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.

While American Airlines miles are a bit harder to collect than United Airlines or Delta Air Lines miles, for example, AA miles still are worth having for unique redemptions. You can’t transfer from AMEX, Chase, or Citi to AA. However, you can transfer Marriott Bonvoy points to American Airlines miles.

There are many aspects I love about AA’s frequent flyer program and many things I don’t. My favourite redemption is 100k miles for First Class between the Middle East and the South Pacific. Some of the biggest downsides to AA is that they don’t allow you to transit via a third region in many cases, limit you to only 4 segments on one-way bookings, have high redemption rates for certain regions, and more.

American Airlines

Country-Based Sweetspots

American Airlines AAdvantage offers cheap redemption options for both Economy Class and Business Class if flying within one country. The key is that you have to fly domestically only within that country and of course, there must be award availability. You can book most of these country-based sweetspots online, but not all of them.

Finland

• Finnair
• 10k miles Economy one-way

Spain

• Iberia
• 10k miles Economy one-way
• 15k miles Business one-way

United Kingdom

• British Airways
• 10k miles Economy one-way
• 15k miles Business one-way

Jordan

• Royal Jordanian
• 7.5k miles Economy one-way
• 10k miles Business one-way

Low Miles = Great Value Last Minute

My favourite “part” of mileage redemption is when you can redeem very few miles for a last minute ticket that would usually cost a lot of money if booked last minute. Many frequent flyer programs feature a discounted mileage price when redeeming miles only within one region or only within one country.

In the case of American Airlines, we can see above. With United Airlines, for example, most flights outside of North America that are under 800 miles in distance cost just 8k miles one-way in Economy Class. British Airways has a distance-based frequent flyer program, so the more you fly, the more you pay.

Explore the World

In Conclusion

American Airlines AAdvantage offers some incredible redemption rates when flying within one country. It is usually a great use of miles when booking travel last minute on short flights at a low redemption rate where cash tickets can be expensive.

American Airlines miles are worth having as AA does offer some unique redemption opportunities – especially on their partner airlines. Remember that you will have to search for award availability through other airline websites if you cannot see it on AA.com – or you can just call AA directly. You can also place award flights on hold while you transfer in miles or think about your travel plans.

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Cathay Pacific

Based in Hong Kong, Cathay Pacific is one of the world’s most luxurious airlines, especially in First Class. With just six private suites in the sky and unlimited bottles of champagne, you’re guaranteed a great flight. Booking Cathay Pacific First or Business Class with Alaska or American Airlines miles is incredibly easy.. it simply involves searching online and then calling Alaska or American Airlines to book.

Cathay Pacific North American Routes

Cathay Pacific flies to the following North American destinations:

• Vancouver
• Toronto
• San Francisco
• Los Angeles
• Chicago
• New York (EWR and JFK)
• Boston

Some of these routes do not feature a First Class cabin. The easiest way to check is by searching on Google Flights and selecting “First Class”, if the Cathay Pacific option does not show on your desired date/route then Cathay probably doesn’t operate First Class on that flight.

Searching Cathay Pacific Award Space

The best way to search for Cathay Pacific award space is by using the British Airways website. You will need to create a free Executive Club account if you don’t already have one. Once you do, simply go to this website:

https://www.britishairways.com/en-us/executive-club/spending-avios

You will need to scroll down and click on “Book a reward flight” under the “Reward flights” section.

Search for oneworld flights using BA

Once you click the button, the website will ask you to login to your British Airways Executive Club account (if you aren’t already logged in). Once you have logged in, you will be presented with the “Book flights with Avios” page where you can type in your desired route and date. You will want to also check the box that says “One way only” – searching one-way at a time is much simpler and quicker. Finally, select your desired class of service.

Search for Cathay flights using BA

When you click “Get flights” the website will ask you if you would like to add a stopover, simply skip this step by selecting the “NO” option and clicking “Continue“. You will then be brought to a results page:

Available Cathay Pacific Flights using Miles

As you can see, on our desired route and date that we initially typed in, we have 1 First Class seat and 2 Premium Economy seats available using miles. If there is no availability on your desired date, simply click on the calendar above and check other dates.

Booking Cathay Pacific Flights using Miles

Once you have located your availability, you will want to either call Alaska Airlines or American Airlines and book the flights. When redeeming Alaska or American Airlines miles, you will have to call the mileage department and book over the phone – you can’t do it online.

To find out how many miles are required, simply visit the award charts below:

• View Alaska Airlines Award Chart
• View American Airlines Partner Award Chart

You will need to look at your starting and ending region as well as the class of service you have selected to view the cost in miles. Keep in mind that you will also need to pay taxes/fees in addition to the required amount of miles. Thankfully, neither Alaska nor American Airlines charge fuel surcharges for travel on Cathay Pacific – meaning that your taxes/fees should be lower than $100 USD per ticket per direction of travel.

Once you are connected to an agent, you will want to provide them the route, date, class of service, and number of passengers. The agent will search and should be able to find the flight you have previously found on the British Airways website.

Booking Cathay Pacific with Alaska Airlines Miles

My favourite way to book Cathay Pacific is using Alaska Airlines miles since they’re so easy to earn and Alaska doesn’t charge as many miles as American Airlines does. When redeeming Alaska Airlines miles:

• you can book one-way awards
• you can add on Alaska Airlines flights for free (for example: Seattle to Los Angeles in order to connect to your Cathay Pacific flight from Los Angeles to Hong Kong)
• you can add a stopover in Hong Kong for FREE, even on a one-way ticket (you can stay in Hong Kong any number of days and then fly elsewhere on Cathay Pacific)

Important: Alaska Airlines does not have access to ALL Cathay Pacific award space that you find on the British Airways website. That being said, if the British Airways website shows at least two seats available, Alaska should see the award space. This isn’t always the case and sometimes even if one seat is available, Alaska might see it.

Also Important: Alaska Airlines allows you to only have ONE partner airline on an award ticket in addition to any Alaska Airlines flights. This means that you cannot fly from Los Angeles to Hong Kong on Cathay Pacific and then from Hong Kong to Tokyo on Japan Airlines, even though Alaska Airlines partners with both airlines.

Booking Cathay Pacific with American Airlines Miles

The other option is to book using American Airlines miles, which will cost you more and you aren’t allowed a free stopover in Hong Kong. You can still book one-way awards using AA miles and you can also add on domestic flights to get you to your Cathay Pacific North American gateway city.

The major advantage to booking with American Airlines miles is that you can mix & match oneworld airlines on the same ticket – you can’t do this with Alaska Airlines. For example, you could book Cathay Pacific from Los Angeles to Hong Kong and then from Hong Kong to Kuala Lumpur on Malaysia Airlines. Since American Airlines partners with Alaska Airlines, you can even add on a segment from Seattle to Los Angeles on Alaska Airlines when redeeming American Airlines miles.

In Conclusion

Cathay Pacific First and Business Class are amazing and easily the best way to travel to Asia. My favourite way to fly Cathay Pacific is by redeeming Alaska Airlines miles as they are very easy to earn and Alaska has a generous award chart. The free stopover in Hong Kong is always a plus.

The post Booking Cathay Pacific with Alaska or American Airlines Miles appeared first on Travel Miles 101.

Paradise

The Islands of Fiji are the most stunning place in this world – nothing is more majestic, captivating, and beautiful than these islands of paradise. Flying to exotic destinations on award tickets can be tricky – due to limited flights and lack of award availability on major carriers. I previously explained how to fly to Iceland on an award ticket… however, flying to Fiji is a bit trickier due to the location in the South Pacific.

If you are having trouble finding award availability on your desired dates of travel, my number one suggestion for you would be to spend some time in Australia or New Zealand before/after your trip to Fiji – this way you can match up the flights and explore even more destinations.

