Best ways to get to Asia using miles

If you find yourself daydreaming about the snow monkeys in Japan, the hawker centers of Singapore, the ancient history that abounds around Asia, or just a really long flight in a comfortable seat with free-flowing champagne, there are numerous ways to use points and miles to achieve your chosen goal. In this post, you’ll find the best values for travel to and from Asia using miles collected from transferable currencies.

Welcome to our series on how to get to the regions of the world using points and miles. The article below focuses on Asia using miles – including the best mileage deals to the region using various credit card transfer partners. Please use this as a guide to finding some great deals. If you’re interested in other regions, choose from the articles below. Other destinations:

Table of Contents

Transferable Currencies

If you want to use airline miles, it’s great to have transferable points. Transferable point programs let you transfer your points to any of a number of airline programs. This is great because it gives you the freedom to book many different flights through many different methods, some of which are strikingly cheaper than others. If you’re not familiar with transferable points programs, please check out our guides:

Read this first: Award Booking Advice

Quick disclaimer: If you struggle to find award flights, want to save time, or feel overwhelmed reading this article, I highly recommend the tools PointsYeah (FREE!) and point.me.

We highly recommend using an award search tool like PointsYeah that’s free and fast. It can help you search tons of points programs and airlines AND hotels and see which points transfer to where.

Point.me searches many options and gives recommended routes with step-by-step instructions. You can search for round-trip, one-way or multi-city flights and choose from economy or business class options.

Read our review of Point.me here. If you want to check out the tool, here is our link to sign up for point.me. You can use the promo code TRAVELFREELY5 to get your first month for $5 — this applies for both a monthly or annual plan. To get the deal, select the Standard Plan (don’t select “I Have a code”). When you reach the checkout page, enter TRAVELFREELY5 and the $12 per month will become $5 (or you’ll get a 20% discount if you choose an annual plan and use the code TRAVELFREELY20).

Best ways to Asia using miles (premium cabins)

The deals below are sorted alphabetically. Remember that the lowest price isn’t the entire picture: be sure to consider which airlines levy fuel surcharges and the ease of amassing the miles for your chosen award. See each description for where to search, how to book, and which partners you can use to transfer. It is always best to confirm availability before transferring miles to be sure that the award you seek can be booked with the miles you intend.

Air Canada Aeroplan

The short story: Aeroplan charges a relatively high price for many awards to/from Asia, but they offer the most partner airlines, thereby increasing the chances that you’ll be able to put together an award that works for your trip. The real value in the program is the ability to add a stopover on a one-way award for 5,000 additional miles, making it possible to combine two destinations on one award. The Pacific Zone includes most of Eastern Asia and also Australia and New Zealand. By contrast, India and Central Asia are in the Atlantic Zone. Lap infants are only 2,500 miles.
Miles required: The Pacific Zone ranges from 55K-115K one-way in business class (plus 5K miles for a stopover), which can be a particularly good value for awards combining Asia and the South Pacific in one itinerary. The Atlantic Zone ranges from 60K-110K (though getting to destinations classified as Asia likely requires 85K or 110K miles each way before stopover whether your Asian destination is classified in the Atlantic or Pacific zone).
How to find awards: Search for available space at Aeroplan.com (you’ll need to create a free Aeroplan frequent flyer account to search)
How to book awards: Book online at Aeroplan.com. Can also book via phone. Lap infants must be added to your reservation over the phone. A stopover can be booked online provided your itinerary has no more than 4 segments. More complex awards must be booked via phone.
No fuel surcharges on: Aeroplan no longer charges fuel surcharges.
Transfer from: Amex, Bilt, Capital One, Chase, Marriott

Alaska Mileage Plan

The short story: Alaska has excellent rates to Asia on several nice partners and you can include a stopover for free on a one-way award, though keep in mind that they ditched award charts in late 2022 and pricing will likely become more variable over time.
Miles required: Award prices vary by partner. Historical values have been business class to/from Asia on Cathay Pacific or Hainan Airlines for 50K each way, business class on Japan Airlines for 60K/65K each way, or first class on Cathay Pacific or Japan Airlines for 70K each way. Korean Air business class for 105K RT to North Asia or 120K RT to Southeast Asia has also been a very good value, but awards on Korean must be booked round trip. Note that the old separate partner award charts are gone and the new chart introduces dynamic pricing, so awards may cost more or less than these figures. Finally, it’s worth adding that Alaska has expanded award availability with Qatar Airways, but awards on Qatar come at a very high premium.
How to find awards: Award space from most partners shows on the AlaskaAirlines.com website.
How to book awards: Book online for many partners, though some awards (and more complicated routings) must be booked over the phone.
Key warnings: Finding premium cabin space on any of these partners can be a challenge and may require a constant eye on availability. Alaska has changed its award charts without warning several times in recent years and no longer has set award pricing, making it harder to know what to expect and to plan for how many miles you’ll need for an award.
Transfer from: Marriott

