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The Best Deals to Score Extra Points and Miles This Spring

As you book your 2024 travels, these limited-time credit card and loyalty program promotions will boost your points and miles balance in a big way..

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Through April 30, you can earn a 25 percent bonus when transferring Chase Ultimate Rewards points to Air France-KLM Flying Blue.

Photo by Jarco Penning on Unsplash

As spring kicks into full gear, it’s time to start boosting your points and miles balances for your 2024 dream trip. In addition to record-breaking introductory bonuses on travel credit cards, several limited-time promotions are happening right now that allow you to get even more points and miles quickly—and often at the simple click of a button. You can earn bonus points for transfers between loyalty programs, fast-track your airline elite status through shopping, and even get discounts on buying points and miles. Find the details on these deals—and others—that you can’t miss this spring.

Valuable transfer bonuses

American Express, Capital One, Chase, and Citi have all created their proprietary loyalty programs, which can then be transferred to various airline and hotel programs . Often—but not always—these transfers are completed at a 1:1 ratio and allow credit cardholders to bank and keep their points in the currency of their chosen credit card, transferring to airline and hotel partners as and when needed.

Through Tuesday, April 30, 2024, Chase is offering a 25 percent bonus when transferring Chase Ultimate Rewards points to Air France-KLM Flying Blue. With business class seats to Paris on Air France starting at 50,000 Air France/KLM Flying Blue points, just 40,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points can land you in the front of the plane, champagne in hand.

Moreover, until April 4, 2024, American Express Membership Rewards points can be transferred to Etihad Guest Miles with a 20 percent bonus.

Earn bonus points in hotel loyalty programs

All major hotel loyalty programs—Hilton Honors, IHG One Rewards, Marriott Bonvoy, and World of Hyatt—are running spring promotions to sweeten the stay and reward members. All require registration, so we suggest signing up proactively.

With Hilton Honors’ Points Plus Promotion , until May 1, 2024, earn 2,000 bonus points on every stay, plus 500 bonus points per stay when using Digital Key to open your room (instead of a traditional plastic key card). Hilton points are becoming ever more valuable, as the hotel company has announced the acquisition of Graduate Hotels and exclusive partnerships with AutoCamp properties and Small Luxury Hotels of the World (SLH) for earning and burning points.

For stays from April 1 through May 31, 2024, IHG One Rewards will give guests 2,000 IHG bonus points on every two nights booked at its hotels.

World of Hyatt members can earn double tier-qualifying night credits for every eligible night completed at Thompson and Dream Hotels for stays completed between March 22, 2024, and June 10, 2024.

Finally, Marriott Bonvoy members can earn up to 2,500 bonus Bonvoy points by linking their Bonvoy account to their Uber or Uber Eats account and making qualifying purchases. You’ll get 500 points for linking your accounts, then 1,000 with a qualifying ride and another 1,000 with a qualifying Uber Eats delivery order on food or groceries. Additionally, as of March 6, 2024, the MGM Collection is part of Marriott Bonvoy, meaning that stays at MGM’s 16 iconic properties (hello, Bellagio and ARIA Resort & Casino) now earn Bonvoy points and can be booked using Bonvoy points.

Save with Amex Offers

All American Express cards come with Amex Offers , an ever-changing roster of discounts and offers depending on your location and spending patterns. Promotions are often targeted, so you may not see all of these in your account, but here are just a few examples of the better ones we’ve received lately:

• $300 statement credit when spending $2,000 or more with Virgin Atlantic by June 16, 2024
• 17,500 additional Membership Rewards points by spending $1,000 in one or more purchases online with ITA Airways by May 3, 2024
• Onetime $100 statement credit by spending a minimum of $500 in one or more purchases for Alaska Airlines marketed flights booked online at AmexTravel.com by May 26, 2024

Enrollment is required for Amex offers, and the card enrolled must be the one used for purchases (which is important to note for those who have several Amex cards).

Buy points and miles at a discount

While it doesn’t usually make sense to buy points and miles in loyalty programs at retail price, it can be smart and cost-effective to buy points during promotional sales.

Until April 5, 2024, you can buy up to half a million Air Canada Aeroplan points with an 80 percent bonus , equating to the points being on sale for 1.43 cents apiece. Air Canada’s Aeroplan portal has access to award inventory on 53 other airlines serving more than 1,300 destinations. These airlines include Star Alliance’s 26 members—Austrian Airlines, Copa Airlines, Lufthansa, Swiss, Turkish Airlines, and United Airlines, to name a few—plus another 20 carriers, including Etihad Airways and Emirates. Combined, this is the most comprehensive search engine of any airline program in the world.

Until April 9, 2024, purchase up to 55,000 World of Hyatt points with a 20 percent discount . The minimum purchase requirement to get the discount is 5,000 points, which costs $96 with the discount, instead of $120. Though this doesn’t seem like a huge discount, consider that World of Hyatt points carry far more value than those of its competitors, and the program offers some of the industry’s top opportunities for redeeming points.

Inch closer to elite status with American Airlines

Unlike other airline loyalty programs, which require big spending on airline tickets, elite status on American Airlines is based on Loyalty Points, which can be accrued in so many ways beyond flying. With American’s shopping, dining, hotel, and event platforms, it’s easy to rack up Loyalty Points.

At press time, it’s possible to earn 3,700 Loyalty Points (as well as AAdvantage miles) using American’s shopping platform to subscribe to The Motley Fool’s Stock Advisor, a subscription-based stock recommendation service, for just $79 (with promo code “SALE60'’ until March 31, 2024). If you also sign up for its sister real-estate newsletter Millionacres for another $99, you can get another 3,700 Loyalty Points and 3,700 AAdvantage miles. Together, that’s nearly 20 percent toward earning AAdvantage Gold Status, which requires 40,000 Loyalty Points.

Here's How to Save on Holiday Travel This Month Using Points and Miles

By Ramsey Qubein

All products featured on Condé Nast Traveler are independently selected by our editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

The holiday travel season is already here, and whether you’re going home or getting away from it all , these are some of the best points and miles deals for travel to take advantage of this fall. With access to these offers, you could wind up with some extra room in your budget for those holiday gifts .

Shift points between accounts to benefit you

Members of Leaders Club, the loyalty program for The Leading Hotels of the World, have a new way to earn points now that it has partnered with Citi ThankYou points. With more than 400 world-famous hotels like The Ritz Paris , Anantara Palazzo Naiadi Rome , and Acqualina Resort and Residences in Miami, adding points to your account could help save cash on your next trip. Points will transfer at a five-to-one ratio. This means you can exchange 1,000 Citi points for 200 Leaders Club points. (Redemptions start at around 4,000 points and are tied to the cash cost of a stay.)

You can check your balance and book your favorite hotels using Leaders Club’s newly launched mobile app. If you’re not yet a member, you can earn 500 bonus points by signing up and completing your profile ; the bonus arrives via email once you sign up. Another new feature: You can also transfer points to another account or gift points—just in time for the holidays .

Looking for more Flying Blue miles? You can transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards to Air France-KLM Flying Blue any time in November and receive a 25% bonus. Just log into your Chase account to swap points for miles. (Hot tip: Read below for a solid redemption deal.)

Score these top November travel deals

Air France-KLM has quietly lowered the cost of its one-way business class awards between North America and Europe. If you’re lucky enough to find one of the saver flight deals on its website, you could be traveling in the pointy end of the plane for a cool 50,000 Flying Blue miles each way. That’s one of the best deals out there; some airlines can charge almost twice that amount.

Act quickly to take advantage of the remaining days of the Delta -Instacart partnership, which is ending on November 10. Until the time comes when they part ways, you can continue to earn one SkyMile for each dollar you spend with the food delivery service.

If you’re giving tickets to concerts, sporting events, or theater shows as a holiday present, there’s great news: A new partnership between American Airlines and Ticketmaster will reward you with one mile for each dollar you spend, as well as one American AAdvantage Loyalty Point that helps to qualify for elite status with the airline. Delta has its own version that offers one SkyMile per dollar spent through the entertainment ticket platform.

American has a new “instant status match” program designed to earn new business from Delta and United top elite travelers. Provide details of your existing elite status with either carrier, and American will match it for four months and continue to extend it if you meet certain travel thresholds.

Rack up bonus points galore

British Airways and the Avios program have a new promotion that could literally double your path to free travel . Between now and November 21 (for flight reservations through January 14, 2024), members can receive double Avios points on their next ten trips after registering. Keep in mind that you won’t earn double points on flights booked before you register for the promo.

If you prefer a private residence or villa for your vacation plans, Marriott Bonvoy is offering double elite qualifying nights for elite status and 10% off on reservations made between now and December 24 for completed stays by the end of the year. The stay must be for at least two nights to benefit from the bonus.

American Airlines and Qatar Airways have a promotion this fall where you can earn a significant bonus by adding your AAdvantage account number to American or Qatar Airways flights between the US and Doha. Travelers in business class can earn 15,000 bonus miles for each American or Qatar Airways flight between the U.S. and Doha between now and November 17 ( premium economy passengers on American flights only earn 5,000 miles in each direction). The promotion is targeted but is available for eligible members in the American Airlines mobile app or online. You can earn as many as 90,000 miles.

World of Hyatt is out with its fall promotion called Bonus Journeys, offering 3,000 bonus points for every three nights you stay (up to 21,000 points in total). If you have the World of Hyatt Credit Card , you will earn an additional 1,000 points at a subset of participating hotels. Be sure to register by November 10 and stay by the end of November to earn the bonus at popular properties like the Park Hyatt Sydney or the Hyatt Centric Gran Via Madrid .

Bask in these bank and credit card perks

The Preferred Rewards program from Bank of America is on the heels of adding nine new partners to its benefits list. The no-fee program has different elite tiers based on member balances across various accounts like savings, investments, and credit cards. New for Diamond and Diamond Honors members this season: an instant suite upgrade, $200 resort credit, and free spa service at any Canyon Ranch property. If they book before the end of the year, they will receive a $500 bonus resort credit to use by next summer. Other program goodies for members that can make holiday travel easier are discounts on CLEAR membership and up to a 75% points or cash back bonus on credit card spending.

Amex Offers—bonus promotions that you can add to your account within your online profile—is back with some cash-back offers for the holidays. Use your eligible American Express card and spend at least $750 at one of Hilton Honors’ properties in Mexico, the Caribbean, and Latin America, and you will receive $150 back in your account between now and February 15, 2024. Log into your online account to activate this offer.

American Airlines credit cardholders have another promotion in their online account, but you will want to act fast. By November 6, register to earn one additional AAdvantage mile (as well as one Loyalty Point, which counts towards elite status) for each dollar spent on American flights in November.

Citi Double Cash card members are in for some extra cash back when making holiday travel plans. When booking hotels, car rentals, and attractions through the Citi Travel portal, they will receive 5% cash back (up from the normal 2%) between now and December 31, 2024. That’s over a year of double cash back perks that arrived just in time for the holidays.

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7 Best All-Inclusives You Can Book With Points

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There is nothing quite like an all-inclusive vacation, where your room, meals and sometimes even posh spa treatments are all bundled into one flat rate. Nothing better, that is, except for maybe an all-inclusive vacation paid for entirely with points. Fortunately, that can be a reality.

Here are seven stunning (and affordable — not necessarily cheap) all-inclusives you can book with points.

Best all-inclusive resorts to book with points

1. miraval austin resort & spa, austin, texas.

This beautiful property on Lake Austin offers the best of both worlds: Complete relaxation during the day and a vibrant music scene if you venture into the city at night. You can kayak on the lake, join in on yoga or meditation sessions, get pampered at the full-service spa, take a culinary class or climb to new heights on the challenge course.

Miraval is an all-inclusive experience, and you can expect credits toward complimentary spa access, a variety of workshops and activities and meals for the price of your stay. These benefits are limited to up to $175 per person.

Standard rooms start at 40,000 points per night for single occupancy or 57,500 for double occupancy. To redeem points at most Miraval properties, call Hyatt reservations.

2. Hilton Rose Hall Resort & Spa, Montego Bay, Jamaica

If you want an all-inclusive beachfront vacation, look no further than the Hilton Rose Hall Resort & Spa in Montego Bay, Jamaica. Drinks, gourmet cuisine and water park access are all included, plus children under 5 stay and eat free.

You can book the Hilton Rose Hall starting at 45,000 points for one adult per room per night and 56,000 points per night for two adults.

» Learn more: Your guide to booking award nights with Hilton Honors

3. Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos, Mexico

This all-inclusive resort sits right on the beach along the Baja California Peninsula. In addition to a water park, pools, fitness center and spa, the resort has seven restaurants on site.

For as little as 35,000 Hyatt points for a double-occupancy room, you can enjoy an all-inclusive stay at this luxurious family-friendly resort.

4. Hilton Playa del Carmen, Mexico

For an adults-only all-inclusive resort, head to Mexico’s vibrant Riviera Maya region. This property can be booked with Hilton Honors points, and your room includes food, beverages and nonmotorized water sports. There is also live entertainment, seven on-site restaurants plus in-room dining.

Reward rates vary depending on date and availability, but we found a room for two guests starting at 69,000 Hilton Honors points per person per night.

5. Hyatt Zilara Cap Cana, Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

When you want a break from the kids, the Hyatt Zilara Cap Cana in the Dominican Republic is another adults-only option. With a sprawling infinity pool and unlimited food and drinks at any of the 12 restaurants, eight bars or 24-hour room service, it’s a luxurious escape.

Guests can access the sky gym, a scuba school, cooking demos and poolside or beachfront cabanas. In-room minibars are stocked daily, and you can relax on your private patio.

Rooms can be booked for 42,000 - 58,000 World of Hyatt points per night for two people. Additional guests will cost 22,000 points per person, per night.

» Learn more: World of Hyatt: The complete guide

6. Hyatt Ziva Cancun, Mexico

Known for both family vacations and wild spring breaks, Cancun has something for everyone. Stay in style at the Hyatt Ziva Cancun, a beachfront resort surrounded by the Caribbean on three sides.

