An airline ticket price is composed of three different parts – the Base Fare, the Carrier-Imposed Surcharges, and the Mandatory Government & Airport Taxes/Fees. All three of these added up together make up your total ticket price – some airlines also charge credit card or payment processing fees on top of the total ticket price, just to squeeze even more money out from you. It is important to understand the various components of an airline ticket price/fare because some of these are passed on to you when you book a ticket with miles/points.

Airline Base Fare

The base fare is the actual cost of the ticket that the airline will keep for flying you somewhere. The airline receives this amount from the ticket and keeps all of it. This fee essentially covers you being flown somewhere in a seat on their flight.

When you redeem miles or points, the base fare is always covered by the miles/points – it is never passed on to you to pay.

Carrier-Imposed Surcharges (Fuel)

A lot of airline tickets add on a carrier-imposed surcharge (otherwise known as a fuel surcharge). This was critical on tickets when the price of fuel was sky high and airlines adjusted this fee as they saw fit. In reality, this is a junk fee that the airlines add on to the ticket because they can and because they get to keep most of this price component – sure, some of this component may go to pay for your fuel on a given flight, but in a lot of cases the fuel surcharge component on a ticket does not match what the fuel would actually cost on your given routing.

Some fuel surcharges can be decent while others could be sky-high – it is important to pay attention to this because when it comes to award tickets, sometimes the fuel surcharge is passed on to you and you are responsible for paying it. There are airlines that charge significant carrier-imposed surcharges, while there are other airlines where the surcharges are relatively low. When it comes down to an award ticket, the frequent flyer program that you’re booking through determines if you’re charged fuel surcharges and not the airline you are flying.

Mandatory Government & Airport Taxes/Fees

The third component of a ticket price are the mandatory government and airport taxes and fees. These include things like airport operating costs, security screening costs, fees to improve and develop the airport, government/country tourism taxes, etc. You are always responsible for paying these – whether flying a revenue ticket or an award ticket, these taxes will always be passed on to you and you will have to pay them.

These taxes and fees vary widely and depend on where you are flying from and to, and also where you are transiting. Taxes are generally higher when flying internationally than domestically – there are countries that have no mandatory domestic flight taxes/fees and then there are countries where these fees are extremely high.

Airline Payment/Credit Card Processing Fees

Perhaps the biggest junk fee out of all of these fees is when an airline adds a payment or credit card processing fee. This fee is usually not shown to you until you type in your credit card details and billing address – then the price of your ticket magically can go up by some amount. Some airlines charge a fixed fee, while others charge a percentage of the transaction. Regardless, these fees are yet another way an airline can squeeze money out of you – even at the very last step before confirming a flight.

Airline Ancillary Fees/Services

The ancillary fees and services are an add-on to your ticket, but they aren’t required. These fees include things like:

• seat selection
• baggage allowance
• early boarding
• on-board catering
• priority airport services

All of these add-on fees will be issued separately to your ticket and are not a part of your standard ticket price. You have the option to add these on during your ticket purchase process or after booking, but they aren’t required to be purchased.

Example Fare

Let’s take a look at an example fare and ticket price. This ticket is as follows:

• Seattle to London
• British Airways
• One-Way
• Business Class

The following components make up the total ticket price and fare:

• Base Fare: BA SEA-LHR (Business): $6,189.00
• Carrier-imposed surcharge (YQ): $955.00
• United States Passenger Civil Aviation Security Service Fee (AY): $5.60
• US International Departure Tax (US): $21.10
• US Passenger Facility Charge (XF): $4.50

The total ticket price comes out to $7,175.20.

Since this is a Business Class ticket, the base fare is obviously expensive at ~$6k – this part is always covered with miles and points on an award ticket. British Airways loves to charge high fuel surcharges and those are $955 on this ticket and as you can see, they do not match what your actual fuel use for this flight is (instead the airline just keeps the additional revenue). Depending on the frequent flyer program you are using, these fuel surcharges can be passed on to you to pay. Then the final component are the mandatory taxes and fees, which are very mild in this case – these always get passed on to you when redeeming miles.

All in All

It is important to understand all of the components that make up an airline ticket as these are crucial to understand when you get into more advanced miles and points aspects. Looking at the revenue ticket cost and taxes can also help you estimate how much your award ticket might cost if you know how to read the fare and components. The biggest use out of this may be to have a look at the fuel surcharges on tickets and then you’re able to determine whether an award ticket is worth it or not (if high surcharges are passed on to you). Keep in mind that the rules on revenue tickets and award tickets can vary widely – with award tickets being more flexible in most cases should you need to modify.

The post Airline Ticket Total Price Components appeared first on Travel Miles 101.

The end of the year is a great time to review your loyalty strategy for the next year, by reviewing your past activity from the previous year. The loyalty strategy applies to your travel world which includes airlines, hotels, and credit cards. It is important to review your past year each year in order to make sure you are receiving a lot of value from the programs you participate in and the credit cards you use – there are always changes and therefore your loyalty could also change if you find that a different program might be better for you in your next year of travels.

Airline Loyalty Strategy

While you should be almost done with your frequent flyer elite qualification for the year, this is a really good time to think about your flying activity and what airline you might be loyal to in the new year. While many people will be happy to stick with their current plan and be loyal to the same airline(s) next year, be sure to ask yourself:

• is your frequent flyer program offering significant value?
• are there good redemption opportunities?
• are elite benefits powerful?
• does “your” airline offer a premium experience when you fly?

Airlines love to change their loyalty programs year after year – and all of the benefits offered. Chances are that the program you are most loyal to has had a few changes in the past year – ask yourself if those changes negatively affect you and if there is a better program you could use?

It is also important to note that you could easily be loyal to two or more airlines and frequent flyer programs. For example, if you have top-tier elite status with airline A, but have wanted to try airline B, consider going for mid-tier elite status with both airlines instead of top-tier status with just one airline. You will miss out on some top-tier benefits, but you will have access to more overall benefits on more airlines due to the way alliances work – and you will have more miles and access to more award availability.

Airline loyalty should work two ways – you are loyal by flying with a certain airline, and they should be rewarding you with significant benefits. If you don’t feel the “love” anymore, perhaps it is time to think about another way to fly.

Hotel Loyalty Strategy

Hotel loyalty is also very important – if you fly a lot, chances are you also stay at hotels a lot. When it comes to hotel loyalty, I have found a lot of people aren’t just loyal to one hotel chain but rather to a few. This could be because it is much easier to earn hotel elite status, through credit cards and promotions, for example, than it is to earn airline elite status. Many people already take the approach of being loyal to two hotel chains, for example, and having mid-tier elite status with both of them – instead of having top-tier status with just one hotel chain.

Regardless, it is important to review your previous travel year and also the changes the frequent guest programs may have made and analyze if it is worth being loyal again next year. Consider the following:

• have any significant aspects been changed negatively?
• how much value did you get out of your hotel points and stays?
• were your elite benefits offered to their max?
• is earning points still possible in a powerful way?
• what is the overall “mood” like at the hotel chain/program?

While some hotel loyalty programs have made positive changes to their programs in the past year – some have made no changes and yet the experience has gone down dramatically. Remember that earning hotel elite status is sort of easy, so it could make sense for you to try out a few different hotel chains and see what the experience is like for you and if you want to change your hotel loyalty strategy.

Credit Card Strategy

Credit card issuers also make frequent updates to their credit card offerings – such as changing the amount of points you will receive for a transaction or perhaps raising the annual fee. We have seen annual fees on premium travel credit cards go up a few times over the past few years – with additional benefits added. As always, you should be using a credit card that earns flexible and transferable points in a bank program – so that you can move them over to an airline or hotel program that has the most award availability and best value when it comes time to book.

Most people have a few different credit cards opened:

• an airline credit card that earns miles directly in your frequent flyer account
• a hotel credit card that earns points directly in your frequent guest account
• a few credit cards that earn points in a flexible bank program

We have airline credit cards opened for earning miles in a program that may not participate in any transfers from bank programs or perhaps because that credit card offers some elite-like benefits with an airline (like a free checked bag). The same goes with hotel credit cards – these can offer benefits like free night certificates and also a more powerful way to earn hotel points.

Thinking about your credit card strategy, think about:

• are you using the correct card for every purchase?
• are you easily earning multiple points for every $1 you spend?
• are you taking advantage of all of the benefits the card offers?
• are you able to justify paying the annual fee?
• are you overall satisfied with each and every card you have?

Have a look at your credit card strategy and take a look at things like your spending habits, what benefits you have used, and overall if you are getting a lot of value from a credit card. If you aren’t happy with some aspects of a card, consider switching to a different card if you no longer value that previous card. Also, have a look at new credit card offers and perhaps apply for them if you think they will bring you more value in the new year.

All in All

Loyalty should work both ways – you fly with an airline and get rewarded, the same goes for hotels and credit cards. The more you engage in a product, the more benefits you should receive. If you find that a program you engage in is no longer as rewarding for you, make changes and switch to a program that does recognize your loyalty and can offer you elevated benefits and rewards.

The post Reviewing Your Loyalty Strategy for Next Year appeared first on Travel Miles 101.

While December just started last week, the end of year is approaching quickly. This time of the year can get busy with everything going on – it is important to not forget to run through all of the key travel and miles/points-related items to ensure everything carries over smoothly into the new year.

End of Year Elite Status Progress Check

When December rolls around every year, you will want to be at least 90% done with qualification for airline and hotel elite status – ideally you will be over 95% done or completely done, but some people still travel aggressively for both leisure and work in December. A lot happens in December – between the holidays and the upcoming new year, there can be a lot on everyone’s minds as they prepare to close out the year and welcome a new one.

My advice is to take a more leisurely approach to December travels – it is perfectly fine to plan your holiday trip, but don’t over do it. There’s always a lot to be done in December and the month often goes by super quickly.

The main reason why you’ll want to have most of your elite qualifying points earned by the time December comes around, is because December travel can change very quickly – one snowstorm somewhere can cause massive cancelations and a change of plans. You don’t want to be scrambling to book another flight for qualification purposes if your trip gets canceled – plan ahead and ideally be done with elite status qualification.

Take Note of Miles and Points Expiration Dates

Check all of your airline and hotel accounts and note down if there are any miles or points that might expire in your accounts in the near future. If none are expiring in the coming year, move on. If there is something subject to expiration, see if you can extend the expiry date by transferring in points or completing a qualifying activity.

Some airline miles no longer expire while others still do – some based on a hard date and others based on when your last qualifying activity was. Hotel points generally expire if there hasn’t been activity on your account in quite a while. Bank points usually never expire as long as you have a credit card open that collects those points.

Check Your Coupons/Upgrades/Certificates/Free Nights

Every year, airlines and hotels issue elite members coupons, upgrades, certificates, free nights, vouchers, etc. – most of these have an expiration date and some of these can be worth hundreds, so you want to carefully check by when that free night needs to be redeemed or by when you need to apply an upgrade certificate to a flight.

All of these miles/points instruments are essential to getting the most out of a loyalty program – therefore you should never let these expire. For example, if you have a free night certificate that will expire soon and you have no travel plans, treat your family to a staycation – after all, it is a free night.

