When many people first start earning frequent flyer miles, they make the mistake of focusing on the NUMBER of miles they are earning instead of the type of miles they are earning.
But here’s the problem:
Not all frequent flyer miles are created equal.
Not by a long shot!
Some are great all around.
Some are good in some instances but bad in others.
Some are super flexible but don’t offer the same value per point.
And some, well, they just generally suck (but are still better than nothing)!
If you’re unsure what types of miles you should be earning, here’s your primer.
Each type will have the pros and cons listed and then be given a score of 0-10 so you can judge them relative to each other.
Chase Ink Bold [This card is no longer available from Chase]
Chase Ink Plus
Chase Sapphire Preferred
Chase Freedom
Possibility of “paying with points” for flights with no award availability.
Ability to use for car rentals, hotels, or flights.
Instant transfers to partners.
Cons:
None
Overall
Score: 10 out of 10.
These are far and away my favorite points to accumulate since they are flexible, easy to earn a bunch of, and transfer instantly.
Your best value usually comes by transferring to United because United miles are great (keep reading for the United breakdown below) and then using for international travel.
Almost all my daily spending is done on a Chase Sapphire Preferred or Chase Ink Bold so that I can earn more Chase points.
Every time you transfer 20k SPG points, you’ll receive 25k miles, a 25% bonus.
SPG points can be used at Starwood hotels with their Cash+Points option, allowing you to stretch your points.
Cons:
SPG points have fewer options than Chase points for a big welcome offer/bonus.
SPG personal card
SPG business card
SPG’s best transfer partners, AA and USAirways, are a little more restrictive than United.
Transfers are not instantaneous and can take up to a week (better plan ahead)!
Overall
Score: 8.5 out of 10
The two keys to SPG are they that they transfer to AA, a great airline program to have miles in, and that they offer a 25% bonus.
60k SPG automatically becomes 75k airline miles, which is an amazing perk!
The major downside is that it is harder to get a large amount of miles through the welcome offer/bonus and that they don’t transfer instantly.
SPG points are a great way to diversify your mileage portfolio, and the SPG cards make good everyday spend cards, especially if you are looking for AA miles.
The major advantage AA has over United is their off-peak award chart, which I urge everyone to take advantage of.
The value is unheard of!
The major drawback is that AA miles have a fuel surcharge on them when you fly on British Airways, which makes it very difficult to use them to fly to Europe.
And for most people, Europe is high on their list!
Still, AA miles are a great complement to United miles.
Having both means that if you can’t find space with one airline, you still have a shot with the other.
A little more difficult to earn large amounts of USAirways miles
Barclays USAirways card
SPG Amex personal
SPG Amex business
USAirways online system does not allow you to book partner flights, so you’ll have to call in each time.
Overall
Score: 6.5 out of 10
USAirways is like a little brother to United.
It has some of the great features, like never charging a fuel surcharge and allowing stopovers and open jaws, but also has one major drawback:
Not allowing one way tickets.
This cuts down dramatically on your flexibility, not just in how you have to travel but in the amount of points you need to have.
With USAirways, if you want to travel to Europe, you NEED to have 60k miles because you have to fly roundtrip.
Whereas with AA and United, if you only have 30k in each program, you could mix and match.
Fly over with United, fly back with AA or vice versa.
And since earning USAirways miles isn’t as easy as earning United miles or AA miles, you can oftentimes get stuck with an amount that is hard to do anything with.
This can especially be the case with people looking for more than 1 or 2 tickets, since you’ll need a boatload of USAirways miles to get a family of four roundtrip.
Still, USAirways offers great perks, and I urge everyone to take advantage of their stopovers and open jaw rules.
6. Southwest
Pros:
Every seat can be an award seat, so as long as their is a seat on the plane, you can book with your SW points.
No fuel surcharges or taxes when using points.
The ability to earn the SW Companion Pass if you get 110k points in a year.
SW points are easy to earn through sign up bonuses
Chase Southwest personal card
Chase Southwest business card
Chase points transfer to Southwest
No checked baggage fees
One-ways are allowed.
Cons:
Southwest and AirTran only fly domestically in the US and to a few spots in the Caribbean and Mexico.
No separate first class or business class cabins.
No stopovers.
Overall
Score: 6.5 out of 10
Southwest is the most difficult to rank because it is totally dependent on your travel habits.
If you only fly domestically, then Southwest may be at the very top of the list.
But for people who need to fly internationally or only fly business or first class, Southwest points are meaningless.
Their program as a whole has many more pros than cons, with the ability to earn the Companion Pass and the anytime award seats being the major benefits.
If you are someone who flies domestically, even if it’s only occasionally, getting Southwest points is a must.
Amex’s welcome offer/bonus isn’t usually as good as Chase’s.
Overall
Score: 5 out of 10.
Amex points used to be the king of the castle, but my, how the mighty have fallen.
While the quantity of transfer partners, the quickness of the transfer, and the bonuses they offer are all great, the major issue is the quality of transfer partners.
Very bad to use to fly to Europe (ironically), due to huge fuel surcharge.
Charges per distance flown, so very bad for long international itineraries.
Overall
Score: 4 out of 10
These are the trickiest to use and most situation specific miles out there.
And it’s because of this inflexibility that they are rated so low.
They can offer INCREDIBLE value if you use them to fly domestically within the US, from the East coast to the Caribbean, to South America, or from the West coast to Hawaii.
However, for any other type of international trips, they’ll charge a massive fuel surcharge and you’ll be stuck paying $400+.
Only airline to allow stopovers on domestic award tickets.
Won’t charge a fuel surcharge if you originate in the United States.
Cons:
VERY, VERY little availability.
Does NOT allow one-way tickets.
Hefty fuel surcharges if you originate outside of the US.
Overall
Score: 1 out of 10
Having miles is no good if you can never find availability, and this is Delta falls flat on it’s face.
The few good things Delta does, like allowing stopovers on domestic tickets, is overshadowed by the fact that it is EXTREMELY difficult to find availability with Delta.
It’s so difficult, that I personally have never earned 1 single Delta mile.
In fact, they are often referred to as “SkyPesos” because of how little value they have.
And if you’re someone who has been collecting Delta miles, I urge you to flee!
Start earning miles that are much more valuable, like United or American Airlines.
Final Word(s)
Not all miles are created equal.
Don’t just pay attention to the number of miles you have, but more importantly, focus on the TYPE of miles you have.
They are all dramatically different, each with their own good points and bad points.
The sooner you figure out what miles work best for you, the better off you’ll be when it comes to using them for what we all want:
FREE TRAVEL!
Personally, I focus most of my energy on earning Chase points, which I then convert to United miles.
Then, to a lesser extent, SPG points, which I usually transfer AA.
How would you rank the different frequent flyer miles out there? What’s your favorite, and why?
Let’s open up a lively discussion in the comments below!
Want to go to Hawaii, London, or Tokyo using frequent flyer miles? No sweat. All the alliances fly there, and fly there often. In fact, you’ll most likely have your pick of partners.
But what about trying to get to a more remote destination, like the Maldives?
This is where using frequent flyer miles can take a bit of work and planning.
And while it might be a bit of a pain, I’m guessing it will all be worth it once you see this:
I’ll be using the Maldives, one of the world’s hardest spots to travel to, as an example. However, this step by step process can be used for any destination you wish to travel to.
Step 1: Use Wikipedia to Find Out What Airlines Fly in To The Airport
We all know Wikipedia is an invaluable resource for basically anything, and it doesn’t disappoint here. If I’m not familiar with an airport and what airlines fly there, I always first turn to Wikipedia.
Here is the list for airlines flying in and out of Male International Airport (MLE), the main airport in the Maldives.
Step 2: Figure Out Which Airlines You Can Use
Most of the airlines on the list above aren’t of interest to us because they aren’t part of an airline alliance.
What you’ll need to do is figure out which airlines are part of one of the three major alliances: OneWorld, Star Alliance, and Skyteam.
If you’re not a complete frequent flyer nerd (what, you don’t have them memorized?), head back to Wikipedia to see a list of all 3 airline alliance members.
Here are the airlines flying in to Male, broken down by alliance:
OneWorld: British Airways, Malaysia Airlines, Qatar (joining late 2013), SriLankan Airlines (joining late 2013)
Star Alliance: Austrian, Singapore Airlines, Turkish
Skyteam: Aeroflot, China Eastern Air, China Southern, KoreanAir
Step 3: Determine How Many Frequent Flyer Miles it Will Cost
This step is easy. Simply head to milez.biz and plug in your starting point and your destination.
Check to see if any of the carriers happen to be cheaper than the others.
For Philadelphia (PHL) to Male (MLE), United, USAirways and Delta costs 80k roundtrip in economy or 120k in business, whereas American Airlines costs 90k and 135k.
Step 4: Take Inventory of Your Points and Consider Transfer Partners
Now that you know how much it costs for each airline to fly to your destination, you’ve got to figure out if you have enough points to get there.
Don’t forget to consider points, such as Chase, American Express, or Starwood Preferred Guests (SPG), that you can transfer to airlines.
Here’s a sweet infographic about what points transfer to what airlines:
(courtesy of idoru at Flyertalk)
Since I’m looking at flying using United, USAirways, AA, or Delta miles, I have the following transfer options:
Chase points –> United.
American Express points —> Delta or USAirways (if you use a work-around).
SPG points —> AA, Delta, USAirways
After considering transfers, determine which airlines you’ll have enough miles in.
Step 5: Check for Flight Availability
Now, for the (sometimes) hard part. Luckily, there are some good tools out there to make it easier.
The first place to start is Award Nexus, you can get a free login by using your Flyertalk login on this page. This site is great because it allows you to search across all three alliances, but it can be a bit complicated to use
Of course, there will be plenty of times where you won’t find availability right away.
If you are not finding availability with Award Nexus, here are a few tricks to try:
2. For more complicated itineraries, such as PHL to MLE, you may need to search in segments. The computer systems may not be able to handle a request with so many layovers.
In this case, if I was looking for OneWorld flights, I’d search from PHL to Kuala Lumpur (KUL), since I know Malaysia Airlines flies from KUL to MLE. Then, I’d search separately for the KUL to MLE route.
3. Look for routes from other close airports. For example, I may choose to look for flights from New York (JFK, EWR, LGA) since there are many more international flights from those airports than PHL.
Check the bigger airports in your area, as they will often have a lot more availability, especially for long international flights.
Step 6: Book Your Tickets
After finding the flights you want, write down all the information, including times, flights numbers, and the airports you are flying from and going to.
Most likely, you won’t be able to recreate the tickets on the airline’s website whose miles you are using, so you’ll have to call the airline directly and spoonfeed them the information you’ve found.
For example, the two flights I found on AwardTravelr above from PHL-MLE would not show up when I searched for them on USAirways or United’s websites. Depending on what miles I decided to use, I’d have to call up that airline and book the tickets over the phone.
While I usually fly economy class, I would consider splurging and flying business for this trip. With 28+ hours of total flying plus numerous layovers, the extra comfort and lounge access during the layovers would probably be worth it.
Final Word(s)
Using frequent flyer miles to get to some destinations, especially remote places like the Maldives, can sometimes be difficult.
However, if you follow the six steps above, you should be able to use your frequent flyer miles for any dream destination you have, no matter how far away it is.
What are some of the tricks you have for using frequent flyer miles to get to remote destinations? What are some of the more obscure places you have traveled to? Inspire us in the comments below!
The Maximize Your Miles series will teach you how to squeeze the most possible value out of your frequent flyer miles by getting free one-ways and taking 3 vacations for the price of 1!
Additionally, United’s rules when dealing with stopovers and open jaws are (fairly) simple and straightforward. If you’ve read parts 2 and 3 of Maximize Your Miles you know how convoluted the rules can be on American Airlines and USAirways, so luckily, United makes life a little easier.
Let’s take a look at their main rules, build an incredible sample itinerary using a stopover and open jaw and then talk about an awesome “trick” you can use to score a free one-way ticket to anywhere in North America (including the Caribbean).
Rule #1: United does not allow stopovers or open jaws on domestic tickets
This is standard procedure for all airlines, with the lone exception being Delta. Therefore, everything we will be talking about from here on out will deal with international itineraries.
Rule #2: United does not allow stopovers or open jaws on one-way tickets
The fact that United allows you to book one-way tickets with your frequent flyer miles is a good thing (remember, USAirways doesn’t allow one-way tickets).
The major downside is that you can’t take advantage of the perks of stopovers or open jaws if you book a one-way ticket.