Flying to Fiji

The major international airport in Fiji is in Nadi (NAN), located on Fiji’s main island. The flag carrier of Fiji is Fiji Airways – which partners with American and Alaska Airlines, meaning you can earn and redeem miles on Fiji Airways. Airlines that currently fly to Nadi:

• Air New Zealand
  • Auckland, Christchurch, Wellington
• Fiji Airways
  • Adelaide, Auckland, Brisbane, Christchurch, Hong Kong, Honolulu, Los Angeles, Melbourne, San Francisco, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo–Narita, Wellington
• Virgin Australia
  • Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney

The only way to fly nonstop from North America to Fiji is with Fiji Airways from San Francisco or Los Angeles. If you wish to fly from Asia to Fiji, you can fly Fiji Airways from Hong Kong, Singapore, or Tokyo.

If you wish stay in Australia or New Zealand before/after your trip, then your best option is to either fly Fiji Airways or Virgin Australia to Australia or Air New Zealand or Fiji Airways to New Zealand.

Use Miles to fly to Paradise

Redeeming Miles on Fiji Airways

Fiji Airways partners with both American Airlines and Alaska Airlines – you can earn and redeem miles on flights with Fiji Airways. The one major exception is that you cannot redeem Alaska Airlines miles on Fiji Airways to/from Asia.

The cost in miles is:

• using American Airlines miles
  • North America to/from Fiji: 40k in Economy Class or 80k in Business Class (one-way)
  • Asia to/from Fiji: 30k in Economy Class or 40k in Business Class (one-way)
    • can route direct to Nadi on Fiji Airways
    • can route via Australia on Qantas Airways and Fiji Airways
• using Alaska Airlines miles
  • North America to/from Fiji: 40k in Economy Class or 55k in Business Class (one-way)
    • OR stopover in Fiji for however long you like and continue to Australia or New Zealand for the same price of 40k/55k (free stopover on Alaska Airlines award tickets)
  • Cannot use Alaska Airlines miles to fly Fiji Airways to/from Asia
  • Cannot mix Qantas and Fiji Airways on one ticket

You can also redeem American Airlines and Alaska Airlines miles for travel to/from Australia or New Zealand to/from Fiji – without touching North America. Please check each airline’s award chart for prices.

Searching Fiji Airways Award Space

How is Fiji Airways award space? In Economy Class, it is available on about half of the dates and in Business Class, it is rare (but not impossible). This applies to all Fiji Airways routes and not just on routes to/from North America. Fiji Airways does release a good amount of Economy Class award space, but Business Class awards are rare and will require extreme flexibility.

You should use Alaska’s website to search for award space on Fiji Airways if redeeming Alaska Airlines miles.

Redeem Alaska Airlines miles on Fiji Airways

If you are redeeming American Airlines miles, you can also use Alaska’s website to search for award space – however do note that Fiji Airways releases more award space to American Airlines than Alaska Airlines. Therefore even if Alaska’s website says there is nothing available, there still may be availability if redeeming American Airlines miles.

Flying to Fiji on other Airlines

To search for Air New Zealand award space, you can use United.com, though do understand that availability basically doesn’t exist on this route with Air New Zealand. If you do get lucky, you can search award space from North America and see if you can route all on one ticket from North America to Fiji via New Zealand.

In Conclusion

Fiji is paradise and while it can be tricky to fly there on an award ticket, it is possible if you have patience and are a bit flexible with your travel dates. If you can’t find any award space to Fiji from North America or Asia, I do recommend spending a few days in Australia or New Zealand as this should improve your chances of finding award space within the South Pacific.

Fiji is the most relaxing destination in the world and everyone needs to visit these islands of paradise at least once in their life. Please post questions if you need further assistance booking award tickets to paradise, I will be happy to guide you further!

The post Flying to Fiji on an Award Ticket appeared first on Travel Miles 101.

American Airlines AAdvantage

The American Airlines AAdvantage frequent flyer program is one of the best in the oneworld alliance. While AA does have high mileage prices for some regions, the program is still worth looking into – especially when flying to Asia, the South Pacific, the Middle East, or the Indian Subcontinent.

