Combine International Mileage Program Charts that are Two-Class Friendly with Super Currency Points—and Voila!
When it comes to domestic mileage award tickets, U.S. airlines consider the Continental U.S. “one zone”. That means that every destination costs the same number of miles and the actual miles flown don’t figure into the equation. Thus, an American or United First Class award costs 50,000 miles whether you’re flying Chicago-Dallas (1,500 miles round-trip) or Los Angeles-Washington, DC (4,600 miles round-trip).
International Carrier “Distance Award Charts” For Domestic U.S. Travel
These programs use a flight-distance chart and base the award cost on the actual miles flown. Shorter flights require fewer miles—which seems fair—and longer ones more miles.
If you book that same exact Chicago-Dallas flight through an international mileage program, the mileage cost could be as low as 35,000 miles round-trip, 15,000 (30%) fewer miles than American or United require.
Best International Programs to Reap Rewards
Generally speaking, for AAdvantage members it’s Japan Airlines, and for United members it’s All Nippon. (Delta doesn’t have an international-airline partner that uses a flight-distance chart domestically.)
[aside headline="General Rule For Domestic Award Travel" alignment="alignright" width="half" headline_size="default"]Don’t buy miles from a credit card or airline, as many domestic routes now offer EasyUp fares (more on that coming soon). They’re ideal for using Super Currency points.[/aside]
International Loyalty Programs that are Super Currency Friendly
The likelihood of domestic travelers having miles in JAL, or All Nippon, or other international flight distance programs is very slim, which is why you should be carrying credit cards that open the Opportunity Floodgates: Amex Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, and Starwood Starpoints. (Most of you follow FCF’s advice and are not locked into single-currency programs.)
Use Starwood Starpoints, a super currency, which offers members a 25% bonus on mileage transfers for every 20,000 points, and the cost of the American flights will decrease even further to 30,000 miles for the Chicago-Dallas itinerary—making it a 40% award reduction. (Just another reason not to use an American or United credit card much, which only earns miles in their programs.)
When Flight Distance Programs Work Best
- On non-stop, short-haul flights (meaning flights of fewer than 4,000 flight miles round-trip).
- When the carrier charges two-cabin domestic First Class at the international three-cabin Business Class rate (which All Nippon and JAL do).
Routes of less than 2,000 miles: 35,000 miles with JAL (AA partner) and 38,000 miles with All Nippon (United partner).
Sample Routes Under 2,000 Miles Round-trip
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Routes of 2,001 to 4,000 miles: 42,000 miles with JAL and 43,000 with All Nippon.
Sample Routes Between 2,001 to 4,000 Miles Round-trip
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When Flight-Distance Programs Don’t Work
- On non-stop long-distance domestic flights: Booking the Los Angeles-Washington, DC trip through Japan Airlines would increase the cost to 60,000 miles.
- For routings with connections: Because each flight segment is counted as a separate flight. So, for example, booking the Chicago-Dallas itinerary with an add-on to Lubbock, Texas, would cost a total of 65,000 miles.
Award Availability
Domestic flight availability is usually good via partners, often because on major domestic routes there are many flights, increasing your chances for free award space.
Putting This to Work on Your Next Trip
Step One: Find out the flight mileage distance by going to Air Miles Calculator (or any other preferred website that you might already use). This will give a rough idea of how many miles you would be flying.
Step Two: Set up an account with JAL and/or All Nippon.
Step Three: If the flight is less than 4,000 miles, check award availability on the All Nippon and/or JAL websites. Go here to log in and check for United flights using All Nippon miles and go here to log in and check for AA flights using JAL miles.
Please note you cannot hold partner space while the miles transfer (see FCF August 2012 for more on Transfer Friendly Airlines), but our data shows that transfers from Amex and Starwood to All Nippon are often posted the same day and to JAL it varies (in some cases over two weeks).
All Nippon partner award availability screenshot:
JAL partner award availability screenshot:
