The three main variables at play when making award redemptions

Introduction

Let’s say you’ve walked through the most important steps we’ve laid out in our Intro to Points and Miles E-book:

1. You’ve taken time to clarify your travel “why”. You know your purpose for getting into this hobby.

2. You’ve ranked your travel goals. You know the type of travel that you prefer (i.e. domestic or international) and you’ve ranked your top 5-10 destinations.

3. You’ve opened several credit cards and received the sign-up bonuses, clicked through a shopping portal for all of your online purchases, etc. and you have accumulated a decent stash of miles.

4. Now, you are ready to redeem them for your dream trip!

You’ve heard us say several times that we believe this fourth step, redeeming points/miles, is the hardest step of the four, by far.

An example

Let’s say that a trip to Japan is at the top of your destination list. Let’s say your dream time to go is at the end of March for cherry blossom season, which also aligns with your kid’s Spring Break schedule. With a passive search for award availability with American Airlines from Dallas (DFW) to Tokyo (HND) on March 28, 2024, here is the lowest award pricing:

That’s ugly enough to make you cry.

But what do you do from here? Just throw your hands in the air and say that the points and miles game is not for you? Assume that you need to figure out a different destination instead?

You rarely can have it all

We have found three main variables at play when making award redemptions, especially as it relates to flights:

1. Award pricing/value

2. Dates

3. Destination

We’ve found it to be a general rule that you rarely can achieve all three of these on an award redemption, but often you can achieve two of three! For example, you can get good value for your points if you don’t have a specific destination in mind, but are willing to follow wherever a good deal leads you. Or, in the case of our Japan example above, if you are set on a destination, but are willing to adjust your dates, you are likely going to be able to find good value award pricing.

By adjusting to 11 days earlier in March, the following award pricing is available (as of writing):

Although the business class pricing is the same, the Main Cabin and Premium Economy pricing is more than half the award pricing, by only switching less than 2 weeks earlier! You achieved great value to the destination you wanted, but had to adjust the date.

Let’s take this example one step further. What if you have to travel in late March, because it’s when your kid’s Spring Break is? You’ve searched on Point.me (paid service) or on Roame (free service) and you’re finding nothing that is good value for those dates. You have a choice to make. Are you willing to sacrifice value for the sake of keeping your primary destination (Japan) on the dates you want (late March for cherry blossom season & your children’s Spring Break).

There’s been a few times where we’ve made this decision. It’s rare, as we do love getting outsized value for the miles that we’ve earned, but that’s just it: You’ve earned the points - it’s okay to splurge to go exactly where you want and when you want!

Two out of three is not bad

However, if you are tied to your dates, you could also consider following the deal, instead of the destination. This is where you look for the best awards deal out there for the dates you need, rather than just for a specific destination. You might not be able to hit a destination on your Top 10 list, but now that you’re in the points and miles game, you’re likely going to be going to a lot more destinations in your lifetime than you ever dreamed imaginable!

Here are some ideas on how:

1. Start to learn some common sweet spots.

   For our Portugal trip coming up in October, we are using one of the best sweet spots out there! We transferred American Express points to Avianca Lifemiles to maximize on a sweet spot where nonstop flights from New York City (JFK) to Lisbon (LIS) on TAP Portugal price out at just 35,000 miles one-way in business class (when there is availability). That's just 5,000 miles more than it would be to fly economy! I’m not sure why it prices this way, and it could easily be taken away by Avianca at any moment, but for now, we’re using it to our advantage! Learn about some other great sweet spots on our free Points & Miles spreadsheet.

2. Just get to Europe!

   Let's say you want to go to Paris, but there is no award availability. Consider flying into somewhere like London or Dublin and taking a short (and cheap!) Ryanair or Easyjet flight over to Paris. Everything is so compact and transportation so well-priced in Europe, that you just need to find a great value way to get over the Atlantic and figure out the rest later!

3. Consider positioning flights.

   Oftentimes, the best international award redemptions, especially in business class, are from the major U.S. hubs, like New York City (EWR, JFK), Washington D.C> (IAD), Chicago (ORD), etc. Positioning flights are short domestic flights from your hometown airport to the second hub in order to hop on a cheaper fare or award ticket. Even though you're buying two separate tickets, it's often cheaper than buying one itinerary from your smaller hometown airport!

Conclusion

Oftentimes, when it comes to booking award flights, you will bang your head against the wall if you try to get good value, for the place you want, at the time you want. Sometimes you get lucky and get all 3! However, you will become very frustrated if you expect all three every time you try to book an award flight. However, if you’re willing to adjust your dates or the destination, or willing to spend a bit more in miles, then you will have a bit more realistic picture of how most redemptions go!