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With almost all loyalty programs, the value you get from redeeming points and miles will vary. Some redemptions can provide incredible value. Other redemptions will downright suck. One of the biggest challenges in the points and miles world is how to get more great redemptions — plus avoid fewer bad redemptions. Put another way, how do you minimize the number of points, miles, and cash you'll pay for the experience?
AwardWallet is here to help you solve that challenge. We've written a series of “sweet spot” posts covering the best redemptions for dozens of the most popular loyalty programs — plus the best ways to get to popular destinations like Hawaii.
If you're looking to get the most from each point or mile, this is where you want to start your search.
Page Contents
Best Uses of Airline Miles
Best redemptions for domestic U.S. flights
- Delta flights: 382 Delta routes that you can book for just 7,500 Points
- United flights: 112 United routes that you can book for just 6,500 miles
- Hawaii flights: Best ways to fly to Hawaii using points and miles
- Amex Membership Rewards: Best ways to redeem Amex Membership Rewards points for U.S. domestic flights
- Chase Ultimate Rewards: Maximize Chase Ultimate Rewards points for flights within North America
- Capital One Rewards: Maximize Capital One miles for flights within North America
- Citi ThankYou Points: Maximize Citi ThankYou Points for flights within North America
U.S. mileage programs
- Alaska Mileage Plan sweet spots: Including Fiji, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Southeast Asia, Europe, South America, and many more.
- American Airlines AAdvantage sweet spots: Including Qatar Qsuite to the Middle East, Indian subcontinent, or Africa; Japan Airlines business class to Japan and Korea; and Cathay Pacific business class to Southeast Asia.
- Delta SkyMiles best uses: Delta is constantly changing awards, but here's the latest on where you can find value.
- JetBlue TrueBlue: Although JetBlue is mostly a fixed-value program, some awards are better than others.
- Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards: Identifying how to squeak out the right value from Rapid Rewards
- United MileagePlus sweet spots: Including domestic U.S. flights, northern South America, business class to Europe, flights within Japan, and getting a free flight on a multi-leg trip.
International mileage programs
- Aeromexico sweet spots: Including awards from the U.S. to Mexico or Europe.
- Air Canada Aeroplan stopover sweet spots: Including hops around South America, visiting Europe and Africa in the same trip, and how to save miles by flying more.
- Air France–KLM Flying Blue award sweet spots: Including Hawaii, Mexico, northern South America, Europe, and northern Africa.
- ANA Mileage Club sweet spots: Jaw-dropping business-class sweet spots to Europe, Asia, Africa, and beyond
- Avianca LifeMiles sweet spots: Including transcontinental U.S. flights and business and first class to Europe, northern South America, South Asia, and the Middle East.
- British Airways sweet spots: Including domestic American and Alaska flights and flights to Mexico, the Caribbean, or Ireland.
- British Airways sweet spots on Qatar: British Airways recently realigned its award chart for Qatar awards. Here are the new rates and sweet spots.
- British Airways sweet spots on LATAM: Including U.S. to Caribbean, Bogota, Lima, and intra-South America flights.
- Cathay Pacific business class sweet spots: Including business class awards on Cathay Pacific and Qatar QSuite, to Asia and Africa, and around-the-world awards.
- Korean Air SKYPASS sweet spots: Including Europe, Africa, Hawaii, Korea, and awards with a stopover.
- Qatar Airways partner sweet spots: Including flights on American or Alaska within the U.S. or to the Caribbean, Mexico, and Hawaii.
- Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer sweet spots: Including flights within North America, Hawaii, Europe, Asia, and South America.
- Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles sweet spots: Incredible award rates to Hawaii and business class to Europe, Turkey, Africa, India, and beyond.
- Virgin Atlantic Flying Club: Including ANA business and first class to Japan, business class to New Zealand, short flights on Delta and Aeromexico, and Delta One business class to Europe.
Airline sweet spot roundups
- The best unpublished award sweet spots: Save miles by flying further and routes that price cheaper than they should, such as 35k miles for business class to Europe!
- Practical airline award sweet spots for families: Not every sweet spot can be maximized by families, but these can.
- Amex Membership Rewards sweet spots to Europe
Best Uses of Hotel Points
- Hilton Honors — best budget redemptions
- IHG One Rewards — best luxury redemptions
- World of Hyatt sweet spots: Hyatt still maintains an award chart, so you can get reliable value at hotels scattered across the globe.
