I do what I can to write about the best deals for earning and redeeming miles. In this post I wanted to share what I consider to be some of the most useful sweet spot award redemptions right now. I wanted to provide a fresh look at how you can get the most bang for your buck when redeeming points.
Suffice it to say that 2023 hasn’t treated us well so far when it comes to sweet spot redemptions. We’ve seen many of the best offers devalued, ranging from Etihad Guest redemptions on American, to Virgin Atlantic Flying Blue redemptions on ANA, to Alaska Mileage Plan redemptions on Japan Airlines. Fortunately there are still some deals to be had.
In this post:
Aspirational vs. practical award sweet spots
Before I share my top picks, I want to emphasize that my goal is to make a list of sweet spot awards that are practical. This means that there’s wide use for them, the points are pretty easy to accrue, the redemption process is fairly easy, etc.
I’ll intentionally be leaving out some niche redemptions that make a great headline, but won’t be useful for a vast majority of OMAAT readers. Let me give an example, just to demonstrate why.
Assuming you wanted to redeem miles for Lufthansa first class, you can redeem just 50,000 Asiana Club miles for a one-way award between the United States and Europe. That’s an incredible price, on the surface much better than the 87,000 LifeMiles or 90,000-100,000 Aeroplan points you’d pay for similar redemptions. That being said:
- Asiana Club isn’t transfer partners with any of the major transferable points currencies, so the points are hard to rack up
- Asiana Club passes on carrier imposed surcharges, which total nearly $1,000 one-way between the United States and Europe in Lufthansa first class, which basically negates the mileage savings, by most reasonable points valuations
- You need to book by phone through the Asiana Club call center, and it’s not even open 24/7
- Asiana Club requires you to ticket awards at least 72 hours in advance, and often Lufthansa only opens first class awards last minute
Of course redeeming just 50,000 miles for Lufthansa first class makes a great headline (and is a good value overall), but practically speaking it’s not something most people will use.
My favorite airline mileage sweet spots
I wanted to share some of my favorite airline mileage sweet spots. I’m specifically focusing on redemptions that with points that are easy to accrue (ideally with transferable points currencies), where the booking process is fairly easy, and where there’s wide appeal.
With that out of the way, here are some of my favorite award redemptions, in no particular order.
ANA first & business class using Virgin Atlantic miles
All Nippon Airways has a phenomenal new first class and business class product, and the best way to book this is through Virgin Atlantic Flying Club. Unfortunately this redemption was recently devalued in first class, though it’s still an exceptional deal in business class, and I’d argue it’s potentially a good deal in first class as well. Specifically, redemption rates are as follows (one-way):
- Flying between the US West Coast and Japan costs 45,000 Flying Club points in business class or 72,500 Flying Club points in first class
- Flying between the US East Coast and Japan costs 47,500 Flying Club points in business class or 85,000 Flying Club points in first class
This is an incredible redemption value, though the major catch is finding award availability, especially for multiple passengers. While there are fuel surcharges on these redemptions, they’re quite mild.
How do you book All Nippon Airways awards? You can search award availability through another program (Aeroplan, MileagePlus, etc.), and then call Virgin Atlantic Flying Club to book — they can be reached at 800.365.9500.
How do you earn Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points? Virgin Atlantic is transfer partners with Amex Membership Rewards, Capital One, Chase Ultimate Rewards, and Citi ThankYou, so there are quite a few ways to earn their points. Also look out for transfer bonuses, which can stretch your points even further.
Qatar Airways business class using American miles
Qatar Airways’ Qsuites is one of the best business class products in the world, and the most economical way to book this is with American AAdvantage miles. For one-way travel, you can redeem just 70,000 AAdvantage miles from the United States to the Middle East or India, or 75,000 AAdvantage miles from the United States to Africa.
There are no fuel surcharges on these redemptions. This can be useful whether you’re looking to travel to India, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, South Africa or wherever else. Note that for those redemption rates you can also fly Etihad Airways, though I do have a slight preference for Qatar.
While not to or from the United States, I’d note that you can also redeem just 40,000 AAdvantage miles between the Middle East and Asia on Qatar Airways, which is arguably an even btter deal.
How do you book Qatar Airways awards? These awards can be booked directly on aa.com.
How do you earn American AAdvantage miles? American has several co-branded credit cards, and AAdvantage also frequently sells miles directly at a reasonable cost.
Cathay Pacific first & business class using Alaska miles
Cathay Pacific first class and business class are both excellent, and the best way to book those products is with Alaska Mileage Plan miles. You can expect to pay the following number of miles (one-way):
- Flying between the US and Asia will cost you 50,000 Mileage Plan miles in business class or 70,000 Mileage Plan miles in first class
- Flying between the US and Australia will cost you 60,000 Mileage Plan miles in business class or 80,000 Mileage Plan miles in first class
- Flying between the US and Africa, India, or the Middle East, will cost you 62,500 Mileage Plan miles in business class or 70,000 Mileage Plan miles in first class
Alaska Mileage Plan even allows stopovers on one-way awards, letting you have a stopover in Hong Kong without redeeming extra miles. There are no fuel surcharges on these awards. Furthermore, keep in mind that Cathay Pacific’s network of routes with first class has been scaled back considerably.
How do you book Cathay Pacific awards? These awards can be booked directly on alaskaair.com.
How do you earn Alaska Mileage Plan miles? Alaska often sells miles at a discount, and you can also rack up miles with the Alaska Airlines Visa® credit card (review) and Alaska Airlines Visa® Business card (review).
Turkish Airlines business class using Turkish miles
Turkish Airlines is my favorite airline brand in the world, and the airline has an excellent business class soft product. The Turkish Miles&Smiles program has some real sweet spots, especially for travel on Turkish Airlines flights. Keep in mind that Turkish Airlines flies to more countries than any other airline in the world, meaning the airline can really get you just about anywhere with one stop.
You can expect to pay the following number of miles one-way:
- Flying between the US and Europe will cost you 45,000 Turkish Miles&Smiles miles
- Flying between the US and Middle East will cost you 47,500 Turkish Miles&Smiles miles
- Flying between the US and Central Asia will cost you 52,500 Turkish Miles&Smiles miles
- Flying between the US and North Africa will cost you 60,000 Turkish Miles&Smiles miles
- Flying between the US and Far East will cost you 67,500 Turkish Miles&Smiles miles
- Flying between the US and Central Africa will cost you 72,500 Turkish Miles&Smiles miles
- Flying between the US and South Africa will cost you 85,000 Turkish Miles&Smiles miles
Turkish Miles&Smiles allows a stopover in Istanbul, but only if traveling roundtrip. Furthermore, Turkish Airlines does have fuel surcharges on award tickets, but they’re quite mild.
How do you book Turkish Airlines awards? These awards can be booked directly on turkishairlines.com.
How do you earn Turkish Miles&Smiles miles? Turkish is transfer partners with Capital One and Citi ThankYou.
Transatlantic Star Alliance business class using LifeMiles
I’d say the single most common “aspirational” award that people are looking for is a business class ticket to Europe. After all, that’s achievable, and covers a lot of destinations. For these kinds of awards, Avianca LifeMiles charges just 63,000 miles for one-way business class travel.
This can get you flights on a variety of Star Alliance airlines, ranging from Austrian, to LOT, to Lufthansa, to SWISS, to United. There are no fuel surcharges on these awards, so given how easy it is to rack up LifeMiles, I’d say that’s a great value.
Just don’t plan on booking anything too complicated through LifeMiles, and be aware that in some cases LifeMiles might not have access to the same availability as other programs. When you can find transatlantic business class availability through LifeMiles for 63,000 miles, I’d say it’s often the best value. That’s especially true since I usually acquire LifeMiles for just over a cent each, or with a transfer bonus from a partner.
How do you book Star Alliance awards? These awards can be booked directly on lifemiles.com.
How do you earn Avianca LifeMiles? LifeMiles is transfer partners with Amex Membership Rewards, Capital One, and Citi ThankYou, and often sells miles at a discount. Look out for consistent transfer bonuses, which can make your acquisition cost with LifeMiles really low.
Aeroplan long haul award with stopover for 5,000 points
I’m going to be less specific with this one than the other awards on the list. I consider Air Canada Aeroplan to be the single most useful frequent flyer program, and I particularly like how the program allows stopovers on one-way awards for an additional 5,000 points. That pairs beautifully with all the unique airline partners that Aeroplan has.
Aeroplan has a hybrid zone and distance based award chart, and generally has pretty lenient routing rules, so see my post on how to redeem Aeroplan points like a pro. Just to give a few examples of potential redemption opportunities (all prices are one-way and include the extra 5,000 points for a stopover):
- For 90,000 Aeroplan points you could fly from Newark to Paris to Muscat on United and Oman Air in business class, with a stopover in Paris
- For 90,000 Aeroplan points you could fly from from Toronto to London to Bangkok on Air Canada and Thai Airways in business class, with a stopover in London
- For 85,000 Aeroplan points you could fly from Paris to Mauritius to Cape Town on Air Mauritius in business class, with a stopover in Mauritius
Long story short, any time you want a stopover that’s somewhere around the middle of your journey, Aeroplan offers spectacular value.
Even without a stopover, the value is incredible. For example, earlier this year I booked an Aeroplan adventure, where I flew in business class from Chicago to Vienna to Rome to Bahrain to Singapore to Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi for 115,000 points, and then in business class from Hanoi to Frankfurt to Toronto to Miami for 87,500 points.
How do you book Aeroplan awards? These awards can be booked directly on aircanada.com.
How do you earn Air Canada Aeroplan points? Air Canada is transfer partners with Amex Membership Rewards, Capital One, and Chase Ultimate Rewards, has the Aeroplan® Credit Card (review) in the United States, which is quite lucrative, and often sells points at a discount.
Alaska & American economy awards using British Airways Avios
While not as aspirational as some of the above options, British Airways’ distance based award chart can be useful for regional awards on Alaska Airlines and American Airlines. Specifically, you can expect to pay the following for one-way travel:
- Flying a single segment of up to 1,150 miles will cost you 7,500 British Airways Avios
- Flying a single segment of 1,151-2,000 miles will cost you 10,000 British Airways Avios
- Flying a single segment of 2,001-3,000 miles will cost you 12,500 British Airways Avios
In other words, flying from Miami to most points in the Caribbean would cost just 7,500 Avios, while flying from the US West Coast to Hawaii would cost you just 12,500 Avios. If you can find award availability, this is a pretty unbeatable deal.
How do you book Alaska & American awards? These awards can be booked directly on ba.com.
How do you earn British Airways Executive Club Avios? British Airways is transfer partners with Amex Membership Rewards, Capital One, and Chase Ultimate Rewards, has the co-branded British Airways Visa Signature® Card (review) in the United States, and often sells Avios at a discount. If using points from a transferable points currency, be on the lookout for transfer bonuses.
United domestic awards using Turkish miles
The Turkish Miles&Smiles program isn’t just useful for travel on Turkish Airlines, but it’s also great for domestic flights within the United States. Turkish Airlines is in the Star Alliance, so it’s possible to redeem Miles&Smiles miles for travel on United Airlines.
For domestic flights within the United States, Turkish charges just 7,500 miles in economy or 12,500 miles in business class (one-way). The best part is that this pricing is valid within all 50 United States, including Alaska and Hawaii.
That’s an outrageously good deal. The catch? United isn’t great about making saver level award seats available on domestic flights. Furthermore, these awards aren’t consistently bookable online, and calling Turkish’s call center can be an adventure.
How do you book United Airlines awards? You can search award availability through another program (Aeroplan, MileagePlus, etc.), and then generally have to call Turkish Airlines to book — they can be reached at 800.874.8875.
How do you earn Turkish Miles&Smiles miles? Turkish is transfer partners with Capital One and Citi ThankYou.
