly on Virgin Atlantic’s website

• UK <-> Israel: Economy Class: 9k, Premium Economy: 16k, Upper Class: 28k
• UK <-> India/Pakistan: Economy Class: 10k, Premium Economy: 17.5k, Upper Class: 37.5k
• UK <-> US (BOS, EWR, JFK, IAD): Economy Class: 10k, Premium Economy: 17.5k, Upper Class: 47.5k
• UK <-> US (ATL, MIA, MCO, TPA): Economy Class: 12.5k, Premium Economy: 22.5k, Upper Class: 47.5k
• UK <-> US (AUS, LAS, LAX, SFO, SEA): Economy Class: 15k, Premium Economy: 27.5k
• UK <-> Caribbean: Economy Class: 10k, Premium Economy: 17.5k, Upper Class: 57.5k
• UK <-> Nigeria/China/Hong Kong: Economy Class: 12.5k, Premium Economy: 22.5k, Upper Class: 57.5k
• UK <-> South Africa: Economy Class: 12.5k, Premium Economy: 25k, Upper Class: 57.5k

Sweet Spots: Air New Zealand

search for award space: using Air Canada Aeroplan or United Airlines MileagePlus

• New Zealand <-> New Zealand: Economy Class: 7.5k
• New Zealand <-> Australia: Economy Class: 10k, Business Class: 15k
• New Zealand <-> Pacific Islands: Economy Class: 10k, Business Class: 15k
• New Zealand <-> Asia: Business Class: 40k
• New Zealand <-> Hawaii: Business Class: 45k
• New Zealand <-> North America: Business Class: 62.5k

Air New Zealand award availability in Business Class is hard to find – so if you see something, book it right away!

Sweet Spots: Delta Air Lines

search for award space: directly on Virgin Atlantic’s website or using Air France/KLM Flying Blue

• UK <-> US (BOS, JFK): Economy Class: 15k, Delta One: 47.5k
• UK <-> US (ATL, DTW, MSP): Economy Class: 17.5k, Delta One: 47.5k
• UK <-> US (SLC): Economy Class: 20k
• Europe (excluding the UK) <-> US: Delta One: 50k
• all other flights with range of 0 – 500 miles flown: Economy Class: 7.5k
• all other flights with range of 501 – 1,000 miles flown: Economy Class: 8.5k
• all other flights with range of 1,001 – 1,500 miles flown: Economy Class: 11.5k
• all other flights with range of 1,501 – 2,000 miles flown: Economy Class: 12.5k
• all other flights with range of 2,001 – 3,000 miles flown: Economy Class: 15k
• all other flights with range of 3,001 – 4,000 miles flown: Economy Class: 22.5k

Sweet Spots: Singapore Airlines

search for award space: using Air Canada Aeroplan or United Airlines MileagePlus

• Singapore <-> Brunei/Indonesia/Malaysia: Economy Class: 7.5k
• Singapore <-> Japan/South Korea: Business Class: 35k, First Class: 50k
• Singapore <-> China (PEK, PVG): Business Class: 35k, First Class: 50k
• Singapore <-> Turkey/UAE: Business Class: 40k, First Class: 60k
• Singapore <-> South Africa: Business Class: 50k, First Class: 70k

Note that Singapore Airlines releases more award space to their own members, especially in the premium cabins.

Sweet Spots: Virgin Australia

search for award space: using Air Canada Aeroplan

• flights less than 400 miles: Economy Class: 8k
• flights in distance of 600 – 1,199 miles: Economy Class: 15k

redeem Flying Club miles and travel the world

All in All

As you can see by the various sweet spots above, Virgin Atlantic’s program can truly be powerful when redeeming points on different airlines in several regions. Remember that fuel surcharges do vary based on your airline, route, class, etc. Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points are relatively easy to earn as you can transfer in from a bunch of transferable bank points programs and from Marriott Bonvoy.

Remember that not all redemptions can be done directly on Virgin’s website and some do require you calling in; changes and cancellations are also simple with Flying Club for a small fee of GBP30 or USD50. Redeeming miles for award tickets through Flying Club can be an incredible deal in many cases – just make sure the surcharges on your itinerary aren’t too expensive.

The post Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Sweet Spots (VS, NZ, DL, SQ, VA) appeared first on Travel Miles 101.

