Sweet Spots for Booking Flights with Ultimate Rewards

Transcript

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Today is an episode for the dreamers and planners.

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We're going to walk through some of the top sweet spots for booking flights with points.

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I will share the pros and cons of different programs, with some insight into why you might use them and when.

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Welcome back to Points for Normal People.

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I'm Katie and I'm here because I know that travel costs add up, especially for a family, but I believe that travel isn't just for the rich.

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That's why, on Points for Normal People, I share the tips and tricks that my family has been using for over a decade to help you use your everyday expenses and credit card welcome offers to supercharge your travel points so that you can pay for entire family vacations every year.

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If you're tuning in for the first time, season one of this podcast is focusing in on Chase Ultimate Rewards.

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I've been teaching people to earn and redeem points for over six years and I've used a lot of different angles in that time to share information.

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But with this podcast, I wanted to do something I haven't done before, which is to start from assuming zero knowledge and help people become experts in one points program.

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The reason I picked Chase Ultimate Rewards as that program is that the points are easy to earn and have so many practical and also aspirational uses.

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It's a points program you can use as a beginner and you'll still be using years and years later.

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One of the key ways to open up your options, to stretch your points further with ultimate rewards, is by transferring them to some of the hotel and airline partners Chase has established.

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We had a whole episode on maximizing those points for hotels and today we're going to focus on the airline partners.

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I'm going to do my best to make this not just feel like I'm reading off a list, but instead help you see some of the ways each program is unique.

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I'll also link in the show notes a free PDF guide I offer, which is a complete guide to chase ultimate rewards.

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I just updated it this week with a sort of cheat sheet on each of these airline partners and their strengths and sweet spots.

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One big difference you'll see between programs is that the taxes and fees they charge can really vary.

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In July 2024, when I'm filming this, chase has 11 airline partners.

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I want to clarify that in case I publish this and Chase decides to add or remove some.

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But overall these partners are fairly stable.

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Each of these transfer partners, with the exception of one, has other airlines that they partner with as well.

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So there is a sort of chain reaction here in a good way.

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You start with bank points and then can transfer them to, let's say, singapore Airlines, but then could also use those points to book a flight on Ava Air or Lufthansa or in fact, any other Star Alliance airline.

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One more note is that, generally speaking, your chase points will transfer to these airlines at a one-to-one ratio.

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If you transfer 1,000 chase points, you'll have 1,000 airline points.

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But there are some airlines where Chase does somewhat frequently run transfer bonuses, which means, maybe for a limited time, you transfer 1,000 chase points and end up with 1,300 airline miles instead.

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So let's move through these 11 airline partners alphabetically.

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So first up is Aer Lingus Air Club.

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Now, the first thing to know is that Aer Lingus is somewhat of a redundant partner, which I will explain here.

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Aer Lingus calls its points obvious, and there are other airlines that also call their points obvious British Airways, iberia, finnair and Qatar Airways and if you can transfer to one of them from there, you can move your points or Avios to any of the other Avios partners.

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So anytime you hear Avios, just know that these are movable to any other Avios airline.

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Of course they all have slightly different uses, so specific to Aer Lingus, avios Aer Lingus is pretty low on pricing on Aer Lingus flights from the US to Ireland.

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This may seem obvious, but it is somewhat rare that any given airline has a good deal for using their own points on their own flights.

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Somehow Aer Lingus still does so.

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Aer Lingus prices are based on distance and they also have different pricing for peak and off-peak times, although most of the year is actually off-peak.

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How cheap is this?

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Well, the cheapest option here is for flights that are between 3,000 and 4,000 miles flown, and this includes routes from places like Boston, jfk, newark, philadelphia, cleveland, dulles, chicago and Minneapolis.

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Any of these cities to Ireland would cost just 26,000 points round trip.

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That's a great low price, but the taxes and fees are kind of steep, usually about $250 to $280 on that round trip.

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It's a little more from the west coast.

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Off peak it would be $32,500, obvious, round trip plus those taxes.

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But for non-stop travel to Ireland this could be a good option for being able to plan in advance and budget for it.

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But also just be aware that it does have those high taxes and fees and note that for best availability you should book as far in advance as possible.

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Next up is Air Canada.

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The loyalty program of Air Canada is called Aeroplan.

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The loyalty program of Air Canada is called Aeroplan.