Redeem Airline Tickets & Credits

If you’ve received a voucher in exchange for taking a later flight or if you’ve canceled a flight in the past year and have a credit, chances are these items have expiration dates sometime within the next year – and unlike hotel free nights – airline credits and vouchers are almost never extended. Airline tickets are generally valid for use for a year from when they are originally issued – though some airlines offer a more generous policy and the expiration date of a ticket could be through the end of the next year or a year from the first, original flight.

Check the details of your airline credits and vouchers carefully and note that there is an important difference between the Book By and Travel By dates.

Use Credit Card Credits & Yearly Benefits by End of Year

Many premium travel credit cards with big annual fees offer a ton of different benefits and credits every year just for having the card open – ranging from travel credits to dining credits, you definitely want to be sure you are using these up. Some are offered on a monthly basis while other credits could be issued annually – the bottom line is that you want to do an audit every few months (or more frequently) to ensure these are being applied to your account and you’ve used them up.

Plan for New Credit Cards

If you are thinking about applying for new credit cards soon, review your current portfolio and decide which cards you are ready for. Be sure to also review the eligibility for your desired card as these change frequently. One of the most important things you can do is research the card’s sign-up bonus and take note of what it was at the highest level and when it last was that high. Always apply for a card with a bigger than normal sign-up bonus, that you are eligible for. Many banks have added tools that will tell you if you are eligible for the bonus on a card, which is very handy.

Plan Out The New Year & Travels by End of Year

December can be a great time to sit down with the family and plan out your future travels for the next year (or at least the next few months). These days we are seeing more and more that leisure and work travel is being mixed – plan to extend your work trips through the weekend and have your family join if the destination seems cool enough.

This time of the year is also great to look at the calendar of major events happening next year – not only globally, but in your family as well. Think about all the events you will need to attend and plan extended trips around them. For example, if you have a wedding in Italy to attend, plan a side trip to a Greek island – don’t just fly to an event for a few days and come back, but rather make a whole trip out of it.

The post End of Year Miles & Points Checklist appeared first on Travel Miles 101.

The best ways to maximize and stretch your miles further is to ensure you are primarily collecting points in a transferable bank points program – like AMEX Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, etc. – this is because when it comes time to book your trip, you can select an airline with the best availability and schedule that works for you. In most cases, you can usually transfer your points instantly to most airlines and hotels, so you’re able to book that flight right away.

What is a Points Transfer Bonus?

Almost every month select bank programs offer transfer bonuses when moving your points from a bank program to an airline or hotel program. These bonuses are offered by the banks and the redemption rate is temporarily changed to account for the bonus.

For example, if there is a 30% transfer bonus from American Express Membership Rewards to Air Canada Aeroplan, the ratio will be temporarily changed from 1:1 to 1:1 + 30%. So instead of 1,000 AMEX points converting to 1,000 Aeroplan miles, they would show up in your Aeroplan account as 1,300 miles.

Most transfer bonuses only last for a month, though in some cases they are known to have been extended or last a bit longer.

Usually when there is a transfer bonus with a transferable bank points program, the bonus is offered to everyone. However, lately, there have been more and more targeted transfer bonuses and therefore it is important that you check your accounts every month – as a surprise could be waiting for you.

Why Do Transfer Bonuses Matter?

Transfer bonuses are very important because they help you get more value from your points – you are essentially getting more miles in an airline account for free. If you are converting a smaller amount, it may not make that much of a difference. However, if you are converting a larger amount of points, you could potentially save a ton of points/miles.

When you transfer points from a bank program to an airline or hotel, they cannot be transferred back.

Should You Speculatively Transfer Points to Airlines?

If there is a transfer bonus to a specific airline but you don’t have any flights in mind yet, should you convert your points speculatively just because there is a bonus? It depends.

It depends on a number of factors including how many points are you converting, how often do you use that frequent flyer program, does that program have a history of devaluing constantly, etc. There’s no right or wrong answer, but it depends on your travel plans and if you see yourself using those points in the near future.

If you do not think you will use those miles after conversion to an airline within the next six months, I would say to not transfer because these bonuses show up frequently so chances are the same bonus is available a couple of times per year.

Points Transfer Bonuses: December 2023

Happy December! I can’t believe how quickly the year has gone by – it seems like 2023 just started. Since it is a new month, the clock resets on some miles and points items, and one of those is transfer bonuses.

The current available transfer bonuses for December 2023 are:

• AMEX Membership Rewards -> Singapore Airlines: 20% bonus (targeted)
• AMEX Membership Rewards -> Virgin Atlantic: 30% bonus
• AMEX Membership Rewards -> Hilton: 30% bonus (targeted)
• Chase Ultimate Rewards -> jetBlue: 25% bonus

Remember that some of those are targeted transfer bonuses, so you may not see them in your accounts. However, that also means that you could potentially see a transfer bonus that may not be available to others, if you are targeted. Always check your accounts each month!

All in All

I transfer my points quite a bit as you can imagine, but this December I won’t be participating as I don’t have any future travel plans that I need to book. I have the first few months of the year planned out and flights have been secured – I don’t like planning more than 3 months in advance as life changes constantly and therefore I don’t need to take advantage of transfer bonuses this time.

Remember to check award availability first before you do a transfer and always have back-up flight options should your award get booked up by the time the points show up. Some airlines allow you to put an award on hold, which is always welcome as then you are more or less guaranteed space on that flight. Have a look at your accounts and use this opportunity to plan out your future flights.

The post Points Transfer Bonuses: December 2023 appeared first on Travel Miles 101.

The best frequent flyer program in the SkyTeam alliance is Air France/KLM Flying Blue. SkyTeam is generally the worst alliance in terms of just about everything – ranging from quality of airlines to frequent flyer benefits to aspirational flying experiences, etc., not a lot of people like SkyTeam. While Delta has the world’s worst loyalty program, Air France/KLM’s Flying Blue is actually a useful program for redeeming on both SkyTeam airlines as well as non-alliance partners.

Some things to keep in mind about Flying Blue:

• there is no award chart published, so a flight could cost any amount of miles
• fuel surcharges are imposed on most redemptions, but are usually not that bad
• website can be super glitchy, so be sure to double check award availability elsewhere before transferring in points
• you can have a free stopover in Amsterdam or Paris, but this can only be booked over the phone
• changes and cancelations of award tickets aren’t super expensive
• it is a SkyTeam frequent flyer program, so don’t expect too much from it

Transfer in Points to Flying Blue

Flying Blue miles can be acquired fairly easily, you can transfer them in from:

• American Express Membership Rewards (1:1 ratio)
• Capital One Rewards (1:1 ratio)
• Chase Ultimate Rewards (1:1 ratio)
• Citi ThankYou Points (1:1 ratio)
• Marriott Bonvoy (3:1 ratio)

There are frequently transfer bonuses to Flying Blue – from the major bank programs. For example, right now there is a promotion whereby if you transfer Chase points to Flying Blue, you will get a 25% bonus.

SkyTeam Alliance Airlines

As Air France and KLM are both in SkyTeam, you can earn and redeem your Flying Blue miles on all SkyTeam airlines:

• Aerolineas Argentinas
• Aeromexico
• Air Europa
• Air France
• China Airlines
• China Eastern
• CSA Czech Airlines
• Delta Air Lines
• Garuda Indoensia
• ITA Airways
• Kenya Airways
• KLM Royal Dutch Airlines
• Korean Air
• MEA Middle East Airlines
• Saudi Arabian Airlines
• TAROM
• Vietnam Airlines
• Virgin Atlantic
• Xiamen Air

SkyTeam doesn’t have that many aspirational carriers and I’d say that Air France, KLM, and ITA Airways are the most premium airlines in the alliance.

Non-Alliance Flying Blue Partner Airlines

Air France/KLM Flying Blue has a bunch of cool non-alliance partner airlines on which you can earn and redeem miles:

• Air Corsica
• Air Mauritius
• airBaltic
• Aircalin
• Bangkok Airways
• Chalair Aviation
• China Southern Airlines
• Copa Airlines
• Etihad Airways
• GOL
• Japan Airlines
• Malaysia Airlines
• Qantas
• Transavia
• Twin Jet
• WestJet
• Winair

Note that because these partner airlines do not belong to SkyTeam, in some cases it may not be possible to redeem or earn miles on all routes operated by these non-alliance partners.

Redeem Flying Blue Miles on Non-Alliance Partners

We want to highlight Flying Blue redemptions on some cool non-alliance partner airlines like Air Mauritius, Bangkok Airways, Japan Airlines, etc. – so we won’t cover Flying Blue redemptions on all non-alliance partner airlines in this post.

Below we have listed sample routes and their cost when redeeming Flying Blue miles. In some cases, you can find great redemption rates while in other cases, they are terrible. It is interesting that Flying Blue partners with airlines like Japan Airlines and Qantas when those are strong oneworld members. I would argue that being able to redeem Flying Blue miles on Etihad Airways is probably the best opportunity you could have as far as non-alliance partners go.

Redeem Miles on Air Mauritius

sample routes:

• Mauritius to London
  • Economy Class: 83,500 miles + ~$98
  • Business Class: 209,000 miles + ~$242
• Mauritius to Johannesburg
  • Economy Class: 26,000 miles + ~$112
  • Business Class: 65,500 miles + ~$137

Redeem Miles on Bangkok Airways

sample routes:

• Bangkok to Koh Samui
  • Economy Class: 15,000 miles + ~$3
• Koh Samui to Singapore
  • Economy Class: 17,000 miles + ~$22

Redeem Miles on Japan Airlines

sample routes:

• Tokyo to Osaka
  • Economy Class: 11,500 miles + ~$9
  • Business Class: 15,000 miles + ~$20
• Tokyo to Singapore
  • Economy Class: 76,000 miles + ~$150
  • Business Class: 135,500 miles + ~$150

Redeem Miles on Malaysia Airlines

sample routes:

• Kuala Lumpur to Singapore
  • Economy Class: 5,000 miles + ~$16
  • Business Class: 10,000 miles + ~$27
• Kuala Lumpur to Tokyo
  • Economy Class: 36,000 miles + ~$126
  • Business Class: 90,500 miles + ~$154

Redeem Miles on WestJet

sample routes:

• Calgary to Toronto
  • Economy Class: 20,000 miles + ~$32

All in All

While SkyTeam isn’t the world’s most useful alliance, Air France/KLM’s frequent flyer program sort of brings everything together and allows some unique mileage opportunities. I would say that being able to redeem these miles on airlines like Etihad Airways, Japan Airlines, Qantas, and others, in addition to being able to redeem on SkyTeam airlines, is what makes this frequent flyer program the best one in the entire alliance. However, remember to keep in mind that some award redemption rates are insanely high and when combined with fuel surcharges, sometimes it may be best to book an award through another program – always research your redemption carefully before booking.

The post Flying Blue: Redeem Miles on Non-Alliance Partners appeared first on Travel Miles 101.

A few weeks ago, Air France/KLM and Etihad Airways signed a new cooperation agreement whereby the airlines would codeshare on some routes and also eventually provide elevated frequent flyer benefits to flyers. While the agreement went into place a while ago, we haven’t been able to redeem miles on each other’s flights. This is now live – it is possible to redeem Air France/KLM Flying Blue miles for travel on Etihad Airways and the same in reverse – use Etihad miles on Air France/KLM flights.

Earn Miles on Flights

• you can earn miles with Air France/KLM when you fly on Etihad Airways
• you can earn miles with Etihad Airways when you fly on Air France/KLM

Redeem Etihad Airways Guest Miles on Air France/KLM Flights

You can now redeem Etihad Airways miles for flights operated by Air France and KLM. The redemption rates follow Etihad’s standard partner award chart, which isn’t that amazing.

To give you some examples:

• a flight in Economy Class up to 500 miles in length costs 6k miles
• a flight in Business Class in the distance band of 2,000 – 2,500 miles costs 50k miles
• a flight in Business Class in the distance band of 4,001 – 5,000 miles costs 100k miles

It is not possible to book Air France First Class using partner miles, so Etihad’s First Class award rates do not apply.

You probably won’t really be redeeming Etihad miles for Air France/KLM at these rates, since you can do so at much better rates through Flying Blue or Virgin Atlantic, in some cases.

Redeem Air France/KLM Flying Blue Miles on Etihad Airways Flights

The real gem with this partnership is being able to redeem Air France/KLM Flying Blue miles on Etihad Airways flights.

A few things to keep in mind:

• you can book these award flights directly online
• Flying Blue doesn’t have an award chart, so there is no reference of how much a flight will cost
• Flying Blue does impose fuel surcharges

What are Etihad Airways flights pricing out as? Here are some examples (one-way):

• Abu Dhabi to Doha
  • Economy Class: 3,500 miles + ~$75
  • Business Class: 5,000 miles + ~$115
• Abu Dhabi to Kuwait
  • Economy Class: 5,000 miles + ~$80
  • Business Class: 9,500 miles + ~$120
• Abu Dhabi to London
  • Economy Class: 28,500 miles + ~$108
  • Business Class: 50,500 miles + ~$208
• Abu Dhabi to Geneva
  • Economy Class: 25,500 miles + ~$108
  • Business Class: 45,000 miles + ~$208

As you can see, when combined with the taxes/fees, those are not the world’s best rates, but they aren’t bad either.

Transfer in Points to Flying Blue

Being able to redeem Air France/KLM Flying Blue miles on Etihad Airways is exciting because Flying Blue miles can be acquired fairly easily, you can transfer them in from:

• American Express Membership Rewards (1:1 ratio)
• Capital One Rewards (1:1 ratio)
• Chase Ultimate Rewards (1:1 ratio)
• Citi ThankYou Points (1:1 ratio)
• Marriott Bonvoy (3:1 ratio)

Flying on Etihad Airways is such a joy in the premium cabin, so being able to easily book their flights through Flying Blue is so cool.

There are frequently transfer bonuses to Flying Blue – from the major bank programs. For example, right now there is a promotion whereby if you transfer Chase points to Flying Blue, you will get a 25% bonus.

All in All

The more redemption opportunities, the better – and this one is really cool. When you pair a Flying Blue transfer bonus with a decently-priced redemption on Etihad Airways, you should get great value for your miles. The surcharges on the medium-haul flights are decent in Business Class, so this is definitely a great opportunity to fly on Etihad Airways and when you do, be sure to stopover in Abu Dhabi for a few days!

The post Live: Redeem AF/KL Flying Blue Miles on Etihad Airways appeared first on Travel Miles 101.

Navigating the travel and miles and points world can be complex, which is why we love to answer your questions – like how to determine the most value for miles/points, searching award availability, and providing advice on stopovers.

Today’s reader question is as follows:

To me, there is a lot of mystery surrounding how to get the most for your airline points.

Things like instead of searching on United to go search on another star alliance website. How do you do that? If I wanted to look at Turkish Airlines, I think I need to set up an account.

Part of this mystery is how to find stop overs. Can I stay a few days on the same ticket? What places can I stop over? What websites or airlines do I look for this?

Diane

Let’s dive right in!

Get The Most Value For Miles & Points

It is easy to ask yourself how to get the most value for miles and points and we can provide clear metrics what is a good redemption and what isn’t, but at the end of the day, if you are redeeming miles/points for a family vacation and your out-of-pocket expenses come close to $0, then I’d say that’s a phenomenal way to use miles and points.

The best ways to redeem miles and points are:

• International First and Business Class tickets
  • cost thousands of $
  • can redeem miles/points at incredible rates
• Premium Economy and Economy Class tickets
  • if you get a good deal
• Short-Medium Haul Distance-Based Economy Class tickets
  • especially last minute

For example, if a Business Class ticket to Europe costs $6,000 round-trip and you can get the same ticket for 120,000 miles plus some taxes, then that is considered an amazing redemption and a great use of your miles.

An example of a horrible redemption would be redeeming 60,000 miles for a round-trip Economy Class ticket to Europe, if you can buy the same or a similar ticket for $500. This would be a waste of miles.

Another fantastic redemption would be a short-haul flight like Miami to New York which costs 9,000 points one-way in Economy or could cost $550+ last minute. In this case, you obviously would use miles and get a phenomenal deal.

It all comes down to how much value you can get for your miles – before redeeming them for a ticket, have a look at what cash prices are on the same route. Remember that if you have flexible and transferable points in a bank program, you could apply some of those towards the cost of the cash ticket through the bank’s travel portal.

Searching on Airline A for Airline B Flights

The best ways to redeem miles and points is often through a partner frequent flyer program – so redeeming British Airways miles for short-medium haul American Airlines flights can be a great deal, and you might end up paying significantly less miles. Or you could potentially redeem 50k points for a Business Class ticket on Delta Air Lines through their partner Virgin Atlantic, when Delta would want 350k+ of their own miles for the same flight, for example.

In more than half of cases, redeeming partner miles represents a fantastic opportunity because you can get an amazing deal. There isn’t one guide or website that shows you all of these ways/methods, but rather you get to know them here and there after you read miles and points websites and search for the best ways to book a ticket to your desired destination on your desired airline using the miles and points you have.

As far as Diane’s question on searching award availability goes, some airline websites are much better than others at showing availability and are considered the “go-to” ways to search for flights.

For example, if you want to search for award availability on:

• Star Alliance
  • use Aeroplan or United
• oneworld
  • use American Airlines or British Airways
• SkyTeam
  • use Air France/KLM

If you want to find availability on a Turkish Airlines flight and use your United miles for it, you don’t need an account with Turkish Airlines – you can search for the Turkish award flight through any Star Alliance airline.

Value for Miles: Stopovers on Award Tickets

Some, not all, frequent flyer programs allow you to redeem your miles and include a free (or low-cost) stopover on your ticket en route to your final destination. These include airlines like:

• Alaska Airlines
  • free stopover, even on one-way tickets
• Air Canada
  • 5k miles extra for each stopover
• Air France/KLM
  • stop in Amsterdam or Paris for no additional miles
• Lufthansa
  • stopovers permitted on round-trip tickets
• United Airlines
  • one stopover permitted in destination region

Those are just some examples, but other stopover policies exist. Again, this is something you would gradually learn through reading blogs and researching how to best redeem your miles. In the examples above, you would use those airlines’ frequent flyer programs to book your ticket (and can fly on any of their partner airlines).

In response to Diane:

• Can I stay a few days on the same ticket?
  • yes, that’s what a stopover is, en route to your destination
  • the airline who’s miles you are using determines the rules on how long your stopover can be

• What places can I stop over?
  • the airline you are booking through determines this
  • for example, Alaska Airlines allows you to stop over in the hub city of a partner airline

It isn’t possible to go over the details of every single frequent flyer program and their policies on numerous topics in just one post – which is why several guides on each frequent flyer program do exist on the web.

All in All

The best ways to learn more in the miles and points field is to start by learning how the program of the airline you fly with the most works – what redemptions do they allow, what are their policies, etc. – then you can move on and expand your horizons about other programs. Start small – don’t try to learn everything all at once and don’t jump from topic to topic and instead gain more in-depth knowledge about how a particular redemption works, for example, or why some points are more powerful than others. Take it all step-by-step and that will allow you to build your skills in our field.

The post Value for Miles & Points, Searching Awards, and Stopovers appeared first on Travel Miles 101.

Did you know that sometimes it is cheaper in miles/points to book a flight operated by airline A through airline B’s frequent flyer program? For example, it can cost you less miles to book a flight on Air France through their SkyTeam partner airlines, like Virgin Atlantic, than it would through Air France’s own frequent flyer program. This is the beauty of airline alliances, partnerships, and frequent flyer programs.

Today’s question comes from Michelle:

I think something I would like to hear about is using alliances…it’s a little confusing. For example, I recently read it’s cheaper for me to book an American Airlines flight using British Airways Avios. Like where do you even begin?

Michelle

Thanks for your submission! We are happy to review how airline alliances work and how you can use one airline’s miles to fly another airline and potentially save a lot of miles.

Airline Alliances & Partner Airlines

Most (but not all) airlines belong to one of three big alliances – Star Alliance, oneworld, and SkyTeam. In the U.S.:

• American and Alaska Airlines = oneworld
• United Airlines = Star Alliance
• Delta Air Lines = SkyTeam

What are the benefits of airlines belonging to an airline alliance?

• easy ticketing on multiple airlines
• through check-in for all segments on one ticket
• ability to check bags to final destination, even if travel is on multiple airlines
• frequent flyer elite benefits
• ability to earn miles and points with one airline when you travel on any of their partners
• worldwide lounge access
• redeem miles from one airline on any of their partners

the list goes on and on, but basically, being in an alliance benefits the airline greatly as they are able to expand their global reach and offer flights to destinations they don’t fly to through the help of their alliance partners.

It is also important to understand that airlines can have partnerships outside of alliances or even partnerships with airlines that belong to a different alliance. For example, Alaska belongs to oneworld but has a partnership with Singapore Airlines which belongs to Star Alliance – and you can use Alaska miles to book an award flight on Singapore Airlines.

Alliance-Wide Frequent Flyer Benefits

If an airline belongs to an alliance and you hold elite frequent flyer status with one airline, a lot of the benefits you receive with “your” airline also transfer over to all of the other airlines in the alliance when you fly with them. For example, if you have Star Alliance Gold status with any Star Alliance airline, the following benefits apply to you when you travel on any Star Alliance airline:

• priority check-in
• extra baggage allowance
• priority baggage handling
• security fast track
• lounge access
• priority boarding
• priority reservations waitlist
• priority standby waitlist

there may be more benefits offered, depending on individual agreements between airlines.

Redeeming Miles on Partner Airlines

Major airlines have frequent flyer programs and you can earn and redeem miles for travel on those airlines and their partner airlines. For example, you can redeem British Airways miles for travel on American Airlines, and the same in reverse, because both airlines are in the oneworld alliance.

Going back to Michelle’s question, there are opportunities that exist which allow you to redeem airline A’s miles for travel on airline B, and you could end up paying less miles than if you outright booked your ticket through airline B’s frequent flyer program.

