FirstClassFlyer

If you’re a mileage-award traveler, your mileage program probably puts you in one of the three major airline alliances; oneworld, SkyTeam, and Star. That means you often end up paying a fee (as much as $900) when using miles to pay for a Business or First Class award to Europe.

Here’s how to avoid having your pocket picked on travel that is supposed to be free.

Actually it’s not really free, given that you’ve spent a good deal of money earning the miles you’re redeeming: 100,000 or more miles for Business Class and 125,000 or more miles for First. A large amount ($350-$650) of the fees imposed on award travel stems mostly from the fuel surcharge and destination fees (DFs). What you might not know is that not all airlines impose a fuel surcharge, not all tickets and all destinations are subject to the surcharge, and it’s not even imposed all the time.

As American put it, “Fuel surcharges are a complicated equation: They are based, at times, on the flight distance, local fuel cost, competition issues, government regulation and cabin class.” A good example of government regulation is Brazil, which prohibits fuel surcharges. (More on this soon when we cover South America.)

There’s no way the average traveler can penetrate the fog of fees, so here are three ways to fly around it.

Strategy 1: Book Mileage Travel on U.S. Carriers though U.S. Low-Award-Fee-Programs (LAFPs)

“Low-Award-Fee-Programs” don’t impose fuel surcharges on award tickets on flights they operate. For example, if you use Delta miles for a Business Class award ticket on the carrier from New York to Amsterdam, the taxes and fees come to $67.50. Book the award on KLM, using Flying Blue miles, and the taxes and fees are $674.14, a savings of 90%.

Comparing Sample First and Business Class Award Travel on U.S. and European Mileage Programs

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Strategy 2: Book Mileage Travel on International Carriers through U.S. Low-Award-Fee-Programs (LAFPs)

European carriers impose heavy surcharges for mileage redemption from their own programs. So book award travel through a U.S. carrier’s mileage program for travel on a European carrier, which impose modest fees. If you use Delta miles (via SkyMiles program) for a Business Class award ticket on KLM, the taxes and fees are only $65 versus $674 incurred using Flying Blue miles.

European Carriers First and Business Class Award Travel through U.S. Mileage Programs

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Strategy 3: Fly to Low-Cost Cities (LCCs) in Europe

Even though U.S. airline programs do not impose fuel surcharges on their award redemption tickets, the cost of such tickets can still vary by up to 83%.

That’s because European cities and countries sometimes impose other fees on award travel, such as destination fees, passenger services charges, and duty charges.

For example, the fee on an American Airlines Business Class award ticket to London from New York is $267, whereas to Rome it is only $46. See chart below for more samples.

Low Cost First and Business Class European Award Cities

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[aside headline="If You Can’t Be Flexible, Be Prepared..." alignment="alignright" width="half" headline_size="default"]

To pay cash. This is a mental strategy, a mind-set to adopt, and not easy to hear. If you travel on a tight schedule, then time, not money, is your most precious asset—and sometimes you’ll have to pay for it.[/aside]

For example, American Airlines did not show any mileage-saver-award (100,000 miles R/T) inventory for travel on June 2 from New York to London, with a return on July 1. So the cost would be 200,000 miles for an anytime award. In fact, the carrier’s first discount award seat was not available until September 28. How-ever, British Airways had inventory for those travel dates, but it came with much higher fees, $912 versus $267 on American. You can pay $645 more on fees with BA and save 100,000 miles if you can’t be flexible.

Pay in Miles or Cash for Business Class?

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[["Airline \/ Mileage Program<\/strong>","Cost<\/strong>","#colspan#","Sample Route \/ Class<\/strong>","Recommendations<\/strong>"],["#rowspan#","Miles<\/strong>","Cash<\/strong>","#rowspan#","#rowspan#"],["American \/ AAdvantage","100,000","$267","New York - London \/ Business","Transfer and use miles with AA and save up to $530 (67%) over oneworld partner British Airways"],["British Airways \/ Executive Club","100,000","$796","#rowspan#","#rowspan#"],["Delta \/ SkyMiles","100,000","$68","New York - Amsterdam \/ Business","Transfer and use miles with Delta and save up to $606 (90%) over SkyTeam partner KLM."],["KLM \/ Flying Blue","100,000","$674","#rowspan#","#rowspan#"],["United \/ Mileage Plus","135,000","$137","Washington, DC - Frankfurt \/ First","Use miles with United and save up to $595 (81%) over Star Alliance partner Lufthansa."],["Lufthansa \/ Miles & More","170,000","$732","#rowspan#","#rowspan#"]]

[["Airline \/ Mileage Program<\/strong>","Airline Flown<\/strong>","Route<\/strong>","Class<\/strong>","Cost<\/strong>","#colspan#","Recommendations<\/strong>"],["#rowspan#","#rowspan#","#rowspan#","#rowspan#","Miles<\/strong>","Cash<\/strong>","#rowspan#"],["Delta \/ SkyMiles","Air France","Atlanta - Paris","Business","100,000","$146","Book Air France and KLM flights through SkyMiles (Delta)."],["#rowspan#","KLM","New York - Amsterdam","Business","100,000","$68","#rowspan#"],["Air France \/ Flying Blue","Air France","Atlanta - Paris","Business","100,000","$736","#rowspan#"],["Continental \/ OnePass, United \/ Mileage Plus, US Airways \/ Dividend Miles","Lufthansa","Washington, DC - Frankfurt","First","135,000","$137","Book Lufthansa and SWISS flights through Dividend Miles (US Airways), Mileage Plus (United), OnePass (Continental)."],["#rowspan#","SWISS","New York - Zurich","First","135,000","$68","#rowspan#"],["Lufthansa \/ Miles & More","SWISS","New York - Zurich","First","170,000","$665","#rowspan#"]]

[["Route<\/strong>","Mileage Program<\/strong>","Class<\/strong>","Cost<\/strong>","#colspan#","Summary<\/strong>"],["#rowspan#","#rowspan#","#rowspan#","Miles<\/strong>","Cash<\/strong>","#rowspan#"],["Atlanta - Rome","SkyMiles","Business","100,000","$51","Fly to low-cost European award cities"],["Chicago - Madrid","AAdvantage","Business","100,000","$42","#rowspan#"],["New York - Amsterdam","SkyMiles","Business","100,000","$68","#rowspan#"],["New York - Dublin","AAdvantage","Business","100,000","$59","#rowspan#"],["Washington, DC - Zurich","Mileage Plus","First","135,000","$68","#rowspan#"],["Atlanta - Paris","SkyMiles","Business","100,000","$146","#rowspan#"],["New York - London","AAdvantage","Business","100,000","$267","#rowspan#"]]

[["Mileage Program","Operating Airline","Route","Cost","#colspan#","Recommendations"],["#rowspan#","#rowspan#","#rowspan#","Miles","Cash","#rowspan#"],["AAdvantage","American","New York - London","200,000","$267","Pay $645 more and save 100,000 miles if you canu0092t be flexible"],["Executive Club","British Airways","#rowspan#","100,000","$912","#rowspan#"],["SkyMiles","Delta","Atlanta - Paris","200,000","$146","Pay $590 more and save 100,000 miles if you canu0092t be flexible"],["Flying Blue","Air France","#rowspan#","100,000","$736","#rowspan#"]]