All about loyalty program

FOR INTERNATIONAL AWARDS

What are Air Miles?

Miles can be thought of as a type of currency that you can use to book flights. Flights booked using miles are called award tickets.

Just as how each country in the world uses its own currency, each airline uses its own miles program. For example, miles earned from American Airlines are called AAdvantage Miles, whereas miles earned from XXX (CONTINUE)

In the US, there are 4 major “legacy” airlines (Alaska, American, Delta, United) and 4 major budget airlines (Frontier, Jetblue, Southwest, Spirit),each with its own miles program.

No single airline could possibly fly to every city by itself. Thus, many airlines formed alliances with other airlines. This means that you can earn and use miles even on flights flown by other partner airlines. Let’s say you want to travel to Asia. You can use your AAdvantage miles for travel on Japan Airlines & Cathay Pacific, which are American Airline’s partner airlines. United Airlines Mileaplus miles, on the other hand, can be used to fly on Singapore Airlines & Thai Airways.

Each airline’s miles can be used for travel on specific airlines

Different Airline partners throughout the world

What is important to remember is this: you need miles to book free flights. Thus, you want to earn as much miles as possible.

The number of miles you need to fly from one place to another depends on your destination and the cabin class you choose. Each airline sets its own prices. In many situations, you will have airlines charging different amount of miles for flying to the exact same destinations. Choosing the right airline program can save you tons of miles.

Traditionally, to determine which airline charges the lowest amount of miles you need to get to your desired destination, you would have to go to each airline’s website and manually compare their miles redemption chart. Here is a sample chart taken from American Airlines’ website. Warning: it’s not pretty!

ECONOMY OR BUSINESS CLASS

I know what you’re thinking: there’s no way I am going to read through all of that!

I myself have spent countless hours manually trying to compare programs for different destinations. One day, as I was feeling dizzy from a full day of comparing charts from different airlines, I told myself that there must be an easier way to do all this. And this is exactly why I have created the Top Miles Lowest Miles tool. Think of it as a Kayak search tool that instantly shows you the cheapest way to fly to your destination.

Advanced users start here

The tool below shows how many miles you need for your trip for each airline program. We have sorted the programs based on miles needed, but if you prefer a certain airline program, feel free to select that one.

If you haven’t signed up for a frequent flyer program yet, you will be given a link to do so.

If you’ve decided to change your departure & arrival airports, you can do so here.

FIRST CLASS

For me, the best thing about miles is that it allows us to experience things that would usually be out of our budgets. Nothing beats using miles to have a taste of the good life and actually fly First Class AKA that mythical place in the very front of the plane where most mortals can only imagine flying in. Think unlimited champagne and caviar and perhaps even a chance encounter with a celebrity (I once sat right behind Andrew Dice Clay on my First Class flight from Sydney to Los Angeles). How much do First Class tickets cost anyway? Upon checking, my First Class flight from Sydney to Los Angeles was retailing over $10,000 round trip! Instead, I was able to fly on that flight just by using miles obtained with ONECREDIT CARD, how amazing is that?

As we know, these out-of-this-world experiences don’t come cheap. The number of miles needed to fly First Class varies per airline, but they usually cost around twice the amount of miles needed if you fly Economy. However, if want to try something that is so mind-boggling amazing, redeeming your miles for a First Class ticket is a great option.

When you fly First Class, the flight itself becomes part of the vacation. That’s why choosing which airlines to fly in is so important: some airlines just do First Class better than others. For instance, there’s a world of difference between American Airlines’ First Class and Cathay Pacific’s First Class, even though they cost the same number of miles.

To help ensure that you get the most bang out of your buck, I have created a tool, that’ll show you all the airlines that fly First Class between your departure and arrival region. I’ve sorted the results by the airlines with the best First Class flights so that you are sure to get the best experience. However, if you prefer a certain airline program, feel free to select that one.

If you haven’t signed up for a frequent flyer program, you will be given a link to do so.

If you need to change your departure & arrival airports, you can do so here.

FOR DOMESTIC AWARDS

What are Air Miles?

Miles can be thought of as a type of currency that you can use to book flights. Flights booked using miles are called award tickets.

Just as how each country in the world uses its own currency, each airline uses its own miles program. For example, miles earned from American Airlines are called AAdvantage Miles, whereas miles earned from XXX ( CONTINUE)

In the US, there are 4 major “legacy” airlines (Alaska, American, Delta, United) and 4 major budget airlines (Frontier, Jetblue, Southwest, Spirit), each with its own miles program.

For domestic flights within the US, the pricing for award tickets are essentially the same. Most airlines charge a flat 12,500 miles for a one way ticket from between two spots in the continental US, and 25,000 miles for a “first class” ticket.

These first class tickets are nothing like the international flights with free flowing champagne and caviar. Instead you will be given a slightly wider seat with a few more inches of pitch. Depending on the airline and the route you fly, you will receive a snack or a hot meal. I would personally recommend against redeeming miles for domestic first.

To select the right program, I would check which airline flies the most frequently to your home airport. You can quickly do this via Wikipedia: just search “Your Hometown here Airport” Wikipedia. The reason is that the more flights there are available, the more award space will probably available.

However, there are two airlines which do sometimes cost less miles: British Airways and Southwest Airlines. If you are planning to travel exclusively in the US for the near future, then I would recommend selecting the Southwest

However, if you are traveling to Hawaii or Alaska, then award pricing will vary by airline. Fortunately, I’ve created the Top Miles Lowest Miles tool, which compares each airline to see which one is the cheapest. Think of it as a Kayak search tool that instantly shows you the cheapest way to fly to your destination.

Miles Essentials

Introduction to miles
All about loyalty program
Credit cards & Big Signup Bonuses
All about your credit score
How to earn your miles