Sadly, AA miles are not the best if you want to travel to Europe – that’s because American Airlines rarely releases award seats in Business or First Class on their own flights, and their other European partners like Finnair and Iberia also rarely release award space… which means you are left with British Airways – which charges insane fuel surcharges on award tickets.

General Rules

American Airlines AAdvantage has many complex rules involved when redeeming miles for award travel. The best award redemptions with AA aren’t completed on AA.com, but rather over the phone. The general rules of award travel with American Airlines miles are as follows:

• No stopovers allowed
• A layover can be up to 23 hours and 59 minutes on an international award ticket
• Domestic layovers cannot generally be longer than 4-6 hours, with some exceptions
• Your routing must be within the Maximum Permitted Mileage
• There must be a published fare with the transoceanic carrier you are going to fly
• FREE changes

American Airlines B767 Business Class

Transit Rules

American Airlines has several rules regarding transiting en route to your final destination on award tickets.

• You must fly the most direct routing, but are allowed reasonable connections and routing within Maximum Permitted Mileage
  • so you can fly Seattle – New York – London, but obviously can’t fly New York – Seattle – London
• You cannot transit via a third region, with some exceptions
  • the first region is your region of departure
  • the second region is your region of arrival
  • the third region would be a transit region, only if allowed

Third Region Exceptions

With AA awards, you generally cannot transit via a third region. For example, you cannot fly from Seattle to Hong Kong to Tokyo as you would be flying North America -> Asia 2 -> Asia 1 regions – and you cannot transit via the Asia 2 region if flying from North America to Asia 1. However, you can fly from Seattle to Tokyo to Hong Kong as you would be flying North America -> Asia 1 -> Asia 2 and American Airlines allows you to fly to Asia 2 via the Asia 1 region in this case.

Here is a list of exceptions:

• North America -> Middle East, Indian Subcontinent
  • Europe
• North America -> Indian Subcontinent
  • Hong Kong (HKG)
• North America -> Africa
  • Europe
  • Doha (DOH) on Qatar Airways (QR)
• North America -> Asia 2
  • Asia 1
• Central America, South America 1, South America 2 -> Africa, Middle East, Indian Subcontinent
  • Europe
• South America 2 -> Africa
  • Doha (DOH) on Qatar Airways (QR)
• Europe -> Asia 1
  • Asia 2
  • Doha (DOH) on Qatar Airways (QR)
• Europe -> Asia 2
  • Doha (DOH) on Qatar Airways (QR)
• Europe -> Australia
  • Doha (DOH) on Qatar Airways (QR)
• Europe -> South Pacific
  • Asia 1
  • Asia 2
  • Doha (DOH) on Qatar Airways (QR)
• Middle East, Indian Subcontinent -> Asia 1
  • Asia 2
• Middle East, Indian Subcontinent -> South Pacific
  • Asia 2
• Africa -> Asia 1
  • Asia 2
  • Doha (DOH) on Qatar Airways (QR)
• Africa -> Asia 2
  • Doha (DOH) on Qatar Airways (QR)
• Asia 1 -> South Pacific
  • Asia 2

The above indicates, for example, if you are flying from the Europe region to the South Pacific region, you can transit via Asia 1, Asia 2, or via Doha (DOH) on Qatar Airways (QR). For example, if you want to fly from London to Sydney, you can fly:

• London – Tokyo – Sydney
• London – Hong Kong – Sydney
• London – Doha – Sydney

In each case above you are transiting via a third region en route from London to Sydney and all of those third region routings are allowed.

Qatar Airways, an AA partner

In Conclusion

American Airlines miles are incredibly useful when redeemed on their partner airlines – especially for travel on Cathay Pacific, Etihad Airways, Fiji Airways, Qantas, and Qatar Airways. My favourite redemption is Europe to the South Pacific in First Class – you can fly some incredible airlines for a great cost in miles – and you can also avoid British Airways, which means the taxes and fees will be very low.

Happy Booking!