Other niche sweet spot redemptions worth knowing
While I think the above eight are the most useful award sweet spots out there right now, I did want to mention a few other redemptions that I consider to be particularly lucrative, though perhaps the appeal isn’t quite as widespread (either due to ease of earning points, award availability, etc.). In no particular order, here are a few that come to mind:
- You can redeem 55,000 Alaska miles for Fiji Airways business class between the United States and the South Pacific, with a stopover in Fiji; the catch is that Fiji Airways can be stingy with award availability, and has a limited network
- You can redeem 55,000 Alaska miles for Qantas business class or 70,000 Alaska miles for Qantas first class between the United States and Australia; the catch is that award availability is really tough to come by
- You can redeem 60,000 Alaska miles for Air Tahiti Nui business class between the United States and Tahiti, which is much less than you’ll pay with other programs
- You can redeem 62,500 Virgin Atlantic points for Air New Zealand business class between the United States and New Zealand, the catch is that Air New Zealand barely releases any long haul premium cabin award space
Bottom line
While there are lots of amazing airline award redemptions out there, the above are some of my favorites. I didn’t just choose redemptions that have the lowest cost on “paper,” but rather redemptions that I think are largely actually valuable based on ease of accruing points, award availability, eligible routes, etc.
Unfortunately sweet spots do tend to get devalued over time, and that’s fair enough. Early 2023 has been especially rough in that regard, as several of the (previous) best redemption options aren’t available anymore.
What are your favorite airline award redemptions?
I second this. It’s hard to travel with multiple people on this deal as well. The NH business product is so good and well worth the effort.
Pre-COVID, booked HND-DOH (13h in QSuites), access to Al Safwa Lounge at DOH, then connecting to CAI (3.5hr in QR Regional F), all for merely 40k AA miles was an absolute steal!
Post-COVID though.......
Lucky, curious why you don't also mention booking Qatar business class using avios directly with Qatar? Yes there is ~$200 award fee but 70k avios from e.g. LAX-DOH is worth mentioning for those who are avios rich and aadvantage poor. Also I would argue 70k American is worth more than 70k Avios.
LAX-DXB via DOHA is only 75k avios, although another ~$100ish fee
LAX-BKK via DOHA is 85k avios etc.
Er I meant to say ~$100 award fee in first sentence. Not $200.
Get ready for more devaluations after this post...
Can you have a stopover in Istanbul on Turkish Airline miles with an open-jaw roundtrip ticket?
Thank you in advance.
I’ll add Europe to Maldives in business class for 42,500 or first for 62,500. I’m flying Munich to Malé next week.
Which program did you use?
Not for long as more programs go to dynamic pricing
What about Qsuites with Avios?
“Alaska & American economy awards using British Airways Avios”
I use to do this one all the time, but now I can’t remember the last time I found Avios award availability for short haul Alaska or AA coach.
I find it regularly available. Either American has a habit of it varying daily or weekly and/or there's a glitch on BA. Got one for thanksgiving week just earlier this week. And got one for thanksgiving last year booking it just one week before travel. Did find that searching sometimes on BA's website vs app gave different results/availability which was bizarre.
Of course AS can have flights available for 5k or 7.5k AS miles if they’re available for 7.5k Avios…
Super niche one, but if you are in Japan and need to deadhead back to Toyko, United has ANA economy for 6,000 miles + $2.80. It includes a free checked bag. Train travel is a must in Japan, but if you mkae it all the way south or north and need to return quickly without multiple trains, this is a great way to save time heading back or deadheading at the start of your trip and working back to Tokyo.
Turkish business class between US & Europe is 105,000 to 115000 miles.
Where do you get 45,000?
It is 45k when you find saver space. To find saver space search for awards on United Website. (Hint I look for award space from departing city to Istanbul and then from Istanbul to destination) when I find space on United website then I look for that space on Turkish site.. when searching on Turkish I type in departure city to Destination city and it usually shows up with the layover in Istanbul. (No one...
It is 45k when you find saver space. To find saver space search for awards on United Website. (Hint I look for award space from departing city to Istanbul and then from Istanbul to destination) when I find space on United website then I look for that space on Turkish site.. when searching on Turkish I type in departure city to Destination city and it usually shows up with the layover in Istanbul. (No one said it was easy but it is doable! I have business class flight Seattle to Zurich via Istanbul this fall)
"redemptions that I think are largely actually valuable based on ease of accruing points, AWARD AVAILABILITY", eligible routes, etc. Please stop spreading misinformation Ben (re; ANA J or F USA ur target audience)). As previous commenters have mentioned, there is / has been no availability for months on end (except for that "fluke" SFO - TYO).
That is categorically false. There's tons of availability right NOW in J... there's pretty much Always availability in J! It's just you can't plan ahead! The trick is 3 days to 14 days out OR 300+ days out! I understand that's not ideal. But that is availability.