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People who fly business class and people who love to book complicated routes get really excited about Aeroplan.

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Really, I see a lot of people who love this program, but as someone who flies economy class, I have never once been truly wowed when I price out a flight.

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Aeroplan does have two primary strengths and one aspect that can go either way.

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One big strength is that it doesn't pass along fuel surcharges.

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Some airlines are notorious for adding fuel surcharges to award tickets, but Aeroplan doesn't do that.

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This is true when you use your Aeroplan Miles to book onto Air Canada flights, but also if you use Aeroplan Miles to book onto any other partner flight too.

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Let me explain that a little more.

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Aeroplan is in the Star Alliance, and so with Aeroplan Miles you can book onto Air Canada flights and also you can use your Aeroplan miles to book onto other Star Alliance airlines.

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You're not transferring your Aeroplan points to another Star Alliance airline, you're just using them to book a flight on AirCanadacom on another airline.

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But that doesn't mean you can use Aeroplan miles to book any flight on any Star Alliance airline.

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Typically, airlines release only a limited number of seats to partner airlines In business class.

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These are very limited, which is why it's hard to book business class flights, especially for a family.

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For economy flights there are usually some limitations as well.

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Generally speaking, the earlier in advance you can book, the better Sometimes up to a year in advance.

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But also sometimes it's somewhat random when airlines will all of a sudden release a block of seats to partner airlines for booking with points.

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And also it's important to note that when you book with airline miles, you always have to pay government taxes and fees.

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That's unavoidable.

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Within the US that is just $5.60 each way, but for international flights it can vary up to $100-ish each way.

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It really depends on the country.

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But, like I said, some airlines also tack on fuel surcharges to award tickets, which is essentially kind of like resort fees that hotels tack on.

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It's just another way to earn revenue.

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So one example is Lufthansa.

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Lufthansa is based in Germany and is part of the Star Alliance, but they add fuel surcharges of hundreds of dollars to award tickets.

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So if you want to book onto a Lufthansa flight, you're going to want to use points from a different Star Alliance carrier who specifically won't pass on those fuel surcharges to you.

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Aeroplan is one of those, so that's a plus.

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It's good for Star Alliance flights that would otherwise have high fuel surcharges.

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Booking with points.

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Aeroplan also has a unique option where you can book a stopover along your route for just 5,000 miles more, so this means you can add extra destinations and pay just a little more.

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An example of a good use of this could be on a longer flight.

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Let's say you want to go to Thailand, but also Japan, so you could use Aeroplan Miles to book a flight to Thailand, but with adding a week-long stopover before you get there in Japan.

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That way you'll get two destinations for just 5,000 more points than just going to Thailand.

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The one part of the program that can go either way is that the pricing is distance-based, so ticket price will be based on the miles your route will fly.

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This can work to your advantage or disadvantage.

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It really just depends on your routes.

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Some other cons of Aeroplan are that there is a fee of about $30 to make a partner award booking and a fee of about $130 to cancel or change an award ticket.

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So you really want to be sure you're going to take your flight.

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Aeroplan does have somewhat regular transfer bonuses, so you can watch for those bonuses.

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So you can watch for those.

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For the past few years we've seen month-long transfer bonuses of 20 to 30 percent from Chase to Aeroplan.

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Next up is another dual program.

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This is for Flying Blue.

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Flying Blue is a joint program between Air France and KLM.

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Air France is based, obviously, in France and KLM, if you're not familiar, is based in Amsterdam.

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Flying Blue charges a little on the high side for taxes for flights to Europe, usually in the low 200s for a round trip.

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But one of the advantages of this program is that the cost in points is a bit lower than many other airlines.

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Flying Blue also gives a 25% discount for kids 2 to 12 years old booking with points.

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And if you do want to fly business class to Europe, it's one of the airlines that often releases enough seats for a family to go together.

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Business class can be found for 50,000 points each way and this is a good price for that route.

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So if you are hoping to fly to Europe in business class as a group, it's one of the easiest ways to do it.

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But still the availability of those 50,000 point tickets is somewhat random.

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One extra perk I really like is that you can get a free stopover of up to seven days in Paris or Amsterdam on an award ticket.

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This really can help break up a longer journey and also lets you explore either of those cities.

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You do need to call in to add a stopover, though.