- Marriott Bonvoy:
How Much Are Airline Miles Worth?
It's nice to have a measuring stick when figuring out whether or not you're getting a good redemption. The trouble is that travelers assign different values to the same airline miles. To avoid any subjectivity, AwardWallet uses actual award bookings made by AwardWallet users to determine valuations.
Here's what we've found from tracking tens of thousands of actual reward flight bookings made by AwardWallet users:
| Program Name | Average Value | Economy (regional) | Economy (long-haul) | First/business (regional) | First/business (long-haul) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alaska Mileage Plan | 2.57¢ | 1.17¢ | 1.33¢ | 3.8¢ | 4.39¢ |
| Delta SkyMiles | 1.38¢ | 1.24¢ | 1.24¢ | 1.96¢ | 2.54¢ |
| Hawaiian HawaiianMiles | 2.22¢ | 1.26¢ | 1.68¢ | n/a | 4.69¢ |
| JetBlue TrueBlue | 1.23¢ | 1.23¢ | 1.09¢ | 1.4¢ | n/a |
| Southwest Rapid Rewards | 1.52¢ | 1.52¢ | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| United MileagePlus | 1.78¢ | 1.23¢ | 1.67¢ | 2.12¢ | 2.69¢ |
| Air Canada Aeroplan | 1.91¢ | 1.27¢ | 1.37¢ | 2.62¢ | 2.56¢ |
| Air France/KLM Flying Blue | 2.37¢ | 1.36¢ | 1.47¢ | 2.52¢ | 2.72¢ |
| Avianca LifeMiles | 2.87¢ | 1.72¢ | 1.84¢ | 2.92¢ | 3.61¢ |
| British Airways Executive Club | 3.43¢ | 1.84¢ | 1.86¢ | 3.32¢ | 4.22¢ |
| Cathay Pacific Asia Miles | 3¢ | 1.74¢ | 1.87¢ | 3.45¢ | 3.23¢ |
| Emirates Skywards | 1.58¢ | 1.08¢ | 0.95¢ | 1.72¢ | 1.66¢ |
| Iberia Plus | 3.55¢ | 1.74¢ | 1.9¢ | 3.64¢ | 4.9¢ |
| Lufthansa Miles and More | 3.11¢ | 0.97¢ | 1.6¢ | 3.04¢ | 3.82¢ |
| Qantas Frequent Flyer | 4.62¢ | 1.2¢ | 3.13¢ | 3.12¢ | 6.34¢ |
| Singapore KrisFlyer | 2.48¢ | 1.49¢ | 1.56¢ | 2.81¢ | 2.56¢ |
| Virgin Atlantic Flying Club | 4.96¢ | 1.83¢ | 2.57¢ | 5.39¢ | 6.39¢ |
A couple of caveats about this data. First, AwardWallet users are much more savvy than average travelers. We generally know how to avoid terrible redemptions and focus on the highest-value uses of miles.
Also, there are inherent issues with assigning value based on cash prices — particularly in premium cabins. Would you actually have paid $10,000 for that one-way international first-class flight? Probably not, but using actual cash prices is the best way to assign value without subjectivity.
For much more detail on AwardWallet valuations, check out our dedicated post: How much do AwardWallet members actually save when redeeming points?
Best Way To Earn Points & Miles for These Sweet Spots
We recommend that travelers earn flexible rewards points that can be transferred to a variety of loyalty programs. That gives you the flexibility to maximize your rewards — choosing the right program for each trip and taking advantage of relevant sweet spots. Plus, earning transferrable points insulates you from the devaluation of any one airline mileage program. If one transfer partner changes its program, you should still be able to find value from the other transfer partners.