Has anyone been able to find ANA first class availability lately? I’ve seen plenty of business out of the US, but no first for quite some time.
Yep... booked one a couple of months back. Was checking it for a few weeks, and they consistently released 1 biz and 1 first on most days. Obviously would be better if 2 released in each class. I also noticed that availability disappeared within a couple of days. However, you have to do so through United/Aeroplan at 355 days out. May be the odd one when Virgin opens at 331 but would have to get lucky with, say, someone canceling.
on a return flight from HND-JFK, I checked 3 days prior to departure and they opened an F seat whic I upgraded to from J. Totally worth it.
Clearly better deals to be had, but if you're looking to do any intra-European hopping around this summer, using MileagePlan (AS) to redeem on AY or IB is pretty handy and a relatively good deal. Just booked ARN-JMK one-way (connecting in MAD) in J on IB for 22,500 miles, which is selling for $830...flying in mid-July. Again, not the best deal out there, but considering how easily I racked up my MileagePlan miles (and how...
Clearly better deals to be had, but if you're looking to do any intra-European hopping around this summer, using MileagePlan (AS) to redeem on AY or IB is pretty handy and a relatively good deal. Just booked ARN-JMK one-way (connecting in MAD) in J on IB for 22,500 miles, which is selling for $830...flying in mid-July. Again, not the best deal out there, but considering how easily I racked up my MileagePlan miles (and how hard it has been to use them recently without paying exorbitant surcharges), I'm not complaining.
CX awards were much more plentiful before covid, for obvious reasons. That said, there's still availability but it's VERY thin. Plus I think CX is holding a lot back for their own members given they're now free to move about the planet.
Sadly since AA started their JFK-DOH route I have not seen 1 QR flight from any airport - they all put you on AA for s STUPID # miles... have been looking for weeks - all airports all dates
How can we book using AA Miles???
They have plenty of QR economy from US available. J-award seats are available ex-Europe to Asia via DOH. J-award to/from US are pretty thin.
There is availability. You have to be flexible with your plans though.
I just booked MIA-DOH-JNB yesterday for late Feb in Q Suite using AA miles yesterday. Then booked the return CPT-DOH-MIA using Qatar Avios for March (as AA doesn't have that inventory outside 330 days and I didn't want to lose the space) by topping off my BA acct with Amex points and transferring to Qatar to get the better routing.
It's doable, you just need to be flexible and book further out.
Lucky,
You can't get jack squat with AS miles anymore...they're not showing QF J or any Cathay redemptions anymore.
EU-Hawaii for 50k miles in F
EU-AUH for 40k in EY F (just flew that return)
Asiana is an undervalued program, although probably gone after the Korean merger.
Miles & More also has some good options:
35k in C for EU to Tanzania/Kenya, or 20k for the UA island hopper in Y
AS is Alaska, not Asiana.
We just used them, CX J class, to Asia this January, so...
AS miles have lost nearly all value in the past 2 months.
CX availability has disappeared off the surface of the earth. you will likely not find 3 premium transpacific premium awards for the next 6 months.
JL is devalued, and this week, awards to SIN is further devalued by another 20%.
HU is unbookable. availability shows but it errors out on payment despite seat is available, similar for many others like...
AS miles have lost nearly all value in the past 2 months.
CX availability has disappeared off the surface of the earth. you will likely not find 3 premium transpacific premium awards for the next 6 months.
JL is devalued, and this week, awards to SIN is further devalued by another 20%.
HU is unbookable. availability shows but it errors out on payment despite seat is available, similar for many others like select FJ, EI, QR bookings.
Been trying to use AS miles on 5 separate trips I have in mind, and with continent wide flexibility, I could not find a use of AS miles for any of my 20+ flights.
We used AS miles this January for SEA to PPT to AKL return in Business Class on Air Tahiti Nui.
It was a mind-blowing 320k for the two of us, but look at what it would cost to pay cash, and for cash there isn't usually the option to stop over in French Polynesia.
There was also availability for Air Tahiti Nui Business Class SEA to CDG for 60k one way in business this summer, but I had other things going on so I let it go.
BTW there was lots of Qantas availability for Intra-Australian flights, including good availability in J.
