Fly To Europe For 3,000 Points, Business Class To Africa For 75,000—The Best Frequent Flyer Sweet Spots That Still Work

Most frequent flyer “sweet spot” lists are padded with awards that disappeared two devaluations ago, require unicorn availability or carry cash surcharges approaching the price of a ticket. Frequent Miler’s latest podcast was more useful: Greg and Nick came up with a list of genuinely good award deals. Their Japan Airlines ideas are especially valuable. I’ll summarize some of their finds and add to the list with some I think belong here too. The Best Finds From Frequent Miler There are several examples here where the best deal on an award ticket comes from picking an unexpected program’s miles to make the booking. Air France business class using Japan Airlines miles. They found Houston–Paris for 60,000 JAL miles and $5.60 when the same seat was 120,000 miles plus $236 through Flying Blue and 77,500 points plus $165 through Virgin Atlantic. JAL partners with Air France outside oneworld and does not pass along Air France’s carrier surcharge on these North America–Europe awards making it an incredible deal, but availability isn’t going to match what Air France KLM may offer with their own miles. British Airways business class with lower surcharges. Boston–London for 42,000 JAL miles plus $219; Los Angeles–London was 60,000 plus $390. You’re paying far fewer miles and avoiding BA’s draconian fuel surcharges. Cathay Pacific Asia Miles is another useful program for booking BA awards without the high surcharges. Air France and KLM within Europe using Virgin points. Flights under 600 miles start at 4,000 points in economy and 8,000 in business class off peak. Virgin prices these awards using the distance between origin and final destination rather than adding each flight segment. So a connection through Paris or Amsterdam can cost no more than a nonstop between your origin and destination cities even when the connection is out of the way. Delta short-haul economy using Flying Blue. Awards begin at 5,000 miles plus about $18. Delta generally releases this partner space at least 21 days out, and some award search tools miss it. The €70 cancellation charge can exceed the value of the miles, so book this when plans are firm. Royal Air Maroc using Finnair Avios. U.S.–Morocco prices at 17,500 Avios in economy and 50,500 in business class. You can transfer Avios from British Airways, Qatar and others into Finnair. An underrated option is 3,500 Air India Maharaja Club points for a United or other Star Alliance economy flight of 600 miles or less, with business class at 7,000. I flagged this nearly a year and a half ago. Rove’s 1:1 transfers to Air India make this especially useful. (Rove also transfers to Japan Airlines, Lufthansa and Finnair among others. Bilt transfers to JAL, and Capital One does too at less than 1:1 but sometimes offers transfer bonuses making up the difference.) There’s A Lot More In JAL, Too Frequent Miler’s sweet spots included Japan Airlines one-way partner awards. They actually have some roundtrips for less than two one-ways that are surprisingly great. JAL adds the distance of the complete itinerary and prices that total from one chart. Doubling the flights often does not double the miles. A one-way LATAM business class award from Miami to Lima is 42,000 JAL miles. The roundtrip covers roughly 5,300 miles of flown distance and puts you in JAL’s 4,001–6,000-mile distance band: 60,000 miles for the entire roundtrip. The same structure creates other remarkable prices, for instance: American Airlines Miami–Madrid is 60,000 JAL miles one-way but 85,000 roundtrip (42,500 each way). Emirates New York–Milan and Newark–Athens business class is 60,000 JAL miles one-way but 85,000 roundtrip. You’ll pay about $250 roundtrip in taxes and fees, which is a fraction of what Emirates charges their own members. LATAM Miami–Buenos Aires is 60,000 one-way and 85,000 roundtrip. These are single-partner awards: every flight must be on the same JAL partner. JAL miles expire after 36 months, awards are limited to the member and eligible family, and partner inventory does not always match what another oneworld program displays. American’s Partner Chart Still Has Extreme Values AAdvantage miles remain unusually valuable because it hasn’t increased its partner award chart prices in a decade, while dynamically pricing its own flights. There are a lot of reasons to be frustrated, though. For instance: British Airways no longer makes award space available to AAdvantage and other partners that they make available to Avios programs. American no longer has access to as much Qatar Airways space, either, and that’s when they’re even able to ticket Qatar awards. Cathay Pacific and Qantas both restrict much of their award space to their own members. Etihad does, also, and only makes premium awards available to American close to travel. Japan Airlines rarely offers premium awards anymore. However there are still some fantastic values: Europe to India: 42,500 miles in business class and 62,500 in first class. American defines both Turkey and Morocco as Europe, while its Indian Subcontinent region includes India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal and the Maldives. Qatar through Doha, Etihad through Abu Dhabi and Oman Air through Muscat can all work. Etihad First Apartments or its new A321LR first class are some possibilities. U.S. to Africa on Qatar for 75,000 miles in business class. Fly via Doha to Nairobi, Johannesburg or Cape Town as one award, just 5,000 miles more than ending in Doha. That can mean two exceptionally long business class flights. But the issues I flag with Qatar Airways above apply. Middle East to Asia: 40,000 miles in business class and 50,000 in first class. Japan or South Korea to the South Pacific: 40,000 miles in business class. Tokyo – Brisbane alone is nine hours of flying at that price. 6,000 Points To Europe (3,000 Points This Tuesday) Virgin Atlantic Saver awards between New York and London start at 6,000 points in economy. Miami and Orlando start at 7,500, and Los Angeles at 9,000. Virgin partners with just about every currency, and transfer bonuses are frequent. An eastbound New York–London award carries ~ $165 in taxes and fees, while a London-originating return runs ~ $340 so eastbound is the better deal. On September 1, Bilt is offering up to a 100% bonus on transfers to Virgin. That makes a flight from New York to London just 3,000 Virgin points plus taxes. The Best Business Class Awards Within Asia Vary By Distance There are some amazing values for intra-Asia award travel, with the best one depending on distance-traveled. Under 600 miles on Star Alliance: Air India’s 7,000-point business class price is the cheapest. That can work on carriers such as ANA, EVA Air, Singapore Airlines and Thai. Short nonstop oneworld flights: Qatar Privilege Club Partner business class starts at 12,500 Avios. Singapore–Bangkok is 16,500 and Singapore–Hong Kong on Cathay Pacific is 22,000. Cathay and Malaysia Airlines awards can be booked online, and Qatar generally doesn’t add a surcharge to Cathay. Up to 1,500 miles with a connection: Alaska Atmos Rewards charges 15,000 points in business class based on the complete itinerary distance and an international one-way can include a stopover of up to 14 days. There is a $20 partner booking fee, and Cathay availability through Atmos can be thin. Longer Asia awards: American charges 30,000 miles in business class and 40,000 in first class between its Asia 1 and Asia 2 regions. Japan Airlines first class between Tokyo and Bangkok for 40,000 AAdvantage miles in first class is exceptional. Korean Air: Virgin Atlantic charges 14,500 points for business class up to 500 miles, 15,500 up to 1,000 and 21,500 up to 1,500. A multi-city Asia trip: JAL’s oneworld award chart charges 48,000 miles in business class for up to 4,000 total flown miles. It requires at least two oneworld airlines, but permits multiple stopovers. Five More Awards Worth Knowing These are not as broadly useful, but each can be the best answer for a specific trip. ANA partner awards: Since ANA began allowing one-way partner awards, North America–Europe business class has cost 50,000 miles and North America–Central or South America 48,000. United and Air Canada avoid the worst carrier surcharges. American Express transfers to ANA but can take a couple of days. Alaska redemptions on Aer Lingus: Boston–Dublin business class prices at 45,000 points plus modest taxes. Add a Dublin or Shannon stopover without a second award, though every segment counts toward the distance band which determines the award price. Flying Blue stopovers: A one-way Air France or KLM saver award can include a free stopover in Paris or Amsterdam. These still require a phone call, and the low price depends on saver space on every flight. Topics on this page