The resort has a microbrewery, 24-hour room service, snorkeling, aqua cycling, a KidZ Club and unlimited dining and drinks at 10 restaurants and seven bars. There are also three infinity pools, live entertainment and more.

You can book a reward room with World of Hyatt points starting at 42,000 per room per night for two people. Extra guests, including children, require 22,000 additional points per person, per night.

» Learn more: How to travel to Cancun with points and miles

7. Marriott All-Inclusives

Want to book a Marriott all-inclusive with points? You can select from several destinations across the Caribbean and Central and South America, including Brazil, Granada and Mexico. Consider Turtle Beach by Elegant Hotels in Barbados, or sip on daiquiris at the Planet Hollywood Adult Scene Cancun from Autograph Collection.

This resort is for adults only and is just one of the nearly 30 Marriott all-inclusive resorts to book with Bonvoy points .

» Learn more: Amazing Marriott hotels in the Caribbean for award stays

Book cheap all-inclusive stays with travel rewards

There are plenty of options if you want to book an all-inclusive vacation this year without spending a fortune. So take a look and cash in those hard-earned points at one of these six all-inclusive resorts. You’ll get lots of value out of your points and enjoy some time in the sun.

How to maximize your rewards

You want a travel credit card that prioritizes what’s important to you. Here are our picks for the best travel credit cards of 2024 , including those best for:

Flexibility, point transfers and a large bonus: Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

No annual fee: Bank of America® Travel Rewards credit card

Flat-rate travel rewards: Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

Bonus travel rewards and high-end perks: Chase Sapphire Reserve®

Luxury perks: The Platinum Card® from American Express

Business travelers: Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card

Planning a trip? Check out these articles for more inspiration and advice: Paying for a warm-weather getaway on points How to experience 5 popular Caribbean islands using points Find the best travel credit card for you

on Chase's website

1x-5x 5x on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, 3x on dining, select streaming services and online groceries, 2x on all other travel purchases, 1x on all other purchases.

60,000 Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $750 when you redeem through Chase Travel℠.

1.5%-6.5% Enjoy 6.5% cash back on travel purchased through Chase Travel; 4.5% cash back on drugstore purchases and dining at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery service, and 3% on all other purchases (on up to $20,000 spent in the first year). After your first year or $20,000 spent, enjoy 5% cash back on travel purchased through Chase Travel, 3% cash back on drugstore purchases and dining at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery service, and unlimited 1.5% cash back on all other purchases.

$300 Earn an additional 1.5% cash back on everything you buy (on up to $20,000 spent in the first year) - worth up to $300 cash back!

on Capital One's website

2x-5x Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase, every day. Earn 5X miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel, where you'll get Capital One's best prices on thousands of trip options.

75,000 Enjoy a one-time bonus of 75,000 miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel.

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The 11 best deals in miles and points

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Update: One or more card offers in this post are no longer available. Check our Hot Deals for the latest offers.

Miles and points enthusiasts are obsessed with getting the most value for their rewards. That’s a fun and important statistic to keep track of — but more important is the distant bucket list destinations you can visit with your points! And if the flight is extra-long many of us prioritize the comfort of business class seats — or the luxe shock value of first-class seats.

Below are the 11 best deals in miles and points. If you’ve achieved any of the following deals, you’re choosing your travel wisely. Some of these routes are temporarily suspended due to COVID-19, but they’re slowly making their way back into the daily rounds.

I’ll show you how to get the miles and points you need to achieve these amazing sweet spots — and help you understand which travel credit cards you need to earn those particular points.

In this article:

First class flight to japan on ana: 110,000 miles round-trip, first/business class one-way to south africa via hong kong on cathay pacific: 70,000 miles, buy-one-get-one flights for 2 years: southwest companion pass, one-way coach/business class to hawaii on united airlines: 7,500/12,500 miles, three days on a private island: 120,000 points, one-way coach flights to ireland on aer lingus: 13,000 miles, first class to greece or italy on emirates for 135,000 miles round-trip, business class to spain on iberia: 34,000 miles one-way, first class to sydney (with a free stopover) on etihad: 110,000 miles, one night at (nearly) any hilton hotel in the world: $450 (or less), round the world trip in business/first class: 105,000+ ana miles.

Cash value: $22,000+

Value per point: 20 cents

How to achieve it: Virgin Atlantic is partnered with ANA — one of the best, most lap-of-luxury airlines in the world. Premium cabins here are dynamite, from the gigantic seats to the restaurant-quality food to the $800 whiskey. And with Virgin Atlantic’s award chart, it costs as little as 110,000 miles to book a round-trip first class seat. Here are the prices:

• First class from East Coast cities: 120,000 Virgin Atlantic miles
• First class from West Coast cities: 110,000 Virgin Atlantic miles
• Business class from East Coast cities: 95,000 Virgin Atlantic miles
• Business class from West Coast cities: 90,000 Virgin Atlantic miles

This is such a good deal — particularly for first class. Some airlines will charge you 200,000+ miles for the same route. You can book ANA first-class seats to Japan from the following U.S. cities:

• Washington, D.C.
• Los Angeles
• San Francisco

Also note that ANA has recently put an end to exorbitant fuel surcharges, making this trip extra cheap!

How to earn Virgin Atlantic miles: Virgin Atlantic has its own credit cards to help you earn Virgin Atlantic miles , but the most efficient way to earn them is by transferring flexible bank points to Virgin Atlantic. Here are the points that you can convert to Virgin Atlantic:

• Chase Ultimate Rewards points (1:1 transfer ratio)
• Amex Membership Rewards points (1:1 transfer ratio)
• Citi ThankYou points (1:1 transfer ratio)
• Marriott points (3:1 transfer ratio)

Cash value: $17,000+

Value per point: 24 cents

How to achieve it: Cathay Pacific is another airline with a much-lauded premium cabin — a bucket list item for a miles and points enthusiast. Cathay Pacific is an airline partner with Alaska Airlines, which possesses one of the most valuable loyalty programs in existence. No matter who you are, you should be investing in Alaska Airlines miles.

You can fly Cathay Pacific first class from the following U.S. cities:

• New York (JFK)

For 70,000 Alaska Airlines miles, you will fly to Hong Kong in first class, then onto Johannesburg in business class. The only potential snag is that you’re taking a long, long way to get to South Africa. By avoiding this strategy, you could probably reach Johannesburg in half the time. However — if you’re like us, when you’re flying in fancy airplane seats, you just don’t want it to end. This is a way to get your miles worth in a premium cabin! You’re getting more than 28 hours in first/business class for 70,000 miles. That’s 2,500 Alaska miles per hour! An absolute steal.

Not only that, but you can add a stopover in Hong Kong if you like. Stay there for a week or two if you want before continuing your journey to Africa!

How to earn Alaska Airlines miles: Alaska Airlines miles are one of the hardest currencies to accrue. Their only transfer partner is Marriott. You’ll get 1 Alaska mile for every 3 Marriott points you transfer. However, when you transfer Marriott points in increments of 60,000, you’ll get an additional 5,000 Alaska miles. In other words, 60,000 Marriott points = 25,000 Alaska miles.

Alaska Airlines also has its own credit cards with decent welcome bonuses. Read our post on how to earn Alaska Airlines miles .

Cash value: Thousands

How to achieve it: We consider the Southwest Companion Pass to be the best deal in travel, for a few reasons:

• It’s not niche. A lot of miles and points sweet spots are only valuable if you’re going to a certain location
• It lets a friend or family member travel with you for free whenever you travel on Southwest. Regardless of whether you booked a flight with points or paid with cash – you can bring someone along for only the cost of taxes and fees (usually ~$6 one-way for domestic flights).

That’s huge. If you were to fly every single day on Southwest, your travel companion could come along on every flight. There is no limit to the times you can use it! And it’s valid during the year you earn it, as well as the entire following year. So if you were to earn it in January, your Companion Pass wouldn’t expire for nearly two years!

To qualify, you’ll need to earn 125,000 qualifying Southwest points in a calendar year.

How to earn Southwest points:

There are plenty of Southwest credit cards to choose from whose bonuses count towards the Southwest Companion Pass.

The following Southwest consumer credit cards are currently offering 75,000 bonus points after spending $5,000 on purchases in the first three months your account is open.

• Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card
• Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card
• Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card

Read our Southwest Companion Pass guide for all the details. And check out our post on how to earn Southwest points .

Cash value: $1,000+

Value per point: 8

How to achieve it: This deal doesn’t apply just to Hawaii, but in fact the entire U.S. However, the sweetest use is for flights to Hawaii.

United Airlines is a partner with Turkish Airlines through the Star Alliance. And booking United flights with Turkish miles is often dramatically cheaper than had you booked the same flight with United miles! You can fly from anywhere in the U.S. to anywhere in the U.S. (including Alaska and Hawaii) for the following rates:

• 7,500 Turkish miles in coach
• 12,500 Turkish miles in business class

For flights to Hawaii, I find that I can only consistently locate available award seats when searching from the following East Coast cities:

• Washington Dulles (IAD)

So while the Turkish Award chart technically allows you to make the trip to Hawaii for 7,500 miles from your home airport, you may not have much luck finding seats unless you search from these airports. The above cities are also good if you’re looking for nonstops to the Midwest/East Coast from the Hawaiian Islands. If you want a 10-hour lie-flat business class seat, those are the airports to scour.

How to earn Turkish Airlines miles:

Turkish Airlines are moderately difficult to earn. Its only transfer partner is Citi ThankYou points . And while there are only a handful of cards that earn this currency, they’ve got solid earning rates to help you accrue rewards quickly. Read our post on how to earn Citi ThankYou points for more details.

Cash value: $8,850

Value per point: 7.37 cents

How to achieve it: Calala Island has the two things I’m looking for in a vacation: It’s both fly and dope. If you want exotic, this 11-acre private island off the coast of Nicaragua is up your alley. It’s got four rooms (huts) and accommodates no more than eight guests at a time. OH, AND IT’S ALL-INCLUSIVE. The chef just hangs around and you can eat whenever you want, whatever you want — as long as he’s got the means.

You’ll pay 40,000 Hyatt points per night to stay here, which is an absolute steal considering prices can reach near $3,000 per night. You’ll book directly into a Junior Suite with points. You must book at least three nights at a time.

How to earn Hyatt points: Hyatt points are easy to earn. Hyatt’s got its own credit card, the World of Hyatt Credit Card, but it’s also a Chase Ultimate Rewards transfer partner . This means any Chase points you have can be instantly converted to Hyatt at a 1:1 ratio. Read our post on how to earn Chase points for the best strategies to racking up points quickly.

Cash value: $500+

Value per point: 1.92 cents

How to achieve it: Aer Lingus is the flag carrier of Ireland. It flies to a handful of U.S. cities from Dublin and Shannon. And if you choose the right route, you’ll pay just 13,000 Aer Lingus Avios points one-way to reach Ireland:

• Boston-Dublin
• Boston-Shannon
• Chicago-Dublin
• Minneapolis-Dublin
• Newark-Dublin
• New York (JFK)-Shannon
• New York (JFK)-Dublin
• Philadelphia-Dublin
• Washington, DC-Dublin

13,000 points is the off-peak price — peak prices are 20,000 points each way, which still beats most of the competition (U.S. airlines generally charge 30,000 miles each way to Europe). Below is a calendar indicating off-peak dates. Any date in white will price as 13,000 points each way. As you can see, there are tons of off-peak dates.

Note: You can also fly in lie-flat business class for just 50,000 points each way during off-peak dates.

You can read exactly how to do this in our Ireland award sweet spot guide .

How to earn Aer Lingus Avios points: Aer Lingus is under the same umbrella as British Airways and Iberia, in that they collect the same type of points: “Avios.” And while all three loyalty programs have different award charts, the neat thing is that you can transfer points between the programs . For example, if you’ve got 30,000 British Airways Avios points, you can transfer them to Aer Lingus and immediately have 30,000 Aer Lingus Avios points.

This makes Aer Lingus points extremely easy to earn. Aer Lingus is also a transfer partner of:

• Chase Ultimate Rewards points (1:1)
• Amex Membership Rewards points (1:1)
• Marriott points (3:1)

So any credit cards that earn these points effectively earn Aer Lingus Avios points.

Cash value: $7,000+

Value per point: 5.18 cents

How to achieve it: Emirates runs two ( really cheap ) routes between the U.S. and Europe. That’s right, you don’t even have a connection through its hub in Dubai.

You can fly either from Newark to Athens or from New York-JFK to Milan for the following rates:

• 90,000 miles round-trip in business class
• 135,000 miles round-trip in first class

This is tens of thousands of miles (if not 100,000+ miles) less than U.S. carriers will charge for the same ticket to these destinations. The best part? It’s on Emirates — the airline that perfectly encapsulates Dubai — with one of the glitziest premium cabins in existence. Although you won’t get an onboard shower for these routes (they’re operated by 777’s; only A380s have showers), you will have the absolute time of your life sipping on Dom Pérignon in your enormous cubicle (if you get an aircraft that’s rocking the new first-class suites that is).

Note that one-way award flights are a significantly worse deal than round-trip flights. If you can help it, book a round-trip itinerary.

How to earn Emirates miles: Emirates is a transfer partner of:

• Citi ThankYou points (1:1)
• Capital One miles (2:1)

That’s right! It’s one of the easiest points currencies to earn. If you have a card that earns any of the above points, you’re earning Emirates miles by extension. Read our posts on how to earn Amex points and how to earn Chase points to see how quickly and easily you can earn the necessary rewards to book this seat.

Cash value: $950

Value per point: 2.8 cents per point

How to achieve it: Here’s the thing about these Iberia flights. Oftentimes, a one-way flight is far more expensive than a round-trip. If you’re booking one-way, your value per point will be 3x better than booking a round-trip. That shouldn’t influence your bookings, I just wanted to say that.

