Best ways to get to cities in the US and Canada using miles

by | Apr 4, 2022 | Destinations, Redeeming Miles and Points

Best ways to get to cities in the US and Canada using miles

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This post will focus on economy class travel in North America and indicate when business class pricing is also notable. For the purposes of this post, “North America” either refers to domestic flights within the US or those between the US and Canada where indicated. Awards to Mexico/Caribbean/Latin America are often not included in most award chart definitions of “North America”.
 
For other posts in this series, see:

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 checking out a tool that can search award flights for you. This can turn a beginner into an expert without the 10,000 hours. Using an award booking search tool like this can be a huge time saver, but also erase the learning curve for how to find and book these kinds of flights that have great value.

There are some great tools out there. Lately, my favorite tool for beginners is PointsYeah.com. It is really fast, includes multiple-date searches, and has a free version! I previously recommended Point.me as my favorite, and I still think it is the best for step-by-step tutorials for the absolute award booking and points transfer beginner. But, you’ll quickly grow frustrated by how slow each search takes with Point.me, and you have to search one day at a time.

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 if you prefer one of the annual plans, enter code TRAVELFREELY20 you’ll get a 20% off discount.)

Best ways to North American destinations using miles

For many years, the best programs for domestic travel weren’t domestic airline programs. Instead, the best programs for booking flights on US-based carriers were often foreign airline programs that partnered with major US carriers. That was because of a combination of factors: in some cases, foreign programs had more favorable award charts, and in others, it was because of more flexible bookings / lower change and cancellation fees.

However, with the major US programs all having variable pricing (which can sometimes offer a price advantage over other programs) and those US programs offering some way to avoid change or cancellation fees in most instances, the advantages of booking via foreign programs have dried up in many regards. There are still some instances where foreign programs offer the most bang for your buck, but in many cases, your best bet for booking domestic flight awards is doing so via the miles of the airline you wish to fly. That runs counter to the recommended strategy for international flight awards.

The deals below are sorted alphabetically by carrier. Remember that the lowest price isn’t the entire picture: be sure to consider which airlines levy fuel surcharges, change or cancellation fees, 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.

For Alaska Airlines flights

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan

  • The short story: Alaska offers variable award pricing both for American Airlines and Alaska Airlines flights, which can sometimes make Alaska the best deal for booking these awards.
  • Miles required: For Alaska flights, varies from 5K each way in economy or 15K each way in business class. Ravn flights within Alaska are 7.5K each way in economy class or 17.5K in business class. See the distance bands for Alaska flights here by choosing your region of origin and destination.
  • American Airlines flights start at 12.5K in economy class or 25K in business class.
  • How to find awards: Search for available space at AlaskaAir.com.
  • How to book awards: Book online at AlaskaAir.com.
  • Key warnings: Keep in mind that transfers from Marriott can take 7 days or more.
  • Change and cancellation fees: None for award tickets.
  • Transfer from: Marriott

British Airways Executive Club (for American Airlines or Alaska Airlines)

  • The short story: British Airways offers a distance-based award chart, so short, direct flights on partners American Airlines or Alaska Airlines can sometimes be a great value. Also note that British Airways allows cancellation up to 24 hours in advance for no fee but forfeiting the taxes ($5.60 each way within the US), though they’ve been known to refund those with some cancellations.
  • Miles required: Varies based on distance. From 9K one-way in economy class / 16.5K in business class.
  • How to find awards: Search for available space at britishairways.com for AA or aa.com for Alaska flights. Note that British Airways inexplicably periodically stops displaying AA availability. It’s always best to search before transferring.
  • How to book awards: Book American flights online at britishaiways.com or Alaska flights over the phone at 1 800 452 1201.
  • Change and cancellation fees: Officially $55, but when the taxes and fees are less, British Airways gives the option of forfeiting the taxes instead ($5.60 each way in the US), which makes awards almost freely cancellable (some sometimes they refund the taxes anyway).
  • Key warnings: British Airways charges for each segment separately so multi-segment trips can get expensive quickly. Furthermore, the British Airways site sometimes shows phantom award space for AA. You may want to double-check Qantas.com for availability before transferring to British Airways Executive Club for American flights.
  • Transfer from: Amex, Chase, Capital One, Marriott

Singapore KrisFlyer (for Alaska)