These opportunities exist because the airline who’s miles you are redeeming sets the price in miles – not the airline you are actually flying. So if you are redeeming British Airways miles for a flight on American Airlines, it is British Airways who determines the cost. For example:

• American Airlines flight from New York to Miami in Economy Class, one-way
  • price when redeeming American Airlines miles: 12,000 miles + $5.60 (can change)
  • price when redeeming British Airways miles: 9,000 miles + $5.60

The price in miles is determined by the issuing carrier while the taxes and fees remain the same, in this case. There are times when taxes and fees can vary greatly depending on what frequent flyer program you are using to book your ticket.

Transferring Bank Points to Frequent Flyer Programs

The points that you should always be collecting from credit card spending are those that belong to transferable points programs from major banks like AMEX Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, etc. The reason why you should collect these instead of miles directly in an airline’s program is because they give you the flexibility of transferring your points to the airline with the best price and availability. Most transfers from bank points programs to frequent flyer miles are instant and therefore you’re able to redeem those miles right away.

Not only that, but when you collect points in a flexible and transferable bank program, you can also save points when booking the same flight – going back to our example above, there are cases when you can transfer your bank points to a different, partner program and redeem on a different airline where the savings can be huge.

For example:

• say we have 100,000 American Express Membership Rewards
• we want to book a one-way Business Class flight on Delta Air Lines from New York to London
• AMEX points transfer to Delta at a 1:1 ratio and Delta wants 350,000 miles (an insane amount of miles for the flight)
• AMEX points also transfer to Delta’s partner, Virgin Atlantic, which could offer the same flight on Delta for just 47,500 miles

In this case, we would transfer to Virgin Atlantic and book through their program for a flight on Delta. This opportunity exists because Virgin determines the cost as we are using Virgin miles – it doesn’t matter if you fly Virgin or one of their partners, if you are using Virgin miles, Virgin sets the price.

This is just one example, but many like this exist in the miles and points world. The best ways to find deals like this is to first find availability on the airline you want to fly and then simply run through each of their partner airlines’ frequent flyer programs and check what the redemption rates are.

All in All

The beauty of miles, points, frequent flyer programs, and airline alliances is that so many incredible opportunities exist where you can redeem awards for flights that would cost thousands of dollars normally – yet the same flights can be booked for miles and some taxes/fees. You should always be collecting flexible and transferable points so that you are well prepared when it comes time to book – the more options you have, the better. Keep in mind the number one rule of booking flights with miles is to be flexible, it will open up many amazing opportunities in travel for you.

The post Alliances: Redeeming Fewer Miles on Partner Airlines appeared first on Travel Miles 101.

When you think of paradise what comes to mind? Hawaii, Maldives, French Polynesia, Bali, Thailand, etc., right? All of those places are so beautiful that you have to visit some of them in your lifetime. While some of these places are easy to get to on miles and points, others can be more challenging… especially in Business Class. Depending on where you are in the world, some of these places can be closer to home while others can seem a lifetime away. Let’s review on how you can fly Business Class to French Polynesia with miles or points.

Today’s reader question is as follows:

Hello,

I would love to see articles on booking award flights to Bora Bora lay flat.

Thanks,

Melissa B.

Thanks for your question, Melissa! We are happy to discuss all of the options available to you.

The Difference Between Tahiti and Bora Bora

First let’s get something out of the way – all international flights arrive in Papeete on the island of Tahiti, French Polynesia.

From there you have to pay for a local, domestic flight on Air Tahiti to fly to Bora Bora (or any other island in French Polynesia). Some of these domestic flights are under an hour each but cost around $300 – which is fairly steep. The only way to use miles or points for domestic Air Tahiti flights is to book them through a bank travel portal like Chase Ultimate Rewards and apply some of your points towards a cash ticket.

There isn’t a way to book an award ticket outright on Air Tahiti, the domestic airline within French Polynesia. This is a different airline than Air Tahiti Nui, on which you can redeem miles (it is the international airline of French Polynesia).

Flying to French Polynesia with Miles

What airlines can you fly to French Polynesia with miles in Business Class? Thankfully, there are several options available to you. Below is the list of traditional airlines on which you can use miles or points to fly to Papeete:

• Air France
  • Los Angeles
• Air New Zealand
  • Auckland
• Air Tahiti Nui
  • Auckland
  • Los Angeles
  • Seattle
  • Tokyo
• Aircalin
  • Nadi
  • Noumea
• Delta Air Lines
  • Los Angeles
• Hawaiian Airlines
  • Honolulu
• United Airlines
  • San Francisco

All of these airlines offer a Business Class product to Tahiti, and most of the time it will be a lie-flat seat.

If redeeming an award ticket, you will end your journey in Papeete (PPT) and then have to buy a separate, cash flight on to Bora Bora (or any other island).

Which Airline Has The Most Award Availability?

Taking a look at the airline list, you’d think that there would be plenty of mileage seats available since so many airlines operate flights to Tahiti. In Economy Class, generally, yes, you can find an award seat for a few people on one flight. However, Business Class is a little different.

Tahiti’s international airline, Air Tahiti Nui, offers the most award availability in Business Class to North America on their Seattle and Los Angeles routes.

United Airlines to San Francisco and Hawaiian Airlines to Honolulu occasionally do have award seats available in Business Class, but definitely less (at the saver-level) than Air Tahiti Nui. This is followed by Air France and Delta which operate flights to Los Angeles, but rarely have any award space available to partner airlines and if you want to book a flight in Business Class on this route you’d most likely have to use their own frequent flyer program through which they would charge you an insane amount of miles.

If you are planning a bigger trip to the South Pacific, you could also fly to Auckland on Air New Zealand or Air Tahiti Nui or perhaps to Nadi, Fiji or Noumea, New Caledonia on Aircalin and visit more of the beautiful region.

Finding Award Availability and Redeeming Miles

What’s the best way to search for award availability on these routes and what are the best miles to redeem?

• to search award availability, you will want to search for the nonstop flight from Papeete to where you want to fly on one of the routes above

the best ways to search for award space on these airlines is as follows:

• search via American Airlines or Alaska Airlines for Air Tahiti Nui flights
• search via Air Canada Aeroplan or United for Air New Zealand and United flights
• search via Air France/KLM Flying Blue for Air France, Aircalin, or Delta flights
• search via Delta for Air France or Delta flights
• search via Hawaiian for Hawaiian flights

If any of the airlines above make saver-level award space available, you can book it through one of their partner airlines.

Once you have found award availability, you will need to check what partner airlines’ miles you can use to book that flight. For example, you can redeem both American and Alaska Airlines miles for travel on Air Tahiti Nui in Business Class at great rates.

You can use any Star Alliance miles to fly Air New Zealand or United. If you want to book the Hawaiian Airlines flight to Honolulu, you can do so with Hawaiian Airlines directly or with one of their partners (like Virgin Atlantic) if there is saver-level space. The Air France and Delta flights will usually be only bookable through their own programs given the fact they rarely release saver-level award seats on these routes.

All in All: French Polynesia with Miles

The islands of French Polynesia are beyond breathtaking – whether you venture to Bora Bora or elsewhere, you are in for real paradise. If you plan ahead and have a diverse portfolio of miles and points, then it should be possible to redeem miles for a Business Class ticket to Tahiti – you may need to get creative with the route, but it should definitely be possible.

Remember that to hop from island to island, you will need to either take a ferry or fly Air Tahiti. If you are flying, you can use a bank travel portal and apply some of your points towards the cost of the (expensive) cash ticket within French Polynesia. When planning a trip, you have to book in advance as French Polynesia is very popular and award seats are limited. I recommend pairing the trip with another destination in the South Pacific – like Australia or Fiji.

The post Flying Business Class to French Polynesia with Miles appeared first on Travel Miles 101.

Miles and Points are boundless – they can take you anywhere all around the world and most of the time you can save big, and even fly in First or Business Class where a ticket would normally cost thousands. When redeeming miles, it is important to understand how your frequent flyer program works and what their rules are and if they allow you to maximize your miles by creating custom award flight itineraries.

What is a Custom Award Flight Itinerary?

A custom award flight itinerary is a booking where you put together all of the flights by yourself instead of just going to the airline’s website and accepting the flights they offer. Custom itineraries are great when you want to:

• have stopovers
• have extended layovers (up to 23 hours 59 minutes)
• route over a favorite city
• try multiple airlines all on the same ticket
• stretch your miles further and maximize your ticket

Custom itineraries can be basic or complicated – it all really depends on what you want to book and what the frequent flyer program allows.

How to Plan a Custom Award Itinerary

You can start planning a custom award itinerary by studying what your frequent flyer program allows and what airlines are available to you – of course, award availability will need to be there in order to book.

Firstly, you will need to understand the rules of the frequent flyer program you are using to book your itinerary. The most important aspect to understand is if they allow you to create custom itineraries or if they only allow you to book what they show you online. Programs like United and Delta only allow you to book what they show – from your origin to destination and if you want a custom itinerary, you will need to pay more miles.

If your program allows custom award flight itineraries, you will need to keep in mind a few key items:

• what airlines are available to you and do they have award space?
• what is the maximum permitted mileage flown between your origin and destination?
• how many flight segments are allowed?
• can you mix cabins?
• can you mix airlines?
• will the itinerary price in your favor?
• are you able to route via a third region?

There may be more questions you need to ask yourself before planning your trip, depending on what frequent flyer program you are using.

For example, American Airlines AAdvantage allows you to create custom itineraries as long as they are on partner airlines (a booking with only AA flights won’t qualify). Some rules of AAdvantage include:

• maximum of 4 flight segments on international awards
• cannot route via third region, some exceptions apply
• need to call in to book custom flights
• no stopovers allowed
• long layovers of up to 23 hours 59 minutes allowed
• can mix cabins and airlines

Always check the rules before planning and searching flights.

Searching Award Flight Availability

When planning a custom award flight itinerary, you will need to search each flight one at a time and you will also need to keep in mind all of the rules of the frequent flyer program.

For example, if you want to fly from San Francisco to Athens and the program’s website only shows you award flights that are “simple” (like one connection only) and you want to create a custom itinerary, you will need to figure out:

• what cities you want to transit
• how long your layovers will be
• will you or can you have a stopover
• will your custom itinerary satisfy all of the program requirements

Going back to our examples, let’s say we are redeeming AAdvantage miles from San Francisco to Athens and when we search this city pair, the only options we have are one-stops, via London, Philadelphia, etc. Most people would be happy to book those, but we want to get creative.

The following, custom itinerary would price the same as the one above:

• San Francisco to New York (AA or AS flight)
• New York to London (AA or BA flight)
• London to Madrid (BA or IB flight)
• Madrid to Athens (IB flight)

In Business Class on partner airlines, both the simple itinerary and our custom itinerary would price the same at 57.5k miles in Business Class. Our custom itinerary meets all of AA’s rules which include a maximum of 4 segments, within the maximum permitted mileage, layovers of under 24 hours, etc.

You would find this itinerary and flights by searching each flight individually and then putting them together as one trip – a custom award flight itinerary.

Booking Custom Award Flight Itineraries

In most cases, you will have to call the frequent flyer program to book your custom itinerary. There are a tiny amount of programs that allow you to use the Multi-City function to create custom award flight itineraries that are correctly priced. For example, if you typed in our custom itinerary on AA’s website, it would charge you for each flight separately even if you meet all of the requirements for the booking to qualify as “one award” – so you need to call.

