Or is there a better option?
Anytime Awards (also called double or standard awards) have been subject to more changes recently by the major U.S. airlines—American, Delta, United, and US Airways—than any other award-chart category, which makes it high time we revisit them.[aside headline="Thinking Out Loud: Miscellaneous Anytime Award Thoughts" alignment="alignright" width="half" headline_size="default"]
- Partners Only: Anytime Awards are usually only valid on the airline with which you have miles, not its partners.
- Combo Ticketing: If you can’t get a round-trip Saver Award, think about a Saver one-way if you can get it, and an Anytime Award for the other direction. You get gouged one way, get a deal on the other; might be okay.
- Divide Your Segments—and Conquer: Combine airlines that allow one-way awards, such as American and United. United doesn’t have a Saver round-trip? Book the one segment on United and the other one on another airline that offers one-way Saver Awards. This is usually how I fly.
- Avoid Vender Lock-In: I’m a broken record, I know. But build a diversified portfolio of miles, with most of them in a Multi-Currency program, and you’ll be best positioned to get Anytime Awards, especially through Amex Rewards and Starwood, given their plenitude of partners.
- Links to each airline award chart: American, Delta, United, and US Airways.
The Indecent Proposal
Sooner or later, everyone is faced with a seemingly indecent proposal from an American carrier: Pay double (and nowadays even triple or more) miles for a free mileage award because there are no Saver Awards to be had. This can often be the result of mergers, route consolidation, capacity cuts, and just plain stinginess.By The Way
FCF frequently reports on hidden routes with great saver award availability in the Daily Alerts area of the Newsroom and elsewhere, so don’t think that there is any shortage of opportunities.Is Paying More Miles Ever Worth It?
Three situations come to mind:#1 When the return on miles is high and there is no flexibility on the route, seat, or date: Generally speaking, that means, at least, 3¢ or more per mile because that’s the average cost of buying them (more or less). Whether you’re using a saver or unrestricted award, this is the equation: Published Fare ÷ Miles Required = Return-Per-Mile.
Domestic Business Class Example: Delta’s Los AngelesJFK transcon offers very few free Saver Awards. So, if you miss the advance-purchase window, fares can run $5k or more. An anytime (standard double 2014 rate) award with Delta is 120,000 miles, so the return is about 4.2¢, which is not bad, because you can always buy Delta miles through Amex at 2.5¢.
The return is even better if you can take advantage of the 50% transfer bonuses often offered by Amex Rewards and Delta. The return on miles here would be 6.2¢. You can save 60% on this ticket through this approach.
#2 When you’re getting a long-haul First Class seat: These can easily run $10k to $20k. On United, Washington, DC-Sydney in First Class goes for $14k+, for example, and seldom has Saver Award availability. A United Standard (anytime) Award is 390k miles, which would yield a return of 3.6¢ per mile
#3 When you only need a one-way ticket: Because one-way fares are often priced really high. American’s Business Class New YorkLondon goes for over $5k, and an Anytime Award costs 135k miles. That’s 4.2¢, an okay return.