The post American Airlines AAdvantage Award Transit Rules appeared first on Travel Miles 101.

Redeem American Airlines Miles

American Airlines AAdvantage Miles aren’t as valuable as they once were a few years ago – mainly due to the fact that there was a massive award chart devaluation a few years ago. AMEX, Chase, and Citi do NOT partner with American Airlines so you can’t transfer your bank points to AA from those programs.

AAdvantage miles are insanely useful for redeeming on American Airlines’ oneworld and non-oneworld partners. Note: while you can redeem on all oneworld airlines, you can’t redeem on all AA non-oneworld partner airlines (some of those partners are available for earning miles only).

Here are my favourite ways to redeem American Airlines miles.

Fly Etihad Airways First Class

Etihad partners with American Airlines, meaning you can earn and redeem AA miles for travel on Etihad Airways. It will cost you 100k American Airlines miles for First Class between the Middle East and Australia, or just 62.5k miles for First Class between Europe and Abu Dhabi.

Fly Cathay Pacific or Japan Airlines to Asia

You can fly incredible airlines – Cathay Pacific or Japan Airlines in First or Business Class to/within Asia. Cathay Pacific First Class to Asia Region 2 will cost 110k miles one-way or you could fly Business Class for 70k miles. If you want to visit Asia Region 1, you could fly Japan Airlines First Class for 80k miles one-way or Business Class for 60k miles. If travelling to Asia Region 2, you can transfer via Asia Region 1 (so you could fly to Singapore via Tokyo).

Fly Cathay Pacific using AA Miles

You can also use AA miles to fly partner airlines within Asia for just 20k-30k miles in Business Class one-way. That means you could fly from Tokyo to Beijing to Hong Kong to Bali all for 30k miles in Business Class – and you could even have layovers in each of those cities for up to 23 hours and 59 minutes if you wanted to.

Flying Within One Country

American Airlines offers cheap redemption options for both Economy and Business Class if flying within one country (where available):

• within 48 United States: 12.5k Economy or 25k First/Business one-way
• within Finland: 10k Economy one-way
• within Spain: 10k Economy or 15k Business one-way
• within the United Kingdom: 10k Economy or 15k Business one-way
• within Jordan: 7.5k Economy or 10k Business one-way

Fly to Fiji or French Polynesia

American Airlines partners with both Fiji Airways and Air Tahiti Nui, meaning you can redeem miles for travel to very exotic destinations where a normal cash ticket could cost thousands. You can fly from Asia or North America to Fiji or French Polynesia. Fiji Airways offers flights from San Francisco and Los Angeles to Nadi and Air Tahiti Nui offers flights from Los Angeles to Papeete.

It will cost you 40k miles one-way in Economy or 80k miles one-way in Business Class to the South Pacific region (Australia is also part of the South Pacific region). However, if you’re in Asia, you could fly for just 30k miles in Economy or 40k miles in Business one-way to the South Pacific – and you could even stop in Australia for a night if you wanted to (23h59m layover).

Fly American Airlines Off-Peak Economy to Europe

American Airlines offers flights in Economy to Europe for 30k miles one-way all year. However, there is a time during the year which is considered “off-peak” and flights during this time will cost just 22.5k miles one-way to Europe in Economy. This includes flights from any city in the 48 U.S. states. So you can fly Seattle to Los Angeles to London for 22.5k miles one-way in Economy off-peak.

Flying within the South Pacific

American Airlines defines the South Pacific as: Australia, Easter Island, Fiji, French Polynesia, Guam, Kiribati, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Palau, New Caledonia, Republic of Tonga, Republic of Vanuatu, American Samoa and Samoa, Solomon Islands, and Tuvalu.

You can fly between any of these countries for 15k miles in Economy or 30k in Business one-way. However, you can also fly within Fiji for just 5k miles in Economy Class or 10k in Business Class one-way, within Australia for 10k miles in Economy or 20k miles in Business Class one-way. These flights will be on Fiji Airways or Qantas Airways.