The best way to approach the task is to tell the agent you already found availability and “feed” them each flight separately and once they find all of the flights, they should be able to price the whole itinerary correctly and if it meets all of the requirements, it should price as one award at the expected price for this trip from origin to destination.

All in All

Creating and booking custom award flight itineraries is such a fun way to see more places, try more airlines, and really stretch your miles further. Why fly direct or with one stop when you potentially can have 5 layovers and see more of our beautiful world?

Custom award flight itineraries take your miles and points to the max when you are flying in Business or First Class on multiple airlines throughout the world – you can sample different products and have layovers in really cool places, all while paying the same price in miles as you would for a more direct routing. Remember that “hang up, call again” is your friend if some agents are hesitant to book a custom routing or if they quote you the wrong price – just remember to thoroughly research and understand the rules of the frequent flyer program.

The post Custom Award Flight Itineraries appeared first on Travel Miles 101.

Delta Air Lines recently announced a series of changes whereby they were radically changing how one qualifies for elite status – instead of flying and spending, only how much you spend will count and flying is no longer part of the overall metrics. That means you can spend your way towards Delta’s top-tier elite status without ever stepping on a plane.

How Elite Status Is Normally Achieved

Airline elite status has normally been achieved through a combination of:

• your fare and booking class on a ticket
• your flight distance

The higher your booking class was and the longer your flight was, the more elite credit you would get. After all, this makes sense, right? It is called a frequent flyer program, after all.

Adding A Revenue Requirement

A few years ago, U.S. airlines started adding a revenue requirement in order to attain elite status, and therefore the metrics were as follows:

• number of miles or segments flown
• amount spent with airline on tickets and sometimes ancillary services

This really started to kill earning elite status easily and basically killed the mileage run and redefined it into a status run instead.

The revenue requirements at the time they were added were something along the lines of:

• Silver status: $3,000
• Gold status: $6,000
• Platinum status: $9,000
• Diamond status: $12,000

These figures are give or take, but most U.S. airlines had those similar metrics. Basically, in addition to flying, you also had to spend that much with the airline to reach those elite levels.

Only the base fare and carrier-imposed surcharges count and not the mandatory government taxes and fees.

Raising the Revenue Amount Required

After the revenue requirement for status was introduced, airlines started getting creative and added new ways you could “earn spend” with them – so checked bag fees and seat assignment fees began to count, which was a positive.

Some airlines also added the ability to earn spend with them by spending on their co-branded credit cards on certain purchases.

Over the years that the revenue requirement existed, it was raised several times while the miles or segments required for elite status was not. Essentially, all airlines care about is your money.

Some airlines allowed you to earn a waiver for their revenue status requirement if you spent a certain amount on a co-branded credit card for certain elite levels.

Removing Miles or Segments Flown

The most recent change by several airlines was the fact that they removed the miles flown or segments flown requirement for elite status and increased the revenue amount required to gain or keep status.

That’s right, it is no longer required to fly some airlines a certain amount to gain elite status – only spend money with them and they will happily give you status. This does not apply with all airlines, but it will apply with Delta, for example, starting next year and I’m sure others will follow.

Is It Worth Spending Your Way Towards Elite Status?

No.

Why? Because for starters, why do you want to be loyal to an airline that only cares about your money and not the amount of times you fly with them? It doesn’t make sense.

Secondly, if an airline is constantly making changes to their frequent flyer program and constantly tweaking it to screw over members (like Delta), why would you want to be loyal to that airline in the first place?

Thirdly, it is rarely worth it to spend money on an airline credit card outside of the initial sign-up bonus requirement. Why? Because you should be using a credit card that earns flexible and transferable points from a bank program that you can transfer to an airline that has the best award availability when it comes time to book. You don’t want to be stuck with a bunch of miles in an airline account and find no award availability with that frequent flyer program.

It’s never worth spending your way towards elite status because there are other programs in the same alliance through which you can achieve alliance-wide elite benefits and status without a spend requirement and just through flying.

All in All

Don’t be loyal to one airline or one hotel program and before getting involved with a program, read about their history and how they’ve changed over the years.

It’s absolutely okay to be loyal and fly with one airline but always have a plan in case the program significantly changes and it no longer provides enough value for you. Remember that foreign frequent flyer programs could provide you more value for less if you play your cards right and plan out your flying and travel – especially if those programs don’t have a revenue requirement for status.

The post Is It Worth Spending Your Way Towards Elite Status? appeared first on Travel Miles 101.

Miles and Points give us the flexibility of traveling around the world in style – being able to redeem miles and pay a few taxes out of pocket to fly international First Class is amazing. However, there are a few times when we need to fly Economy Class – and there’s nothing wrong with that if you get a good deal and the flight is on the shorter side. In Economy Class, airlines like to sell add-ons, otherwise known as ancillary services.

What Are Airline Ancillary Services?

Airline Ancillary Services are essentially add-ons to your flight – like checked baggage or snacks, if they’re not included in your ticket. These services usually do not apply in Premium Economy, Business, or First Class because these premium cabins have most items included – like free seat assignment and priority boarding.

Not All Economy Classes Are Equal

Some airlines have an amazing Economy Class experience and don’t really charge or have ancillary services because everything is already included in the fare. Usually Middle Eastern and Asian carriers offer the best service in Economy Class and really the only ancillary services that you may be interested in buying from them is extra checked baggage allowance, if you go over your limit.

European and American carriers charge for most items in Economy Class – from seat assignment to even carry-on bags. Not to mention, their entire flying experience is much worse.

Examples of Ancillary Services

An ancillary service is basically anything the airline can sell you apart from your normal ticket. Therefore these services include items like:

• priority check-in/security
• checked bags
• seat assignment
• lounge access
• priority boarding
• snacks onboard

Like we mentioned, most of these apply for Economy Class travel only. However, there are some airlines that are beginning to become cheap and even charge travelers for seat assignment in Business Class, which is beyond ridiculous. Some airlines don’t even include lounge access on Business Class tickets.

How/When to Pay for Ancillary Services

You can buy ancillary services as add-ons when you buy your ticket or you can buy them later individually on the Manage My Booking feature, at the airport, or even onboard.

Usually ancillary services can only be paid for with a credit card – airline credits and vouchers are usually not accepted, however this varies by airline. Some airlines also let you pay for ancillary services using miles or points.

Can You Earn Miles/Elite Credit for Ancillary Service Spend?

Depending on the airline and frequent flyer program you’re using, you may be able to earn miles or elite credit when you pay for ancillary services. For example, when you pay for a Delta Air Lines preferred seat, you can earn Medallion Qualification Dollars – which help you achieve a higher elite status tier.

Always have your frequent flyer number listed on the booking.

All in All

Airlines make a lot of money from these add-on services – that’s why some tickets are really cheap because nothing besides the seat is included. If you have elite status, most airlines still award you your benefits like lounge access and priority boarding on Economy Class tickets – even when these items are being sold to others as ancillaries. Airlines are constantly trying to add new ways through which they can make money, and taking away services and benefits from Economy Class tickets and adding more and more ancillary services is just another example of that.

The post What Are Airline Ancillary Services? appeared first on Travel Miles 101.

Airlines around the world have different ways and methods through which they determine the miles earned for a flight. While many airlines share the same calculation method, more and more airlines are switching to other ways in how they calculate how many miles and points you’ll get for a flight.

Remember that the amount of miles you’ll receive is based on the frequent flyer program you’re crediting your flight to – not necessarily the airline flown. For example, if you fly with Lufthansa and credit your miles to United, United determines how many miles or points you’d receive.

It’s also very important to know that there can be a difference as to how many redeemable miles you earn on a flight and how many elite qualifying miles or points you earn – some airlines award the same for both categories, while other airlines can have very different methods for determining redeemable vs. elite qualifying miles.

Miles Earned Based on Distance Flown and Booking Class

The most common method of awarding flyers both redeemable and elite-qualifying miles is based on distance flown and booking class of your ticket. When you buy a ticket, you’ll usually have many different fare type options and the more expensive your ticket is, the higher your booking class will be and the more miles you’ll receive, and the more flexible your ticket will be.

Many programs continue to use this method for awarding miles to flyers – as this is the standard way and many argue, the best way. The way it works is simple:

• you take your distance flown and multiply it by how many miles in % of flight distance are awarded

For example an airline could have fare types as follows:

• Basic (Non-Refundable/Non-Changeable)
  • earns 25% of miles flown
• Regular (Non-Refundable/Changeable for a Fee)
  • earns 50% of miles flown
• Flex (Refundable for a Fee/Free Changes)
  • earns 100% of miles flown
• Fully Refundable Fare
  • earns 150% of miles flown

If your flight length was 2,500 miles and you purchase a Flex fare that earns 100% of the miles flown, you’d receive 2,500 miles (plus any potential elite bonuses). If you purchase a Basic fare on the same flight, you’d earn 625 miles (25% of the distance flown).

Many airlines continue to use this method as this has always been the standard.

Miles Earned Based on Booking Class Only

There are a few airlines that credit you a certain amount of miles or status points based on booking class alone. This method is much less common, but includes programs like Virgin Atlantic Flying Club – where you get a fixed amount of Tier Points (elite qualifying) just based on your booking class and not based on anything else.

Miles Earned Based on Booking Class and Zones/Regions

There are a few frequent flyer programs that award you miles or points based on your booking class and the zones you fly through. For example, British Airways will credit you Tier Points (elite qualifying) based on your booking class and what your mileage-flown zone is. So, for example, a flight from London to Paris could earn the same amount of Tier Points as a flight from New York to Miami (on their partner airline), even though the distances flown are different.

Some European airlines award you elite qualifying miles for flights within Europe based on booking class alone at a fixed rate – since many flights within Europe are super short so the distance you fly doesn’t matter.

Mileage Earning Based on Revenue (Ticket Price)

In the airline industry, switching to a revenue-based model for awarding miles is the hottest trend. Many airlines are switching to awarding you miles based on how much you spend on a flight ticket instead of how much you actually fly. The whole purpose of a frequent flyer program is to award you miles for flying and not spending, so this doesn’t make sense but airlines are doing everything they can to earn more revenue while giving less to flyers.

When you earn miles based on how much you pay for a ticket, this is usually for redeemable miles only – though some airlines have pushed this method for elite-qualifying miles or points as well. An airline ticket is composed of:

• base fare
• carrier-imposed surcharges
• government and airport taxes and fees

With the revenue-based method, you’d earn miles based your:

• (base fare + carrier-imposed surcharges) * a certain multiplier depending on your elite status

For example, if your ticket price was as follows…

• base fare: $100
• carrier-imposed surcharges: $50
• government and airport taxes and fees: $25

… and say you’re a Gold member that earns 7 miles per $1 spent on flights, you’d earn…

• ($100 base fare + $50 surcharges) * 7 for being a Gold member = 1,050 total miles earned

To give you an example why revenue-based is bad, the same ticket above which costs $175 could easily be a round trip ticket from the West Coast to the East Coast and round-trip, that would be around 5,000 miles flown. Under the distance-flown system, you’d potentially earn 5,000 miles and under the revenue-based system you’re only earning 1,050 miles.