If you're looking to build up a balance in any of these programs, here are your options:
American Express Membership Rewards
Amex Membership Rewards can be transferred to 21 Membership Rewards transfer partners: 18 airline mileage programs and three hotel point programs. Here are some of the best cards that earn Amex Membership Rewards and their current welcome bonuses:
- The Platinum Card® from American Express: Earn 80,000 Membership Rewards® Points
- American Express® Gold Card: Earn 60,000 Membership Rewards® Points
- The Business Platinum Card® from American Express: Earn 120,000 Membership Rewards® points
- American Express® Business Gold Card: Earn 70,000 Membership Rewards® points
Capital One miles
Capital One miles can be transferred to 18 Capital One transfer partners: three hotel programs and 15 airline loyalty programs. Even its no-annual-fee cards have access to all transfer partners, plus you can combine cash-back earnings with your miles to access transfer partners with additional cards. These cards earn Capital One miles:
- Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card: Earn 75,000 bonus miles
- Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card: Earn 20,000 bonus miles
- Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card: Earn 75,000 bonus miles
- Capital One Spark Miles for Business: Earn 50,000 bonus miles
- Capital One Spark Miles Select for Business: Earn 50,000 bonus miles
- Capital One Venture X Business: Earn 150,000 bonus miles
Chase Ultimate Rewards
Chase Ultimate Rewards can be transferred to 14 Chase transfer partners: 11 airline mileage programs and three hotel point programs. Three cards earn Chase Ultimate Rewards points that are fully transferrable to partner programs:
- Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card: Earn 60,000 bonus points
- Chase Sapphire Reserve®: Earn 60,000 bonus points
- Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card: Earn 100,000 bonus points
In addition, you can use Chase's cash-back cards to boost your earnings by combining Chase points across accounts.
Related: Accumulate Chase Ultimate Rewards Points Quickly by Building a Credit Card Combo
Citi ThankYou Rewards
Citi ThankYou Points are a bit harder to earn than the others. Only two cards earn Citi ThankYou points that can be transferred to all 18 Citi transfer partners (14 airlines and three hotels):
- Citi Premier® Card: Earn 60,000 bonus ThankYou® Points
- Citi Prestige® Card: No longer available to new cardholders
However, other Citi cards earn ThankYou Points that can be transferred to a limited set of Citi ThankYou partners — or combined with the above cards to make earnings fully transferrable to partners:
Related: Build a Winning Combo of Citi ThankYou Rewards Cards
Marriott Bonvoy
Marriott Bonvoy points transfer to 40 airline programs at a 3:1 transfer rate (with only the rare exception). Plus you'll get 5,000 bonus miles when transferring points to most Marriott airline transfer partners. Earn Bonvoy points through the following Marriott credit cards:
- Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card: Earn 125,000 Bonus Marriott Bonvoy Points
- Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card: Earn two 85K Free Night Awards
- Marriott Bonvoy Bevy™ American Express® Card: Earn 125,000 Marriott Bonvoy bonus points
- Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card: Earn three bonus Free Night Awards
- Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card: Earn 30,000 Marriott bonus points
Bottom Line
Wherever you want to go, points and miles can probably get you there. Some redemptions provide better value than others; our goal is to help you find more of those good redemptions. By referencing the sweet spots above, you should be able to find a place you want to go and a way to get there. Now it's time to build a credit card strategy that helps you earn the points and miles you need for that trip.
Did your favorite sweet spot make this list? If not, let us know what it is in the comments below.
The comments on this page are not provided, reviewed, or otherwise approved by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
Hey Howie, checking back in here since it’s been 7 months since my last comment. Any plans to publish South America and Asia soon?
An interesting redemption I found today for Lufthansa miles is 20k one way from Hawaii to East Asia.
Howie – thanks for the link to this blog, from another of your blogs. I would have missed it!
This is great content but why is there not a section for South America and Asia. Seems like a pretty big missed opportunity
We can’t have everything covered all the time. It is in our list to do. I’d suggest you look at some of the individual airline sweet spots.
great compendeum!
This is a great reference for all the best uses of airline miles and hotel points and all the great credit cards to have.
It’s always good to get a refresher on these things.
interesting post, full of information and tips. its helpful for me to understand a bit more about how to maximise my rewards etc. Seems a bit complicated, but helpful overall.
Thanks for sharing and putting this together.
As others have said, tremendous job by all concerned! Great compilation – thanks!
Wow this is a great resource – thank you for sharing!
Wealth of information for self-study. Thank you.
Thanks for the useful information.
I hope I’ll make good use of some of these sweet spots.
Great list.
Thank you so much! So helpful!!
Nice list, would love to see more details though.
Each list item links to a sweet spot post. These posts go into detail on award sweet spots and will link to additional resources showing how to book for each program.
I am a new member & already the info here has helped enormously , wish I joined years ago.
Thus is a great list as reference. Thank you
I love the sweet spots very much. Now I do not have to go to the loyalty programs websites to compare the dollar values of my choices. I wish there is a points calculator convert to dollar value so that I know how much money values of my points of different programs. Any other suggestions?