American Airlines AAdvantage

The short story: American charges a reasonable number of miles in business class between the US and Asia. Unlike Alaska Mileage Plan, American does not allow a stopover, but American Airlines miles can be quite easy to amass.
Miles required: 60K miles each way in business class to Asia 1 (Korea or Japan) or 70K miles each way in business class to Asia 2 or the Middle East or Indian Subcontinent.
How to find awards: Search for available space at AA.com.
How to book awards: Book online at AA.com or over the phone.
Key warnings: Finding space can be tough, but if you can find it this can be an excellent use of American Airlines miles.
Transfer from: Bilt, Marriott\

ANA Mileage Club

The short story: ANA offers fantastic rates for business class between the US and Japan on its own flights and offers similarly terrific value for partner awards between the US and Asia. Awards must be booked round trip, but a stopover and/or open jaw is allowed.
Miles required: 75K round trip in business class between North America and Japan in low season, 85K regular season, 90K RT in high season for flights on ANA. Fly ANA to most of Asia, including the Indian Subcontinent, for 100K or less round trip in low season. Star Alliance awards are just 95K miles round trip to China/Hong Kong/South Korea/Philippines/Taiwan or 136K miles round trip to the rest of Asia. Fuel surcharges are passed on, but some carriers serving Asia do not have any such surcharges. See the full award chart here.
How to find awards: Search for available space at ANA’s website. (you’ll need to create a free ANA Mileage Club account and log in to search for space)
How to book awards: Book online at ANA’s website.
Key warnings: You must both search and book round trip (it is easiest to find space using United.com or AirCanada.com and then enter dates with known space at ANA). High fuel surcharges are assessed by some carriers, including by ANA on its own flights, others have none or low fuel surcharges. The ANA website interface is not particularly user-friendly or modern-looking, so it may take some time to get used to the search features. Low and regular season pricing only applies to itineraries entirely on ANA. Star Alliance awards or those mixing ANA and Star Alliance carriers price at high season rates. Note that transfers to ANA are not instant. Transfers typically take 2-3 days from Amex Membership Rewards or a week or more from Marriott, so there is risk of award space disappearing while you wait for a transfer.
No fuel surcharges on: United (no surcharges to Europe; unfortunately, they do have charges on some flights to Asia), Air Canada, Air China, Air New Zealand, Avianca, Copa, Ethiopian, TAP Air Portugal, or Singapore
Low fuel surcharges on: LOT Polish
Moderate surcharges on: Asiana, Turkish
Transfer from: Amex

Avianca LifeMiles

The short story: Avianca LifeMiles increased redemption rates in 2022, but business class awards may still be a good deal since they are found by finding the right partners and/or adding a long economy class leg.
Miles required: From 90K each way in business or 120K each way in first class, no fuel surcharges. Those prices are not very good, but note two things: first, there is sometimes variance by partner or city pair, second, it is possible to pay less by combining a long-haul premium cabin flight with a long-haul economy class flight.
How to find awards: Search for available space at LifeMiles.com (you’ll need to create a free Avianca LifeMiles frequent flyer account). Note that you may need to toggle between “Smart Search”, “Star Alliance”, and a specific airline in the drop-down menu above city pair to find availability.
How to book awards: Book online at LifeMiles.com. Can also book via email. Phone bookings are known to be a hassle but also possible. In a pinch, you can try a manual booking, though that process is quite slow and is best used when you aren’t concerned about award availability changing.
Key warnings: Availability at LifeMiles.com does not always match what you’ll find at United.com. Phone agents generally do not see better availability than what is shown at LifeMiles.com. Always check the LifeMiles site before transferring points (and keep in mind the need to toggle between Smart Search, Star Alliance, and an individual airline when searching to see all availability). The mandatory $25 booking fee (added to all bookings) is the same whether one-way or round trip, so book round trip to save.
Transfer from: Amex, Capital One, Citi, Marriott

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles

The short story: Cathay Pacific has reasonable pricing for business and first class on long itineraries, but it can get quite a bit better if you’re able to pair the long-haul flight with a long leg in a lower class. Cathay also releases more availability to its own members than to partners.
Miles required: 85K miles each way in business class or 125K each way in first class on itineraries over 7500 miles (less for some itineraries from the West Coast and less yet with mixed-cabin pricing as shown above)
How to find awards: Search for available space at AsiaMiles.com (you’ll need to create a free Asia Miles frequent flyer account to search)
How to book awards: Book online at AsiaMiles.com. Can also book via phone.
Key warnings: Fuel surcharges are moderate depending on route and origin.
Transfer from: Amex, Bilt, Capital One, Citi, Marriott

Etihad Guest

The short story: Etihad Guest offers excellent value for flying on American Airlines in premium cabins, using rates known by long-time hobbyists as AA’s “old award chart” for its own flights, though AA is not known for releasing plentiful award space. Etihad also very good value for flying in business class from the West Coast on ANA or Asiana.
Miles required: Pricing on American Airlines is 50K business class to Asia 1 (Japa/Korea) or 55K to Asia 2. First class is 62.5K Asia 1 / 67.5K Asia 2.There are no fuel surcharges for travel on American Airlines. Etihad uses distance-based award charts for ANA and Asiana. The sweet spot on ANA is Seattle to Tokyo for 54K miles in business class. On Asiana, you can fly from Seattle, San Francisco, or Los Angeles to Seoul for 59K miles in business class. I believe that Etihad collects fuel surcharges on both ANA and Asiana, but those surcharges are known to be mild on Asiana (likely ~$100 one-way).
How to find awards: Search for award space at United.com.
How to book awards: Call Etihad Guest at 1-877-690-0767.
Key warnings: Etihad phone agents have historically had trouble booking partner awards, though the new call center in Serbia appears to be quite competent. If your agent appears to be having trouble, you might want to HUCA (hang up, call again). Note also that Etihad Guest does add fuel surcharges. The best way to find the total in taxes & fuel surcharges is to check ITA Matrix.
Transfer from: Amex, Citi, Capital One, Marriott

EVA Air Infinity MileageLands

The short story: EVA’s award chart features fairly average pricing at 75K or 80K each way from the US to Asia in business class, but EVA offers what is widely regarded as one of the best business class products in the sky. The best value is booking round trip since EVA allows 2 stopovers (one each way) on a round trip (max 6 segments, no stopover on a one-way).
Miles required: 75K / 80K each way from North America to Asia on EVA (80K from Chicago, New York, Houston, or Toronto)
How to find awards: Search EVAAir.com
How to book awards: Book simple awards online at EVAAir.com. Must call and book over the phone for stopovers.
Key warnings: Star Alliance pricing is higher (87.5K / 97.5K each way). Best use is for EVA flights since they release more award space to their own members.
Transfer from: Capital One, Citi

Qantas Frequent Flyer

The short story: Qantas offers good partner pricing for El Al flights to Israel.
Miles required: 90K points in business class on El Al between Tel Aviv and Boston, Newark, and New York JFK. 104.5L points in business between Tel Aviv and Miami. 119.2K points in business between Tel Aviv and Los Angeles. With a transfer bonus, these rates can get better. No fuel surcharges for travel on El Al. See the full award chart here.
How to find awards: Search for available space at Qantas.com (you’ll need to create a free Qantas Frequent Flyer account)
How to book awards: Book online at Qantas.com.
Transfer from: Amex, Capital One, Citi, Marriott

Singapore Krisflyer

The short story: While award prices are high, Singapore KrisFlyer has much better availability in premium cabins for their own members. They also offer a stopover on a one-way award.
Miles required: 107K / 111.5K from the West Coast / East Coast to Singapore in business class or 146.5K / 148.5K in first class (see the full award chart here).
How to find awards: Search for available space at United.com (Note: Do not log in — logging in may show you expanded availability based on your credit card or elite status that is not available for partner bookings) or SingaporeAir.com
How to book awards: Book online at SingaporeAir.com or over the phone with Singapore KrisFlyer. Can waitlist as many options as you’d like as long as you have enough miles to book the award being waitlisted.
Key warnings: Note that transfers to Singapore KrisFlyer are now instant from Amex Membership Rewards and typically take around 7 hours from Capital One and Chase (slightly longer from Citi). Waitlisted itineraries that do not clear by 14 days prior to departure will get canceled.
Transfer from: Amex, Capital One, Chase, Citi, Marriott