All in All

The most common methods used to determine how many miles you’ll earn on a given flight are listed above – the most used method is distance flown and booking class, however many airlines are now switching to a revenue-based model and awarding miles based on how much you spend on a given ticket. Remember that the program you’re crediting miles to determines how they will award you miles and not the airline you’re flying – so even if the program of the airline you’re flying, for example, awards miles based on ticket spend, you still could earn miles through a different method if crediting to another program.

The post Miles Earned for Flights: How Airlines Calculate Credit appeared first on Travel Miles 101.

You can earn miles – both redeemable and elite qualifying – on virtually most cash tickets with airlines around the world. The rate at which you earn miles depends on the fare you purchased and sometimes, the ticket price. In most cases, if you redeem miles, you won’t get any mileage credit for award tickets – after all, you are getting a “free” ticket and therefore it makes sense that you wouldn’t get any credit for it.

There are, however, a few airlines changing the game and they allow you to earn elite qualifying miles for flying on an award ticket – you obviously won’t be earning redeemable miles, but it is nice to know that you can earn something towards elite status – after all, it shouldn’t matter if you have a revenue ticket or an award ticket for the purpose of qualification since both tickets have you flying.

United Airlines MileagePlus Elite Credit

United doesn’t follow the traditional metric of elite qualifying miles for flights, but rather has categories as follows which determine your elite status:

• Premier Qualifying Flights (PQF)
• Premier Qualifying Points (PQP)

The number of PQF and PQP you earn each year determine your elite status. So how many of these can you earn for an award ticket?

• you earn 1 PQP for every 100 miles you redeem
  • for example, a ticket that costs 10,000 miles will earn you 100 PQP
• every flight segment on United earns 1 PQF

You can only earn elite credit for award tickets for flights operated by United AND only if you redeemed United miles. So if you book a Lufthansa flight with United miles, you won’t get credit and if you use other Star Alliance miles to fly United, you also won’t get credit.

Delta SkyMiles Elite Credit

Delta Air Lines allows you to earn elite credit for award flights and Delta currently has three categories that can determine elite status (these will change next year when Delta updates their program):

• Medallion Qualification Miles (MQMs)
• Medallion Qualification Segments (MQSs)
• Medallion Qualification Dollars (MQDs)

You earn elite status on Delta for a combination of MQDs and MQMs/MQSs. You always have to earn MQDs and then you can earn elite status either based on MQMs or MQSs. On award tickets you can earn:

• 150% MQMs based on distance flown
  • for Award Travel in Delta One, First Class, and Delta Premium Select (O and R classes)
  • you also earn MQSs and MQDs
• 100% MQMs based on distance flown
  • for Award travel in Delta Comfort+ and Main Cabin (SN and N classes)
  • you also earn MQSs and MQDs
• Award tickets in Basic Economy do not earn MQMs/MQSs/MQDs

A few other important things to note:

• if your flight is eligible to earn MQMs, you will receive at least 500 MQMs (even if the flight is shorter in distance)
• MQDs on eligible award tickets are calculated as follows:
  • miles redeemed for the flight itinerary / 100

Therefore if you redeem 10,000 miles for a flight, you will get 100 MQDs. You do not earn elite credits for award tickets on partner airlines.

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Elite Credit

The first-ever airline that allowed you to earn elite credits on award tickets was Virgin Atlantic. Virgin Atlantic uses Tier Points to determine your elite status level and Tier Points are fixed based on your booking class instead of distance flown.

For award tickets, you will earn:

• Economy Class (A fare): 25 Tier Points
• Premium Economy Class (P fare): 50 Tier Points
• Business Class (G fare): 100 Tier Points

You will earn elite credits on award tickets only when you fly Virgin Atlantic – so if you used your Virgin points to book an award ticket on a partner airline, you wouldn’t earn elite credit for those flights.

All in All

These 3 airlines and frequent flyer programs allow you to earn credit for travel on award tickets – which is awesome. More airlines should follow and allow you to earn elite status on award tickets because, after all, you are still flying and in the air – whether you booked your ticket with cash or miles shouldn’t matter; it is understandable, however, that you wouldn’t earn any redeemable miles on award tickets.

The post Elite Qualifying Credit on Award Tickets appeared first on Travel Miles 101.

Travel Miles 101 loves to highlight success stories where our readers are successful in booking award travel in premium cabins through a variety of methods and techniques described here. Today we will take a look at a success story from Sue R. from San Diego and how she was able to book her and her husband to the South Pacific in Business Class using miles and points.

Planning the South Pacific Trip

Sue and her husband wanted to travel to the South Pacific in April, which is Spring in the northern part of the world, but Autumn in the southern part. She wanted to visit a few cities in Australia as well as an island in the South Pacific – such as Fiji, Tahiti, or New Caledonia.

Knowing that Business and First Class travel to the South Pacific is notoriously difficult to book using miles at a good rate, she started collecting various miles and points about two-and-a-half years before the trip. Through a combination of flying and credit card bonuses, they both ended up with the following miles and points:

• 230k American Airlines miles
• 368k Chase UR points
• 173k AMEX MR points
• 80k United Airlines miles
• 120k Air Canada miles

With the various miles and points they’ve collected, they were set and could book most airlines between the two regions should award availability open up.

Searching Available Airlines to the South Pacific

There is a number of ways to travel between North America and the South Pacific, here are some (not all) available routes from the West Coast to various places in the South Pacific:

• Air Canada: Vancouver to Australia
• Air France: Los Angeles to Tahiti
• Air Tahiti Nui: Seattle and Los Angeles to Tahiti
• Air New Zealand: West Coast to New Zealand
• American Airlines: Los Angeles to Sydney
• Delta Air Lines: Los Angeles to Sydney
• Fiji Airways: Vancouver, San Francisco, and Los Angeles to Fiji
• Qantas: Vancouver, San Francisco, and Los Angeles to Australia
• United Airlines: San Francisco and Los Angeles to Australia

Since Sue is located in San Diego, she didn’t look outside of the West Coast for availability – she knew she would also need to position herself from her home to a major west coast gateway city like SFO, LAX, SEA, or even YVR in Canada.

Locating Award Availability

Sue knows that the best way to search for award availability is to search segment by segment. In her case, she wanted to fly them first from San Diego to Cairns, Australia – typing that routing in will likely yield no results due to airlines operating the routes and award availability.

Therefore Sue located every route from the West Coast to the South Pacific and searched every flight individually and stitched together the entire itinerary after finding award availability flight by flight.

Sue wanted to visiting the following places on this trip:

• Australia: Sydney, Melbourne, and Cairns
• New Zealand: only if necessary on a quick layover
• one or two islands in the South Pacific like Fiji, Tahiti, or New Caledonia

After searching award availability she was able to find in Business Class:

• Los Angeles to Auckland on Air New Zealand
• Vancouver to Sydney on Air Canada
• Seattle to Tahiti on Air Tahiti Nui

Since they wanted to head to Australia first, she decided to go the Air Canada route and fly from Vancouver to Sydney – she only had to add on a flight from San Diego to Vancouver.

Inside of Australia, she could redeem British Airways Avios for flights on Qantas or Air Canada/United miles for flights on Virgin Australia. She ended up finding lots of award space in Economy from Sydney to Cairns and then from Cairns to Melbourne on both Qantas and Virgin Australia.

Returning back home, she searched for award space from various islands in the South Pacific and found in Business Class:

• Fiji to San Francisco on Fiji Airways
• Tahiti to Seattle on Air Tahiti Nui

They decided to fly to Tahiti – which meant she needed to get from Melbourne to Tahiti for the final part of her trip. There weren’t really that many good flight options available so in the end they were able to locate in Economy Class:

• Melbourne to Auckland on Qantas
• Auckland to Tahiti on Air Tahiti Nui

Finally, after selecting the flight from Tahiti to Seattle, she was able to find a connection flight on Alaska Airlines to San Diego and add it on to the booking for no additional miles.

While she was happy to find the flights, booking could be another challenge.

Redeeming Miles and Booking Flights

Sue was in a good position since she and her husband had a good amount of miles and points in various places. After doing some transfers from AMEX/Chase to various airlines, the final itinerary was as follows:

• San Diego to Vancouver to Sydney
  • Air Canada Business Class
  • 127k Aeroplan miles
• Sydney to Cairns
  • Qantas Economy
  • 11k British Airways Avios
• Cairns to Sydney to Melbourne
  • Virgin Australia Economy
  • 12.5k Aeroplan miles
• Melbourne to Auckland to Tahiti
  • Qantas/Air Tahiti Nui Economy
  • ~33k Qantas miles
• Tahiti to Seattle to San Diego
  • Air Tahiti Nui/Alaska Airlines Business
  • 80k American Airlines miles

The prices in miles are per person and don’t include the taxes and fees she paid, which were decent for this type of trip.

The first part San Diego to Sydney via Vancouver she was able to book directly online on Aeroplan and transferred in AMEX and Chase points to top-up her balance. She also transferred AMEX/Chase to British Airways to book Sydney to Cairns on Qantas in Economy and did the same for Cairns to Melbourne via Sydney – but she used Aeroplan miles for travel on Virgin Australia.

Melbourne to Auckland to Tahiti was booked using Qantas miles on their website after transferring points from AMEX. Finally, the last part of the trip from Tahiti to San Diego via Seattle was booked using American Airlines miles directly on their website.

All in All

It took Sue months of collecting miles and points and then weeks of research to be able to put together this itinerary. What made it even more complicated is that she wasn’t able to find Business Class availability both ways and had to take a risk and book just one-way and hope the other way opens up later – which it did, weeks later. Sue was smart and booked a placeholder in Premium Economy she could cancel for free if nothing opened up in Business Class.

The biggest takeaway is to always search for award availability segment-by-segment and then put all of the flights together – some frequent flyer programs allow you to create custom itineraries and if you plan it correctly, you shouldn’t pay more miles for the connecting flights. Remember to search the long-haul flights for availability first and then plan the shorter flights around that as the long-hauls will always be the hardest to book, especially in the premium cabin.

The post Success Story: Business Class to Australia & South Pacific appeared first on Travel Miles 101.

These days you can earn miles for anything you buy with a credit card and of course, for flying. However, there are a ton of other ways to earn miles and while some of them may take some work to set up and get going, it is always worth it to earn those extra miles.

Reader Question: How to Earn Miles?

Reader Cara W. sent us the following inquiry:

I would love is how someone who doesn’t travel a lot (ie no work trips to build up points) but wants to try to build travel miles can do this best.
I’ve seen lots of people say the best way to is open cards and get the bonus from sign up then let it go.

Thanks for the question, Cara! Earning miles is possible through so many different methods and we are happy to point out the most popular ones. Though do note, this list is not complete and there are many other ways to earn miles and points depending on what partnerships your frequent flyer program has.

Earn Miles from Flights

The most obvious way to earn miles is by actually flying. However, there can be better ways to earn miles from flights than to just credit the miles for a flight to the airline you have flown.

Depending on the frequent flyer program you’re using, it can actually make sense in some cases to credit to a different frequent flyer program. Many programs are now revenue-based which means you’ll generally earn miles based on how much you spent on the ticket – however there are still some programs that award you miles based on class of travel and distance flown. In some cases the differences in miles earned can be huge, so it is always best to calculate how many miles you will get for your ticket in what program.