Agreed, but it’s a tall order with the complexity of the valuation.
What a terrific amount of info in one place! I’m definitely bookmarking this! Thx!
Again a big THANK YOU going out! Well done!
Fantastic. Thank you very much. I got the award ticket that I was looking for.
Great info. Thanks for this update.
As has been said before, great tips!
This is a great comprehensive guide. Thank you!
Makes me want more and more SPG points!
Lovely compilation, thanks for the info
Mind blowing resource! Thanks Howie!
Amazing and informative article! I will put so much info into use! Thank you!
A helpful guide. 22,500 AA points to go to Europe is a bargain.
20k AS with a free stopover is an even bigger bargain
Awesome post! Definitely helps me to figure which programs to use for where.
Thanks for the info
I like this consolidation. Very helpful!
Hi Howie,
I’d like to find out what’s the best way/sweet spot to fly to Beirut from LAX in First or in Suites.
I said popular destinations! Well, looking at the airlines that serve Beirut (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beirut%E2%80%93Rafic_Hariri_International_Airport#Airlines_and_destinations) you pretty much have your pick as far as airlines go with quality products — the ME3 and Lufthansa would be what I’d look at. Perhaps 155k JAL with EK or QR or 150k SQ with LH?
Thanks – I will check it out!
Great resource!! Thank you!
Thanks, very helpful! I may have missed it, but what miles do you recommend as best for California to French Polynesia? Once one has these miles, which airline should be used to book? And, recommended ways to accumulate these miles (or transferable points).
There are limited options (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fa%27a%27%C4%81_International_Airport#Airlines_and_destinations) Air France and Air Tahiti Nui are going to be the two options from California non-stop. Flying Blue would be where I would focus for economy class.
Got it, thanks. How many miles for Business Class and which airline of the two is preferable? I have easy access to Flying Blue miles thru several cards. Not sure about Air Tahiti Nui. Maybe a partner’s miles. Appreciate your recommendations.
The challenge is finding award availability. Between the two I’d pick Air France — but if you’re flying business your best bet is JAL at 65k miles (transferred from SPG) — the next best is Alaska at 120k R/T.
Thank you!
nice to be reminded of all of these optons
I love using BA Avios for the short hops and also US west coast to Hawaii! only if they allow more generous redemption space though….
This is a great list
I am not sure I understand how to do this? I have a ton of points on United. How do I book a flight via Singapore airlines with my United points? Do I have to sign up for the Singapore airlines mileage program first, and transfer points? Or can I book with United points directly on Singapore without transferring? If I try to book using points on United, then it is the original United rate. But If I am not logged in to the Singapore portal, then it won’t let me see mileage flights… confused! Thanks in advance!
So you want to use your United miles to book a flight operated by Singapore Airlines? Sorry, just not sure what exactly you’re looking to do here. What airline’s plane do you want to fly on and from/to where?
I don’t know! I guess I want to understand how it works! Above it says under “Airline Sweet Spots” that “Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer – Flights with partner United at better rates than MileagePlus”.
So my question is: Do I book this through the United website, logged into my mileage plus acct? Or do I book it under the Singapore website logged in as a member of that (it that Kris Flier?)? If so, I will need to create a Singapore account. Once I do that, do I transfer United points to Kris Flier, or do I book and say I have United points to spend?
I also have an American Express Platinum Card and a Chase Ink Card that have lots of points on them, in addition to the 250,000 miles on United. I am trying to figure out the best way to book a mileage flight that uses the least amount of points… I am new to this (I usually just book direct with United) and so am still a little confused!
Thanks! ~Jen
Jen, this sweet spot is: Redeeming miles in the Singapore Krisflyer program for flights on United. You book by calling Singapore Air (https://awardwallet.com/blog/redeem-singapore-airlines-krisflyer-miles/).
You cannot transfer United miles to Singapore, nor can you transfer Singapore miles to United miles — however, you can use Singapore miles to book United-operated flights?
The currencies aren’t interchangeable, but the currencies can be used to book flights on one another’s aircraft.
The big caveat to all of this is that when you use United miles to book United flights you have more options available than if you use Singapore miles to book United flights. This is simply because airlines allow members in their own program to have access to more seats then their partners.