Another difference between United and USAirways is that United representatives are not near as lenient as their Star Alliance counterparts over at USAirways. You can try to bend the rules at United (after all, it never hurts to try) but the odds are that you won’t get a rep that will let you break this rule.
If you want a stopover or open jaw, you’re going to have to book roundtrip.
Rule #3: United allows 1 stopover and 2 open jaws on roundtrip international tickets
This is where United has AA beat hands down. Let’s first look at the stopover, build a simple routing, and then add in the open jaws and get a little crazier!
The stopover
The stopover can occur in any city that is within your route, meaning you don’t have to worry about having your stopover happen at a “North American gateway city” like AA.
If you are flying to somewhere in Europe, you can have your stopover in another European city before continuing on to your destination, which basically means the possibilities are endless.
For example, a basic itinerary could look like this:
Going: New York to London (stopover) to Paris (destination)
Return: Paris to New York
On AA, you couldn’t stop in London because its not in North America, but with United, it doesn’t matter. You can stop in any city that United or its partners on Star Alliance flies to that is on a somewhat reasonable route to your final destination.
Since this is ALOT, the world is your oyster!
Adding in the first open jaw
You may think you’d be content with getting to visit two cities on one award ticket, but remember, we are all about MAXIMIZATION!
Why visit two when you can visit three?
Let’s keep the original plan of flying New York-London (stopover)- Paris (destination). But now, instead of simply flying Paris-New York on the return leg, we want to add in an open jaw. This means that we will arrive in Paris but we will leave out of another city for our return leg.
Rome sound enticing to anyone? Now, our itinerary would look like this:
New York-London (stopover)-Paris (destination)
Return flight: Rome-New York
Of course, you’d be responsible for making your own way to Rome, but this is easily done, especially in Europe, where you can fly budget airlines between cities for less than $100 or simply take a train.
If you found that it would cost more to make your own way between Paris and Rome than it would be make your own way between London and Rome (which could be the case since Ryanair offers some amazing deals out of London), you could always flip flop your stopover and open jaw and book this itinerary:
New York-London (destination) then open jaw
Return flight: Rome-Paris (stopover)- New York
Either way, you’d have to pay your own way to get between the open jaw cities, but this is easily done, especially in Europe, and it allows you add in a completely other city for a fraction of the cost.
Trick: How to get a free one-way ticket to anywhere in North America
Ok, so you’re happy with your itinerary, but you know that you still have another open jaw, and you have really taken the “maximize, maximize, maximize” mantra to heart, so you don’t want to waste the second open jaw.
First, I’ll start with the bad news: If you want to be able to use your second open jaw, you are going to have to give up your stopover in Europe so that you can “save” it for later.
But, there’s plenty of good news: The reward is free one-way ticket to anywhere in the North American region, which includes the US (minus Hawaii) and Canada (or a super discounted ticket elsewhere).
Here’s what you can do:
You can still use your first open jaw in Europe, as you originally planned, so let’s continue with our original itinerary. We’d now book something like this for the European part of our journey:
New York-London (destination) then open jaw
Return: Paris-New York
Since we still have a stopover and an open jaw left, we can call New York our stopover city (and stay there for up to a year) and then add on an extra leg to anywhere in the North America region, which includes the continental US, Alaska, and Canada. You’ve always dreamed of seeing Alaska, right?
Our full itinerary would look like this:
New York-London (destination) then open jaw
Return: Paris-New York (stopover for up to a year)- Anchorage (final destination)
You are now using your one open jaw in between London and Paris, your stopover in New York, and your second open jaw to have Anchorage as your ultimate ending point even though you originally flew out of New York.
All you’d have to do is get yourself a ticket home from Anchorage (which will cost 12.5k miles one way) and you not only a European vacation visiting 2 amazing cities but also an Alaskan adventure.
And all for the price of one award ticket!
Other options for your free one-way ticket
The above example shows how to get a free one-way ticket to Alaska (or anywhere else in the North American region) but what if you want to go somewhere else? That’s also possible.
For wherever you’d like to go, simply sub out Anchorage in the above example and add in the place you desire.
Instead of charging you for separate tickets (North America-Europe roundtrip plus North America-2nd region one-way), United will simply charge you the difference between the two regions, which is alot less.