For example, we often credit our United Airlines flights to foreign frequent flyer programs to earn miles based on distance flown instead of money spent – and we usually come out ahead with more miles earned.

Earn Miles from Credit Card Purchases

Most airlines have credit cards that allow you to earn miles for everyday purchases – using one of these cards can help you quickly build up a big mileage balance. Many of these cards offer you multiple points per $1 spent on certain categories so you definitely want to be using the right card for the right purchase.

In addition to earning you miles, many airline credit cards also come with benefits like priority boarding and free checked bags, to help elevate your travel experience.

Bank Points Transfers

While airline credit cards are great, you should always be using credit cards from banks that have flexible and transferable points. Banks that have these rewards, offer many different cards that earn bank points – some cards allow you to earn multiple points per $1 spent.

These cards work similarly to airline credit cards, but instead of the miles/points earned going directly to your airline account, they will go to your bank points program – and then you have the flexibility to transfer those points to any participating frequent flyer program.

Using a bank credit card is preferred over using an airline credit card due to the flexibility offered – you can transfer your points to numerous airlines when you want to and where the best availability is.

Hotel Stays

When you book a hotel stay directly with the hotel, some hotel chains allow you to earn rewards with an airline partner instead of earning points with the hotel chain, for your hotel stay. In most cases it probably won’t be worth it since hotel points are valuable as well, but it’s nice to have this option. Be sure to check if your hotel chain has this feature.

Some airlines also have portals whereby you can book hotels directly on that portal and earn miles instantly, though do note that for the purpose of the hotel stay it would be considered booked through a third-party so your elite benefits most likely wouldn’t apply.

Car Rentals

Airlines partner with car rental agencies and you’re able to earn miles for renting a car. While most major frequent flyer programs partner with most major car rental companies, be sure to check the details of the partnership and how many points you can earn for renting a car.

Shopping and Dining Portals

Some airlines have shopping portals whereby if you go through their portal you can earn bonus miles on purchases with your favorite stores. The way it works is that when you click through from the airline’s portal to some store, you’ll automatically get additional miles after you purchase an eligible item. This works in most cases for pick-up online orders, so you can simply pick up your items instead of waiting for them to be shipped. Thousands of stores participate in these shopping portals and so it’s nice to have more ways to earn bonus miles.

Some airlines also have dining portals whereby you can earn bonus miles at participating restaurants. The way it works is that you look at the dining portal to see what restaurants participate and then usually you have to save a credit card in the dining portal and pay at the restaurant with that same card to earn the bonus dining portal miles.

Buying and Transferring Miles

Lots of airlines allow you to buy miles and often sell them with a bonus – sometimes these bonuses are as high as 150%, in which case buying miles might make sense. It’s almost never worth buying them at the standard price, so always look for a sale. When you buy miles, they usually post instantly so you’re able to redeem them right away for a flight.

Airlines also offer you the ability to transfer miles between accounts, but this is never worth it, unless there is a (rare) transfer bonus or some other offer.

Other Ways to Earn Miles

The major and most popular ways to earn miles are listed above, however with every frequent flyer program being unique, there may be more opportunities to earn miles, including:

• donation to organizations
• filling out surveys
• signing up for subscription services
• other non-travel partners

Be sure to have a look at what partnerships your frequent flyer program has with what services and organizations and check how you can earn more miles through those ways.

All in All

There’s lots of ways to earn miles quickly – and if you really participate in all of the available options, you’ll earn the miles fast. While it may not seem like much, just using the right credit card and frequent flyer program can make a huge difference.

Don’t forget that in some cases crediting flights to a different program may make more sense if that program still awards miles based on distance flown instead of fare purchased. You should always be earning multiple miles at an accelerated rate – that way you’ll be flying using your miles sooner.

The post How to Earn Miles & Points Quicker appeared first on Travel Miles 101.

Booking flights with miles and points can be both a simple and complicated task. If you’re booking a nonstop flight through the airline you’re flying, chances are that it will take you less than 5 minutes to complete the process. If you’re booking a multi-city trip around the world that involves multiple airlines, then it might even take a few days to complete everything. Award availability can be tricky – especially on certain airlines, routes, and to some airports.

Reader Question: Award Availability to/from Smaller Airports

Today’s question comes from reader Dennis I., and is as follows:

I’d like to know if he has any info or experience with award travel that includes smaller, secondary airports? The reason I ask is that I’ve successfully booked flights from MSN (Madison, WI) to Europe, the most recent flight was: MSN-ORD-ZRH-LJU using United and Swissair.

However, twice I’ve not been able to find award travel back from Europe that includes Madison:
-a year ago I took SAS from Oslo to Stockholm to ORD, but could not get the last portion to MSN
-this year I took award travel on Aegean/United from Athens to Munich to ORD, but again could not get the last segment?

What’s up with that?! Appreciate suggestions.
Cheers, Dennis I.

Thank you for submitting this fantastic question and we are happy to answer this topic and share more details about how award availability works. Remember to send in your questions and topics you would like to read about in future posts!

When/Why Do Airlines Release Award Space?

An airline will release a seat on a certain flight so that it is bookable using miles/points only if they think they won’t be able to sell that seat using cash. That’s the general guideline – however, it is more complicated than that:

• some airlines promise a certain number of award seats per flight
• some airlines release more award seats to their own members
• some airlines have different tiers of award seats – from saver to dynamic, with the same seat costing different amounts as flight load changes

In most cases, airlines do not release award seats out of the goodness of their heart, but rather to reward loyal members and also to generate some revenue that comes from a member booking an award ticket.

Airlines can release seats as awards anytime – when the calendar opens or a few hours before departure, or anywhere in between.

Some Airlines Have More Award Availability

There are airlines that have more award availability than others, generally speaking. For example, if you are wanting to use Star Alliance miles to fly to Europe in Business Class, you are more likely to find a seat on a Lufthansa flight instead of a Brussels Airlines or United Airlines flight, for example. This is because Lufthansa is known to release a good amount of award seats – especially closer to departure.

Every airline has their own strategy as to how they release award seats and many airlines have been studied and we now understand patterns they follow – these patterns can change from time to time, but understanding if an award seat will open up or not is possible by reading past trends.

There are also airlines that release a certain amount of award seats per flight and do not release any more, and then there are airlines that release a whole bunch of award seats without caps.

Understanding Award Availability to/from Smaller Airports

Going back to Dennis’ question, in his case it is a simple answer: United does not release a ton of domestic saver-level award availability and that’s why he could not get that short domestic flight back home from Chicago to Madison. In most cases, European airlines have more award availability than US airlines do. In some other cases, United, for example, has more award availability internationally than domestically.

When you are booking flights using miles and your journey involves multiple flight segments, all of them have to have award availability for it to be bookable on one itinerary, subject to other restrictions.

In Dennis’ case, he searched for award flights from Europe to his home in Madison and did not find anything available – however, he then searched from Europe to Chicago and was able to find space.

Given the fact that Madison is a smaller, domestic, airport it has less flights and therefore less availability – when you pair this with the fact that US airlines do not release a lot of saver-level award seats domestically, you have your answer.

Larger Airports & Foreign Airlines Have More Award Availability

This may be obvious, but the bigger the airport, the more flights it has and therefore there is more award availability.

Another key item to note is that foreign airlines often have more award availability than US airlines – so you should always look for award space out of larger airports where foreign airlines operate flights to/from. Then, if you find award availability, you can check if the shorter domestic flight is also available and you may be able to add it to your itinerary for no additional miles.

When searching for award space and you can’t find anything from your home to your destination, always search each segment individually and then piece together the flights to form a complete itinerary.

All in All

In some cases, like Dennis’, it can actually be harder to book a shorter domestic flight in Economy than a longer international flight in a premium cabin, for example. Airlines release award availability very differently on each flight and some flights may rarely have any seats while other flights are always wide open.

What should you do if you can’t get a short, domestic flight back home to/from your gateway city? Well, you can always book it on a separate ticket using cash, monitor it for award space opening up in the future, or book on a different airline using other miles. Just remember when you book separate tickets to plan for an extra-long layover or even an overnight to be on the safe side. When planning and booking award tickets, flexibility is key – and sometimes that means booking one ticket with miles and another with cash, if that ends up being the best option.

The post Why is Award Availability Limited from Smaller Airports? appeared first on Travel Miles 101.

It’s time for another Travel Miles 101 Asked & Answered – today’s article discusses how to redeem points for smaller, non-chain hotels, among a few other related items.

Today’s Topic: Maximizing Points with Non-Chain Hotels

For this article we will be referring to a question from Lola L., which is as follows:

Airplane costs have been greatly reduced by using points.
However, because we enjoy renting a car and staying at hotels in smaller towns which do not have hotel chains, we have to pay out of pocket for this expense.
I hope you can share your expertise in staying in small hotels in small towns to decrease costs of travel by using the appropriate credit cards.

It sounds like Lola knows how to redeem miles and points for flights, however she wants to learn more how to save money and possibly book smaller, non-chain hotels using points.

Lola’s situation and question isn’t uncommon – we often travel to some places on Earth that have smaller, boutique hotels rather than large chain hotels which can be booked through a hotel’s frequent guest program.

Booking Chain Hotels Through a Third-Party

Let’s back up a little – booking a chain hotel is possible through a third-party platform like Expedia, however if you do so, you won’t earn any points or receive any benefits during your stay, if you’re an elite member. This is because you must always book with the hotel directly if you want to earn points and elite benefits during your stay.

Booking Non-Chain Hotels Through Online Travel Agencies

I assume that when Lola searches for hotels in smaller towns, she looks on online travel agencies like Expedia. She could very well also be booking with the hotel directly. However, given that platforms like Expedia are usually where we book smaller hotels, we will focus on that aspect and how to maximize earning and redeeming points for these smaller hotel stays.

If Lola decides to book via Expedia or another online travel agency (OTA), she can sign-up for their loyalty program – should the OTA have one. Expedia does have one and basically you can earn cash back from booking various trip elements via Expedia. The program is very much revenue-based and the more you spend, the more rewards you’ll get and even then, the program isn’t that rewarding. However, it is better than earning nothing.

Lola could be booking all of her hotel stays via Expedia and eventually earn enough rewards cash to redeem towards a future stay.

Booking Non-Chain Hotels via Bank Travel Portals

Many banks have their own points programs and one of the elements is their online travel portals. While the main reason for collecting flexible and transferable bank points is so you can transfer them to airlines, you can also use the bank points you’ve earned via their online travel portal towards the cost of a flight or hotel, for example.

Many of the bank’s travel portals where you can book flights, hotels, cars, and more are powered by Expedia and they usually work the same way – except that you can pay with a combination of cash and your bank points.

Example: Booking via Chase Ultimate Rewards Travel Portal

While all of the major banks that have transferable points also have travel portals, the best one is the Chase Ultimate Rewards Travel Portal and this is especially true if you have the Chase Sapphire Preferred or Sapphire Reserve as you can get more than 1 cent per point in value.

The Chase Ultimate Rewards Travel Portal works similarly to Expedia – you can book flights, hotels, and more. When searching on the Chase portal, you should get roughly the same results that you would as when you search on Expedia. So Lola should be able to find the same non-chain, boutique hotel in that small town for the same cost on both Expedia and Chase.

The one major difference is that on the Chase Travel Portal, you can apply some or all of your points towards a flight or pre-paid hotel. The value that you receive in cash from your points depends on which credit card you have:

• Chase Sapphire Preferred: 10,000 points = $125 in value
• Chase Sapphire Reserve: 10,000 points = $150 in value

You can redeem any combination of cash, points, or both cash and points on a flight or hotel booking through the Chase Travel Portal.

Therefore if Lola has one of these cards, she can use it for everyday and travel purchases to collect points and later redeem them through the Chase Travel Portal at a higher value. She would also be able to transfer them to airlines and convert the points into miles. Either way, she would be saving on her travel costs.

Always Use the Right Credit Card

There are many credit cards out there, and you always want to use the right one – depending on what you’re buying. Many premium credit cards offer multiple points per dollar spent on travel purchases – and you should always aim to use these so you maximize your points earned. For example, the AMEX Platinum Card earns you 5 points per dollar spent on flight bookings directly with airlines and so that’s the card to use for flights. For hotel stays, many cards offer multiple points per dollar spent on travel purchases like the AMEX Green or Chase Sapphire – have a look at what cards offer what benefits and test out the ones that would work best for you.

All in All

Sometimes it’s nice to stay at a smaller, non-chain boutique hotels – and sometimes the actual stay experience is much better than if you were staying with a large chain. The downside is that many independent hotels do not have loyalty programs and therefore the best ways to book those is via one of the methods described above. We’ve tested many travel portals from bank programs and have found that if you have one of the premium Chase cards, then the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal is the best to use as you can redeem your points at a higher value. Lola should apply one of the strategies above to help her save money when booking smaller, non-chain hotels – whether she’s redeeming points or earning multiple points per dollar spent, for future use.

The post Maximizing Points with Non-Chain Hotels appeared first on Travel Miles 101.

Travel Miles 101 is introducing a new series – Asked & Answered, where we answer your questions in depth about anything related to air travel and miles & points. If you’d like to submit a new question feel free to reach us through our site, on social media, or simply by emailing us at “answers (at) travelmiles101.com”. This article covers the UK Air Passenger Duty.

Today’s Question

Today’s question comes from Sean & Katie from Richmond, IL and is as follows:

My wife wants to find out how to fly into or out of London and avoid the fees.

Excellent question! Before we continue with the explanation of the fees and how to avoid them, a few important things to note:

• this is applied to the entire United Kingdom and not just London, so this article applies to the entire country
• there aren’t high fees flying into the UK, but only when departing from the UK

What Fees Is An Airline Ticket Composed Of?

The price you pay for your flight and itinerary is made up of three different components:

• base fare
• carrier-imposed surcharges (fuel surcharges)
• mandatory government and airport taxes and fees

When redeeming miles, your miles always cover the base fare of the ticket but never the mandatory government and airport taxes and fees. Depending on what frequent flyer program you’re using, the program either will or won’t add on the fuel surcharges to the cost of your award ticket.

For example, when redeeming United Airlines miles, you’ll never pay the fuel surcharge on any award ticket – only the taxes and fees. Other programs, like Lufthansa Miles & More, do pass on fuel surcharges to members when they redeem their miles.

What is UK Air Passenger Duty (APD)?

Every passenger departing the United Kingdom, must pay a mandatory tax called Air Passenger Duty or APD. This tax is one of the many taxes and fees you’ll pay when departing the UK. It can also be significant – depending on what cabin you fly.

The current APD tax is as follows:

• Domestic Flights
  • Economy Class: £6.50
  • Business Class: £13
• International Flights (0 – 2,000 miles)
  • Economy Class: £13
  • Premium Cabin: £26
• International Flights (2,001 – 5,500 miles)
  • Economy Class: £87
  • Premium Cabin: £191
• International Flights (5,500+ miles)
  • Economy Class: £91
  • Premium Cabin: £200

For the UK APD, “Premium Cabin” refers to anything above Economy Class (so Premium Economy, Business Class, First Class, etc.). The flight mileage amounts do not refer to how far you fly and instead the different APD fees are measured by the distance from London to the capital of the country you are flying to.

As you can see, if you depart the UK in a premium cabin, you’ll pay a significant amount in just this one tax alone – which doesn’t account for the many other taxes and fees you must pay.

For example, here are the taxes/fees for an Economy Class ticket from London to Paris:

• United Kingdom Passenger Service Charge Departures (UB): $28.20
• United Kingdom Air Passenger Duty APD (GB): $15.80 (about £13)

And in another example, here are the taxes/fees for a First Class flight from London to New York:

• United States APHIS Passenger Fee Passengers (XA): $3.83
• United Kingdom Passenger Service Charge Departures (UB): $67.80
• United States Customs User Fee (YC): $6.97
• United Kingdom Air Passenger Duty APD (GB): $232.10 (about £191)
• United States Immigration User Fee (XY): $7.00
• US International Arrival Tax (US): $21.10

Ignoring all of the other taxes, as you can see, the Air Passenger Duty tax is significantly more on the longer premium cabin flight.

How to Avoid High UK Air Passenger Duty

Now that we understand the UK Air Passenger Duty tax, how can we avoid it? Since this is a mandatory government tax, it will always be passed on to you – whether you’re paying cash or redeeming miles for a flight.

You can’t avoid paying the UK APD because every passenger flying out of the UK has to pay it.

However, the only way to avoid paying a high UK APD tax, is to depart the United Kingdom on a short-haul Economy Class ticket to another European country and then book your long-haul premium cabin ticket from that country. Essentially, think of your flight out of the UK as a positioning flight.

You might think that this can get complicated. It can, but it doesn’t have to. For example, the UK’s neighbor, Ireland, has relatively low taxes and fees on all tickets – all you need to do is catch one of the many daily flights from the UK to Dublin, Ireland and then start your premium cabin journey from there. Flights between the UK and Ireland are served by many carriers and most flights are cheap – so using this trick is a great way to save money.

Example: Positioning Flight for Lower Air Passenger Duty

Let’s take a look at an award ticket example and how this trick would work.

• cost of a Business Class ticket from London to New York
  • 88,000 miles + $317.70

vs:

• cost of an Economy Class flight from London to Dublin
  • ~$30 on a low-cost airline
• cost of a Business Class ticket from Dublin to New York
  • 88,000 miles + $40.80

As you can see, the price difference is significant. Many people often use this trick to save hundreds of dollars.

Remember that if you use this trick, that these are two separate tickets and you need to have an extra-long connection or preferably an overnight – just in case something goes wrong, because if your positioning flight out of the UK is delayed or cancelled and you miss your onward flight on a separate ticket, you’re out of luck and will need a new ticket.

Make The UK Your First Stop On Your European Trip

Many people visit multiple countries when they plan a trip to Europe. Another way to avoid paying the UK Air Passenger Duty is to simply visit the UK as your first or second stop in Europe, before continuing on to your final stop from which you will fly back home.

For example, if you want to visit London, Paris, and Rome, you should visit London first or second and then fly back home from Rome or Paris. You can book a simple Economy Class flight from London to Rome or Paris and from there book your premium cabin award ticket.

All in All

The UK imposes a tax on all departing passengers called Air Passenger Duty and the higher your cabin of travel is, the more you’ll pay for the APD tax. Since there is no way to not pay the tax when flying out of the UK, you should always depart the UK on a short-haul Economy Class flight to pay a much lower APD. While it can be a hassle to book a separate flight before your actual flight home, think about visiting another city in Europe for a day or two, and you just may enjoy it.

Be sure to send us your questions and we will do our best to answer them and provide in-depth solutions!

The post How to Avoid High UK Departure Fees (Air Passenger Duty) appeared first on Travel Miles 101.

Airlines love running promotions – whether that is buying miles, earning more miles for flights, or even discounting award tickets – it seems like in the miles and points world there is a new promotion almost every day. Most promotions require enrolment and you will receive an email or be alerted about a promotion in your account – it is very important to subscribe to all airline and hotel emails so you never miss a good deal.

What is a Points Transfer Bonus?

The best way to earn miles and points is by using a credit card that earns flexible and transferable points with a bank program – like American Express Membership Rewards or Chase Ultimate Rewards. You’re able to earn points in the bank program and later transfer them to an airline or hotel when you wish – and since most transfers are instant, you should in most cases be able to book your award right away.

Banks frequently run transfer bonus promotions – the standard transfer ratio from most bank points to airline miles is 1:1, however during promotions the transfer ratio may be adjusted to your benefit. For example, American Express frequently runs promotions whereby they offer you up to 30% more airline miles:

• that means if there is a transfer bonus of 30%, to British Airways for example…
• you would receive 1,300 BA miles for every 1,000 AMEX points transferred

Transfer bonuses usually last around a month and there are times where a lot of partners have transfer bonuses and then there are times where there are no bonuses. AMEX has a lot of these transfer bonuses and they frequently change – and they are worth taking advantage of.

Is Buying Miles During Promotions Worth It?

Airlines sell miles usually at a cost of $35+tax for 1,000 miles. Very often, airlines have bonuses on buying miles – these can include either bonus miles for the same price or a discounted price on the mileage purchase. There are some airline frequent flyer programs that have offers as high as 150% bonus on purchased miles, that means:

• normally you would pay ~$35+tax for 1,000 miles
• during a 150% bonus on purchased miles, you would pay ~$35+tax for 2,500 miles

The 150% bonuses do not happen as often as the usual buy miles promotional offers, which are usually between 35-70%. If you see a promotion on buy miles whereby you either get 50% more miles or the cost of buying miles is discounted by 50%, it is seriously time to think about if buying these miles makes sense. If you have a redemption in mind and you can redeem the miles right away, it could be beneficial.

Most of the time when you buy miles they post to your account right away – there are a few airlines that do not post purchased miles right away, so be sure to check the terms and conditions. There are also a few airlines that let you place an award ticket on hold while you buy or transfer miles – this can be a great tool to make sure the award space you found doesn’t get booked up by someone else.

Transfer/Share Miles Promotions

While perhaps less common, airlines also run promotions whereby they award you a bonus on transferred or shared miles – this includes when you transfer miles from one airline account to another (same) airline account. They could either offer a bonus on transferred miles (for example, you transfer 1,000 miles but the account you transfer to gets 2,000 miles) or they may discount the price to transfer miles.

Transferring or sharing miles between airline accounts is rarely worth it, that’s because the cost to transfer miles is usually:

• ~$10+tax for every 1,000 miles transferred…
• plus a transaction fee of around ~$25+tax

The actual cost does vary from airline to airline, but for the airlines that do allow transfers, that is the average cost. We’ve never used a transfer or share miles promotion (or even the feature in general), because it just isn’t worth it in most cases.

All in All

The best time to book award tickets is when there is a transfer bonus that you can take advantage of and there is award availability on your desired flights. Some people do speculatively transfer bank points into airline miles when there is a bonus, but they do not book an award ticket right away – and instead, they let the miles sit in their account. This could be a good strategy if you are planning to use the miles sooner rather than later – because the longer they sit in an airline account, the less valuable they become due to potential program changes and devaluations. The airline world has lots of promotions and taking advantage of them is one of the best ways to maximize your miles.

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