Transferring Points to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points are fairly easy to acquire since you can transfer them in from most major transferable bank points programs:

• American Express Membership Rewards
  • 1:1 transfer ratio
  • instant transfer
• Capital One Rewards
  • 1:1 transfer ratio to the Virgin Red program
  • instant transfer
• Chase Ultimate Rewards
  • 1:1 transfer ratio
  • instant transfer
• Citi ThankYou Points
  • 1:1 transfer ratio
  • instant transfer
• Marriott Bonvoy
  • 3:1 transfer ratio (for every 60k Marriott Bonvoy points you transfer, you will get a bonus of 5k Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points)
  • average transfer time is 1-2 days

The transferable bank points programs frequently offer transfer bonuses, for example, like 30% more airline miles/points. Under a bonus like this you would receive 30% more Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points when transferring from a bank program.

see the world with Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Award Fees

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club has very reasonable award fees, should you require them. There is no fee when making a booking over the phone, which is useful since some of their airline partners do not show up directly on their website and must be booked over the phone (you would find award availability elsewhere and call Virgin Atlantic to book).

• award ticket change fee: GBP30 or USD50
• award ticket redeposit/cancel fee: GBP30 or USD50

The currency you are charged in depends on what currency your ticket was issued in and/or the address on your Flying Club account.

Virgin Atlantic Partner Airlines

In addition to obviously being able to redeem Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points on Virgin Atlantic flights, you can also redeem them on a number of partner airlines, which include:

• Air France
• Air New Zealand
• ANA All Nippon Airways
• Delta Air Lines
• Hawaiian Airlines
• KLM Royal Dutch Airlines
• Singapore Airlines
• South African Airways
• Virgin Australia

Virgin Atlantic does also partner with the following airlines, but you can only earn miles for flights on these airlines and you aren’t able to redeem your Virgin points:

• IndiGo
• SAS Scandinavian Airlines

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, a Virgin Atlantic Flying Club partner

Redeeming Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Points

You can search for award availability and redeem your points directly on Virgin Atlantic’s website for flights on Virgin Atlantic and some of their airline partners. Not all of their airline partners show up on Virgin’s website and some must be booked over the phone.

Search for Air New Zealand, ANA All Nippon Airways, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways award availability using Air Canada Aeroplan or United Airlines MileagePlus. Keep in mind that you should search for award availability using a partner program (for example, Singapore Airlines offers more award availability to their own members and therefore you should search for a Singapore Airlines flight on Air Canada or United and if you find award space, you will be able to book it using Virgin points).

Search for Hawaiian Airlines award availability using Hawaiian Airlines’ website at their lowest/saver-level award rates. You can also check for award availability on international Hawaiian Airlines flights using American Airlines AAdvantage.

Search for Virgin Australia award availability using Air Canada Aeroplan.

Once you find award availability on your desired flight you can call Virgin Atlantic Flying Club and provide them the exact flight information and they should be able to book it without issue. Virgin does publish award charts for their own flights and for partner awards so you can easily see how much a flight will cost directly on their website.

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Fuel Surcharges

In addition to the mandatory airline taxes and fees that must be paid on an award ticket, some airlines also charge fuel surcharges – which can be hundreds of dollars in some cases. Sadly, Virgin Atlantic does charge fuel surcharges on award tickets – in some cases these can be very high (especially on their own flights). The good news is that for travel on some of their airline partners, fuel surcharges can be relatively low – this depends on the airline you are flying, the route, class of service, and more. Expect to pay more in taxes/fees and fuel surcharges if redeeming points for Business Class flights.

All in All

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club is a very niche frequent flyer program with some great airline partners and sweet spots. You can easily acquire Virgin points by transferring in from various bank points programs or even from Marriott Bonvoy. This frequent flyer program won’t solve all of your redemption needs, but it does nicely complement other programs and provides powerful redemption opportunities across several regions.

The post Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Overview appeared first on Travel Miles 101.

Redeem Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles

HawaiianMiles is the frequent flyer program of Hawaiian Airlines and you’re able to both earn and redeem miles on all eligible Hawaiian Airlines flights. If you don’t have any HawaiianMiles you can transfer points from American Express Membership Rewards (1:1 ratio and instant transfer) or Marriott Bonvoy (3:1 ratio and average transfer time is 1-2 days).

The award chart can be viewed here. You will notice there are a few award charts – depending on the regions you are traveling from and to. Flights within Hawaii are usually inexpensive and therefore it may not make sense to redeem miles for those (unless traveling during a peak period where the revenue cost is high but there is award availability).

