Time to Reprogram Yourself and Upload the Upgrade Mindset?
If I’ve learned one thing over the last 19 years while focused on air travel upgrading, it’s this: Great upgraders aren’t born, they are made. Upgrading is an acquired talent. It requires getting the Upgrade Mindset.
Most people’s biggest problem is finding a flight they are willing to take. Whereas my biggest problem is deciding among from all the options I have. That’s the result of my having developed the Upgrade Mindset.
Part of that is being counterintuitive, and one of the best examples of that is thinking one-way, not
round-trip.
It’s like pairing food and wine. Two elements, but you find a way to join them that increases your enjoyment exponentially. If you have 10 different food options and 10 different wine options, you have a total of 100 different combinations. But what if your favorite place for food isn’t your favorite place for wine?
Locked-In Really Means Locked-Out of the Best Options
It’s the same with airline loyalty programs that don’t allow you to book a one-way ticket. They force you to choose from a finite menu. Locking yourself into one airline loyalty program is like going to the same restaurant every time you go out. That’s why you need a Super (Airline) Currency and to use airline mileage programs which allow you to book one-way tickets.
But it’s not easy to think this way. The travel world has programmed us to think in terms of focusing on a single, primary airline program—and booking round-trips. We also think in terms of round-trips because we’re impatient: We want the complete booking wrapped up in one phone call or website visit. One and done.
[aside headline="Super Currencies" alignment="alignright" width="half" headline_size="default"]A Super (Airline) Currency is one that can be exchanged for miles in many different airline programs (other currencies). (Especially carriers that offer one-way awards.) That allows you to pick and choose the best options for the specific trip you’re booking, one-way at a time. The Super Currencies today for premium travelers: Amex Membership Rewards points, Chase Ultimate Rewards points, Diners Club Rewards points, and Starwood Starpoints. See FCF’s August 2012, for more on “Super Currency Transfer Time” and related issues.[/aside]
(Lack of) Award Availability Complicates Things
Getting the exact outbound and return flights you want, using miles, on the exact dates you want, in the class of service you want, and at the lowest “saver rates”, is not always easy. In fact, it’s usually impossible. Moreover, a mathematician would say that the odds of getting two ideal flights—the outbound and return—from one single airline—are “exponentially more difficult” than if you have multiple airlines to work with.
Trust the Golden Rule
What you have to remember is the Upgrade Mindset’s Golden Rule: “Divide the Itinerary and Conquer.” Here are commonplace scenarios in which one-way award bookings surpass the search (often fruitless) for a round-trip one.
While working the system may sound daunting at first, cutting corners isn’t the answer. In other words, saving pennies at the cost of dollars, or saving minutes in the booking process at the cost of hours, or hours of discomfort in the sky (because of booking option compromises), isn’t the way to win. It’s only the way to frustration.
When a Round-Trip Saver Award is Not Available
Let’s say you’re flying Chicago-Tokyo in First Class, and you’ve found that only United has a “saver” First Class award (67,500 miles) for the departure. If you stick with United all the way, you’ll have to buy an unrestricted “anytime” award (a Standard Award as United calls it) for the return (160,000 miles), bringing the cost to 227,500 miles. If you look around at other airlines, you may find that American has a 62,500-mile First Class saver award for the return.
Grab the two one-ways—each with different airline programs—and save the 97,500 United miles for another day. One-way awards are the key. Collect Delta or US Airways miles and you’ll be locked out of loyalty program upgrade opportunities immeasurably more than with other programs.
When You Want the Best Routing and Premium Seats
Let’s say you have points with Starwood, Amex Membership Rewards, or Chase Ultimate Rewards, or have multiple airline accounts (which FCF strongly recommends). You’re traveling New York-Frankfurt, but returning from London, and you want to fly non-stop and get the best seat, class, and aircraft on each flight leg. That means First Class in both directions The candidates are pretty easy to identify: Singapore to Frankfurt on the A380 (service starts up again March 26) and British Airways from London. Each belongs to a different alliance (Star and oneworld, respectively), so you can’t book a round-trip award. One-way awards are the key. Collect Delta or US Airways miles and you’ll be locked out of loyalty program upgrade opportunities immeasurably more than with other programs.
When a Round-Trip Saver Award is Not Available in the Same Class of Service
Fly a different class of service on each leg, say First Class out and Business Class back. This can net you First Class for less than Business, when First Class is available at the saver rate but Business Class only at the unrestricted rate, a frequent occurrence. One-way awards are the key.
When a Partner Saver Round-Trip Award Is Not Available on Your Preferred Carrier, but Is Via the Partner’s Own Program
Let’s say you found free restricted award seats New York-Zurich in Business Class on United (50,000 miles), but you can only get an unrestricted award (125,000 miles) for the return. That comes to 175,000 miles.
However, in checking the mileage website of SWISS (part of the Miles & More program), a United partner, you’ve found that it has a saver award for your return date, but it’s not available with United miles. Oftentimes, this can be an issue with partner award space. This is when it pays to have a mileage bankroll with Starwood, as you can turn the points into the 52,000 Lufthansa miles you need for the one-way return award. Total cost: 102,000 miles, 73,000 fewer than booking a round-trip award on United. One-way awards are the key.
Upgrade Options Math:
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When You Only Need a One-Way Ticket
The best example is for a cruise that departs from a city so near that you don’t have to fly to get there. For instance, you take the Queen Mary 2 from New York to London and fly back in First Class, say on British Airways for only 60,000 miles. That’s less than many programs charge for a round-trip in Business Class (100,000 miles on US Airways for example)—free upgrade (to First Class) for fewer miles. One-way awards are the key.
When You’re Flying to One City and Returning From Another
It’s called an open-jaw itinerary, and it’s perfect for one-way awards. Cruises and even some land tours can require open-jaw itineraries. For example, you fly from Dallas to Sydney to catch a cruise to Auckland and fly back from there to Dallas. While Delta and US Airways will permit an open-jaw, what are the odds they serve both cities you need, have availability, and everything else you want?
One-Way Awards Combined With One-Way Fares
Let’s say you’re locked in to your dates and destination, and just can’t get a saver award in both directions. Many lesser known airlines offer reasonable one-way fares. Take New York-London: Kuwait Airways flies the route non stop and charges $1,123 in Business, $1,507 in First. Other airlines to keep in mind for Europe are Icelandair, LOT Polish, Turkish Airlines; to Asia, China Eastern and Malaysia Airlines; for South America, Avianca, Taca, and Lacsa.
Disadvantages of One-Way Awards Roses often have thorns. Most airlines that offer one-way awards don’t allow a free en-route stopover with them, as they do with many round-trip awards. That’s usually a very small price to pay for a lot of maneuverability.
[aside headline="One-Way Award Unfriendly Airlines" alignment="alignright" width="half" headline_size="default"]These airlines only give you a round-trip mileage award ticket option: All Nippon, Delta, Ethihad Airways, Japan Airlines, LAN, and US Airways.
In most cases, travelers serious about upgrading will not want these programs as their primary currency, and probably not even as a secondary currency either. That said, some of these can be very effective, in certain scenarios.[/aside]
Playing to Win
In the chart, note the airlines that allow one-way awards with their partners, too. This is huge. Just imagine what it’s like for someone with Delta SkyMiles as their primary currency as compared with a Super Currency (SC), or even just another airline which not only offers one-way awards, but offers one-way awards with many partners.
Ultimate Options—Multiple Partner’s Multiple Partners: Using a Super Currency’s airline partner, which allows one way awards on its own partners, rapidly multiplies option combinations.
Remember what I said in the beginning? My biggest problem isn’t having an option, but having too many options.
A problem I’m much happier to have instead of what most people experience.
See you up front.
Wait. Could there be more?
How to Really Have Options Galore… Combine the “Last-Minute Award Availability-Upgrade Strategy”—also known as Dancing the Upgrade Two-Step (see last month’s FCF)—with all the options that Super Currencies and one-way awards deliver, and, in the end, you’ll have infinitely more options than you would otherwise
This Formula Simplified: Super Currencies Xs Airline Currencies Offering One-Way Awards Xs Last-Minute Availability Upgrades.
Comprehensive Guide to One-Way Flight Awards
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