Iberia serves a handful of U.S. cities, all of which offer staggering deals to Madrid (particularly those around the Midwest/East Coast). Here are the off-peak prices:

• Boston and New York – 17,000 points in coach, 34,000 points in business class
• Chicago, Miami, and San Francisco – 21,250 points in coach, 42,500 points in business class
• Los Angeles – 25,500 points in coach, 51,000 points in business class

34,000 points to fly in business class across the Atlantic?? That’s pretty much the best deal you’ll ever find. The catch is that it’s got to be departing from Boston or New York — and the destination has to be Madrid. However, even if Madrid isn’t your vacation of choice, you should pay attention to this deal. Once you’re in Europe, you can hop around from city to city for super cheap; this is just a way to enjoy the biggest leg of the trip in luxury — for a comparable amount of points as other airlines charge to fly coach!

For example, you could buy a cheap ticket from Madrid to Paris for less than $25 each way on Ryanair. I’d gladly route through Madrid for a dirt-cheap lie-flat seat.

How to earn Iberia Avios points: Iberia has the same loyalty program as British Airways and Aer Lingus (discussed above). They collect identical points. Therefore, you can transfer points between any of these airlines. If you’ve got 20,000 British Airways Avios points, you can transfer them to Iberia and immediately have 20,000 Iberia Avios points.

Iberia is also a transfer partner of:

If you’ve got a card that earns any of these points, you’ve got a way to earn Iberia Avios points quickly.

Value per mile: 15.45 cents

How to achieve it: Unless you’re an oil sheikh, you’re probably not paying cash for a first class seat. But with Air Canada Aeroplan miles , you can book it for a super reasonable price — and even add-in an obligatory stopover.

Via the Air Canada site, you can build an itinerary from the U.S. to Abu Dhabi to Sydney, all in Etihad first class. TWENTY-SIX HOURS of first class — that’s hard to beat.

How to earn Air Canada Aeroplan miles: Air Canada is a transfer partner of:

• Capital One miles (2:1.5)

Many times we’ve seen transfer bonuses for Amex points to Aeroplan miles. It may be wise to wait for another one of these inevitable bonuses before transferring.

What you get: Hilton Weekend Night Certificates are the only hotel night certificates that are completely uncapped . Whether a Hilton hotel charges 5,000 points or 120,000 points, your certificate is valid there. Just note the few quirky exceptions where Weekend Night Certs aren’t accepted.

By using this at the right hotel, you could easily save $1,000+. For example, the Waldorf Astoria Maldives routinely charges $1,700+ per night for an overwater bungalow — but you can use a Weekend Night Certificate to lock it down for free.

Just note that Weekend Night Certs are exactly what they sound like — weekend nights . You can use them for Friday night, Saturday night, or Sunday night (or, in the Middle East, Thursday through Saturday).

How to earn a Hilton Weekend Night Certificate: There are several ways to earn a Hilton Weekend Night Certificates — but they all include a Hilton credit card :

• Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card – One annual weekend night upon opening your card, and every year after you renew your card. Also, a second free-weekend-night award each calendar year in which you spend $60,000+ in eligible purchases on your card.
• The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card – One weekend night after you spend $15,000 on purchases in a calendar year

The information for the Amex Hilton Aspire has been collected independently by Million Mile Secrets. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

Cash value: $6,000+

Value per point: 5.7 cents

How to achieve it: You can get a more thorough explanation of this trick when you read our guide to using ANA miles . Essentially, ANA allows you to book up to eight stopovers, and charges you based on the total distance you fly. Here’s their award chart:

You can use Great Circle Mapper to strategize your stopovers according to how many miles you’re willing to pay. Just keep in mind the following rules:

• Round the World itineraries are priced according to the total basic sector mileage for the entire itinerary (excluding ground transportation sectors.)
• You must cross both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans once
• Backtracking is not permitted
• Up to three stopovers allowed within Europe and up to four stopovers allowed within Japan

Again, there are a few other rules you should know, so read our ANA guide to best understand. But the ability to circumnavigate the Earth and stop at up to eight of your favorite cities is phenomenal. For Example, a flight from New York to Paris to Hong Kong to New York costs just 105,000 ANA miles in business class!

How to earn ANA miles:

ANA miles aren’t terribly difficult to earn if you’ve got any of the best American Express credit cards . That’s because you can transfer Amex Membership Rewards points to ANA at a 1:1 ratio.You can also transfer Marriott points at a 3:1 ratio. And when you transfer in increments of 60,000 Marriott points, you’ll get a bonus 5,000 ANA miles!

Bottom line

While there may be some extra complicated routes you can take advantage of to maximize your miles and points, these are the ones just accessible enough to us all. Let me know your favorite miles and points sweet spot! If it’s good enough, I’ll throw it on the list.

You can subscribe to our newsletter for more posts like this delivered to your inbox once per day. More tips = more trips!

Joseph Hostetler

Joseph Hostetler is a full-time writer for Million Mile Secrets, covering miles and points tips and tricks, as well as helpful travel-related news and deals. He has also authored and edited for The Points Guy.

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How to Book a Going with Points Deal

September 18, 2023

At Going, we alert our members to deals on cheap flights that you can pay for with cash, regardless of membership tier. Now, our Premium and Elite members also get alert emails for deals bookable with credit card points and airline miles. It’s our new feature called Going with Points.

What is Going with Points?

Going with Points is a feature available for Premium and Elite members .

Premium members get all economy-class domestic deals (including Hawaii, Alaska, and US territories) and international deals to destinations all over the world. 

Elite members receive all economy deals,  plus deals on seats in premium economy, business, and first class.

Whenever we see a good deal on flights that you can book with points and miles, we send an email to our Elite members with the flight information—the destination, available departure and return dates, the cost in points and miles, and more—as well as instructions for how to book the ticket.

The email looks like this:

We also have a weekly Going with Points newsletter with advice, recommendations, reviews, and stories about all things points and miles. It’s available to all Going members, whether you have a Limited, Premium, or Elite membership. If you want to upgrade your travel game and learn more about traveling with points and miles, please sign up here.

Our newsletter will help you become your own points and miles expert—but if you’re already a whiz at this thing, or if you have a stash of points burning a hole in your pocket, let us at Going find the points deals for you and join Premium or Elite today.

What do I need to book a Going with Points deal?

To book a Going with Points deal, you’ll need enough available points in your account with the airline loyalty program we recommend as a booking tool. For example, if the deal email says you can book the deal with 70,000 United MileagePlus miles roundtrip, you need that same amount or more in your United MileagePlus account.

• How to book an award flight through Air Canada Aeroplan
• How to book an award flight through Air France-KLM Flying Blue
• How to book an award flight through Delta SkyMiles
• How to book an award flight through United MileagePlus
• How to book an award flight through American AAdvantage

If you don’t have the necessary number of miles available in your account, try transferring points from your travel rewards credit card to the airline. For example, if you need more United miles, you can transfer points from Chase, which partners with United.

• How to transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points to travel partners
• How to transfer American Express Membership Rewards points to travel partners
• How to transfer Capital One points to travel partners

Got your points? Good. Let’s get going and book you some flights.

Step 1: Click the “Book with [airline]” button in the deal email of the flight you’d like to book.

Every deal email includes links to the airline loyalty programs through which you can book the flight deal with points. Sometimes, you’ll have multiple options, but we’ll always recommend which program offers the most value. 

‍ Step 2: Customize your search criteria to explore availability.

After clicking the booking button, you should be on the award search tool for the airline loyalty program. You may need to change some of the details of your search to meet your travel needs, such as:

• Departure airport
• Departure dates
• Return dates
• Number of travelers

In a Going with Points deal, we’ll share a variety of departure and return dates where we’ve found deal availability. You can choose any departure date and book it as a one-way ticket, or combine it with any return date to create a roundtrip booking. 

As for seat availability, we’ll only send out a Going with Points alert on trips where we see a minimum of two seats per departure. If there are four or more seats departing on most dates, we'll call that out in the deal, too.

‍ Step 3: Book your flight through the airline loyalty program we recommend.

All flights must be booked directly through an airline loyalty program. (Going is not an online travel agency, so we don’t have any involvement in the booking process.) 

In a Going with Points deal, you can sometimes book a flight directly with an airline using their loyalty program. But more often, we'll guide you to the best possible redemptions by booking "partner awards"—that is, flights booked with points through an airline's partner. For example, in a recent deal we sent out, Elite members could use Virgin Atlantic Flying Club miles to book this roundtrip flight to Tokyo on flights operated by Virgin Atlantic's partners, either ANA or Delta. 

Pro-tip: You can often maximize the value of your points and miles by using one airline’s loyalty program to book travel on their partner airlines. 

For example, a one-way flight in economy on Delta from New York-JFK to London-Heathrow, booked through Delta SkyMiles could cost 66,000 miles and $6 in taxes and fees.

That same one-way flight—Delta 001 on March 12—booked through Flying Blue (Air France-KLM’s loyalty program) costs only 24,000 miles and about $10 in taxes and fees. That’s a third of the points cost.

Of course, all that doesn’t matter if you only have miles with one airline and not another. But in this example, both Air France-KLM and Delta miles can be transferred from American Express . So if you had 75,000 American Express Membership Rewards points ready to go, you could get a single one-way flight to London if you booked through Delta SkyMiles at the cost of 66,000 miles, or three one-way flights to London if you booked through Air-France KLM Flying Blue miles at the cost of 72,000 miles.

Voila, that’s the power of points. 

Can’t find the points deal quoted in the alert email? 

If you’ve followed the instructions above and still can’t find the deal, there are a few things that could be going on. 

The deal is not available for your departure dates or route.

Double-check the dates and route (departure and destination airports) in the deal email to make sure the dates you’re searching for are listed.

Or, the deal is no longer available.

We do our best to estimate how long deals will last, but it’s more of an art than a science. If you have a question about a deal, please contact us and we’ll be happy to take a look at what’s going on.

What counts as a good Going with Points deal?

The goal of our Going with Points deals is to open up new travel opportunities you may have never thought possible. We hope that, by using points and miles, Going members can travel to destinations that are harder to get to with cash fares, or during times when cheap flights are scarce. 

Think of Going with Points as a supplement to, rather than a replacement for, the flight deals we send every day.

What makes a good deal when booking with points? We’ll alert Premium member to based on these cost parameters on travel from North America. 

Premium member Going with Points economy deals

Elite member going with points economy deals.

Elite members will receive all the Going with Points deals Premium members get, plus receive Going With Points deals on business class tickets based on these cost parameters on travel from North America. 

This is the most you can expect to shell out in points when we send you a Going with Points deal. We’re excited to find and share even greater deals that undershoot these numbers. For what it’s worth, you can expect that deals to Europe will routinely cost less than these maximum limits, while deals to Asia will likely be closer to these cost ceilings.

We’re prioritizing points and miles flight deals bookable with transferable points currencies, i.e. Chase, American Express, Capital One, and/or Citibank credit card points. We’re also keeping our standards flexible in the event of points transfer bonuses , promotional awards, opportunities for peak-season travel, uncommon deals and destinations, and the occasional first-class fare.

Published September 18, 2023

Last updated February 12, 2024

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The Best Ways To Fly to Europe With Points & Miles [Step-by-Step]

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United MileagePlus

Ana mileage club, air canada aeroplan, avianca lifemiles, asiana club, air france-klm flying blue, delta skymiles, korean air skypass, american aadvantage, taxes and fees, lots of city options, finding more seats, final thoughts.

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Paris in the spring.

Spain’s Costa del Sol in the summer.

Christmas markets in Germany.

No matter what time of year it is, there is always a great reason to travel to Europe!

If you book award tickets to Europe with miles and points, you can use all that vacation money you saved to enjoy the destination.

Let’s take a look at some of the best ways to book award flights to Europe.

Best Programs To Use To Book Flights

When you search for paid flights to Europe from the U.S., you will find a huge variety of options. From low-cost carriers to some of the world’s best first class products , there really is something for everyone. Just make sure you’re up to date regarding ETIAS and visiting Schengen countries in Europe before you book your ticket.

If you live on the East Coast, maybe you can handle the flight in economy class and save some of your points for another day.

But if you live on the West Coast, perhaps a lie-flat bed is a little more important so you can hit the ground running when you arrive at your destination.

We realize that many factors go into determining the best flight for a specific route, or even for a specific passenger: do you prefer lie-flat seats, great food, a friendly crew, or all of the above?

Choosing the best airline for you comes down to evaluating your personal preferences.

Below, we show you some of the best options for using your points for economy class, business class, and first class flights. No matter how you like to fly, we have you covered!

Hot Tip: We mainly discuss round-trip award prices, but keep in mind that many airline loyalty programs will let you book one-way award tickets for half the number of miles.

United Airlines’ MileagePlus program is one of the most popular ways to book award flights to Europe thanks to its extensive reach via the Star Alliance network.

MileagePlus is a fairly straightforward program that is easy to understand and use . Many of its partners are available to search for award space and book on the United site.

If you select Flexible Dates when doing your search, you can see a month-long calendar of award availability all at once. This makes finding award space much easier.

Although its mileage rates for award tickets to Europe are not the absolute best you can find, United has several things going for it. Specifically, the following are true:

• United miles are super easy to redeem
• No (or very low) fuel surcharges
• Great starter program for miles and points

Hot Tip:  If you’re interested in learning more, don’t miss our in-depth United Airlines review ! 

You’ll notice that United charges more miles for partner flights than for its own flights , so you’ll want to make that consideration when thinking about which airline to fly on.

United doesn’t offer a first class product outside of North America, so if you have your mind set on flying first class, your main choice is Lufthansa .

Be prepared, though, as first class awards with Lufthansa are almost always not bookable until ~15 days before the departure date.

SWISS Air doesn’t make its first class available to partners . In fact, you’ll need top-tier elite status with SWISS Air to make these award bookings at all.

Also, nearly all European-focused Star Alliance partners such as Brussels Airlines, LOT Polish, and Turkish Airlines do not have first class.

The tradeoff when booking first class with a partner is that while it will cost a big chunk of miles, United will not hit you with carrier-imposed surcharges. This can save you over $500 in fees when you book Lufthansa first class , as other airline loyalty programs will pass those charges onto you.

If you want to fly in coach, however, choosing to fly with United or its partners doesn’t matter; it will cost the same amount of miles either way.

The following Star Alliance members and United partners operate flights between the U.S. and Europe — and are therefore bookable with your United miles :

• Aegean Airlines
• Austrian Airlines
• Brussels Airlines
• Croatia Airlines
• LOT Polish Airlines
• Scandinavian Airlines (SAS)
• Singapore Airlines
• TAP Air Portugal
• Turkish Airlines
• United Airlines

Here is the United MileagePlus award chart for round-trip flights (one-way tickets will cost half the miles):

Here are some fantastic routes you can book with United miles:

• Boston (BOS) – Dublin (DUB) round-trip in Aer Lingus business class for 154,000 United miles + ~$5.60 in taxes and fees
• Chicago (ORD) – Vienna (VIE) round-trip in Austrian Airlines business class for 154,000 United miles + ~$5.60 in taxes and fees
• Miami (MIA) – Zurich (ZRH) one-way in SWISS Air business class for 77,000 United miles + ~$5.60 in taxes and fees
• New York (JFK) – Frankfurt (FRA) one-way in Lufthansa first class for 121,000 United miles + ~$5.60 in taxes and fees

Follow these instructions to book your award flight using United miles:

• Visit United’s homepage .
• Check off the box that says Book with miles , fill out the search box’s fields, and click  Find flights .
• Locate a flight that works for your plans, redeem your United miles, and pay for taxes and fees using a credit card.

Earning United Airlines MileagePlus Miles

In addition to earning miles when flying with United Airlines and its partners , you can transfer miles into the program from Bilt Rewards , Chase Ultimate Rewards , and Marriott Bonvoy .

Bilt and Chase transfer instantly at a 1:1 ratio.

Marriott Bonvoy transfers in around 3 business days, and it also has an improved transfer ratio of 3:1.1 instead of the standard 3:1 ratio.

If you transfer 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points, you will receive 22,000 United miles plus a 25% bonus, increasing your total to 27,000 miles for 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points!

Hot Tip: Check out our guide to the best Chase United credit cards where we compare the benefits and perks of United’s co-branded cards.

ANA Mileage Club offers some seriously unbeatable round-trip redemption rates for business class flights ! For the most part, it blows the competition out of the water in terms of value for your miles.

It doesn’t charge fuel surcharges on some airlines, so you can choose to fly ANA to minimize your out-of-pocket cost.

Here’s how flights to/from North America and Europe price out (round-trip):

In general, the best airlines to book with low fuel surcharges are Turkish Airlines, LOT Polish, SAS, and United Airlines .

Here are a few amazing routes you can book:

• Atlanta (ATL) – Istanbul (IST) round-trip in Turkish business class for 88,000 ANA miles + ~$532 in taxes and fees
• Chicago (ORD) – Paris (CDG) round-trip in United Polaris class for 88,000 ANA miles + ~$11 in taxes and fees
• Los Angeles (LAX) – Warsaw (WAW) round-trip in LOT Polish business class for 88,000 ANA miles + ~$601 in taxes and fees
• Newark (EWR) – Copenhagen (CPH) round-trip in SAS business class for 88,000 ANA miles + ~$20 in taxes and fees
• Washington, D.C. (IAD) – London (LHR) round-trip in United Polaris class for 88,000 ANA miles + ~$11 in taxes and fees

ANA is a pretty easy program to redeem miles with. You can make bookings completely online using its award search engine. However, we recommend doing your initial search on United’s website:

• Go to United’s homepage and perform your award search.
• Write down the flight details and schedule.
• Go to ANA’s U.S. website .
• Click  Award Booking in the search box.
• Log into your ANA account. On the redirected page, enter your search details. Click  Search.
• Choose the flight that matches your desired booking. Redeem your ANA miles and use a credit card for taxes and fees.

Earning ANA Mileage Club Miles

There are 2 transfer partners for ANA miles: American Express Membership Rewards and Marriott Bonvoy.

Amex transfers at a 1:1 ratio, while Marriott Bonvoy transfers at a 3:1 ratio with 5,000 ANA bonus miles after each 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy point transfer !

Amex takes 2 to 3 business days to transfer, while Marriott Bonvoy takes closer to 7 business days.

Recommended American Express Cards (Personal)

The Platinum Card ® from American Express

The Amex Platinum reigns supreme for luxury travel, offering the best airport lounge access plus generous statement credits, and complimentary elite status.

When it comes to cards that offer top-notch benefits, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better card out there than The Platinum Card ® from American Express.

Make no mistake — the Amex Platinum card  is a premium card with a premium price tag. With amazing benefits like best-in-class airport lounge access , hotel elite status, and tremendous value in annual statement credits, it can easily prove to be one of the most lucrative cards in your wallet year after year.

• The best airport lounge access out of any card (by far) — enjoy access to over 1,400 worldwide lounges, including the luxurious Amex Centurion Lounges, Priority Pass lounges, Plaza Premium Lounges, and many more!
• 5x points per dollar spent on flights purchased directly with the airline or with AmexTravel.com (up to $500,000 per year)
• 5x points per dollar spent on prepaid hotels booked with AmexTravel.com
• Annual and monthly statement credits upon enrollment ( airline credit, Uber Cash credit, Saks Fifth Avenue credit, streaming credit, prepaid hotel credit on eligible stays, Walmart+ credit, CLEAR credit, and Equinox credit )
• TSA PreCheck or Global Entry credit
• Access to American Express Fine Hotels and Resorts
• Access to Amex International Airline Program
• No foreign transaction fees ( rates and fees )
• $695 annual fee ( rates and fees )
• Airline credit does not cover airfare (only incidentals like checked bags)
• Earn 80,000 Membership Rewards ® Points after you spend $8,000 on purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership. Apply and select your preferred metal Card design: classic Platinum Card ® , Platinum x Kehinde Wiley, or Platinum x Julie Mehretu.
• Earn 5X Membership Rewards ® Points for flights booked directly with airlines or with American Express Travel up to $500,000 on these purchases per calendar year and earn 5X Membership Rewards ® Points on prepaid hotels booked with American Express Travel.
• $200 Hotel Credit: Get up to $200 back in statement credits each year on prepaid Fine Hotels + Resorts ® or The Hotel Collection bookings with American Express Travel when you pay with your Platinum Card ® . The Hotel Collection requires a minimum two-night stay.
• $240 Digital Entertainment Credit: Get up to $20 back in statement credits each month on eligible purchases made with your Platinum Card ® on one or more of the following: Disney+, a Disney Bundle, ESPN+, Hulu, The New York Times, Peacock, and The Wall Street Journal. Enrollment required.
• $155 Walmart+ Credit: Cover the cost of a $12.95 monthly Walmart+ membership (subject to auto-renewal) with a statement credit after you pay for Walmart+ each month with your Platinum Card ® . Cost includes $12.95 plus applicable local sales tax. Plus Up Benefits are excluded.
• $200 Airline Fee Credit: Select one qualifying airline and then receive up to $200 in statement credits per calendar year when incidental fees are charged by the airline to your Platinum Card ® .
• $200 Uber Cash: Enjoy Uber VIP status and up to $200 in Uber savings on rides or eats orders in the US annually. Uber Cash and Uber VIP status is available to Basic Card Member only. Terms Apply.
• $300 Equinox Credit: Get up to $300 back in statement credits per calendar year on an Equinox membership, or an Equinox club membership (subject to auto-renewal) when you pay with your Platinum Card ® . Enrollment required. Visit https://platinum.equinox.com/ to enroll.
• $189 CLEAR ® Plus Credit: Breeze through security with CLEAR Plus at 100+ airports, stadiums, and entertainment venues nationwide and get up to $189 back per calendar year on your Membership (subject to auto-renewal) when you use your Platinum Card ® . Learn more.
• $100 Global Entry Credit: Receive either a $100 statement credit every 4 years for a Global Entry application fee or a statement credit up to $85 every 4.5 years for a TSA PreCheck ® (through a TSA official enrollment provider) application fee, when charged to your Platinum Card ® . Card Members approved for Global Entry will also receive access to TSA PreCheck at no additional cost.
• Shop Saks with Platinum: Get up to $100 in statement credits annually for purchases in Saks Fifth Avenue stores or at saks.com on your Platinum Card ® . That's up to $50 in statement credits semi-annually. Enrollment required.
• $300 SoulCycle At-Home Bike Credit: Get a $300 statement credit for the purchase of a SoulCycle at-home bike with your Platinum Card ® . An Equinox+ subscription is required to purchase a SoulCycle at-home bike and access SoulCycle content. Must charge full price of bike in one transaction. Shipping available in the contiguous U.S. only. Enrollment Required.
• Unlock access to exclusive reservations and special dining experiences with Global Dining Access by Resy when you add your Platinum Card ® to your Resy profile.
• $695 annual fee.
• Terms Apply.

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• Foreign Transaction Fees: None

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American Express ® Gold Card

This is the best card for food lovers who dine out at restaurants (worldwide), order take-out and want big rewards at U.S. supermarkets!

The American Express ® Gold Card  is a game-changer.

With this card, you can earn 4x Membership Rewards points at restaurants and you’ll also earn 4x Membership Rewards points at U.S. supermarkets on up to $25,000 per calendar year in purchases, then 1x.

There isn’t another card on the market that offers a 1-2 punch like this. Of course, there are several other benefits of the Gold Card as well, including extra monthly dining rewards and more.

• 4x points per dollar at restaurants, plus takeout and delivery in the U.S.
• 4x points per dollar at U.S. supermarkets, up to $25,000 per calendar year in purchases; and 1x thereafter
• 3x points per dollar on flights purchased directly from airlines or at Amex Travel
• Up to $120 annual dining credit: up to $10 monthly statement credit when you pay with the Amex Gold card at Grubhub, The Cheesecake Factory, Goldbelly, Wine.com , Milk Bar and select Shake Shack locations
• Up to $120 in annual Uber Cash : get $10 monthly in Uber Cash for Uber Eats orders or Uber rides in the U.S. when you add your Gold Card to your Uber account
• No foreign transaction fees (see rates and fees )
• Access to Amex’s The Hotel Collection
• Access to American Express transfer partners
• $250 annual fee (see rates and fees )
• No lounge access
• Earn 60,000 Membership Rewards ® points after you spend $6,000 on eligible purchases with your new Card within the first 6 months of Card Membership.
• Earn 4X Membership Rewards ® Points at Restaurants, plus takeout and delivery in the U.S., and earn 4X Membership Rewards ® points at U.S. supermarkets (on up to $25,000 per calendar year in purchases, then 1X).
• Earn 3X Membership Rewards ® points on flights booked directly with airlines or on amextravel.com.
• $120 Uber Cash on Gold: Add your Gold Card to your Uber account and each month automatically get $10 in Uber Cash for Uber Eats orders or Uber rides in the U.S., totaling up to $120 per year.
• $120 Dining Credit: Satisfy your cravings and earn up to $10 in statement credits monthly when you pay with the American Express ® Gold Card at Grubhub, The Cheesecake Factory, Goldbelly, Wine.com, Milk Bar and select Shake Shack locations. Enrollment required.
• Get a $100 experience credit with a minimum two-night stay when you book The Hotel Collection through American Express Travel. Experience credit varies by property.
• Choose the color that suits your style. Gold or Rose Gold.
• No Foreign Transaction Fees.
• Annual Fee is $250.
• Find the Amex Gold 75k or 90k Welcome Bonus Offer
• Benefits of the Amex Gold
• Upgrade Amex Gold to Amex Platinum
• Amex Gold Benefits for Military
• Amex Gold vs Blue Cash Preferred
• Amex Platinum vs Amex Gold
• Amex Gold vs Delta Gold

Business Owner?  Check out our article on the best  Amex business cards  that earn Membership Rewards.

Hot Tip: For more ways to earn ANA miles, check out our in-depth guide on how to earn a lot of ANA miles .

Air Canada’s Aeroplan program  is one of our favorite ways to fly to Europe.

On a high level, Air Canada Aeroplan is an easy program to use. It has access to the Star Alliance network, and the number of Aeroplan points required for a flight is quite reasonable.

Unlike many airline loyalty programs, Air Canada uses a distance-based award chart for flights from North America to the Atlantic region , which includes all of Europe:

Hot Tip: Aeroplan allows stopovers , even on one-way flights, for an additional 5,000 points. Better yet, these stopovers are bookable 100% online! If you’re not able to see the availability you want, give Aeroplan a call at 800-361-5373 .

Of its Star Alliance partners that fly to Europe from the U.S., Air Canada does not add fuel surcharges to award flights .

As a result, you can fly on airlines such as SWISS Air, Lufthansa, and Austrian Airlines without having to worry about paying hundreds of dollars out of pocket!

Here are some great example routes you can book:

• Chicago (ORD) – Zurich (ZRH) one-way in SWISS Air business class for 70,000 Aeroplan points + ~$41 in taxes and fees
• Los Angeles (LAX) – Frankfurt (FRA)  one-way in Lufthansa first class for 100,000 Aeroplan points + ~$41 in taxes and fees
• Miami (MIA) – Copenhagen (CPH) one-way in SAS business class for 70,000 Aeroplan points + ~$41 in taxes and fees
• New York (JFK) – Brussels (BRU) one-way in Brussels Airlines business class for 60,000 Aeroplan points + ~$41 in taxes and fees
• San Francisco (SFO) – Lisbon (LIS) one-way in TAP Air Portugal business class for 70,000 Aeroplan points + ~$41 in taxes and fees

Follow these steps to book your flight using Aeroplan points:

• Visit the Aeroplan website .
• In the top-right corner, click  Sign in and log into your account.
• On the homepage, you’ll see a search box. Toggle the slider that says  Book with points Aeroplan.
• Fill in the search box, perform the search, and find your desired flight option.
• If you wish to add a stopover to your trip, you can book your stopover online or call Aeroplan at 800-361-5373 to book your ticket.

Earning Air Canada Aeroplan Points

In addition to earning Aeroplan points by flying Air Canada and its partners, you can transfer points into the program from American Express Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Capital One Miles , Chase Ultimate Rewards, and Marriott Bonvoy.

Amex, Bilt, Capital One, and Chase transfer almost instantly at a 1:1 ratio, while Marriott Bonvoy transfers in 5 business days at a 3:1 ratio.

For every 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points you transfer to Aeroplan in a single transaction, you’ll get 5,000 extra Aeroplan points.

Recommended Capital One Cards

Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

Get 2x miles plus some of the most flexible redemptions offered by a travel credit card!

The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card   is one of the most popular rewards cards on the market. It’s perfect for anyone in search of a great welcome offer, high rewards rates, and flexible redemption options.

Frequent travelers with excellent credit may benefit from this credit card that offers a lot of bells and whistles. And it offers easy-to-understand rewards earning and redemption.

• 5x miles per $1 on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
• 2x miles per $1 on all other purchases
• Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee credit
• No foreign transaction fees ( rates & fees )
• Access to Capital One transfer partners
• $95 annual fee ( rates & fees )
• Limited elite benefits
• Enjoy a one-time bonus of 75,000 miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel
• Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase, every day
• Earn 5X miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel, where you'll get Capital One's best prices on thousands of trip options
• Miles won't expire for the life of the account and there's no limit to how many you can earn
• Receive up to a $100 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck ®
• Use your miles to get reimbursed for any travel purchase—or redeem by booking a trip through Capital One Travel
• Enrich every hotel stay from the Lifestyle Collection with a suite of cardholder benefits, like a $50 experience credit, room upgrades, and more
• Transfer your miles to your choice of 15+ travel loyalty programs
• APR: 19.99% - 29.99% (Variable)

Capital One Miles

• How To Find the 75k or 100k Bonus for the Capital One Venture
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• Capital One Venture vs Venture X
• Capital One Venture Card vs. Capital One VentureOne Card [Detailed Comparison]
• Chase Sapphire Preferred vs Capital One Venture
• Best Capital One Credit Cards
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Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card

The Capital One Venture X card is an excellent option for travelers looking for an all-in-one premium credit card.

The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card is the premium Capital One travel rewards card on the block.

Points and miles fans will be surprised to see that the Capital One Venture X card packs quite the punch when it comes to bookings made through Capital One, all while offering the lowest annual fee among premium credit cards.

Depending on your travel goals and preferences, the Capital One Venture X card could very well end up being your go-to card in your wallet.

• 10x miles per $1 on hotels and rental cars purchased through Capital One Travel
• 5x miles per $1 on flights purchased through Capital One Travel
• $300 annual travel credit on bookings made through Capital One Travel
• Unlimited complimentary access for cardholder and 2 guests to 1,300+ lounges, including Capital One Lounges and the Partner Lounge Network
• 10,000 bonus miles awarded on your account anniversary each year
• Global Entry or TSA PreCheck credit
• Add authorized users for no additional annual fee ( rates & fees )
• $395 annual fee ( rates & fees )
• Does not offer bonus categories for flights or hotel purchases made directly with the airline or hotel group, the preferred booking method for those looking to earn elite status
• Earn 75,000 bonus miles when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel
• Receive a $300 annual credit for bookings through Capital One Travel, where you'll get Capital One's best prices on thousands of trip options
• Get 10,000 bonus miles (equal to $100 towards travel) every year, starting on your first anniversary
• Earn unlimited 10X miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel and 5X miles on flights booked through Capital One Travel
• Earn unlimited 2X miles on all other purchases
• Unlimited complimentary access for you and two guests to 1,300+ lounges, including Capital One Lounges and the Partner Lounge Network
• Use your Venture X miles to easily cover travel expenses, including flights, hotels, rental cars and more—you can even transfer your miles to your choice of 15+ travel loyalty programs
• Elevate every hotel stay from the Premier or Lifestyle Collections with a suite of cardholder benefits, like an experience credit, room upgrades, and more
• Benefits of the Capital One Venture X Card
• Best Ways to Use Venture X Points
• Capital One Venture X Credit Score and Approval Odds
• Capital One Venture X Lounge Access
• Capital One Venture X Travel Insurance Benefits
• Capital One Venture X vs Chase Sapphire Reserve
• Best Credit Cards with Priority Access
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• Best Luxury and Premium Credit Cards
• Best Metal Credit Cards
• Choice Privileges Loyalty Program Review

Recommended Aeroplan ® Credit Card

Aeroplan ® Credit Card

The Aeroplan card is a great option for Air Canada flyers looking to earn more points and receive automatic elite status.

Flyers based in the U.S. may think they wouldn’t have a need for a card like the Aeroplan ® Credit Card , it might be much better suited for you than you think.

Not only does Air Canada offer fantastic award redemptions, but adding the card to your wallet makes the program even more rewarding by offering elite status, more points, travel coverage, and more. Let’s take a closer look and see why the Aeroplan card might make a lot of sense for you.

• 3x points per $1 on Air Canada purchases, at grocery stores, and dining at restaurants (including takeout and eligible delivery services)
• 500 bonus points for every $2,000 you spend in a calendar month (up to a maximum of 1,500 bonus points)
• Receive Aeroplan 25K status for the remainder of the calendar year, plus the following calendar year, and continue to extend it beyond that by spending $15,000 on the card per calendar year
• Free first checked bag for you and up to 8 traveling companions
• Global Entry, TSA PreCheck, or NEXUS fee credit
• Preferred pricing on award tickets
• No foreign transaction fees
• $95 annual fee
• Does not earn transferable rewards
• Earn 60,000 bonus points
• Earn 60,000 points after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open.
• $95 Annual Fee
• Redeem points for both international and domestic flights with the Aeroplan ® Credit Card.
• Fly to another continent and travel the world with the Aeroplan ® Credit Card.
• Earn 3X points for each dollar spent at grocery stores, on dining at restaurants, and Air Canada directly. Earn 1X point for each dollar spent on all other purchases.
• 500 bonus points for every $2,000 you spend in a calendar month - up to 1,500 points per month.
• Member FDIC
• APR: 21.74% - 28.74% Variable
• Airline Credit Cards
• Air Canada Aeroplan Loyalty Program Review
• Chase Launches Brand-New Air Canada Aeroplan Credit Card
• Best Ways To Earn Air Canada Aeroplan Points
• Best Ways To Redeem Air Canada Aeroplan Points

Bottom Line: Several airlines fly routes between the U.S. and Europe. Aeroplan has enhanced redemption value because it does not pass on any fuel surcharges on partner flights, which lends a huge helping hand for most Star Alliance airlines.

LifeMiles is the loyalty program of Avianca. There are tons of great ways to redeem LifeMiles, and one of the best ways is either in business or first class to Europe.

LifeMiles has a Star Alliance award chart, and it prices awards based on regions. It does not allow stopovers, but it never levies fuel surcharges. This is an easy way to save hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars on fuel surcharges !

Additionally, it periodically offers Promo Awards that can discount your flights up to 48%!

Economy class tickets are 30,000 miles, business costs 63,000 miles, and first class is 87,000 miles. Keep in mind that these prices are one-way prices .

Taxes and fees will be around $30 to $50 each way — what a steal!

And since Avianca is a Star Alliance partner, you can book Star Alliance flights to Europe.

You pretty much have to book with its online search engine. It can be clunky at times, especially with connecting flights or flights with 2 or more stops. If you’re booking nonstop flights, you shouldn’t have any issues.

Here are some of our favorite LifeMiles redemptions you can make to Europe:

• Houston (IAH) – Frankfurt (FRA) one-way in Lufthansa first class for 87,000 LifeMiles + ~$52 in taxes and fees
• Los Angeles (LAX) – London (LHR) one-way in United Polaris class for 63,000 LifeMiles + ~$52 in taxes and fees
• New York (JFK) – Vienna (VIE)  one-way in Austrian Airlines business class for 63,000 LifeMiles + ~$52 in taxes and fees
• San Francisco (SFO) – Zurich (ZRH) one-way in SWISS Air business class for 63,000 LifeMiles + ~$52 in taxes and fees
• Toronto (YYZ) – Munich (MUC) one-way in Lufthansa business class for 63,000 LifeMiles + ~$52 in taxes and fees

Once you’re ready to make your booking, follow these instructions:

• Go to the LifeMiles website .
• Adjust the language to  English by clicking the flag icon in the top-right corner.
• Click  Log In .
• Click  Travel on the top banner of the homepage.
• Fill in your flight details and click  Find Flights .
• Choose the desired travel date(s).
• Select an option that you like, redeem your LifeMiles, enter your travelers’ information, and use a credit card for taxes and fees.

Avianca’s phone staff can be difficult to work with, so you’re pretty much out of luck if you can’t find the flight you want using its online award search.

Earning Avianca LifeMiles

Avianca LifeMiles is a transfer partner with American Express Membership Rewards,  Brex Rewards , Capital One Miles,  Citi ThankYou Rewards , and Marriott Bonvoy.

Amex, Brex, Capital One, and Citi transfer at a 1:1 ratio almost instantly (Brex may take up to 1 business day).

Marriott Bonvoy transfers at a 3:1 ratio, so for every 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points transferred in a single transaction, you would get 20,000 LifeMiles.

Lastly, you can buy LifeMiles . There are frequent sales of pretty ridiculous bonus amounts — up to 200% bonus miles on top of your purchase.

These sales make purchasing miles very tempting, seeing as how you can fly first class for around $1,000!

Recommended Citi Cards

Citi Premier ® Card

Frequent flyers will enjoy 3x ThankYou Points at restaurants, gas stations, supermarkets, air travel, and hotels.

The Citi Premier ® Card is an excellent option for anyone looking for an all-around travel rewards credit card. The card helps you earn points fast with great 3x bonus categories such as restaurants, supermarkets, gas stations, airfare, and hotels. Plus, it offers access to airline and hotel transfer partners, doesn’t charge foreign transaction fees, and has a reasonable annual fee!

• 3x points at restaurants, supermarkets, gas stations, airfare, and hotel purchases
• Access to Citi transfer partners
• Annual hotel credit
• Earn 60,000 bonus ThankYou ® Points after you spend $4,000 in purchases within the first 3 months of account opening. Plus, for a limited time, earn a total of 10 ThankYou ® Points per $1 spent on hotel, car rentals, and attractions (excluding air travel) booked on the Citi Travel℠ portal through June 30, 2024.
• Earn 3 Points per $1 spent at Gas Stations, Air Travel and Other Hotels
• Earn 3 Points per $1 spent at Restaurants and Supermarkets
• Earn 1 Point per $1 spent on all other purchases
• Annual Hotel Savings Benefit
• 60,000 ThankYou ® Points are redeemable for $600 in gift cards redeemable for $600 in gift cards or travel rewards at thankyou.com
• No expiration and no limit to the amount of points you can earn with this card
• No Foreign Transaction Fees on purchases
• APR: 21.24% - 29.24% Variable

Citi ThankYou Rewards

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• Authorized User Benefits of the Citi Premier
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Asiana Airlines’ Asiana Club is what we’d consider an intermediate-to-advanced method for using points. Some of its redemption rates will blow your mind, but booking your award involves several additional steps.

Specifically, flying first class one-way from North America to Europe only costs 50,000 Asiana miles, and business is 40,000 miles!

We believe the best deal is first class for only 10,000 miles more. Yes, you will be paying fuel surcharges, but it may be worth it considering the points you would be saving. 

Asiana Airlines is also a Star Alliance partner, so you can book all of the Star Alliance partners listed in the above sections.

Since there are very few Star Alliance partners that operate a first class cabin to Europe, we think the best use of Asiana miles is Lufthansa first class.

You’ll need to pay for surcharges on all partners, so prepare for that. Check out some of our favorite ways to redeem Asiana miles for flights to Europe:

• Chicago (ORD) – Frankfurt (FRA) one-way in Lufthansa first class for 50,000 Asiana miles + ~$800 in taxes and fees
• Miami (MIA) – Warsaw (WAW) one-way in LOT Polish business class for 40,000 Asiana miles + ~$250 in taxes and fees
• New York (JFK) – Frankfurt (FRA)  one-way in Lufthansa first class for 50,000 Asiana miles + ~$800 in taxes and fees
• Newark (EWR) – Tel Aviv (TLV) one-way in United Polaris class for 40,000 Asiana miles + ~$10 in taxes and fees
• San Francisco (SFO) – Frankfurt (FRA) one-way in Lufthansa first class for 50,000 Asiana miles + ~$800 in taxes and fees
• Washington, D.C. (IAD) – Istanbul (IST) one-way in Turkish Airlines business class for 40,000 Asiana miles + ~$300 in taxes and fees

The process for redeeming Asiana miles is a bit more complex:

• Find award availability using United’s website .
• Write down all of the relevant flight details.
• Call Asiana Club at 800-227-4262 and feed your flight details to the live agent after explaining that you’d like to book a Star Alliance award flight using Asiana miles.
• Confirm the ticket over the phone, redeem your Asiana miles, and use a credit card for taxes and fees.

Earning Asiana Miles

Unfortunately, this is where the main drawback of Asiana Airlines comes in.

Asiana Club is transfer partners with just 1 points currency: Marriott Bonvoy.

Marriott Bonvoy transfers at a 3:1 ratio to Asiana Club with a bonus of 5,000 Asiana miles when you transfer 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points to Asiana all at once. This makes it more difficult to earn Asiana miles .

Recommended Marriott Bonvoy Cards

We explore the large number of Marriott credit cards available in our detailed guide.

Air France-KLM’s Flying Blue loyalty program can be a great way to book award flights to Europe, especially when it runs Promo Rewards.

With connecting flights routing through either Amsterdam (AMS) or Paris (CDG) and being bookable on either airline, Flying Blue has some of the best award availability on its own flights between the U.S. and Europe.

Air France has variable award pricing, and the best thing you can do is use Flying Blue’s award calculator and search for the lowest-level award availability.

You cannot book first class awards with Air France or KLM — you must earn elite status with Flying Blue. Since not many of us earn the required status, that means most of us can’t book first class awards, so we are leaving it out of the discussion here.

Perhaps the best part of the Flying Blue program is that it has  Promo Rewards . These awards are available for a special selection of destinations and are offered for a reduced number of miles — between 25% and 50% off what would normally be required for an award flight! Promo Rewards change every month and are limited in terms of availability, when you can book, and what airlines you can fly. If your schedule is flexible or you can book a trip closer to when it takes place, these Promo Rewards can be great options.

Air France and KLM are members of the SkyTeam alliance and also partner with additional airlines. You can use Flying Blue miles to book flights on any of the following airlines between the U.S. and Europe:

• Czech Airlines
• Delta Air Lines
• ITA Airways

Flying Blue adds carrier-imposed surcharges on its award redemptions, but depending on the routing, it often isn’t that bad.

Of course, as with any program, these surcharges are significantly higher for premium cabins. When booking an award, you will need to look at the charges and decide if it is still a good enough value.

For those partners that aren’t bookable on the Flying Blue site, you can check where to search them and then book awards by phone with either Air France or KLM.

Here are some of our favorite redemptions you can make:

• Atlanta (ATL) – Frankfurt (FRA) one-way in Delta One for 53,000 Flying Blue miles + ~$730 in taxes and fees
• Chicago (ORD) – Paris (CDG) one-way in Air France business class for 58,000 Flying Blue miles + ~$298 in taxes and fees
• Houston (IAH) – Amsterdam (AMS) one-way in KLM business class for 72,000 Flying Blue miles + ~$310 in taxes and fees
• Los Angeles (LAX) – Rome (FCO) one-way in ITA business class for 53,000 Flying Blue miles + ~$325 in taxes and fees

To book your flights, follow these steps:

• Visit Air France’s U.S. website .
• Log into your Flying Blue account.
• Click  Book with Miles .
• Fill in the search box, and click Search flights .
• Choose the desired flight, enter the travelers’ personal information, use your Flying Blue miles, and supply a credit card to pay for any taxes and fees.

Earning Flying Blue Miles

In addition to earning miles when flying with Air France, KLM, and their partners, you can transfer points into the program from American Express Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Brex Rewards, Capital One Miles, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi ThankYou Rewards, and Marriott Bonvoy.

Amex, Bilt, Brex, Capital One, Chase, and Citi all transfer at a 1:1 ratio almost instantly.

Marriott Bonvoy transfers at a 3:1 ratio in 3 business days. Also, when you transfer 60,000 points in a single transaction, you’ll get a bonus of 5,000 Flying Blue miles.

Having all of these transfer partners really makes it easy to earn enough miles for your trip!

For more recommendations, read our post on how to earn lots of Flying Blue miles .

Recommended Chase Cards

Chase Sapphire Preferred ® Card

A fantastic travel card with a huge welcome offer, good benefits, and perks for a moderate annual fee.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred ® card is one of the best travel rewards cards on the market. Its bonus categories include travel, dining, online grocery purchases, and streaming services, which gives you the opportunity to earn lots of bonus points on these purchases.

Additionally, it offers flexible point redemption options, no foreign transaction fees, and excellent travel insurance coverage including primary car rental insurance . With benefits like these, it’s easy to see why this card is an excellent choice for any traveler.

• 5x points on all travel booked via the Chase Travel portal
• 5x points on select Peloton purchases over $150 (through March 31, 2025)
• 5x points on Lyft purchases (through March 31, 2025)
• 3x points on dining purchases, online grocery purchases, and select streaming services
• 2x points on all other travel worldwide
• $50 annual credit on hotel stays booked through the Chase Travel portal
• 6 months of complimentary Instacart+ (activate by July 31, 2024), plus up to $15 in statement credits each quarter through July 2024
• Excellent travel and car rental insurance
• 10% annual bonus points
• No foreign transaction fees
• 1:1 point transfer to leading airline and hotel loyalty programs like United MileagePlus and World of Hyatt
• $95 annual fee
• No elite benefits like airport lounge access or hotel elite status
• Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $750 when you redeem through Chase Travel℠.
• Enjoy benefits such as 5x on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, 3x on dining, select streaming services and online groceries, 2x on all other travel purchases, 1x on all other purchases, $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit, plus more.
• Get 25% more value when you redeem for airfare, hotels, car rentals and cruises through Chase Travel℠. For example, 60,000 points are worth $750 toward travel.
• Count on Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance, Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver, Lost Luggage Insurance and more.
• Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2024.
• APR: 21.49%-28.49% Variable

Chase Ultimate Rewards

• The Chase Sapphire Preferred 80k or 100k Bonus Offer
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• Chase Freedom Unlimited vs Sapphire Preferred
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• Amex Gold vs Chase Sapphire Preferred

Chase Sapphire Reserve ®

A top player in the high-end premium travel credit card space that earns 3x points on travel and dining while offering top luxury perks.

If you’re looking for an all-around excellent travel rewards card, the Chase Sapphire Reserve ®  is one of the best options out there.

The card combines elite travel benefits and perks like airport lounge access , with excellent point earning and redemption options.  Plus it offers top-notch travel insurance protections to keep you covered whether you’re at home or on the road.

Don’t forget the $300 annual travel credit which really helps to reduce the annual fee!

• 10x total points on hotels and car rentals when you purchase travel through Chase TravelSM immediately after the first $300 is spent on travel purchases annually
• 10x points on Lyft purchases March 31, 2025
• 10x points on Peloton equipment and accessory purchases over $250 through March 31, 2025
• 5x points on airfare booked through Chase Travel SM
• 3x points on all other travel and dining purchases; 1x point on all other purchases
• $300 annual travel credit
• Priority Pass airport lounge access
• TSA PreCheck, Global Entry, or NEXUS credit
• Access to Chase Luxury Hotel and Resort Collection
• Rental car elite status with National and Avis
• $550 annual fee
• Does not offer any sort of hotel elite status
• Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $900 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Travel℠.
• $300 Annual Travel Credit as reimbursement for travel purchases charged to your card each account anniversary year.
• Earn 5x total points on flights and 10x total points on hotels and car rentals when you purchase travel through Chase Travel℠ immediately after the first $300 is spent on travel purchases annually. Earn 3x points on other travel and dining & 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases
• Get 50% more value when you redeem your points for travel through Chase Travel℠. For example, 60,000 points are worth $900 toward travel.
• 1:1 point transfer to leading airline and hotel loyalty programs
• Access to 1,300+ airport lounges worldwide after an easy, one-time enrollment in Priority Pass™ Select and up to $100 application fee credit every four years for Global Entry, NEXUS, or TSA PreCheck ®
• Count on Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance, Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver, Lost Luggage Insurance and more
• APR: 22.49%-29.49% Variable
• Chase Sapphire Reserve 100k Bonus Offer
• Chase Sapphire Reserve Benefits
• Chase Sapphire Reserve Airport Lounge Access
• Chase Sapphire Reserve Travel Insurance Benefits
• Chase Sapphire Reserve Military Benefits
• Amex Gold vs Chase Sapphire Reserve

Business Owner?  Read our article on the best  Chase business cards  that earn Ultimate Rewards.

Although Delta SkyMiles uses variable award pricing and has removed its award chart, there is still good value to be had utilizing Delta SkyMiles to book flights to Europe.

Delta Air Lines is the flagship U.S. SkyTeam partner, so it makes sense that it’s a must-use for U.S.-based travelers.

Its online booking system is very robust, partner award rates are reasonable, and there are tons of ways to earn SkyMiles .

Delta’s award pricing system is very complicated for flights on its own metal. For partner flights, though, it’s usually a set price to Europe:

You won’t pay for fuel surcharges except for flights originating in Europe.

The best part about Delta’s online award search is that you can search using a flexible date and 5-week search! This will allow you to save tons of time when looking for award availability, so you can book awards quickly and completely online.

Check out some great example redemptions to make:

• Atlanta (ATL) – Amsterdam (AMS) one-way in KLM business class from 120,000 Delta SkyMiles
• Detroit (DTW) – Amsterdam (AMS) one-way in Delta One business class from 120,000 Delta SkyMiles
• Los Angeles (LAX) – Moscow (SVO) one-way in Aeroflot business class from 120,000 Delta SkyMiles
• Miami (MIA) – Madrid (MAD) one-way in Air Europa business class from 120,000 Delta SkyMiles
• New York (JFK) – Milan (MXP) one-way in ITA business class from 120,000 Delta SkyMiles

Here’s how to book your flights using Delta SkyMiles:

• Visit Delta’s website .
• At the top of the page, you’ll see a search box.
• Populate the search details, and click  Shop with Miles . Click  Advanced Search and choose Delta One  if you’re looking for business class award flights.
• Find the flights you like, redeem your SkyMiles, and enter your credit card information for taxes and fees.

Earning Delta SkyMiles

There are loads of ways to earn Delta SkyMiles , but Delta is a transfer partner with American Express Membership Rewards and Marriott Bonvoy.

There are also a bunch of different co-branded Delta credit cards from American Express that can give you a huge boost in SkyMiles, especially from the welcome bonuses!

Hot Tip: Need some help finding award space? Use this guide to search for SkyTeam award availability .

Though Korean Air SKYPASS is sort of strange with its requirements for booking awards for other passengers, it’s still hugely worth it to save tons of miles.

We love Korean Air because of 1 main reason: redemption rates .

There are a few rules you must follow to book awards, such as booking round-trip awards for SkyTeam partners.

Other than that, the only hiccup is for booking other passengers. You can get around this by creating a Korean Air SKYPASS account for each passenger.

Here’s what Korean Air SKYPASS charges for round-trip flights to Europe:

You’ll be responsible for fuel surcharges regardless of which airline you fly.

Here are the partners you can book directly online (the others you’ll need to call to book):

• China Airlines
• China Eastern
• China Southern
• Garuda Indonesia

Here are some great example routes you can book with Korean Air miles:

• Boston (BOS) – Paris (CDG) round-trip in Air France business class for 80,000 Korean Air miles + ~$1,817 in taxes and fees
• Detroit (DTW) – London (LHR) round-trip in Delta business class for 80,000 Korean Air miles + ~$1,972 in taxes and fees
• Miami (MIA) – Rome (FCO) round-trip in ITA business class for 80,000 Korean Air miles + ~$1,712 in taxes and fees
• San Francisco (SFO) – Amsterdam (AMS) round-trip in KLM business class for 80,000 Korean Air miles + ~$1,739 in taxes and fees

Once you’re ready to book, you can follow these instructions:

• Use Delta  or Air France’s website to find award availability.
• Write down the flight numbers.
• Call Korean Air SKYPASS at 800-438-5000  and feed the agent the flight details to make a SkyTeam award booking.
• Pay with your SKYPASS miles and use a credit card for taxes and fees.

Earning Korean Air Miles

Unfortunately, Korean Air is only a transfer partner with Marriott Bonvoy. Marriott transfers to Korean Air at a 3:1 ratio.

There are a few other ways to earn Korean Air miles , including the co-branded U.S. Bank credit cards that earn SKYPASS miles directly.

American Airlines’ AAdvantage program can help you book award tickets on its own flights, as well as on several of its Oneworld alliance partners.

It has an easy-to-read award chart, so you will always know the saver award price for the flights you are trying to book.

One great thing about the AAdvantage program is that it offers off-peak awards for economy travel to certain regions at certain times of the year.

These are discounted redemption rates and include flights on its partners as well as on its own planes.

Hot Tip: The off-peak awards date ranges will vary, and the best way to find out is to visit AA’s flight award chart . Then, click on  Details on award travel to see the off-peak travel dates.

Of American’s partners, you can fly between Europe and the U.S. on American, British Airways, Finnair, and Iberia.

Taxes and fees on some American Airlines awards can be quite high. In addition, it adds carrier-imposed surcharges to award flights on British Airways and Iberia.

The surcharges aren’t as bad on Iberia as they are on British Airways, but you should still keep an eye on them. If you can find availability on other airlines instead, you can save a significant amount of money when booking your awards.

For more information, check out our guide to the best ways to search for Oneworld award availability .

Hot Tip: Check American Airlines’ region definitions to confirm that your destination falls within the European region.

Here are some great routes you can book using AAdvantage miles:

• Dallas (DFW) – Paris (CDG) one-way in American Airlines business class for 57,500 AA miles + ~$15 in taxes and fees
• Miami (MIA) – Helsinki (HEL) one-way in Finnair business class one-way in American Airlines business class for 57,500 AA miles + ~$6 in taxes and fees
• New York (JFK) – Madrid (MAD) one-way in Iberia business class for 57,500 AA miles + ~$200 in taxes and fees
• San Diego (SAN) – London (LHR) one-way in British Airways business class for 57,500 AA miles + ~$350 in taxes and fees

Check out the following directions to book your Europe flights using AAdvantage miles:

• Visit the American Airlines website .
• You’ll see a search box on the homepage. Check off the box that says  Redeem miles .
• Fill out the search box and click  Search.
• Find your desired flight.
• Enter the traveler details, pay with AAdvantage miles, and use a credit card for any taxes and fees incurred.

Earning American Airlines AAdvantage Miles

In addition to earning AAdvantage miles by flying American Airlines and its partners, you can transfer miles into the program from Bilt Rewards and Marriott Bonvoy.

Bilt Rewards points transfer at a 1:1 almost instantly.

Marriott Bonvoy transfers to AAdvantage at a 3:1 ratio in 2 business days.

We’ve also covered many other ways to earn lots of American miles, which include signing up and using various co-branded credit cards .

Tips and Tricks

Wherever you are headed in the world, when booking award tickets, you may run into a few unexpected snags.

Every segment may not be available, fees on the ticket may be very high, or maybe there just aren’t enough available seats.

Here are a few tips and tricks to help make your life easier when booking flights to Europe with points.

In Europe, certain airports are much more expensive to fly through than others. Avoiding the more expensive airports can save you as much as a few hundred dollars on your trip!

When searching for award space, be sure to look at a couple of routes to see the difference in taxes and fees . By adjusting the departure or even the connection location, you can sometimes cut costs significantly.

The U.K., for example, adds a hefty Air Passenger Duty (APD) onto each ticket departing the U.K. and flying over 2,000 miles. This fee is a whopping £180 per person (approximately $195) if you are flying in a premium cabin.

But avoiding this fee is easy! Just make sure your return from Europe doesn’t depart from the U.K. If you want to visit London , simply add in a few days in another country before your return to the U.S.

You’ll get to see another place, and it could save you a lot of money (especially if you are traveling with several passengers). Here you can see what we mean:

In this first example, we are looking at a one-way flight from London to New York. You can see that in economy class, the taxes and fees on an American Airlines-operated flight are $188.

In business class, the fees are $631 on a British Airways-operated flight. This larger amount is partially because British Airways adds hefty carrier-imposed surcharges to its flights, and partially because of the U.K. Air Passenger Duty. Now let’s look at flights on the same day from Paris.

You can see above that the taxes and fees are significantly less for these flights on the same operators out of Paris.

The American Airlines coach flight’s fee drops to $87, and the British Airways business class flight drops to $389.

You may notice that the business class flight does not decrease by the entire amount of the U.K. Air Passenger Duty — this is because there are 2 flights on British Airways with this award, so there are added carrier-imposed surcharges.

London and Paris were used in these examples because they are well-known cities, and it was easy to find award space on the same day on multiple carriers.

You should know, however, that Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG) is one of the more expensive airports in continental Europe to fly out of.

By looking at other European cities (especially Istanbul, Oslo, Stockholm, and Warsaw), you can often get the taxes and fees to drop even further than what we have shown.

One of the great parts of award travel to Europe is that you don’t necessarily need to find available flights to the exact place you want to go.

Europe has a combination of multiple low-cost carriers and excellent rail service. Together, these mean it’s easy and fairly inexpensive to hop between cities.

Want to go to Munich but can only find availability to Frankfurt ? No problem. Grab a cheap Eurowings flight, hop on a Deutsche Bahn train, or even buy a Eurail Pass  and you’ll be there later that day. Maybe even add a night or 2 in Frankfurt and see what the city has to offer.

This same idea works with cities all over Europe, so be sure to stay flexible when choosing your flight destinations.

A general issue for award travel (not just on flights to Europe) comes into play when you are traveling with multiple people in your party.

Looking for a single ticket? You’re in luck — those are much easier to find.

Traveling as a couple, a family of 4, or an even larger group? Finding award tickets for everyone in your party can be tough.

When traveling with a large party, you generally want to start searching for award seats right when the schedule opens for booking. However, even if you do this, there often won’t be enough seats for a larger group. This is where it helps to be a little flexible.

If possible, splitting up your group will give you a better chance of all flying on award tickets.

Splitting up could mean that part of your group flies on the next flight on the same day, or it could mean part of the group even flies on a different day.

If you have miles available with airlines in different alliances, your choices increase. Sometimes you can even find award seats with 2 different alliances that arrive at your destination within minutes of each other. That way you can meet up before even leaving the airport!

Obviously, splitting up the group isn’t an ideal situation, but it could mean you can all experience an amazing business class product.

In other cases, it could mean that you can all get to a top destination during peak times. It’s up to you whether finding award seats is worth flying separately.

Europe is a fantastic destination for your travels from the U.S. For those who are new to traveling, you can find many of the comforts of home and plenty of people who speak English.

If you are a history buff, you will love strolling through the cobbled alleyways and visiting the historic castles and churches scattered throughout the countryside. If you are a foodie, it’s hard to beat the amazing cuisine served in France and Italy.

Europe has something for everyone — with so many airlines flying between the U.S. and Europe, it should be easy for you to book your next flight using miles and points.

The question simply becomes whether you want to fly in a premium cabin or in coach, and which airline miles you will use to make your booking. Happy traveling!

The information regarding the United Club℠ Business Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer. The information regarding the Marriott Bonvoy Bold ® Credit Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer. The information regarding the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless ® Credit Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer. The information regarding the Citi ® / AAdvantage ® Platinum Select ® World Elite™ Mastercard ® was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.

For rates and fees of The Platinum Card ® from American Express, click here . For rates and fees of the American Express ® Gold Card, click  here . For rates and fees of the Marriott Bonvoy Bevy™ American Express ® Card, click here . For rates and fees of the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant ® American Express ® card, click here . For rates and fees of the Delta SkyMiles ® Gold American Express Card, click here . For rates and fees of the Delta SkyMiles ® Platinum American Express Card, click here . For rates and fees of Delta SkyMiles ® Reserve American Express Card, click here .

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best way to fly to europe with points and miles.

There are many great programs you can utilize, but some of our favorites are United, ANA, and Air Canada. Others include Avianca LifeMiles, Asiana Club, Flying Blue, Delta SkyMiles, Korean Air SKYPASS, and American Airlines AAdvantage.

How many points does it take to fly to Europe?

It can take as few as 50,000 miles for a round-trip flight in economy, while the cheapest business class flights will cost 80,000 to 90,000 points round-trip. It also depends on what airlines you’re flying on.

What's the cheapest way to fly to Europe?

The cheapest way to fly to Europe using points is likely by taking advantage of Promo Rewards on Air France-KLM Flying Blue if you can get 50% off your economy award ticket.

For business class, the cheapest way to fly is probably using 80,000 Korean Air miles round-trip. Lastly, for first class, the cheapest way to fly is by using 50,000 Asiana miles one-way aboard Lufthansa first class.

How many United miles does it take to fly to Europe?

If you want to fly on United Airlines by redeeming United miles, you can redeem around 60,000 United miles for round-trip economy and as few as 120,000 miles for round-trip business class.

If you want to book an award flight on a partner like SWISS Air or Lufthansa, you can expect to redeem 66,000 United miles for round-trip economy, 154,000 United miles for round-trip business, and 242,000 United miles for round-trip first class.

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About Stephen Au

Stephen is an established voice in the credit card space, with over 70 to his name. His work has been in publications like The Washington Post, and his Au Points and Awards Consulting Services is used by hundreds of clients.

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8 of the best ways to use points and miles for travel

Key takeaways.

• Use points and miles to access travel opportunities that would otherwise be out of reach, such as international business- and first-class tickets.
• For the best deals, book luxury (or all-inclusive) hotels and resorts closer to home instead of in remote locations.
• If you're traveling with your family or a large group, use hotel points for low-category extended stays.
• Compare points and cash values during peak travel seasons since you might still find a great deal. But for the best deals, consider traveling during off-peak seasons and being flexible with your travel dates.

If I had a point for every time I got asked about the best way to use points for travel, I’d have enough to fly around the world — twice. After over a decade in which I turned an interest in loyalty programs into a full-time job, I know how to stretch my points as far as possible .

Used correctly, points can be more valuable than cash. You can use them for everything from a staycation at an extended-stay hotel to a first-class trip to the Maldives. You can plan a cross-country road trip with motel pit stops or literally fly around the world. The key is to know what your points are worth and use them wisely. As a general rule, you should aim to get at least 1 cent of value out of each point (though that won’t always be possible).

If you’ve been saving up your points and wondering how best to use them for travel, we’ve got you covered. Here’s everything you need to know about maximizing value from your points and miles:

Traveling with points and miles

• 42 percent of American consumers surveyed by arrivia have redeemed points or miles to lower the cost of their trip and 32 percent expect to pay for all of their trip with points or miles. ( arrivia )
• 56 percent of credit card holders belong to a loyalty program with travel benefits. (arrivia)
• 23 percent of consumers surveyed haven’t redeemed their credit card rewards in the past year. ( CreditCards.com )
• 55 percent of consumers surveyed who did use their rewards have redeemed rewards for cash back and gift cards, while 13 percent have redeemed their rewards for a free flight and 16 percent for a free hotel stay. (CreditCards.com)
• Millennials are more likely to have a credit card that earns travel rewards than other generations. (arrivia)
• Roughly one-third of consumers surveyed believe travel rewards programs don’t provide enough value. (arrivia)

1. Use points and miles for international business- and first-class tickets

International business- and first-class tickets typically offer the highest-value return for your points and miles. For example:

• A round-trip business-class ticket to Europe typically costs between 80,000 and 140,000 points or miles, while a cash fare for the same route will typically set you back about $5,000.
• An economy-class ticket to Europe typically costs between 30,000 and 60,000 miles round-trip, with cash fares often going as low as $400 during the off-peak season.

As you can see, you’re more likely to get more value for your miles on a premium cabin redemption than on a coach redemption. However, international business- and first-class travel doesn’t just provide the highest redemption value for your rewards — it’s also something most people can’t afford without points and miles. That’s why they’re considered to be the best use of points and miles for travel, as they allow you to keep your expenses low and access travel opportunities that would otherwise be out of reach.

Some of my best mileage redemptions have been flying business and first class. It’s a memorable experience that I’ll never take for granted, and the few times I’ve been able to share it with family members has been equally rewarding. Starting your trip off on a comfortable note with a flatbed seat that lets you rest and enjoy a flight is a special experience that’s worth the splurge.

2. Book luxury (or all-inclusive) hotels and resorts

Luxury hotels can also offer a tremendous return on your points. The Maldives, for example, is a popular destination for maximizing hotel points. Hotels in the Maldives can go well over $1,000 per night, making them a great place to use hotel points and free night awards.

But one aspect that often gets overlooked is that these “free” luxury hotel stays often come with many additional expenses. Even if you don’t pay for your hotel room, food can be expensive in these remote destinations, and boat and seaplane transfers can cost over $500 per person. Unless you were planning to pay out of pocket for the room anyway, you may not save much money on this type of redemption.

A high-value alternative would be to book all-inclusive hotels closer to home (i.e. Mexico and the Caribbean). Hyatt, Hilton and Marriott all have all-inclusive resorts that require a reasonable amount of points. Hyatt’s all-inclusive hotels start at 12,000 points per night (in the off peak season). You can easily accumulate enough points for five free nights using the welcome bonus from The World of Hyatt Credit Card * or Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card .

To elaborate, the World of Hyatt Credit Card currently offers up to 65,000 bonus points — you can earn 35,000 points after you spend $3,000 in the first three months of account opening, plus up to 30,000 more points by earning 2X points on purchases (that normally earn 1X points) during the first six months after opening the card (on up to $15,000). The Chase Sapphire Preferred, on the other hand, currently offers 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 in the first three months of account opening.

It’s worth noting this 12,000-point rate is for two people per room. Hyatt charges an additional 6,500 to 22,000 points per night for each additional person staying in the same room. That said, the great thing about Hyatt’s all-inclusive hotels is that all meals and accommodations are included, making it possible to check out with a $0 bill. That’s not always possible at luxury resorts, where even a trip to the minibar can put a serious dent in your wallet. All-inclusive hotels like these are ideal for budget-conscious travelers who want to enjoy themselves without going overboard.

3. Use hotel points for low-category extended hotel stays for families and large groups

There’s more than one way to get value out of hotel points, and I’m a firm believer that extended-stay hotels can be an excellent use of points.

Extended-stay properties tend to be some of the cheapest hotels, often requiring a fraction of the points required by their luxury counterparts. But lower redemption rates don’t impact value. In fact, these affordable hotels often offer high-value perks that will improve your hotel experience.

For example, complimentary breakfast is typically standard at these types of properties, along with free or cheap parking. Thanks to larger beds and additional sofas, these properties can usually accommodate more than two guests per room. This makes extended-stay properties ideal for families and large groups, allowing them to fit into one room instead of two.

4. Look for great deals on peak travel bookings

During peak travel seasons — including summer, spring break and the holidays — everything from airfare to hotel rates skyrocket. This can be a great time to utilize points and miles to keep your costs down .

It’s worth noting that an increasing number of airline and hotel loyalty programs — many of which are highlighted in Bankrate’s travel toolkit — are moving toward dynamic pricing. That means redemption rates will fluctuate based on the cost of airfare and room rates. However, you can still put your points and miles to good use in spite of dynamic pricing.

Hotel loyalty programs serve as an example of how these redemptions can work out favorably. For example, a stay at the Westin New York Grand Central over Christmas and New Year’s could cost well over $6,000. The same stay could run you roughly 480,000 Marriott Bonvoy points, giving you a value of 1.25 cents per point. That’s a fantastic value for a Marriott redemption, if you’re able to get the points.

Award pricing goes up during peak travel season, but that doesn’t mean the math won’t add up favorably. It’s always a good idea to compare redemption rates against cash prices to determine if that’s the case. Recently, I was able to book a $750 domestic United flight for just 20,000 Aeroplan points, getting me well over 3.75 cents per point on a peak-travel economy class ticket.

5. Travel during off-peak seasons and be flexible with your travel dates

While expensive peak-season travel bookings can increase the value of your rewards, off-peak award redemptions can save you points and miles.

Case in point: American Airlines is one of the few major airlines that still publishes an award chart , which includes off-peak travel dates for its own awards and partner awards . You may be able to save around 20 percent on an award ticket by traveling during the off-season. For example, a one-way economy class fare to Europe typically costs 30,000 miles on the airline. The same award costs about 22,500 miles if you’re willing to travel during off-peak dates.

The same goes for fare-based programs like Southwest Rapid Rewards . By searching through the airline’s low-fare calendar , you can score incredible deals on off-peak award tickets. If you can afford to be flexible with your travel dates , you can stretch your points and miles even further by booking off-peak travel.

6. Look for sweet-spot redemptions with different airlines and hotels

Sweet-spot awards are one of the best-kept secrets of airline and hotel loyalty programs. A “sweet spot” refers to an award that’s offered at a significantly lower price compared to most other programs. Familiarizing yourself with sweet-spot redemptions is a great way to get more travel out of a limited points or miles balance.

