Get More for Less: Insider Tips for Booking Flights with Points and Miles

Booking flights is simple to do with points and miles. But getting the best value is more complicated than you think.  Here’s my method to search for the best redemption:

1. I always start with google.com/flights to see which airline has the best deal. On a spreadsheet, take note of the cost.
2. I also pull up the same flight through that airline’s website to see what they charge with points, and take note of the cost. *Pro-Tip: to do this on most airlines, you must be part of their loyalty program. But don’t worry; they are all free to sign-up for.
3. Then I check through a third-party travel portal depending on which points I can use, like Chase, American Express, Capital One, and Citi, and (again) take note of that cost.
4. Finally, I search through any alliance partner for that airline, i.e. SkyTeam or OneWorld. We have outlined these partnerships in the “Airlines Alliances” blog post below.  You may be able to transfer points through your credit card to an alliance airline for a better deal.    

This may seem like a lot of work, but once you have done it, it doesn’t take long to save hundreds to thousands of points. Here’s an example: 

We’re searching for a flight from Atlanta to Orlando on June 7. *Pro-Tip: the best way to find the best redemption is to keep your travel dates open and search by month. 

Start by checking google.com/flights. Double-click on the video to see the process. 

For this example, let’s focus on the Delta flight leaving June 7 at 6:25 am and arriving at 7:52 am. The flight cost in the main cabin is $169. 

*Pro-Tip: Always try to book a cabin class that you have flexibility with.

Let’s pull up that same flight on the airline website and see what they charge. Double-click the video below for details.

Delta is charging 13,000 points plus $5.60 for one-way. If you have an Amex Delta co-branded card, they give you 15% off award bookings making it 11,000 points, plus $5.60.

The point value for this flight is 1.5 cents per point. The formula is cost-fee/points. This is a good use of Delta points, but we can find it for fewer points.

Booking through a third-party portal is also very straightforward.  Here is an example of Chase: 

Through Chase, this Delta flight costs $169 or 13,512 points. Depending on your Chase card, you will redeem your points for different values; either 1 cent, 1.25 cents, or 1.50 cents per point. In this example, we are getting 1.25 cents per point, which isn’t a great value for Chase points.

Booking through a Delta alliance partner is more work but can be lucrative. Refer back to the Airline Alliances post to see Delta’s partners. For this example, we’re going to use Virgin Atlantic. They charge 7,500 points plus $5.60 for main cabin on the same Delta flight. The value here is 2.2 cents per point. Clearly, this is the best value of our three options here.

Virgin Atlantic is a transfer partner through all the major credit card portals. We will discuss this more in a future post. This technique can be used on domestic and international flights.