You can also fly between Australia and New Zealand for 15k miles one-way in Economy or 25k in Business Class.

In Conclusion

There are an infinite number of ways to redeem American Airlines miles – and there are a TON of great ways to use them. For short-haul travel, they might even be similar to British Airways Avios in that you can redeem just a few miles for a short non-stop flight (in the case of AA, it doesn’t even have to be non-stop).

Happy Booking!

The post Best Ways to Redeem American Airlines Miles 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.

Na Pali Coast in Kauai taken on our Honeymoon

We get a lot of questions about taking a dream vacation to Hawaii using rewards miles in our Travel Miles 101 Facebook group.

One question that gets asked many times is “Can I use frequent flyer miles to fly from one Hawaiian Island to another?”

The answer is definitely ‘YES,’ you can use miles.

In fact, the three major US legacy airlines (United, Delta and American) all allow you to use their miles for Hawaiian Airlines flights between islands (United lets you fly Island Air as well, though that’s a much smaller airline).

Here’s a step-by-step guide using each of the three programs plus I’ll show you how to find these flights on the Hawaiian Airlines website to see if using miles makes sense as they can be rather inexpensive to begin with:

Check What Flights Exist Using Wikipedia

The first thing I always do when getting ready to research award flights is to check out the Wikipedia page for the airports in question.

In this case, I assumed I was going from Maui to Kauai so I Googled “Maui Airport wiki”, found the airport code (OGG), and then scrolled down to the “airlines and destinations” section and found these Hawaiian Airlines options:

I was quite pleased to see Lihue (LIH) in Kauai as an option so I knew I’d be able to use United, Delta and American miles if flights were available.

Using United Miles to Fly Between Hawaiian Islands

Okay, the first thing we do is search from the United.com homepage.  In this example we’re flying between Maui (OGG) and Kauai (LIH) on May 15, 2017.  Notice that we clicked “search for award travel” and “nonstop”:

Here’s the award calendar that shows Saver Award Economy seats on the nonstop flights on May 15th (and all other days that month):

After clicking on the 15th we scroll down and see that there are 3 direct flights between OGG and LIH on Hawaiian Airlines:

The flight costs 6,000 United miles plus the standard $5.60 fee for each one-way flight between Hawaii Islands.

Using American Airlines Miles to Fly Between Hawaiian Islands

We first search from the main AA.com homepage with our flight details and click “Redeem Miles” and then “Search”:

Next we come to the availability calendar which looks promising as there is “Economy MileSAAver” availability every day for 7,500 American Airlines miles.

Out of habit I selected the “Non-stop only” dropdown option as well:

After we click “Continue” we see the same three flights that were available using United miles:

Total cost to fly a one-way between Hawaiian Islands using American Airlines miles is 7,500 miles plus $5.60.

Using Delta Miles to Fly Between Hawaiian Islands

From the Delta.com homepage we enter our familiar flight details and click the “show price in miles” button and then “find flights”:

Delta also shows the same three Hawaiian Airlines flights available using miles:

Total cost to fly a one-way between Hawaiian Islands using Delta miles is 7,500 miles plus $5.60.

How to Tell if Using Miles is a Good Deal

The next thing I did was head over to the Hawaiian Airlines website to find the cash prices for these flights, so I entered our details in:

Here are the results which show our three familiar flights plus one other flight that day which evidently has no award availability:

These flights cost $111.00 which I’m assuming is all inclusive of taxes and fees.  So the apples-to-apples comparison after subtracting the $5.60 fee we pay on award seats is $105.40 we’d be saving using miles.

That means for 6,000 United miles we’re getting 1.75 cents per point in value and for 7,500 American or Delta miles we’d be getting 1.40 cents per point in value.

Though I always try to get 2 cents per point in value as a rough rule of thumb, this is not a bad deal at all, especially using United miles.

These are also small point requirements, so if you had some points remaining but not enough for an award ticket somewhere, you could make the case that this would help you fully utilize points that may not have otherwise had a simple redemption.

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