Caribbean
For example, if you’d rather your free one-way get you to the Caribbean, you’d simply book your return leg to go there. An example would be:
New York- London (destination) then open jaw
Return: Paris-New York (stopover)- Grand Cayman (final destination)
Since United’s award chart actually charges you less to fly from the Caribbean to Europe than North America to Europe, you’ll actually only pay 57,500 miles for this ticket as opposed to the 60,000 you’d pay if you ended your trip in North America (like the above example to Anchorage).
If you were to book these tickets separately, you’d pay 60k for your roundtrip ticket from North American to Europe and then 17.5k for a one-way ticket from North America to the Caribbean.
Instead, you are saving 20k miles by making New York a stopover and Grand Cayman your final destination.
Hawaii
Same rules apply. You’d book:
New York-London (destination) then open jaw
Return: Paris-New York (stopover)-Honolulu
Your total cost in miles would run 62,500.
You’d be getting charged an additional 2,500 miles because Europe to Hawaii prices out at 32,500 as opposed to 30,000 for Europe to North America region, but you are still saving a ton. If you were to book this as two separate awards, you’d pay 80k (60k for Europe to NA roundtrip and 20k for NA to Hawaii one-way).
South America
You can do the same thing with South America. An example would be:
New York-London (destination) then open jaw
Paris-New York (stopover)- Buenos Aires (final destination)
The final price for this itinerary would be 77,500 miles.
If you were to book these seperately, you’d spend 90k total (60k from New York to Europe and then an additional 30k for a one-way from New York to Buenos Aires). By using the stopover trick, you’re saving 12,500 miles!
Free one-way vs. stopover in Europe: Which should you choose?
Determining whether you should book a free one-way ticket or keep your extra stopover in Europe is a good problem to have, and in the end, it comes down to preference. If your one-way falls in the North American region, both awards will price out the same, at 60k miles apiece.
With the stopover in Europe, we were able to build an itinerary that looked like this:
New York-London (stopover)-Paris then open jaw
Rome-New York
With the free one-way, we would have an intinerary like this:
New York-London then open jaw
Paris-New York (stopover)-Anchorage
Each is a great trip, so just decide whether you’d enjoy visiting an extra city in Europe or getting a free trip out to somewhere in North America later on. Either way, you’re making out like a bandit and taking a trip that you could probably have only dreamed about before.
How To Book Stopovers and Open Jaws on United
The second best thing about booking stopovers and open jaws with United (behind being allowed to stopover at basically any city) is that you can do it all online.
Unlike American Airlines and USAirways, whose computer systems are stuck in the era of Zubaz pants and Fraggle Rock, United has decided to join the rest of us in the new millenium and has a system that is not only highly functional but also user-friendly.
You’ll quickly get the hang of it once you do it once, but for those people who are new to booking with United, especially when using stopovers and open jaws, I’ve created a short video tutorial:
Still Confused? Have Questions?
If you’ve read through and are thinking:
Stopovers and open jaws are awesome, I want to use them…but I’m still confused as heck about how to actually do it!
Don’t worry, you’re not alone!
I’ll walk you through, step by step, every single thing you need to do to learn about and book stopovers, open-jaws, and free one-ways. I’ve spent hundred of hours creating the #1 place for people who want to become EXPERTS at booking awards and maximizing their miles and want to do it fast!
4 weeks, and you’ll be an EXPERT, guaranteed! And you’ll be saving yourself $1,000’s of dollars!
Interested? Check out the Frequent Flyer Bootcamp page for more information. I look forward to whipping your butt in class!
Stopovers and open jaws can be an incredibly powerful tool to help you put together a vacation of a lifetime, and on no airline is this more apparent than United, which allows a ton of freedom in which choosing which city to stopover in. Add in the fact that you are able to add a free one-way for a later date and really, the possibilities are endless!
I would highly recommend that everyone consider using these to your advantage if you are booking a roundtrip ticket with your United frequent flyer miles.
The fact that you don’t even have to call in and book the tickets but instead can play around on United’s system till your heart’s content to figure out what works for you means that you really have no excuse.
So, what are you waiting for? Remember: MAXIMIZE, MAXIMIZE, MAXIMIZE!
Questions, comments, and unabashed bragging of the awesome trips you’ve booked is all welcome below. Fire away folks!
If you haven’t already, check out the other awesome Maximize Your Mile posts:
