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Economy Sweet Spots Within United States
Welcome to my first blog! The number one thing people ask me on how to use miles is how they can travel to see family within the United States. This guide will be specifically for economy, to get from point A to point B the cheapest. I am specifically avoiding including dynamic award programs (United, Delta, Air Canada, and American Airlines) because their value will fluctuate with cash prices. So although they could provide good value, they would never provide great value. Furthermore, with the devaluation of Turkish Miles and Smiles, seems like it is getting harder and harder to find hidden gems.
Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
The best sweet spot hands down within short to medium distances is Alaska Airlines
Mileage Plan. Mileage plan has the best short distance award chart PERIOD.
Between 0-1400 miles, Alaska Airlines clock in at or less than 7,500 miles. For
their own metal, their taxes and fees comes in at the $5.60 the TSA charges per
passenger. If miles are set equal to 1 cent per point, this means that for flights
up to 700 miles, they cost $55.60 one way. Between 701 and 1400 miles, it will be
$80.60 one way. In a lot of cases, this will represent fantastic value, even comparable
to budget airline flights. What's more, Alaska Airlines doesn't charge a change fees
when changing or cancelling award tickets on their own metal.
Now, you might be thinking, "Hey, I don't live on the west coast so I don't fly on
Alaska Airlines." The good news is that Alaska Airlines is a part of the Oneworld Alliance,
meaning that they are able to book American Airline flights.
This is a fantastic deal, even with the partner award fee for American Airlines coming in at $12.50. Doing the same calculations, the flights under 700 miles comes to $57.50 and flights between 701 and 1400 miles cost $87.50. There is no change fee if you change flights with the same operating carrier. Unfortunately, the partner booking fee is nonrefundable if you do decide to change your ticket.
Avianca Lifemiles
The next up is for longer distance flights, specifically on Star Alliance. With United tightening the
award price strange hold on partners, Avianca Lifemiles now represents the best value and ease of use.
Most awards within the continental United States cost 15,000 Lifemiles plus $5.60 in TSA fees. However, within a zone. A zone for Lifemiles is loosely defined at best, since they don't publish them. Zones within the US can be loosely defined as East Coast, West Coast, Middle and Hawaii. Within each zone, the award may cost only 10,000 Lifemiles. What is great about this program is that it does not price by distance or segment. This means that the award is calculated by start to finish and layover distances are not included. With United seemingly releasing more availability with increase in points cost, this represents a decent way to use your points.
Other Options
The above 2 programs represent the absolute best ways to get good value on domestic redemptions.
However, Alaska is not a transfer partner to the major bank currencies. Furthermore, sometimes a route
is only served by one of the big 3 airlines, like Delta, which neither programs cover. I will list other
some alternative programs below that still allow you to use points on domestic redemptions.
Delta: Air France Flying Blue can be used as an alternative for Delta redemptions.
American, Alaska, JetBlue: Qatar Airways Avios (able to be transferred 1 to 1 from any avios
program). It is alright for short distance flights.