Award Ticketing and Alliances
When it comes to best using your points and miles to travel, you need to at least know the basics of airline’s award tickets and alliances. Flexibility is key when it comes to conquering award travel - including your travel dates, airline flown, and currency used.
Why do we care again?
When you accumulate points through credit card rewards programs (such as Chase, Amex, Citi, etc.), it's often more valuable to transfer these points to an airline or hotel loyalty program and redeem them there. Each airline has its own rules and pricing structure for award flights. The availability of award seats can be limited, especially for premium classes, so flexibility in travel dates and destinations can increase your chances of finding award seats. Booking well in advance is also advisable. Some airlines allow booking up to a year in advance.
Award Ticketing Terminology
Fixed vs. Dynamic Pricing: Airlines may have a fixed award chart where specific routes cost a set number of points, regardless of the cash price. This can be particularly advantageous when cash prices are high, such as during peak travel times or special events. However, many airlines are moving towards dynamic pricing, where award ticket prices are tied to the cash price, making them more variable and sometimes more expensive.
Saver Space: Airlines typically offer a limited number of "saver space" seats that partner airlines can book using miles. Once these saver seats are filled, partner airlines cannot access them, even if the airline itself still has available seats for booking through its own program. This makes it important to secure award bookings early, especially for popular routes and travel dates. Often times these Saver Awards can offer amazing deals, especially for last minute flights - the availability for these seats will differ between airlines in an alliance, and will not align with the cash seat availability say on Google Flights.
Saver Awards are a unique class of award availability - as you can see the Saver Award for business class is 50% cheaper than a standard award. (Screenshot from United.com)
Ok Wait… Alliances?
Airlines often form alliances with one another, the major ones are SkyTeam, OneWorld, and Star Alliance. These partnerships allow member airlines to book each other's flights, offering more flexibility and potentially lower redemption rates. For instance, you might find the same seat on the same flight costs fewer miles when booked through one alliance partner compared to another. It's akin to shopping around for the same product at different retailers to get the best deal. Apple might sell an iPhone for $1000, while BestBuy has the same iPhone for $950.
Real Example: Delta Airlines and Air France are both part of the SkyTeam Alliance. Delta’s website might have a flight to Paris listed for 50K miles, while the same exact flight is listed on Air France’s Flying Blue portal for only 22K miles. Even if I had 0 FlyingBlue Miles, I could book this as long as I had 22K Amex Points, since they can be transferred to FlyingBlue at a 1:1 conversion ratio.
In summary
Making the most of your rewards points requires a good understanding of the intricacies of each airline's loyalty program, their award seat availability, and the benefits of airline alliances. By being informed and flexible, you can maximize the value of your points and enjoy more affordable and luxurious travel experiences.