The best redemptions include:

• Hawaii to/from North America in First Class for 40,000 miles one-way
• Hawaii to/from Japan, Korea, Australia, and New Zealand in Business Class for 65,000 miles one-way
• Hawaii to/from Pago Pago and Papeete in Business Class for 47,500 miles one-way
• Hawaii to/from Pago Pago and Papeete in Economy Class for 27,500 miles one-way

All prices mentioned above are for the lowest (saver) level award availability. Redeeming 40,000 miles for a one-way First Class lie-flat seat on a nonstop flight from New York to Honolulu is a fantastic redemption and something you’re unlikely to find on other U.S. airlines.

redeem miles for flights on Hawaiian Airlines

Redeem American Airlines AAdvantage miles

You can redeem American Airlines AAdvantage miles on select Hawaiian Airlines flights – but not all flights. Furthermore, any flight within Hawaii on Hawaiian Airlines requires a separate award and cannot be combined with other Hawaiian Airlines flights (for example, Kauai – Honolulu – Tokyo cannot be booked on one award). You can redeem AA miles for Hawaiian Airlines flights within Hawaii and their international flights from Honolulu.

Award pricing is based on AA’s flight award chart for oneworld and partner airlines. You’re able to mix and match airlines, for example, you could fly Honolulu to Tokyo on Hawaiian Airlines and then Tokyo to Osaka on Japan Airlines all on one award. You can fly to the Asia 2 region via the Asia 1 region (Japan and Korea), so an award like Honolulu – Tokyo – Kuala Lumpur on Hawaiian Airlines and Malaysia Airlines is totally fine as long as the connection in Tokyo is under 24 hours.

Highlights of AA’s award chart include:

• Hawaii to Asia Region 1 in Business Class for 52,500 miles one-way
• Hawaii to Asia Region 2 in Business Class for 55,000 miles one-way
• Hawaii to the South Pacific in Business Class for 65,000 miles one-way

If there’s award space you could potentially fly something like Honolulu – Auckland – Sydney – Perth for 65,000 miles one-way in Business Class on Hawaiian Airlines and Qantas which would be a great use of AAdvantage miles.

If you don’t have any AAdvantage miles you can transfer points from Marriot Bonvoy (3:1 ratio and average transfer time is 2 days), Citi sometimes allows transfers from ThankYou points to AAdvantage but this isn’t permanent and rather an “offer” that has appeared before.

Redeem United Airlines MileagePlus miles

United Airlines no longer publishes an award chart so award redemption levels will vary but expect to redeem around 7,700 miles for a one-way flight within Hawaii in Economy. You can also add on a flight within Hawaii as part of your larger itinerary from the mainland U.S. For example, you can redeem United miles for a United flight from San Francisco to Honolulu and then Honolulu to Maui on Hawaiian Airlines all on the same award.

If you don’t have any MileagePlus miles you can transfer points from Chase Ultimate Rewards (1:1 ratio and instant transfer) or Marriott Bonvoy (3:1.1 ratio and average transfer time is 1-2 days).

Redeem Delta Air Lines SkyMiles

Delta Air Lines no longer publishes an award chart so award redemption levels will vary but expect to redeem around 7,500 miles for a one-way flight within Hawaii in Economy. You can also add on a flight within Hawaii as part of your larger itinerary from the mainland U.S. For example, you can redeem Delta miles for a Delta flight from Los Angeles to Honolulu and then Honolulu to Maui on Hawaiian Airlines all on the same award.

If you don’t have any SkyMiles you can transfer points from American Express Membership Rewards (1:1 ratio and instant transfer) or Marriott Bonvoy (3:1 ratio and average transfer time is 1 day).

Redeem Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points

Virgin Atlantic has some unique airline partners and one of them is Hawaiian Airlines. You can view the award chart for Hawaiian Airlines here. Virgin Atlantic miles are relatively easy to earn since you can transfer them from American Express Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, and Citi ThankYou points (1:1 ratio and instant transfer) or Marriott Bonvoy (3:1 ratio and average transfer time is 1-2 days).

Highlights of the award chart for Hawaiian Airlines include:

• Hawaii – West Coast Mainland USA in Business Class for 40,000 points one-way
• Hawaii – South Pacific in Business Class for 47,500 points one-way
• Hawaii – South Pacific in Economy Class for 27,500 points one-way
• Hawaii – Asia/Australia/New Zealand/East Coast Mainland USA in Business Class for 65,000 points one-way

fly to Hawaii using miles

Other Hawaiian Airlines Partners

Hawaiian Airlines is also partners with China Airlines, Japan Airlines, jetBlue Airways, Korean Air, and Virgin Australia. You may be able to also earn/redeem these points for travel on Hawaiian Airlines flights, but it is either hard to earn some of these miles/points or the value isn’t so great.

All in All

Hawaiian Airlines has some unique and cool flights that are outside of Hawaii for which you can redeem miles. Award availability in Economy is generally okay on their Asia flights, but harder to find on their South Pacific flights; First/Business Class is harder to book using miles, but not impossible.

Sometimes the best way to get to Asia or the South Pacific is via a stop in Hawaii. The U.S. state is conveniently positioned along the path of flights to the South Pacific and since those can generally be long from the U.S. mainland, a stop in Hawaii to stretch your legs (or even explore the islands for a few days), could be just what you need on your next trip.

The post Redeeming Miles for Hawaiian Airlines Flights appeared first on Travel Miles 101.

Use Miles & Points to travel here!

Airlines and their Partners

Today, we are going to look at a bigger picture in the miles & points hobby – airlines and their partners. The number one question that was asked was “how can I use my miles/points from airline X to travel on airline X’s partners?” While this may seem easy, in some cases it requires searching several websites and maybe even calling the airline over the phone to book.

I’d love to learn how to use airline points to be used on an airline partner! I get so confused when someone say you need to go to this site and search for this, then do this and you need to call this airline.

Like many others I’m most curious about the affiliate partners of airlines.

Explaining the value and optimization of transferring points to partners and booking through partners to find sweetspots for airfare. I’m understanding optimizing earning points and bonus categories, but spending points efficiently is a mystery.

When airlines are partners (or in the same alliance), you can generally earn and redeem miles across all of these airlines. For example, you can fly Lufthansa and credit miles to United Airlines (or the opposite) – this is because the two are in the same alliance. You can also use United Airlines miles to fly Lufthansa (and the opposite). If an airline is a member of an alliance, you can redeem your miles from any airline in that alliance for travel on other airlines in that same alliance.

Airline Alliances and non-alliance Partnerships

There are currently three major airline alliances – Star Alliance, oneworld, and SkyTeam. You can view the airlines that belong to each alliance here:

• Star Alliance member airlines
• oneworld member airlines
• SkyTeam member airlines

Airlines that are members of a specific alliance can also have partnerships outside of their alliances. For example, United Airlines is a member of Star Alliance, but also partners with Aer Lingus (an airline with no alliance membership). American Airlines is a member of oneworld, but also partners with Etihad Airways (an airline with no alliance membership).

Use Singapore Airlines Miles to fly on ALL Star Alliance airlines

In addition to airline alliances, some non-alliance airlines also partner with lots of other airlines and allow you to earn and redeem miles on all of the airlines in the partnership.

The important thing to note here is that while Alaska Airlines is partners with airline X and Y, it may not be true that airlines X and Y are partners on their own (if they aren’t in the same alliance, for example). Alaska is partners with both Singapore Airlines and Finnair and you can earn Alaska miles for travel on these two partners, however, Singapore Airlines and Finnair are not partners between themselves as they are in different alliances (Singapore Airlines is in Star Alliance and Finnair is in oneworld) – so while you can earn Alaska miles for travel on both airlines, you cannot earn Finnair miles for travel on Singapore Airlines since they aren’t partners (and not in the same alliance).

There are many other airlines that aren’t members of an alliance and partner with other airlines:

• Emirates partner airlines
• Etihad Airways partner airlines

You can redeem miles on all airlines within an alliance if an airline is a member of that alliance. With partnerships, you should check the website of the airline which you have miles with if you can use these miles on their partners outside of an alliance. For example, if you have American Airlines miles, it is automatic that you can redeem them on any oneworld airline (as AA is a member of oneworld), but you should check AA’s website for earning and redeeming specifics on their non-oneworld partner airlines (such as Etihad Airways, for example).

Searching for Alliance Award Space (flights using Miles)

Searching for award space within the three alliances is very easy. As a reminder, you can redeem miles on any airline within the same alliance from any other airline also in the same alliance, for example, you can use Turkish Airlines miles to fly Singapore Airlines as both airlines are in the Star Alliance.

Star Alliance

To search for Star Alliance award space, use United Airlines’ website. The website is fantastic and will show you ALL Star Alliance award space that is available. You do not need to have a United account to search for award space.

Use United.com to search ALL Star Alliance Award Space

The second website I use to find Star Alliance award space is Aeroplan, Air Canada’s frequent flyer program. Also, Aeroplan does NOT display ALL possible connections and therefore it is best to search each flight separately. For example, if you search for Seattle to London, you may get no results while if you search for Seattle to New York and New York to London, you may find available flights.

oneworld

Searching for oneworld award space is easy because you can use the American Airlines website to find award space on all of their oneworld partners.

Use AA.com to search for oneworld Award Space

To search oneworld award space, also use the British Airways website:

Use BA.com to search for oneworld Award Space

SkyTeam

The two best airlines to search for award space on SkyTeam are the Air France website and the Delta website. While you will need an account to use the award search function on Air France’s website, you don’t need an account on Delta’s website to search for award space.

Use Delta.com to search for SkyTeam Award Space

Delta’s website often does show a bunch of flight combinations, however it is terrible to use and you will often find errors after errors. Also, keep in mind that Delta only allows their SkyTeam partners to book award space at Delta Saver Level 1 – which is the lowest cost of a flight in Delta miles. However, Delta doesn’t publish award charts, so we can’t be 100% sure what is Saver Level 1. If you need to book Delta flights using SkyTeam partners, use the Air France or Korean Air website and if they show Delta award space, you can usually book it through other SkyTeam partners.

Searching for Award Space outside of Airline Alliances

Searching for award space outside of airline alliances is a bit tricky because sometimes airlines limit the number of award seats that are available to their non-alliance partners.

To search for award space on non-alliance partners, you should generally use the website of the airline you want to fly on. For example, if you want to fly Etihad Airways using American Airlines miles, you should use Etihad’s website to find awards space at the lowest saver level – which is the same award space American Airlines will see.

Use Etihad’s website to find award space on Etihad

In Conclusion

I hope this article clarified as to how you can use your miles from airline X on airline X’s partners. The general rules are:

• you can earn/redeem miles on ALL airlines within the same alliance
  • example: use United miles to fly Lufthansa
• you can earn/redeem miles on other partners of a specific airline
  • example: fly Etihad Airways using American Airlines miles (the two airlines are non-alliance partners)

Now that you understand you can use miles from airline X on airline X’s partners, my next articles will be a more detailed overview on how to find/book award space within each airline alliance and also on non-alliance partners.

If you have any questions at all or if something needs clarification, please post them below or tag and ask me in the TM101 Facebook group.

Happy Booking!

The post Redeeming Miles from Airline X on Airline X’s Partners appeared first on Travel Miles 101.

It is always important to double or triple check if the availability you found is actually there – because if you decide to transfer points from a bank to an airline to book the flight, the transfers are nonreversible, so you will be stuck with those points in a specific program if you cannot book your desired flight because of a website glitch. Usually the best way to verify if an award flight is available is by calling the airline or the frequent flyer program that you want to book through – for example, if I want to book a Lufthansa flight through United’s program, I would call United and double check over the phone if the agents can also see that award space.

Star Alliance Award Availability

Star Alliance features the world’s most amazing carriers… and it also features United’s website which is hands-down by far the best way to search for award availability on any Star Alliance airline or connecting partner. In addition, United also partners with a bunch of other airlines which you can search on their website directly. As with any airline website, they sometimes aren’t good at everything, so you always want to double check to make sure the award space you find is bookable (either with another airline or over the phone).

The best ways to search for Star Alliance award availability:

• United (Air China and Singapore Airlines award space is often phantom – always double check it)
• ANA (usually very accurate)
• Aeroplan
• Singapore Airlines (SQ mostly releases premium cabin award space on their flights to their members only – so don’t rely on SQ’s website for SQ availability that you want to book elsewhere)
• Miles & More (more availability on LH Group flights to M&M members – especially in premium cabins, double check other sources)

In general, I begin all of my Star Alliance searches on United and double check them on ANA or Aeroplan, and sometimes I will also call in to make sure that space is truly bookable, especially if it is something rare that might show up (like Singapore Airlines Business or First Class).

oneworld Award Availability

oneworld features many incredible airlines, especially when you travel on them in the premium cabin. The most popular way to book oneworld flights is through American Airlines or British Airways. BA’s website is the most popular way to search for oneworld availability and was usually the best way to do so – as AA’s website did not display all oneworld availability online. AA does now display most of their partner’s award flights online and therefore you should begin your searches there and then confirm with BA. The one important aspect to note about BA’s website is that it does frequently display phantom award space – therefore you should always double check with yet another airline like Qantas or by calling the program you want to book through.