One of the quirks of the Alaska Program is that you can't use AS miles for trips from NZ to Australia.
Alaska award inventory is extremely limited vs other airlines. Good luck booking w AS miles. The recent QF awards is a prime example
One that I discovered yesterday after crediting LHR-SYD J on VN to their lotus miles programme (65k miles early!!).
They do USA and Central America to Europe for 50k miles one way in biz. Good earn rates with VS (150% on some economy fares and 200% in business and 200% in premium economy).
2.5 premium economy returns LHR-LAX and you already have a one way Biz.
Skyteam awards have to be booked at an...
One that I discovered yesterday after crediting LHR-SYD J on VN to their lotus miles programme (65k miles early!!).
They do USA and Central America to Europe for 50k miles one way in biz. Good earn rates with VS (150% on some economy fares and 200% in business and 200% in premium economy).
2.5 premium economy returns LHR-LAX and you already have a one way Biz.
Skyteam awards have to be booked at an office however.
You can buy miles at 25USD/1000 as well if you need to top up.
I’ve recently booked AUH-MLE using 20k Air Canada points on Etihad Biz one way.
Still a few sweet spots out there but like others have said AVAILABILITY is a huge issue - flights are just generally full lately post-pandemic with increased demand and less supply, and airlines are making money selling these seats. Sucks for people in the hobby, but hopefully it will eventually get better again. Someday.
My personal favorite sweet spot is using Alaska miles on LATAM for flights to South America - from LAX, NYC or...
Still a few sweet spots out there but like others have said AVAILABILITY is a huge issue - flights are just generally full lately post-pandemic with increased demand and less supply, and airlines are making money selling these seats. Sucks for people in the hobby, but hopefully it will eventually get better again. Someday.
My personal favorite sweet spot is using Alaska miles on LATAM for flights to South America - from LAX, NYC or MIA to/from SCL for 45,000 miles/pp for business class is a bargain
Yes! This is my problem with these kinds of lists. Great to know, but worthless if there's no availability. :(
I live in Hawaii and would love to take ANA F or J to Japan on the A380. But almost no availability when I check.
Would using Avios to try and book premium seats on American and Alaska domestic also be a good redemption or is it pretty much exclusive to economy? Thanks!
If you can find them it's a good redemption for flights under 2,000 miles and an OK exemption for flights 2,000 to 3,000 miles. But good luck finding them!
Pro tip for finding AS flights. They have an award chart with a "from" xxx miles depending on length of flight. Go to calendar view of the flight and the class of service, and if you see something that's listed at the 'from' number of miles and $6, that's a direct flight and you should be able to book them with avios.
No guarantees though. It's possibly a software problem and you could book it if you called in.
Biz is periodically also available at double the economy Avios
Two to add:
- Iberia biz class US to MAD
- Virgin to fly Delta (domestic easy to come by, intl to Europe much rarer)
I'd also suggest ANA on Virgin has to come with a huge caveat. As it's so well known, availability is almost non-existent. And because Virgin doesn't get availability until 331 days out, many dates are gone as folks redeem the available flights thru, say, Aeroplan, weeks earlier.
Another...
Two to add:
- Iberia biz class US to MAD
- Virgin to fly Delta (domestic easy to come by, intl to Europe much rarer)
I'd also suggest ANA on Virgin has to come with a huge caveat. As it's so well known, availability is almost non-existent. And because Virgin doesn't get availability until 331 days out, many dates are gone as folks redeem the available flights thru, say, Aeroplan, weeks earlier.
Another good option is Aeroplan on ANA in biz/first to the majority of Asia because of the 5k stopover.
Quit pushing these lies. There has not been availability on NH via VS miles for months.
Recently flew CX SFO-HKG both ways in business on redemption booked months ago before the isolation mandate went away. Cost cutting was evident in service and meals. It was at best UA Polaris like in soft products, service with aging hard product. Hope CX will recover but as of now, it is not one of the better products out there. And yes, redemption availability to HKG is now rare through the end of this year.
The problem is, many of these are wildly impractical due to lack of availability. Can you honestly show me two days in the next six months where you can find Cathay first class awards out of say... Chicago? If not, that sweet spot is worthless due to no availability.
CX os not flying first class to Chicago for now.