Best and worst airline mile programs for redemption
Frequent flyer mile programs promise a lot — a free domestic flight for 25,000 miles roundtrip or international for 50,000 miles. But redeeming miles in 2011 at those levels can be frustrating — with inventory controls on prime seats, you’re often forced into paying double the miles advertised for a ticket. However, not airline miles programs are created equal, and IdeaWorks is back with its annual study of airline mile redemption.
The 2011 study found United Airlines, Continental Airlines, Southwest, and JetBlue are among the easiest U.S. airlines to redeem at low mileage levels — with reward seats available about 70% of the time. Delta and US Airways are among the more difficult to redeem at low levels — available less than 30% of the time, often forcing you into higher mileage rewards with their three tier systems.The chart below shows the percentage of the time 2 seats were available on the dates requested.
The study simulated what many of us try to do — book free mileage travel for two people to popular destinations. It is based upon 6,720 booking queries made at the websites of 24 frequent flier programs during the spring of 2011. Travel dates spanned June through October 2011, with 20 top routes checked to assess reward seat availability for 2 or more passengers. Last year saw similar results, with Southwest, United, and Continental among the top, and Delta near the bottom.
Which frequent flyer credit card is right for you?
Minimum hassle, limited routes: Southwest RapidRewards. If you don’t plan to use your miles for international travel, and want to go to places Southwest Airlines serves, then earning miles in their program is a decent choice. It offers great reward availability and earning points is easy with a few flights and the well regarded Southwest Airlines RapidRewards Visa. The drawback is Southwest has few international destinations and often requires you to take 2-3 flights or more to get to your destinations as it doesn’t have the big hub networks of traditional airlines.
Maximum flexibility: United MileagePlus / Continental OnePass. If you might travel internationally, or just want the most possible destinations in the U.S., you should earn miles in a major airline’s frequent flyer program. United / Continental Airlines is your best choice, offering:
- The easiest redemption among global U.S. based carriers — with seats available over 70% of the time in the study
- More destinations than any other U.S. airline, both with the airline itself and its network of partners
- An easy to use website at Continental.com for searching for reward availability. There isn’t a simpler one out there for global reward travel searches.
Remember, United and Continental have merged so your miles are freely transferrable among the two, and redemption options are the same. For now there are two separate, but identical cards — the United Mileage Plus Explorer and the Continental OnePass Plus. Both have the same features and annual fee. The only difference is priority boarding — you can get it on United flights with the United card for now, and Continental flights with the Continental card. That will change in a few months when both cardholders will enjoy priority boarding on both airlines.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred is an attractive alternative that lets you transfer points 1:1 instantly into Continental / United miles as well as British Airways, Hyatt, and Marriott hotels. It offers the advantage of 2x points on all dining and travel purchases as well as no foreign transaction fee. The downside is no bag fee waiver or priority boarding benefit.
Continental Airlines OnePass® Plus Card
as if the mileage requirements are not diverse enough, there is the never mentioned “taxes and fees” on the freebies issue.
Prime example: USA to Europe: AA: about $50 in “taxes and fees” DL: about $350 in “taxes” and (undisclosed)”fees” . Not to mention a 30000 mile differential. You pick.
George Lomnycky
USAir Dividend Miles should be avoided. It is impossible to get flights at their published mileage.
Yes, people have had trouble with US Airways flights themselves. However you will have better luck with US Airways’ partners — United, Continental. Trick is, you need to ask specifically for them.