The best ways to search for oneworld award availability:

• American Airlines
• British Airways (double check if you find availability here, sometimes shows phantom)
• Qantas Airways (usually most accurate)

One word of warning regarding American Airlines’ website – it will sometimes show you award space that is there but it will say it isn’t actually available when you go to book it. This is especially tricky because while it may seem like it is phantom space, sometimes that award space is actually there, but the U.S.-based website and agents cannot book it. In this case, you want to check as many ways as possible to see if that award space is there.

SkyTeam Award Availability

SkyTeam isn’t very popular with international award redemptions as there aren’t any incredible redemption opportunities since Delta has more or less destroyed their program and Air France-KLM followed their lead. The best way to search for award availability is on Delta’s website for non-Delta flights and for SkyTeam partners that appear online as the DL website does not show all partners. The other best way is to search on Air France’s website – this would be best for Delta availability and other SkyTeam availability, but not necessarily Air France-KLM flights as there may be more award space to their own members.

The best ways to search for SkyTeam award availability:

• Delta (for non-Delta flights, DL’s website does not show all SkyTeam airlines)
• Air France (for DL flights, not for AF/KL flights, for other SkyTeam airlines)
• Calling the Airline (best way for other SkyTeam airlines which might not show up online)

SkyTeam is very tricky – they do not allow International First Class redemptions across all airlines and they also have a bunch of other strange aspects to them – mainly because Delta mostly runs SkyTeam. You always should check with the program you want to use to book your flight if that award space is there (for example, using Delta miles on China Airlines – check with Delta over the phone to verify availability).

Other Airlines

Finding award space on airlines that do not belong to any major alliance is a bit tricky as you usually have to either search on their own website directly (and remember they sometimes give more seats to their own members) or you have to use their partner airlines to search – and some of them require you to call in and inquire over the phone.

The best ways to search for other airlines award availability (some examples):

• Aer Lingus = United Airlines or British Airways
• Air Tahiti Nui = American Airlines
• Alaska Airlines = American Airlines (for saver-level award space)
• Condor = Alaska Airlines (not all routes)
• Edelweiss Air = United Airlines or Miles & More (might be more availability)
• Eurowings = United Airlines or Miles & More (might be more availability)
• Etihad Airways = Etihad’s website (search for saver space) or American Airlines
• Fiji Airways = American Airlines or Alaska Airlines (not all routes)
• Hainan Airlines = Alaska Airlines (not all routes)
• Hawaiian Airlines = United Airlines
• Icelandair = Alaska Airlines

A word of caution: when airlines are not in an alliance together, they may not allow all earning and redeeming on their partners. For example, you cannot redeem Alaska Airlines miles on Fiji Airways for travel from/to Fiji from/to Asia (Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore)… but you should be able to redeem American Airlines miles for those routes. It is always important to check for situations like these.

In Conclusion

Searching for award availability can sometimes be tricky and it is important to know what the best way to go about searching is – whether that is through the airline directly, through a partner airline, over the phone, etc. Remember to always verify if the award space you find isn’t phantom by double checking with other airlines or over the phone before you complete any mileage transfers. Do note that when searching for partner award space outside of an alliance, there may be additional restrictions on mileage redemption and/or on which routes you can redeem, be sure to check all aspects of your desired booking and the rules of the frequent flyer program you want to use.

The post Award Availability: Best Ways to Search appeared first on Travel Miles 101.

It’s often easiest to search segment-by-segment, so knowing the hubs is essential, especially when you’re looking for international flights.

Keep in mind that if a particular airline doesn’t have a hub in a desired city, it doesn’t mean that the airline doesn’t fly to/from that city!

