First Class Loopholes in Oneworld and Star Alliance Loyalty Programs for Travel Between the U.S. and Europe

September 2015
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These anomalies net First Class for less than the price of Business and up to 56% off.

Most airlines charge 125,000 to 170,000 miles for a First Class ticket between the U.S. and Europe. (The big exception is SkyTeam because Delta has no First Class cabin.) But here’s the deal: Combine one little-utilized loyalty program with our favorite credit card, Starwood Preferred Amex, and you can get First Class for just 70,000 miles round-trip.

The Japan Airlines + Starwood Opportunity

Japan Airlines uses a Flight Distance Chart. The miles required are based on the distance between departure and arrival cities, whereas U.S. carriers charge based on “regions” (zone charts).

First Class for 70,000 miles less than Business Class

Sample savings with British Airways: Los Angeles London mileage rate for an everyday, low-season First Class award is 170,000 miles round-trip. But if you use a Japan Airlines partner award chart, the ticket costs only 100,000 miles. To take advantage of this mileage award chart discrepancy, transfer just 80,000 Starpoints to Japan Airlines—45,000 fewer miles (56%) than BA charges for Business Class, and only 15,000 more miles than Premium Economy.

More Sample Savings with Japan Airlines to Europe Starting as Low as 85,000 Miles R/T in First Class

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Four Steps to Booking Partner Flights with Japan Airlines Miles

Step One: Check the operating airline’s website (to Europe, American or British Airways) for award space on the route and date you are looking for.

Step Two: Create a mileage account with Japan Airlines if you do not already have one and login your account. You can see and book award space for partners AA and BA online with Japan Airlines, and FCF research has found that the award space is often similar.

Step Three: If you have miles in your JAL account, book award space. If not, transfer points from Starwood transaction times can, in our experience, be as long as seven days. Do keep in mind that mileage availability changes all the time, so your seat may be gone by the time the points have transferred. Being flexible is key, and choosing dates with clusters of great availability are the antidote (or having miles already in your Japan Airlines account).

Step Four: Once points have transferred, go back to the JAL site and book your award.

Cathay Pacific Deals

Another partner with a flight distance program that offers lower rates than American and British Airways. Rates are not as low as Japan Airlines, but Cathay has more credit-card transfer partners (three) and transfer time is as short as one day, so the odds can, at times, be better for getting award space if you have to transfer points. (For information on getting miles with any of the oneworld airlines listed.

Star Alliance Deals: Good, But Not As Good

Differences also occur in programs within the same alliance that use a Zone Chart (also known as region chart). Under this system, the world is divided into zones and any destination within a given zone costs the same number of miles.

Sample savings with United: Los Angeles Frankfurt mileage rate for an everyday low First Class award is 160,000 miles round-trip on United. But if you use an Asiana Airlines partner award, the ticket costs only 100,000 miles round-trip, 15,000 fewer miles than Business Class on United and only 20,000 more miles than economy. To take advantage of this discrepancy, use just 80,000 Starpoints.

Star Alliance (Zone) Mileage Programs with First Class to Europe for 100,000 Miles Round-trip

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[["<strong>Routes<\/strong>","<strong>Operating\nAirline<\/strong>","<strong>Operating Airline\nMileage Cost\n(Not including\nStarwood Bonus)<\/strong>","<strong>Japan Airlines\nCost\n(Not including\nStarwood Bonus)<\/strong>","<strong>Partner\nStrategy\nSavings<\/strong>"],["*Chicago and *New York - London","<strong>American<\/strong>","125,000","85,000","<strong>40,000 \/ 32%<\/strong>"],["**Dallas, **Miami, **Raleigh Durham - London; **Dallas - Madrid, Paris;**Miami - Barcelona, Madrid\n\n","#rowspan#","#rowspan#","100,000","<strong>25,000 \/ 20%<\/strong>"],["*Chicago and *New York - London","<strong>British Airways<\/strong>","136,000","85,000","<strong>51,000 \/ 38%<\/strong>"],["**Atlanta, **Boston, **Dallas, **Denver, **Houston, **Miami, **Philadelphia, **Seattle,**Washington, DC - London","#rowspan#","170,000","100,000","<strong>70,000 \/ 41%<\/strong>"],["**Los Angeles and **San Francisco - London","#rowspan#","#rowspan#","115,000","<strong>55,000 \/ 32%<\/strong>"]]
<small>*Oneworld chart rate valid until Oct. 31; on Nov. 1 increases to 100,000 miles; also in order to use the oneworld rate a combination of two or more oneworld member airlines has to be used. **Partner chart rate.</small>
[["<strong>Routes<\/strong>","<strong>Operating\nAirline<\/strong>","<strong>Operating\nAirline\nMileage Cost<\/strong>","<strong>Cost With\nAsiana<\/strong>","<strong>Partner\nStrategy\nSavings<\/strong>"],["U.S. and Canada to Europe*","<strong>Lufthansa<\/strong>","170,000","100,000","<strong>70,000 \/ 41%<\/strong>"],["#rowspan#","<strong>United<\/strong>","160,000","#rowspan#","<strong>60,000 \/ 37%<\/strong>"]]