  • The short story: Singapore KrisFlyer has a zone-based chart with some great values for travel on Alaska Airlines, particularly within the Western US and to/from Canada.
  • Miles required: Varies from 7.5K-12.5K each way based on zone combination. See the zone-based chart and region definitions here. Note that Zone 2 includes all of Alaska’s Canadian destinations (noted just as “Canada”).
  • How to find awards: Search for available Alaska Airlines award space at AA.com (note that Singapore can not book any legs on AA, but AA will show Alaska flights available to partners).
  • How to book awards: Book online at SingaporeAir.com or over the phone with Singapore KrisFlyer. Alaska awards must be booked over the phone.
  • Change and cancellation fees: $50 change fee, $75 redeposit fee for saver awards.
  • Key warnings: Singapore allows a maximum connection time of 4 hours on a domestic itinerary and will not allow a stopover on a one-way domestic award. Be aware that AA.com will show availability for flights with longer/overnight connections that are not available with Singapore KrisFlyer miles, so be sure to double-check with a phone agent before booking. Also, note that transfers to Singapore KrisFlyer are not instant. Transfers typically take 12-24 hours (from all major transferable currencies), and Singapore does not hold award tickets.
  • Transfer from: Amex, Citi, Chase, Capital One, Marriott

For American Airlines flights

American Airlines AAdvantage

  • The short story: American now has variable award pricing but sometimes runs web specials, both advertised and unadvertised, which can sometimes present solid value on its own flights.
  • Miles required: Varies from as low as 5K miles one way for economy web specials. Business class web specials start around 20K miles one way.
  • How to find awards: Search AA.com
  • How to book awards: Book at AA.com
  • Change and cancellation fees: None for award tickets. Note that Web Specials can not be changed but can be canceled and redeposited without a fee.
  • Key warnings: Note that “web specials” can not be changed or canceled without a fee unless you have elite status. If transferring from Marriott, note that transfers may take 7 days or more in some instances. American offers award holds for 5 days.
  • Transfer from: Bilt Rewards, Marriott

British Airways Executive Club (for American Airlines or Alaska Airlines)

  • The short story: British Airways offers a distance-based award chart, so short, direct flights on partners American Airlines or Alaska Airlines can sometimes be a great value. Also note that British Airways allows cancellation up to 24 hours in advance for no fee but forfeiting the taxes ($5.60 each way within the US), though they’ve been known to refund those with some cancellations.
  • Miles required: Varies based on distance. From 9K one-way in economy class / 16.5K in business class.
  • How to find awards: Search for available space at britishairways.com for AA or aa.com for Alaska flights. Note that British Airways inexplicably periodically stops displaying AA availability. It’s always best to search before transferring.
  • How to book awards: Book American flights online at britishaiways.com or Alaska flights over the phone at 1 800 452 1201.
  • Change and cancellation fees: Officially $55, but when the taxes and fees are less, British Airways gives the option of forfeiting the taxes instead ($5.60 each way in the US), which makes awards almost freely cancellable (some sometimes they refund the taxes anyway).
  • Key warnings: British Airways charges for each segment separately so that multi-segment trips can get expensive quickly. Furthermore, the British Airways site sometimes shows phantom award space for AA.  You may want to double-check Qantas.com for availability before transferring to British Airways Executive Club for American flights.
  • Transfer from: Amex, Chase, Capital One, Marriott

Iberia Plus (for American Airlines)

  • The short story: Iberia Plus offers a distance-based award. Unfortunately, their chart for American Airlines flights changed for the worse during 2021. It now matches the British Airways system both in terms of price and pricing by segment. However, Iberia does not allow any chances/cancellations / redeposits in American Airlines awards. You can’t even pay a fee to get your Avios back. You’re better off booking through British Airways.
  • Miles required: From 6K Avios each way.
  • How to find awards: Search for available space on American at iberia.com. Use the Advanced Avios Search tool. Search Alaska award space via AA.com.
  • How to book awards: Book online at iberia.com for American or over the phone for Alaska when Alaska bookings become available. Use the Advanced Avios Search tool for American.
  • Change and cancellation fees: Awards can not be changed or canceled. There is no way to get your Avios back on partner bookings with AA.
  • Key warnings: Most Iberia partner bookings, including those on American Airlines, are completely nonrefundable and can not be changed. Only book AA flights with Iberia if plans are certain. Iberia used to require round-trip booking for partner flights, but you can now book American Airlines flights one way.
  • Transfer from: Amex, Chase, Capital One (transfer to British Airways and then from BA to Iberia), Marriott

Qantas Frequent Flyer (for American Airlines)

  • The short story: Qantas offers better pricing than traditional American Airlines or Alaska Airlines award prices on itineraries with a distance of 1200 miles or fewer each way and has no close-in booking fee. This could be especially good for those who need to connect on short itineraries, as Qantas measures cumulative distance rather than pricing segments separately.
  • Miles required: 8,000 miles for itineraries covering a distance up to 600 miles or 12,000 miles for itineraries covering a distance up to 1200 miles. No fuel surcharges on American or Alaska.
  • How to find awards: Search for available space at Qantas.com (you’ll need to create a free Qantas Frequent Flyer account). Note that for Alaska space, you’ll need to search AA.com.
  • How to book awards: Book online at Qantas.com for American Airlines. Call for Alaska until Alaska becomes available for Oneworld bookings.
  • Change and cancellation fees: 5,000 miles per passenger to change / 6,000 miles per passenger to cancel.
  • Key warnings: Avios, either through British Airways or Iberia, might be a better value if you have direct flights if you have access to points which transfer to Avios. However, for flights with connections, Qantas can be a better deal.
  • Transfer from: Amex, Citi, Capital One, Marriott

For Delta flights

Aeromexico (for Delta)

  • The short story: Aeromexico sometimes charges far fewer miles for Delta flights than Delta charges its own members, and Aeromexico has access to more availability than other partners.
  • Miles required: Highly variable.
  • How to find awards: Search at Aeromexico.com. You do not need to log in to search.
  • How to book awards: Book online at Aeromexico.com.
  • Change and cancellation fees: $88 for international awards (presumably awards outside of Mexico)
  • Key warnings: Aeromexico is not known for great customer service, so adjust expectations in the case of irregular operations.
  • Transfer from: Amex Membership Rewards, Capital One, Marriott

Air France / KLM Flying Blue (for Delta)

  • The short story: Air France sometimes charges far fewer miles for Delta flights than Delta charges its own members.
  • Miles required: Variable, but starting around 11.5K one-way in economy or 28K one-way in business class.
  • How to find awards: Use the Virgin Atlantic 5-week award search to find availability. Next, confirm your findings at AirFrance.us (you’ll need to create a free Flying Blue frequent flyer account to search)
  • How to book awards: Book online at AirFrance.com. You can also book via phone when the website returns errors.
  • Change and cancellation fees: None, if your flight is canceled by the airline or your request for change or cancellation, is made before the departure of your first flight.
  • Key warnings: Air France’s website is buggy and will often return errors when trying to complete a booking. If that happens, try calling. Note also that for very short-distance flights, you may be able to save some miles by booking via Virgin Atlantic.
  • Transfer from: Amex Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi Thank You, Capital One, Marriott

Delta SkyMiles

  • The short story: Delta has weekly flash sales where it is sometimes possible to get solid value. Sometimes, though not always, Delta offers better award pricing on round-trip itineraries. This can make for a great deal in some circumstances.
  • Miles required: Varies, but enter your starting airport at the Travel is Free Delta mileage calculator to find the cheapest destinations from your home airport.
  • How to find awards: Search for available space at Delta.com.
  • How to book awards: Book online at Delta.com.
  • Change and cancellation fees: None for award tickets originating in North America in Main Cabin or above. Note that fees are not waived for Basic Economy.
  • Key warnings: Delta pricing can be very unpredictable and vary wildly. Transfers from Membership Rewards incur a small excise tax that is not charged when transferring to foreign partners.
  • Transfer from: Amex

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club (for Delta)

  • The short story: Virgin Atlantic offers a distance-based award chart for Delta flights that may be advantageous (particularly for short, direct itineraries).
  • Miles required: From 7,500 miles each way in economy class or 17,500 miles each way in business class (for nonstop flights) within the continental US, Alaska, and Canada. Note that the number of miles required increased based on distance flown (if flying more than one segment, each segment is priced separately). See the distance bands here and use a tool like gcmap.com to calculate the distance between airports.
  • How to find awards: Search for available space at VirginAtlantic.com
  • How to book awards: Book online at VirginAtlantic.com.
  • Change and cancellation fees: While there is officially a change/cancellation fee, Virgin Atlantic no longer charges it when the taxes are less than $55 per person.
  • Key warnings: Virgin Atlantic charges each segment separately, so they are not a good choice for connecting itineraries.
  • Transfer from: Amex, Citi, Chase, Marriott, Bilt

For JetBlue flights

Emirates Skywards (for JetBlue)

  • The short story: Emirates Skywards offers cheap short-haul one-ways on JetBlue. You can now also book JetBlue Mint.
  • Miles required: From 7,500 miles each way in economy class (varies by route).
  • How to find awards: Search for available “U” space via ExpertFlyer for economy class or “I” space for JetBlue or call Emirates at 1-800-777-3999. You should also see awards on Emirates.com.
  • How to book awards: Over the phone with Emirates at 1-800-777-3999 or on Emirates.com.
  • Change and cancellation fees: $25 to change / $75 to cancel and redeposit
  • Key warnings: It will likely only be the cheapest revenue fares that are available as awards (though perhaps not in all cases). JetBlue may therefore be charging even fewer TrueBlue points for the same awards. Further, Emirates charges for each segment separately. See this chart for direct/nonstop pricing by the route.
  • Transfer from: Amex, Bilt, Citi, Chase, Capital One, Marriott

JetBlue TrueBlue

  • The short story: JetBlue TrueBlue points are typically only worth about 1.43c towards the cost of a flight, but in some instances, it may be possible to do a bit better.
  • Miles required: Varies by route but can be less than other options when cash prices are low.
  • How to find awards: Search for available space at JetBlue.com.
  • How to book awards: Book online at JetBlue.com.
  • Change and cancellation fees: None for award tickets except for Blue Basic. For those Blue Basic fares, changes are $100 on itineraries in the U.S., Caribbean, Mexico, and Central America or $200 for other routes.
  • Key warnings: Note that transfers from Membership Rewards cost a small excise fee. Transfers are free from other transferable currencies.
  • Transfer from: Amex, Citi, Chase, Capital One, Marriott

For Southwest flights

Southwest Rapid Rewards

  • The short story: Southwest points are typically only worth about 1.5c towards the cost of a flight, but award bookings are totally flexible since they can be changed or canceled with no fee up until about 10 minutes before departure.
  • Miles required: Varies by route but can be less than other options when cash prices are low and can be a standout value for Companion Pass holders.
  • How to find awards: Search for available space at Southwest.com
  • How to book awards: Book online at Southwest.com
  • Key warnings: Keep in mind that if you pay for Early Bird Check-In and then later cancel or change your flight, you will lose the benefit without a refund.
  • Transfer from: Chase

For United flights

Air Canada Aeroplan (for United)

  • The short story: Aeroplan offers decent pricing for very short awards within the US and between the US and Canada, though the new distance-based chart means that longer itineraries are less of a deal.
  • Miles required: From 6K to 22.5K miles each way in economy class or 15K to 35K miles each way in business class based on distance.
  • 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. You can also book via phone. Lap infants must be added to your reservation over the phone.
  • Change and cancellation fees: Fees vary from $25 for a Flex fare change to $100 for a close-in saver change and from $75-$175 for cancellations.
  • Key warnings: Cancellation fees can be high, particularly for close-in travel, though Aeroplan is waiving change fees through March 31, 2022.
  • Transfer from: Amex, Capital One, Chase, Marriott

Avianca LifeMiles (for United)

  • The short story: Avianca LifeMiles offers one-ways on United within a single “zone” at excellent prices. Some flights price even less than the “official” rates.
  • Miles required: As per the old award chart, the US is split into 3 zones. Within a single zone is officially 7.5K one-way in economy class or 10K one-way in business class. Between Zone 1 (most of the East Coast) and Zone 2 (most of the states apart from the far west) is 10K one-way in economy or 15K in business class. Note that some routes price below the chart for no clear reason. Note also that mixed-cabin itineraries can price favorably in some instances.
  • How to find awards: Search for available space at LifeMiles.com (you’ll need to create a free Avianca LifeMiles frequent flyer account)
  • How to book awards: Book online at LifeMiles.com. You can also book via email. Phone bookings are known to be a hassle but also possible.
  • Change and cancellation fees: Theoretically, $50 within a region, though flights between regions can cost $200 to cancel.
  • 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.
  • Transfer from: Amex, Citi, Capital One, Marriott

Singapore KrisFlyer (for United)

  • The short story: Singapore KrisFlyer charges the same 12.5K miles each way in economy class both within the US and between the US and Canada. While not the best deal in all situations, Singapore miles are easy to accumulate since they are partners with all of the major transferable points.
  • Miles required: 12.5K miles each way in economy class (business class at 34.5K each way is not competitive with the best rates from other programs)
  • How to find awards: Search for available United Airlines 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.
  • Change and cancellation fees: $50 change fee, $75 redeposit fee for saver awards.
  • Key warnings: Singapore allows a maximum connection time of 4 hours on a domestic itinerary and will not allow a stopover on a one-way domestic award. Be aware that United.com will show availability for flights with longer/overnight connections that are not available with Singapore KrisFlyer miles, so be sure to double-check availability at SingaporeAir.com or with a phone agent before booking. Also, note that transfers to Singapore KrisFlyer are not instant. Transfers typically take 12-24 hours (from all major transferable currencies), and Singapore does not hold award tickets.
  • Transfer from: Amex, Citi, Chase, Capital One, Marriott

Turkish Miles & Smiles (for United Airlines)

  • The short story: Turkish offers incredible value on domestic Star Alliance flights. This makes Turkish the absolute cheapest way to book flights within the US on United — including to Alaska and Hawaii.
  • Miles required: 7,500 miles each way in economy class or 12,500 miles each way in business class domestically on United within the US or domestically on Air Canada within Canada (can include connections for the same price). For North American international flights (e.g., US to Canada or Mexico), 10K each way in economy class or 15K each way in business class.
  • How to find awards: Search United.com and look for “Saver Awards”. You can also try searching via the Turkish Airlines website, but it does not always show full availability.
  • How to book awards: Not all available flights are displayed online at the Turkish Airlines website (and for many months, the checkout page has been broken and missing a button to pay for your reservation. Then they added a checkout button, but flights fail to ticket). Previously phone bookings have worked and may again be possible. If all else fails, try booking via email.
  • Change and cancellation fees: The fee to change or cancel is $25 per passenger, though I’ve been unsuccessful in finding agents who know how to change a partner award. Thus canceling for $25 is your best bet.
  • Key warnings: Turkish agents occasionally can’t see availability even though it is marked as “Saver”. You may just have to try again with a different agent. Irregular operations can cause a huge headache in getting in touch with Turkish to get your flight fixed. Booking via Turkish is not for the faint of heart (or those who can not drop back 10 yards and punt when things go sideways).
  • Transfer from: Bilt, Citi, Capital One

United MileagePlus

  • The short story: United now offers variable award pricing. That makes for some opportunities to pick up flights from as few as 5,000 miles one way. This can be useful if looking to leverage the Excursionist Perk.
  • Miles required: Varies by route, but some itineraries can be just 5,000 miles one way.
  • How to find awards: Search for available space at United.com
  • How to book awards: Book online at United.com.
  • Change and cancellation fees: Change fees are waived for all routes more than 30 days prior to departure and also within 30 days for flights originating in the US. Cancellation fees are waived for all routes when canceling at least 30 days prior to departure. Thus, for itineraries departing the US (including those itineraries wholly within the US), the trick is to first change to a date more than 30 days in the future and then cancel.
  • Key warnings: When one-way prices are higher than 7,500 miles in economy class or 12,500 miles in business class, you may be better off booking with Turkish if you have Citi points and can stomach the challenges that Turkish presents.
  • Transfer from: Chase, 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 Marriott Transfer Ratio Capital One Transfer Ratio
Air Canada Aeroplan 1 to 1 1 to 1 60K to 25K 1 to 1
Air France KLM Flying Blue 1 to 1 1 to 1 1 to 1 60K to 25K 1 to 1
Alaska MileagePlan 60K to 25K
American AAdvantage 3k to 1k
Avianca LifeMiles 1 to 1 1 to 1 3k to 1k1 to 1
Delta SkyMiles 1 to 1 plus excise tax 3k to 1k
Emirates Skywards 1 to 1 1 to 1 1 to 1 60K to 25K 1 to 1
Qantas Frequent Flyer 1 to 1 1 to 1 60K to 25K 1 to 1
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer 1 to 1 1 to 1 1 to 160K to 25K 1 to 1
Southwest Rapid Rewards 1 to 1 60K to 25K
Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles 1 to 1 60K to 25K 1 to 1
United MileagePlus 1 to 1 60K to 30K
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club 1 to 1 1 to 1 1 to 1 60K to 25K 1 to 1

 More from the best ways to get to various regions around the world using miles:

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