Turkish Miles & Smiles

The short story: Turkish offers very competitive Star Alliance business class award rates to various parts of Asia, which can be particularly attractive for one-way awards on partners that don’t have extra surcharges.
Miles required: 47K one-way to the Middle East, 52.5K one-way to Central Asia (Indian Subcontinent), or 67.5K one-way to what they dub the “Far East” (defined as Brunei, Cambodia, China (except Hong Kong and Macao), China Taipei, Hong Kong – SAR of China, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam).
How to find awards: Search for available space at united.com and call or email Turkish to book or go to turkishairlines.com, log in to your account, go to “Miles transactions” to find the Star Alliance booking tool and click “book now” to go to that search tool (not the tool on the home page at turkishairlines.com). Note that there may be bookable options that do not appear on the site (hence checking United and calling when necessary).
How to book awards: Book online at turkishairlines.com using the instructions above or over the phone at 1-800-874-8875 or book via email
Key warnings: Turkish is sometimes unable to see Star Alliance availability for no explicable reason. However, Turkish allows a hold for long enough for points to transfer. For this reason, it is strongly recommended that you get your desired itinerary on hold via phone or email before transferring points. No fuel surcharges on Air Canada, most United routes, Avianca, or SAS. Low fuel surcharges on LOT Polish. Moderate surcharges on Turkish.
Transfer from: Bilt, Capital One, Citi, Marriott

United Mileage Plus

The short story: United charges 72.6K miles for business class on its own metal or 88K to 92K miles on partners. They allow the mixing of partners and cabins, which adds more possible awards given its number of partners in Asia.
Miles required: 72.6K miles each way in business class on United metal.
How to find awards: Search for available space at United.com
How to book awards: Book online at United.com
Key warnings: United has eliminated its award chart, so we see some variance in award prices between United and Star Alliance flights as well as a difference between close-in booking and farther than 30 days in advance.
- Transfer from: Chase, Bilt, Marriott

Virgin Atlantic (for ANA)

The short story: Virgin Atlantic offers incredible value for ANA first class between the US and Japan (and decent value for business class).
Miles required: 55K / 60K one-way for first class between the US West Coast / US East Coast and Japan or 45K / 47.5K miles in business class
How to find awards: Search United.com to find ANA partner award space. You may also be able to use SeatSpy on routes served by both United and ANA .
How to book awards: Call Virgin Atlantic Flying Club at 1 800 365 9500.
Key warnings: Virgin Atlantic charges each segment separately, so this award is best for direct flights. They also add fuel surcharges for ANA flights, which as of 2023 are about $360 from the US to Japan or $450 from Japan to the US (or around $730 if booked as a round trip).
Transfer from: Amex, Chase, Bilt, Citi, Marriott

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club (for Delta)

The short story: Virgin Atlantic used to offer very competitive pricing for Delta business class between the US and Asia. Unfortunately, in early 2021 Virgin Atlantic moved to a distance-based award chart which has increased prices dramatically. They may still offer better pricing than Delta does and in some cases you may find six or more seats available in business class, so this can be a useful option for those looking to fly many passengers (though it is pricey and availability is inconsistent and unpredictable). Taxes leaving the US are just $5.60 one way.
Miles required: From 105K miles each way in business class from the mainland US. 80K each way in business class from Hawaii to Northern Asia (Honolulu to Tokyo, Nagoya, or Osaka). See the distance bands here and use a tool like gcmap.com to calculate distance between airports.
How to find awards: Search VirginAtlantic.com to find Delta award space.
How to book awards: Book online at VirginAtlantic.com or call Virgin Atlantic Flying Club at 1 800 365 9500.
Key warnings: Virgin Atlantic charges each segment separately, so this award is best for direct flights.
Transfer from: Amex, Bilt, Chase, Citi, Marriott

How to get the miles

The following chart shows the available transferable points programs for each of the above airline frequent flyer programs:

Rewards Program	Amex Transfer Ratio	Chase Transfer Ratio	Citi Transfer Ratio	Capital One Transfer Ratio	Bilt
Air Canada Aeroplan	1 to 1	1 to 1		1 to 1	1 to 1
Alaska MileagePlan
American AAdvantage					1 to 1
ANA Mileage Club	1 to 1
Avianca LifeMiles	1 to 1		1 to 1	1 to 1
Cathay Pacific Asia Miles	1 to 1		1 to 1	1 to 1	1 to 1
Etihad Guest	1 to 1		1 to 1	1 to 1
EVA Air Infinity MileageLands			1 to 1	1000 to 750
Qantas Frequent Flyer	1 to 1		1 to 1	1 to 1
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer	1 to 1	1 to 1	1 to 1	1 to 1
Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles			1 to 1	1 to 1	1 to 1
United MileagePlus		1 to 1			1 to 1
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club	1 to 1	1 to 1	1 to 1	1 to 1	1 to 1