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.

Flying Blue is mostly a revenue-based program without an award chart, which means that the cost of a ticket in miles is closely tied to the cost of a ticket in cash. Flying Blue might sell you the very last seat on a flight using miles, but at a super expensive price. Since there’s no award charts, some itineraries price out for over 1,000,000 miles – especially in Business Class. No one should ever pay that price and there are ways to find good award tickets deals with Flying Blue.

Flying Blue Transfer Partners

Air France/KLM Flying Blue miles are generally very easy to earn as you can transfer in transferable bank points into Flying Blue from:

• American Express Membership Rewards (1:1 ratio, instant transfer)
• Capital One Rewards (1:1 ratio, instant transfer)
• Chase Ultimate Rewards (1:1 ratio, instant transfer)
• Citi ThankYou Points (1:1 ratio, instant transfer)
• Marriott Bonvoy (3:1 ratio, average transfer time is 2 days)

Flying Blue Fees

The change and cancelation fee for an award ticket is EUR50.

redeem Flying Blue miles for Air France flights

Flying Blue Overview

As Air France/KLM are members of the SkyTeam Alliance, you’re able to redeem your miles for travel on any SkyTeam airline – however it is important to note that not all airlines show up online. For example, Vietnam Airlines award space can be searched using Delta SkyMiles and later you’d have to call Flying Blue to book it as it isn’t bookable online.

Air France/KLM also have a few other partnerships outside of SkyTeam – for example, you can also redeem miles for flights on airlines like Air Mauritius, Bangkok Airways, Japan Airlines, and a few others. Checking for award space can be done on Flying Blue or by other means.

Flying Blue is a SkyTeam frequent flyer program which means it isn’t as good as programs of Star Alliance or oneworld airlines. Air France/KLM and Delta share a close partnership so it’s no surprise that Flying Blue is largely revenue-based. However, you can definitely find great redemption tickets on Air France/KLM and other airline’s flights.

If there is award availability at the saver/partner-level (on AF/KL flights: Economy “X” class, Business “O” class), expect to pay a decent amount of miles, mostly inline with what other programs charge. For example, a one-way Business Class ticket from the US to Europe could price out between 55,000 – 85,000 miles, depending on your origin and destination.

Flying Blue does make you pay fuel surcharges on award tickets. However, these are generally very reasonable. For example, the total taxes, fees, and fuel surcharges on a one-way Business Class ticket between the US and Europe are around $200 – $300 USD.

Finding Good Flying Blue Redemptions

Even if there is no saver/partner award availability on Air France/KLM flights, you can still generally find good deals using Flying Blue miles – it all depends on your origin and destination. Since the cost of a revenue/cash ticket is different based on origin and destination, Flying Blue has done the same on mileage tickets. For example, tickets from the US East Coast to Europe in Business Class generally price out at 55k – 70k miles one- way, while the US West Coast to Europe usually starts at 65k – 85k miles. Now, since this is a revenue-based frequent flyer program, the cost of a mileage ticket frequently changes based on the demand of a particular flight.

The origin and destination really matters on Flying Blue tickets. For example, I recently booked several clients out of Las Vegas on KLM’s flight for around 70k miles one-way in Business Class to several European cities as the price out of Los Angeles or San Francisco was over 120k miles. We then booked them a cheap cash or mileage positioning ticket, which was well worth it.

Usually if you’re departing the US, you’ll find better deals out of Seattle, Las Vegas, Denver, Minneapolis, Chicago, Austin, Houston, Boston, and a few others to Europe on Air France/KLM. These airlines also operate flights to a number of other cities, but those like Miami, Dallas, Salt Lake City, Los Angeles, and San Francisco tend to be more expensive in miles – so looking out of “secondary” cities makes sense.

However, it isn’t that simple as the price also depends on where you’re flying to. A flight from Las Vegas to Amsterdam to Milan might cost 2-4x more than a flight from Las Vegas to Amsterdam to London – it all depends on the origin and destination. There’s no way to predict or guess how much a flight might cost in Flying Blue miles, other than by checking the website regularly. The frequent flyer program also has discounted mileage ticket deals which are often published and apply to select flights only.

Unlike with Delta SkyMiles on Delta’s own flights, you can still generally find and book award tickets through Flying Blue on Air France/KLM flights at good levels. There doesn’t have to be saver-level award space, but rather a lower demand for your desired flights and you’ll usually find a good deal. Prices change often, so be sure to check back frequently if the award you want is expensive. You generally shouldn’t pay more than 100k miles for a one-way Business Class ticket to Europe, so if Flying Blue is charging more than that, search other cities or dates – or just wait a bit.

redeem Flying Blue miles for KLM flights

All in All

I’ve redeemed many Flying Blue miles over the years for myself, my family, and my BoundlessMiles clients, and this is the one “good” frequent flyer program in the SkyTeam alliance that’s left – as the others don’t usually offer good value. Redeeming these miles on Air France/KLM flights can be a great deal – but it might take some time to find a good deal. The number-one tip is to check different origins and destinations for better deals.

For example, if you’re wanting to fly from Washington D.C. to Paris to Rome and the price is ridiculous in miles, maybe check New York to Amsterdam to Milan, and that price might be much better – then you can book positioning flights and get a better deal (or you could take ground transportation, like a train).

Flying Blue miles are easy to collect and generally easy to redeem – you just have to be a little bit flexible and check back often if you can’t find a good deal. While this is a revenue-based program, you can still find good value in it, and the change/cancel fees are low. Air France and KLM’s program might be the one you’ll use on your next trip – especially if flying these airlines.

The post Finding Good Award Deals with Flying Blue 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.

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.

The post How to Use Miles to Fly Between Hawaiian Islands appeared first on Travel Miles 101.

Finding Award Space On Delta

The first step you need to take is to go to the Delta website.

Once you’re on the Delta homepage, click on “Advanced Search”

Next, fill out your flight search criteria.  You’ll enter where you’re flying from and your destination airport.  Then select “One Way”, and enter in your desired travel date, and the number of passengers.  Then select “Miles”, then click on the red arrow. I always select “One Way” on award searches.  You can also choose to check the box to “Include Nearby Airports” so that your search yields more results.

Once the initial award space calendar shows up, select “5 weeks” to show more available dates around the date entered on your search. Also, if you’re not looking for Delta metal specifically, then select “Delta & Partner Airlines”.  Then click “Update Results”.

Once you’ve expanded the calendar, you’ll see the available saver level dates.  By seeing roughly a month’s worth of dates, this will allow you to weigh your options.  You’ll notice that there are several dates available for 5,500 SkyMiles one way. That’s because there happens to be a flash sale at the time of this writing between Boston and Tampa Bay.  Taking advantage of these flash sales will allow you to score some nice mileage savings!

Once you see a date that you like, click on that date to see your flight options.  In this example, I selected March 24th. This is the available route at the saver level price and the number of seats available at that price.

Once your flight option has been selected, click on it to see your total price.

Conclusion

As you can see, finding award space on Delta is pretty easy.  The tough thing is knowing what saver level awards are since Delta doesn’t publish an award chart anymore.  However, if you know of an award sale, you’ll know what price to look for. Also, if you’re looking for partner award availability, you won’t need to be concerned with Delta’s pricing so much.  With the frequent flash sales that Delta has been offering recently, it’s a great option to finding a cheap award flight.

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