Here is a list of airline hubs for some of the US’s largest airlines:

United Airlines

International hubs are in bold

• Denver – Denver International Airport (DEN)
• Houston – George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH)
• Los Angeles – Los Angeles International (LAX)
• Newark – Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR)
• Chicago – O’Hare International Airport (ORD)
• San Francisco – San Francisco International Airport (SFO)
• Washington – Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD)
• Guam – Antonio B. Won Pat International Airport (GUM)
• Tokyo – Narita International Airport (NRT)

American Airlines

• Charlotte – Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT)
• Chicago – O’Hare International Airport (ORD)
• Dallas – Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW)
• Los Angeles – Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
• Miami – Miami International Airport (MIA)
• New York – John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK)
• New York – LaGuardia Airport (LGA)
• Philadelphia – Philadelphia International Airport (PHL)
• Phoenix – Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX)
• Washington – Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA)

Delta

• Cincinnati – Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG)
• Detroit – Detroit Metropolitan Airport (DTW)
• Atlanta – Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL)
• New York City – John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK)
• New York City – LaGuardia Airport (LGA)
• Boston – Logan International Airport (BOS)
• Los Angeles – Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
• Minneapolis – Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP)
• Salt Lake City – Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC)
• Seattle – Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA)

Southwest airlines calls the airports where they have a large presence as operating bases.

Southwest

• Dallas – Dallas Love Field (DAL)
• Chicago – Chicago Midway International Airport (MDW)
• Houston – William P. Hobby Airport (HOU)
• Baltimore – Baltimore Washington International Airport (BWI)
• Atlanta – Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL)
• Denver – Denver International Airport (DEN)
• Las Vegas – McCarran International Airport (LAS)
• Oakland – Metropolitan Oakland International Airport (OAK)
• Orlando – Orlando International Airport (MCO)
• Phoenix – Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX)

Jet Blue doesn’t have “hubs”, but rather Focus Cities

Jet Blue

• New York City – John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK)
• Fort Lauderdale – Hollywood International Airport (FLL)
• Boston – Logan International Airport (BOS)
• Long Beach – Long Beach Airport (LGB)
• San Juan – Luis Muñoz Marin International Airport (SJU)
• Orlando – Orlando International Airport (MCO)

Alaska Airlines

Focus Cities are in bold

• Los Angeles – Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
• Portland – Portland International Airport (PDX)
• Seattle – Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA)
• Anchorage – Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC)
• San Diego – San Diego International Airport (SAN)
• San Jose – Norman Y Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC)

Conclusion

This list could come in handy to know how to plan your future travel.  It is also helpful so that you know which airline to pursue elite status with if that is one of your goals.  If you happen to live close to one of the airports that are listed as a hub for several airlines, then you have lots of options!

Which is your favorite airline hub?

The post List of Major Airline Hubs appeared first on Travel Miles 101.

To summarize:  She is looking to take an anniversary trip with her family of four to Cancun, Mexico and she has some flexibility to fly from either Baltimore or Washington, DC.  She currently has 60,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points and while she knows this won’t be enough to get four free round-trip flights, she wants to maximize her points as best as possible.

Sabrina’s Flight Options to Cancun

Before I get started searching for flights, I wanted to brainstorm Sabrina’s realistic potential options to redeem her Chase Ultimate Rewards points for travel to Cancun:

• Book travel through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal
• Transfer points to Southwest to book on Southwest flights
• Transfer points to British Airways to book on American Airlines flights
• Transfer points to United to book on United flights

The first thing we need to do on our search is find out what airlines fly to Cancun from the Baltimore/Washington, DC area.  So we go to the Cancun Airport Wikipedia Page and scroll down to the “Airlines and Destinations” section and search for both Baltimore and Washington, DC.  Here’s what I found:

Southwest has direct flights from Baltimore and United has direct flights from Washington-Dulles airport.  I’m quite pleased to see the Southwest flight as I know from experience that they are the easiest airline to book award seats with, especially when you’re looking for a family of four.

Not only that, but since Sabrina is flying from their main hub in Baltimore and January isn’t a high-demand month, there is a chance that these flights will be really inexpensive booking with either points or cash.

We also note there are some “seasonal” Delta flights out of both Baltimore and DC, but that isn’t going to help us much on this search:

One thing to note at this point is that since there aren’t any direct flights on American Airlines from the DC area to Cancun that we are now throwing out our option above to use British Airways miles to fly on American Airlines planes.  That just isn’t plausible for the itinerary.

Searching for Flights on Southwest Airlines

Since I have a strong suspicion that Southwest is going to be Sabrina’s best option, I start my search at Southwest.com and here’s what I entered (note that I clicked the “Points” button near the top right):

Since Sabrina didn’t specify her dates in January, I just randomly picked a few dates to get started.  Here’s what I found from BWI to CUN:

There appear to be two nonstop flights on the 18th and the one only costs 9,288 Southwest miles for each one-way flight.  Here’s the return on the 23rd:

There are also two nonstop flights back to Baltimore, but you’ll notice that this flight segment costs 15,124 miles for the one-way, which is not ideal.