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This could also work if you wanted to book on them to go to Africa.

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Flying Blue has a number of connecting flights to various countries in Africa.

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That can be a pretty good price, but those long flights are long.

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You have to go all the way to Europe and then all the way down, so a free stopover can really help.

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Flying Blue also runs promos on different routes each month, so you can snag cheaper prices to certain destinations at some times.

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Generally speaking, the lowest prices would be about 40,000 points round trip to Europe in economy.

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Flying Blue also has one unexpected route that's worth mentioning, and that's from LAX to Tahiti, so that flight can be a good option for a round trip to Tahiti, especially if you're based in LA.

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Like Aeroplan, flying Blue has somewhat regular transfer bonuses.

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It's also a transfer partner of all the major banks Citi, capital One and American Express so it's pretty easy to earn these points.

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Moving on, british Airways Executive Club is one of those other obvious airlines.

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British Airways prices their award flights by distance, but also by segment, so this one is really only good for nonstop flights, and British Airways has gradually been increasing the number of points required for booking on a partner airline required for booking on a partner airline.

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It used to be that using British Airways to book onto its partners American and Alaska was a really good option, but overall I think this has been eroded over time.

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There might still be some instances where it does provide a good, lower cost way to book a non-stop route on American or Alaska and it is easier to earn Avios than it is to earn American miles.

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For their own flights, british Airways charges huge fuel surcharges, which is why most people will avoid using these points on actual British Airways flights.

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Even so, sometimes in our regional guides it comes up as a decent option for certain routes.

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Emirates Skywards is a different program and one that the average person can usually skip over.

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There are some pockets of value, but generally speaking the taxes are pretty high.

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One area I will point out is if you do dream of a fancy business class flight out is if you do dream of a fancy business class flight, there is this specific route from New York to Milan that you can fly on Emirates for 108,000 miles round trip.

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Is that expensive?

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Yes, but if you really want that really fancy experience, that's one of the best ways to get it.

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You can also fly from New York to Athens in economy for only 45,000 miles round trip on Emirates.

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So for that very specific flight to Greece, this is a good price.

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You might come across Emirates options while using a tool like pointsyacom, and that's why I like to use aggregating tools to search, so you don't have to memorize every single sweet spot.

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We also mention these in any regional guide that we have as well.

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Next on our list is Iberia, which is another of the Avios airlines.

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The strong options here are actually its own Iberia flights to Spain.

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Iberia uses a distance-based award chart with peak and off-peak pricing, but the extra fees aren't quite as much as British Airways.

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The key to finding this sweet spot is to plan around off-peak dates.

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Flights from Boston, new York and Chicago price out at just 34,000 avios round-trip in economy or 68,000 round-trip in business class.

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Flights from Miami, dallas and the LAX to Madrid route will be more at 42,500 avios round trip, but if you're trying to go to Spain, this is definitely one to look at.

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Like so many of these other European airlines, taxes and fees feel a bit high at around $200 round trip.

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As you can see, a lot of these are European airlines that we've mentioned.

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Jetblue is the next and is the first US-based airline on this list, alphabetically speaking.

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Personally, I've never used JetBlue miles, even though we have some, just because the routing from Chicago isn't great.

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Jetblue ties the prices of its flights in points to the price in cash, but the good news here is that the rate you get with JetBlue points is slightly higher than what you'd get booking via Chase Travel.

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So if you want to fly JetBlue, your points will stretch a little further by transferring them to JetBlue.

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Jetblue does have a few airline partners like Cutter Airways and Hawaiian Airlines, so those are other potential uses.

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I like how JetBlue allows you to cancel for free and get all your points right back, but they will keep your taxes and fees as a flight credit, and that's a bit annoying.

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Singapore Airlines' Chris Flyer is another Star Alliance carrier and the only Asian airline on this list.

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Being in the Star Alliance means that Singapore Airlines gives you a lot of partner airline options, but they do pass on fuel surcharges, so the points won't always be useful on all Star Alliance partners, but on their own flights taxes and fees are relatively low.

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They are particularly useful on Singapore Airlines flights.

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That's because Singapore Airlines also offers free stopovers, can you tell.

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I like stopovers.

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I always mention them if I can, so if you're going to Asia, you can stop over for free in Singapore to break up your journey and explore Singapore for a few days.

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Even an overnight layover can really help on these long trips.

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Singapore Airlines also has some fifth freedom routes that can be useful.

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So you can take Singapore Airlines from LAX to Tokyo, and you can also take them from Houston to Manchester, england.

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So if you live by either LAX or Houston, these are different options for you as well.

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I didn't really explain what Fifth Freedom Route meant when I referenced it with the Emirates flights to Europe or the Air France flight from LAX to Tahiti.

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Fifth Freedom just means a route that an airline takes that doesn't touch one of its hubs.

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So Singapore Airlines is based in Singapore and almost all of its flights start or end there.

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The fifth freedom flights are those that don't touch its hubs like LAX to Tokyo or Houston to Manchester, england.

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Now we're almost done here.

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Just three to go.

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I know this is a lot of information, but hopefully you're able to hear and listen and your ears are perking up when it's relevant to you.

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Next up is Southwest.

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Now, I absolutely love Southwest Airlines and I think season two might be a deep dive into Southwest and the Companion Pass, but I don't personally usually transfer my ultimate rewards there.

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You might, there are reasons to do so, but personally we usually can earn enough Southwest points directly with Southwest credit cards so that we don't have to transfer additional points.

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Southwest uses pricing for points that is always tied to the price in cash and we love that.

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You can cancel up to 10 minutes before departure and get all your points back.

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Now you can also cancel a cash ticket and get a flight credit back, but that's a little bit more restrictive.

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So we always prefer to book with Southwest points because it's a more seamless experience.

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More on Southwest in the future.

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Or you can check out my blog.

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I have a lot of guides on there.

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You can check out my blog.

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I have a lot of guides on there.

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If you go all in with the Southwest Companion Pass or are booking lots of Southwest flights, you might find that transferring your chase points to Southwest will make sense for you.

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United Mileage Plus is certainly the biggest US airline on here and one that many people will be the most familiar with.

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United uses dynamic pricing for its own flights, which means that they just go up and down to maximize revenue.

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The award flights don't necessarily match the pricing on cash flights.

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Sometimes a flight will be really cheap in points and expensive in cash.

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Sometimes it'll be expensive in points and cheap in cash, and sometimes United has flash points sales and you can find great deals.

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If this is the case, if you think you'll be using United miles and want to transfer your ultimate rewards to United, it's definitely worth also getting a United card, because having a United card will actually unlock better pricing for you.

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If you're booking Star Alliance flights, or even sometimes, united flights, you might find now that, overall, their pricing is usually a little higher, though, than on the same Star Alliance flights.

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If you book with another kind of airline points Like, you, might find that the same route booked via Aeroplan would be fewer points to book out.

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Booked via Aeroplan would be fewer points to book Again, this is a reason to use a tool like pointsyacom to compare, or just check a few websites yourself to compare yourself.

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We used to really love the United Mileage Plus program, but as they have regularly increased the pricing, we have found it a little bit less useful, but it's still worth checking for flights.

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I actually often start a search there if I'm searching for any Star Alliance award tickets, because United has a website that is, frankly, just easy to search on.

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You can see a 30-day view of award flights, and that's really a nice perk.

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Their website is also pretty good at showing availability on other Star Alliance partners too is also pretty good at showing availability on other Star Alliance partners too.

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United does not pass along fuel surcharges either, so it can be a good option to book onto those Star Alliance airlines that have those extra high fees.

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And while it doesn't have free stopovers exactly, it does have this unique little perk called the excursionist perk.

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If you're booking a round-trip ticket, there are some specific terms on it, but essentially, if you're booking a round-trip ticket, there are some specific terms on it, but essentially, if you're flying internationally, you'll be able to add another destination to your ticket for free.

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I've used this in Europe and in Asia.

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Actually, we used it before it was called the excursionist perk, but it's basically the same idea as how we booked our tickets.

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Now we end up flying United a fair amount, because we live in Chicago, which is a United hub, and frankly we don't really love flying United.

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But, as I mentioned in a previous episode, we really prioritize nonstop routing, so we're often left with no other option.

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But we rarely book directly with United.

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We usually use points from another Star Alliance airline and book that way because it's usually cheaper.

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And last up we have Virgin Atlantic.

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Virgin Atlantic actually has a cruise redemption option which is unique, and it has some specific flight uses.

00:23:13.511 --> 00:23:15.575
So let's do the flights first.

00:23:15.575 --> 00:23:28.334
Virgin Atlantic does have its own routes to and from London and sometimes these have great sales like less than 10,000 points each way, but the fuel surcharges are higher.

00:23:28.334 --> 00:23:31.527
So you just have to weigh when it makes sense for you.

00:23:31.527 --> 00:23:39.070
Virgin Atlantic is part of the Sky Team and sometimes will also have decent pricing on other Sky Team awards.

00:23:39.070 --> 00:23:44.968
So sometimes, for instance, it will be a good option for booking Delta flights.

00:23:44.968 --> 00:24:05.499
The thing about booking Delta flights with a partner airline is that available flights are very random, so sometimes Delta will release a whole bunch to partners and sometimes for months they will release none, so you really can't count on them or plan around them as an option.

00:24:05.499 --> 00:24:10.778
Virgin Atlantic also partners with Virgin Red, which runs the Virgin Cruises.

00:24:10.778 --> 00:24:35.758
These are adults only cruises and they aren't always available to book with points, but it seems like a few times a year they open up and they release certain European cruises and sometimes certain Caribbean cruises to book with a certain number of points, like this spring a four-night Caribbean cruise was 95,000 points for two people to be included.

00:24:37.365 --> 00:24:45.730
Whew, that was a long list but, like I said, if you want a quick reference, download the guide to ultimate rewards in the show notes.

00:24:45.730 --> 00:24:48.258
That's the main action step today.

00:24:48.258 --> 00:24:51.430
Download that guide for future reference.

00:24:51.430 --> 00:24:56.865
I actually have two guides in the show notes future reference.

00:24:56.865 --> 00:25:01.700
I actually have two guides in the show notes the ultimate rewards guide and also a travel points 201 guide, which is a guide to transfer partners.

00:25:01.700 --> 00:25:10.446
The transfer partner guide also includes a chart of which points transfer to which airlines and which airlines are in which alliance.

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You'll want to keep this handy so you can refer back to it anytime you're booking award travel, especially international flights.

00:25:19.286 --> 00:25:23.196
Like I said, there's no reason to memorize all these little details.

00:25:23.196 --> 00:25:34.919
For better or for worse, I have inadvertently memorized almost all of this over the last decade or so, but sometimes I'm not sure it's worth the brain space when I could look it up all online.

00:25:34.919 --> 00:25:38.450
I'm not sure it's worth the brain space when I could look it up all online.

00:25:38.450 --> 00:25:48.597
If you have a certain destination in mind, be sure to check out the destination guides on our website, because those will draw your attention to any specific or more obscure sweet spots for those destinations.

00:25:48.597 --> 00:26:04.394
If you find one of these transfer partners that interests you, you can also take advantage of a new tool from yourbestcreditcardscom, which will send you alerts anytime there's a transfer bonus with points programs that you select that you want to receive those notifications on.

00:26:04.394 --> 00:26:07.346
I'll link that free service in the show notes too.

00:26:08.067 --> 00:26:13.788
I'm going to end with a little success story that I got as a message on Instagram this week and I'm sharing with permission.

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This reader wrote I just had to take a moment as I sit in my first airport lounge ever and I was so intimidated to even ask to go in Waiting for my free flight for my family of four to go to Europe after using TSA pre-check to get here to say thank you.

00:26:32.069 --> 00:26:36.338
Never did I think this type of travel would be attainable for me.

00:26:36.338 --> 00:26:41.596
Your course, blog, podcast and account are amazing and I tell everyone I know about you.

00:26:41.596 --> 00:26:43.247
Thank you so much.

00:26:43.247 --> 00:26:46.935
I mean, this was really kind and I really appreciate hearing this.

00:26:46.935 --> 00:26:52.746
I love hearing from you all when you're getting to experience those trips that you never imagined you could.

00:26:52.746 --> 00:26:59.398
It actually gave me goosebumps, just because I love seeing what people can take this information and do with it.

00:26:59.398 --> 00:27:01.711
Thanks so much for being with me today.

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I can't wait to see you next time, where we will continue to unlock these secrets of travel points together.

Sweet Spots for Booking Flights with Ultimate Rewards

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Sweet Spots for Booking Flights with Ultimate Rewards

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