If you see a “Saver” seat available on United.com, you should be able to book that seat with Singapore miles. So you’d search United.com, find the flights and then call up Singapore and feed them the information on the flights.
Make sense? Sorta?
Hi Howie,
I’m in the process of racking up ultimate points that can be transferred to any number of Chase partners. I was thinking that I would hoard the points and then transfer the miles based on where we can get the most bang for the buck.
We are considering using the points for a trip from North America to Africa. Any thoughts as to the provider that should be used for that purpose?
I’m sure it depends on the carrier, availability and travel plans, but it appears that it takes fewer miles to do it in one shot, rather than to break it up into individual segments. Would love to get some guidance.
Off the top of my head, some of the best value would likely be with United (with their partners) or Korean (with theirs). Our Award booking folks will likely be able to help you more with a specific booking — https://awardwallet.com/awardBooking/add
Love to see all the comparisons… Will help me decide where to transfer my points.
Hi Howard,
Can you please help guide me on a few programs fine print
1. Carlson Hotels. if i have expiring points, how can i can keep them active. Transfer in or out from credit card or airlines , or buy miles direct or thru points.com ? Will all existing miles stay active?
2. Aeroplan – same question as above.
Many thanks for your help
Regards
David
For Club Carlson, yes, all of that will keep your account active — as well Aeroplan.
Club Carlson: https://www.clubcarlson.com/customerservice/earn/q8
Aeroplan: http://blog.aeroplan.com/aeroplan/aeroplan%E2%80%99s-mileage-expiry-policies-explained/
Maybe also worth looking at this topic the other way around: which credit card has the lowest annual fee and gives most awards in whatever program?
Hi Howie – Will you do a sweet spot update any time soon ? Thanks
We’re going to keep adding to it as we get through additional programs. Some are in the queue right now.
I just joined AwardWallet yesterday, and I’m very satisfied with the platform and the wealth of information provided. I’ve been on a travel miles/points hacking information binge.
Thank You!
I’m back living in Ireland after 8+ years in the US and it’s been a pain seeing a lot of my reward miles and points sitting there (some getting close to expiration), particularly with the airlines and hotels that only operate within the US, I’m constantly looking for deals to fly back to America just to use some of them up before they expire!
Very useful reference…thanks!
AwardWallet is awesome!! I can fly business many times now with low miles!!
Very valuable. I have both the SPG and the Chase Sapphire Reserve card, but it’s always tough to figure out where to transfer points to for a particular destination. This will be helpful for planning my next award trip, thanks!
Wow, learn something new every day…I had no idea Alaska allowed trans-Pacific routing to Africa on Cathay. Bookmarked.
Hi Howie:
A little off topic – do you know of anyone in the blog-o-sphere who has visited the Falklands. I have been considering a trip there with a couple day excursion to view the Emperor Penguins. Any thoughts would be much appreciated.
Thanks,
Bill
Bill, to be honest, I don’t know. My suggestion would be Insideflyer, Flyertalk, and perhaps Fodors/Frommers/TripAdvisor for some research.
We visited the Falklands on a cruise. Where are you expecting to see the Emporer Penguins?
We’ve been to Falkland islands.
Mara: Would love to know about your trip to the Falklands. Was it part of a tour etc?
Any info is most welcome.
Hi Bill – our trip was a part of Celebrity Cruise to Antarctica. It was an incredible trip which included an awesome day in the Falkland Islands!
We were there in February as part of a cruise from Buenos Aires to Valparaiso. In one word, feh. Truth be told, the weather was lousy so some of the sites we went to were virtually impossible to see or appreciate. Yes, it was quaint. yes, it was somewhat interesting to learn of the history, most of which related to the British takeover and defense. But we could have easily passed this one up. Would have rather spent the day on the ship!
Yes, we visited the Falklands as part of a South American cruise. It was a real treat to see the penguins up close. You are able to wander among them at the designated distance but it is pretty close. Don’t miss the chance to see them.
There was question as to whether our ship would be granted access to the harbor as part of the ongoing spat between the Falklands and Argentina. As I understand it, this is ongoing since the Falkland war in the 1980s. Never a question of security though.
It was a pleasure to have met you in Chicago. Thanks for this “one stop shop” for sweet spots. I’m definitely bookmarking this.
Glad you could make it — hope to see you next year and hope you get some value from these sweet spots 🙂