Since Sabrina has some flexibility, we decide to click the “Try our Low Fare Calendar” in the upper right section of the page, which is a nice hidden search tool when finding award seats on Southwest.com.  Here are the options from BWI to CUN:

It looks like there are many options around 9,000 points per flight, which is roughly what we found on our search on the 18th.  Here are the options back from Cancun:

It looks like there are many dates with flights in the 9,000 – 10,000 miles range (though they may not be nonstop, so Sabrina will have to search additionally, but this gives her a guide at least), so we’re fairly confident she can get three of the four round-trip flights from BWI to Cancun using her 60,000 Chase UR points.  She just has to simply transfer them from Chase to her Southwest Rapid Rewards account and she can book through Southwest.

The other nice thing about Southwest is that she can easily purchase the fourth ticket normally through the site using cash; since Southwest points flights are based on the cash price, we’re fairly certain the flights she decides to book will be on the less expensive side, so there won’t be any nasty surprises waiting for her when she goes to book the fourth ticket.

Booking Options Through the Chase Ultimate Rewards Portal

Sabrina’s second major option is to book travel directly through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal.  She’ll get a value of 1.25 cents per point, so her 60,000 points will be worth a total of $750 through Chase.

First she’ll log into her Chase account and go to Ultimate Rewards and will see the following screen:

Then she’ll hover over “Use Points” and click “Explore & Book Travel.”  Then she’ll enter her flight info:

After clicking “Search” here’s what we find:

These are pretty awful looking flights with a cost of nearly 25,000 miles round-trip and at least an 11 hour journey.  I can’t imagine she’d prefer these options to the Southwest flights we already found!

For the sake of thoroughness, I also check from DC to Cancun:

While these flights are shorter, they still require one stop and are each over 24,000 points, so again not ideal.

Using United Miles to Fly to Cancun

From the United.com homepage, I enter the following info hoping to find Saver Economy availability on that direct flight out of Washington-Dulles airport:

After clicking “Search” here’s the availability I found:

The first thing that jumps out to me is that the Saver Economy flights cost a whopping 17,500 miles one-way!  That’s 35,000 miles round-trip, which is dramatically more than the roughly 20,000 we found using Southwest miles.

I conclude at this point that using United miles is a bad idea for this trip and stop my search.

Summary

We looked at Sabrina’s options to fly from the Baltimore/Washington, DC area to Cancun using Chase Ultimate Rewards points and Southwest Airlines came away as the clear winner.

It looks like she can book three round-trip tickets with her 60,000 miles (transferred from Chase to Southwest) and she can pay for the remaining ticket through the Southwest website.

The post Helping Sabrina Take an Anniversary Trip to Cancun with Ultimate Rewards Points appeared first on Travel Miles 101.

How To Find Award Seats

First, go to the Southwest website.

When you’re on the home page, go to about the middle of the page and enter in your flight search criteria.  Enter in your departing and arriving airport. Then enter your dates and number of passengers. Also make sure to select “Points” in order to view your award prices.  Then click “Search”

With Southwest, you can choose either Roundtrip or One-Way when doing your search since awards are set at a fixed value per point.

With that said, don’t let that deter you from using your points for Southwest flights.  You can get extraordinary value from your points when you combine their use with a Companion Pass!

Here are the search results for Dallas to Las Vegas.  Notice that there are nonstop options and ones with connections.  Also notice how they vary in price. Once you find the flight option that you like, click on it.

Once you select the flight option that you like, you’ll be prompted to sign into your Rapid Rewards account if you haven’t already done so.  Login and click continue.

After that, you’ll see the total price in points and cash for your flight.  That’s pretty cheap to get to Las Vegas, and this price beats what other carriers charge for saver level seats!

Conclusion

Although Rapid Rewards points are set at a fixed value, you can still score some pretty cheap flights, either domestically or internationally.  Combine that with the Companion Pass and you can save a tremendous amount of points and cash!. Another great thing about Southwest is they don’t charge you any fees when changing your flight.  So if you find that your previously booked flight is now cheaper, you can cancel and re-book at no penalty. There’s a lot to love about Southwest, including how easy it is to book award flights.

The post Finding An Award Flight On Southwest appeared first on Travel Miles 101.