For example, United MileagePlus often requires over 160,000 miles for a round-trip business class ticket to Europe. Meanwhile, fellow Star Alliance carrier All Nippon Airways (ANA) requires just 88,000 miles for the same flight. ANA typically gives you a free stopover on these awards itineraries too, allowing you to book multiple trips for the cost of one.

Award tickets to Hawaii are always in demand, and even off-peak travel from the West Coast can cost 40,000 AAdvantage miles or more round-trip. However, British Airways Executive Club has a sweet spot for West Coast travelers starting at just 13,000 Avios each way.

Air France and KLM’s joint loyalty program, Flying Blue , doesn’t get much mainstream recognition, but it’s packed with sweet spots that can save you miles and cash. For instance, you can book a ticket between the U.S. and North Africa for just 100,000 miles. Considering most other programs require 160,000 or more miles for the same award, that’s a fantastic deal.

Bankrate tip

7. take advantage of consecutive-night discounts.

Numerous hotel loyalty programs offer the fourth or fifth night free when you book consecutive nights. By booking longer stays, you can stretch your hotel points much further.

As an example, Marriott Bonvoy offers the fifth night free on award stays for all members, while Hilton Honors limits this benefit to those who hold their co-branded credit cards and those who earn Silver Elite status or higher. Additionally, IHG One Rewards provides the fourth night free on consecutive-night bookings for members with an IHG co-branded credit card like the IHG One Rewards Club Premier credit card *.

8. Redeem rewards for good-enough value when needed

While following the above advice will ensure maximum value for your points and miles, you should use your rewards however you see fit. If redeeming Chase Ultimate Rewards points for a New Orleans ghost tour makes you happy, then go for it. If using your American AAdvantage miles for a rental car keeps cash in your pocket, do it.

While the best way to use points and miles usually involves redeeming them for international business- and first-class flights, the best way for you to use your own points and miles may differ. Your rewards are yours to use, so you may want to ignore what the influencers are doing and do whatever works best for you.

However, points and miles devalue over time — they may even expire after an extended period of time — so the absolute best way to redeem them is as quickly as possible, for the best value you can get. Don’t hoard them, and don’t let them accumulate and devalue before you have a chance to use them. Further, consider redeeming them for lower-value awards like gift cards if they’re about to expire and you’re not able to keep them active.

The bottom line

The best way to use points and miles for travel comes down to your personal preferences. However, by redeeming them strategically, you can stretch their value further. Take advantage of sweet spot awards, splurge on luxury travel and redeem your points either during peak or off-peak travel seasons.

By planning ahead and comparing cash rates to award prices, you can save money on travel and make the most of your points and miles.

Credit card points and miles are types of credit card rewards that you can earn for all eligible spending with your card. These types of rewards structures are usually a feature of travel credit cards .

Whenever you swipe your travel rewards credit card, you’ll earn points or miles for all eligible purchases. For example, you might earn a higher points or miles rate for select types of purchases (such as airfare, rideshares or dining) along with a fixed rate on all other purchases.

Many points and miles cards allow you to redeem your rewards for different types of travel, cash back, merchandise and gift cards, but redemption options will vary from card to card. Since credit card points and miles are usually a feature of travel credit cards, you’ll typically get the best value for travel-related redemption options.

*The information about the World of Hyatt Credit Card and the IHG One Rewards Club Premier credit card has been collected independently by Bankrate.com. The card details have not been reviewed or approved by the card issuer.

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Score Major Savings on Hotel Stays, Vacation Packages, and Rewards Everyday Until May — Here's How

The U.S. Travel Association is hosting a "daily getaway" deal everyday for the rest of this month.

Courtesy of MGM Resorts International

The U.S. Travel Association is releasing a host of sales on Monday ranging from discounted stays from Orlando to Las Vegas.

The industry group's "Daily Getaways" are returning for the 15th year, starting on April 15 until May 1 offering deals on hotel stays, vacation packages and reward points. In order to take advantage of the deals, travelers can visit the Daily Getaways site each day, or follow the promotion’s account on X , according to a release from the U.S. Travel Association.  “Daily Getaways returns this year to spur increased travel ahead of the summer season with some of the best deals that travelers can find. This incredible collection of offers from top travel brands can help turn travel dreams into vacation reality,” U.S. Travel Association spokesperson Greg Staley shared in a statement to Travel + Leisure. 

Here’s a full list of the deals:

• April 15 - Hilton Honors Bonus Points starting at $150
• April 16 - IHG One Rewards Bonus Points starting at $12
• April 17 - MGM Resorts Discount Vacation Packages (New York-New York, Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, Luxor, MGM Grand, Mandalay Bay) starting at $1,000
• April 18 - Universal Orlando Vacation Packages and Tickets starting at $457
• April 19 - SeaWorld, Busch Garden, and Discovery Cove Tickets and Packages starting at $60
• April 22 - MGM Resorts Discount Vacation Packages (Bellagio, Park MGM, ARIA, Excalibur) starting at $1,000
• April 23 - Marriott Convoy eGiftCard starting at $80 
• April 24 - Best Western Reward Points starting at $55
• April 25 - The Venetian Las Vegas Suite Package starting at $1,200
• April 26 - CAESARS Entertainment Vacation Package (Harrah's, Paris, Caesar's Palace, Harrah's Atlantic City) starting at $800
• April 29 - Choice Hotel / Choice Privileges Points starting at $84
• April 30 - Hyatt Hotels, World of Hyatt Bonus Points starting at $396
• May 1 - Wyndham Rewards Bonus Points - Starting at $175

It's worth noting that all of the deals are in limited quantity and those interested can set a reminder on the website.

Some of the deals also include airfare or other amenities. For example, on April 18, theme park enthusiasts can purchase a special Universal Orlando Vacation Package for four people that includes airfare, ground transportation, hotel accommodations at Universal's Cabana Bay Beach Resort, and a 3-park 3-day admission to Universal Studios Florida and their properties. The deal costs $3,360 and is presented at 30 percent off if everything was purchased separately.

• Book Travel
• Credit Cards

Buy Marriott Bonvoy Points with a 40% Bonus

Marriott Bonvoy is the hotel loyalty program of choice for many Canadians, both for hotel bookings and for its flexibility to transfer to a huge variety of airline partners.

Marriott Bonvoy has just unveiled its latest promotion for anyone looking to boost their points balance in preparation for travel this fall, winter, and beyond. This time, you can earn up to a 40% bonus on purchased points, through to March 31, 2024.

Marriott Bonvoy is offering a bonus on points purchases until March 31, 2024. Depending on how many points you purchase, you can earn up to a 40% bonus, which could represent a good deal in some circumstances. 

To access the offer, head over to the promotion’s landing page and log in using your Bonvoy credentials.

This is more or less on par with the best offers we’ve seen in the recent past, although it’s also worth noting that we’ve seen even higher bonuses.

Typically, Marriott charges 1.25 cents per point (USD) to buy directly from the program. With a 40% bonus, the rate comes to 0.89 cents per point (USD), as long as you buy at least 2,000 points.

Buying Bonvoy points at this rate is above our current valuation of 0.6 cents per Bonvoy point (USD).

We’ve seen Marriott go as high as a 60% bonus on promotions before, but we don’t know if/when that bonus might return. So, if you need to buy points, you’ll save some cash with this promotion – just make sure you’re certain that you’ll get more value than the cost of acquisition.

How many Marriott Bonvoy points can you buy?

Since 2021, Marriott Bonvoy has imposed a limit of 100,000 points purchased per calendar year, up from 50,000 previously. That cap is enforced with this promotion, although it’s been raised to a higher limit in previous offers.

This limit includes points purchased for yourself, plus points you receive that were purchased and gifted by others. 

If you were to max out this offer, it’d cost $1,250 (USD) for 140,000 Bonvoy points. 

Which credit card should you use to buy Marriott Bonvoy points?

Marriott sells points through an external vendor, Points.com. They don’t count as a travel purchase, and there’s no extra benefit to using a co-branded Amex Marriott Bonvoy card issued in Canada or the US.

Instead, I’d suggest any card with a high base earn rate, or one where you’re working on meeting the minimum spend requirement.

Because the purchase is charged in USD, you might consider using a Canadian-issued card with no foreign exchange fees , or any US credit card .

Who Should Buy Marriott Bonvoy Points?

Buying points can be a good way to top up your account if you’re keen to make a redemption soon.

Booking a High-Value Aspirational Hotel

The Marriott Bonvoy portfolio contains some of the most exceptional hotel brands in the world, including Ritz-Carlton, St. Regis, and EDITION, among others.

With sky-high cash prices, booking on points can bring these experiences within reach, despite the demise of the Marriott Bonvoy award chart.

The best of the best go for 80,000–150,000+ points per night.   Compare that to the cash price at the Luxury Collection’s Al Maha Desert Resort Dubai , which can easily exceed $1,400 (USD) per night.

At a cash price of $1,250 (USD) for 140,000 points (with the current 40% bonus), that’d be enough for one night at Al Maha on many dates, with some points leftover to boot. In this case, it definitely makes sense to buy points instead of pay cash if a luxury booking is on your radar.

Or if the desert isn’t your style, you could indulge in decadence at the JW Marriott Maldives . Even with “relatively” more reasonable prices under $1,000 (USD) per night, a points booking is still the way to go.

Of course, you’ll want to make sure you’ve lined up the award availability at the hotel before pulling the trigger on a points purchase, especially if you’re trying to maximize the Fifth Night Free benefit.

Quick Top-Up for Any Upcoming Redemption

For travellers with a more humble taste, the top end of the Marriott Bonvoy chart isn’t the only place to find good value.

At the end of the day, as long as the value of your redemption is above the acquisition cost of 0.89 cents per point (USD), you’ll come out ahead on any booking.

However, compared to aspirational properties, the value proposition in buying Bonvoy points for lower-end redemptions is less clear-cut. It’s heavily dependent on finding a discrepancy between the cash price and the points price, and that can often be hard to predict.

Therefore, since Bonvoy points are rather easy to earn anyway, I’d recommend exhausting the cheaper sources first before buying points outright.

Transfer to Exclusive Airline Partners

Marriott Bonvoy has 38 airline partners . For most programs, Bonvoy points can be transferred to airline miles at a rate of 3:1, with a 5,000-mile bonus for transferring in increments of 60,000 Bonvoy points for most airlines.

By buying Bonvoy points at 0.89 cents per point (USD) and transferring to frequent flyer programs, you’re effectively purchasing airline miles for 2.14  cents per mile (USD).

This is certainly quite expensive, but the real benefit is gaining access to exclusive airlines.

For example, Singapore Airlines doesn’t make First Class award space bookable for partner programs like Aeroplan . Usually, you can only book Singapore Suites with its own KrisFlyer loyalty program.

And with few transfer partners in Canada ( HSBC Rewards is the only other one), Marriott Bonvoy can provide a rare gateway to sample this luxurious experience.

Other niche transfer partners include Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan for its unique partner-based sweet spots , ANA Mileage Club for its generous round-the-world award ticket , Korean Air SKYPASS for Korean Air First Class , or any other airline loyalty program with a weaker footprint in the credit card industry.

Multi-Player Mode: Pool Points Among the Family

One of Marriott Bonvoy’s greatest strengths lies in the ability to transfer points freely between accounts , and it’s even easier these days with its online transfer tool . Each member may send up to 100,000 points per calendar year and receive up to 500,000 points per calendar year.

If you have Marriott Bonvoy Elite status on the primary account in your household, it’s ideal to pool your points in the elite member’s account to make bookings, especially for high-end properties where the perks of hotel status really shine.

Once you’ve hit your points purchase cap on your main account, you can buy more points on another account to take advantage of any remaining transfer room. Note that members must be enrolled for 30 days and have some activity on their account before they are eligible to purchase points.

Other Ways to Earn Marriott Bonvoy Points

Marriott Bonvoy moved to dynamic pricing in 2022 , so it can be a risky proposition to commit money to their loyalty program if you aren’t imminently planning a booking.

In March 2023, the program raised the ceiling for award bookings , which is the latest step in its move towards dynamic pricing. While this most negatively affects ultra-high-end hotels, it seems that other properties have seen an increase, too.

If you aren’t in a rush to acquire Bonvoy points but would like to build your balance slowly for a bigger redemption down the road, I’d recommend looking at credit card opportunities first.

Canadian Credit Cards by American Express

American Express issues two co-branded Marriott Bonvoy cards in Canada:

• American Express Marriott Bonvoy Card : Earn up to 55,000 Bonvoy points upon spending $3,000 in the first three months, with an annual fee of $120. 
• American Express Marriott Bonvoy Business Card : Earn 55,000 Bonvoy points upon spending $5,000 in the first three months, with an annual fee of $150. 

At 0.22–0.27 cents per point (CAD) , the annual fees on both cards represent extremely favourable acquisition costs compared to today’s valuation of 0.8 cents per point (CAD).

American Express Membership Rewards can also be transferred to Marriott Bonvoy at a rate of 1:1.2. All MR-earning cards are good options; however, the following provide the best return on annual fees:

• Converted to Marriott Bonvoy, this becomes 78,400 Bonvoy points.
• Converted to Marriott Bonvoy, this becomes 138 ,000 Bonvoy points.
• Converted to Marriott Bonvoy, this becomes 92,400 Bonvoy points.
• Converted to Marriott Bonvoy, this becomes 15,000 Bonvoy points.

After transferring points to Bonvoy, the annual fees represent acquisition costs below 0.2 cents per point (CAD). Indeed, all of the above cards offer good value for the Marriott Bonvoy program.

US Credit Cards by American Express & Chase

South of the border, American Express issues three co-branded Marriott Bonvoy cards:

• American Express US Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Card : Earn 95,000 points  upon spending $6,000 (USD) in the first three months, with an annual fee of $650 (USD) .
• American Express US Marriott Bonvoy Bevy Card :  Earn  85,000 Marriott Bonvoy points upon spending $5,000 (USD) in the first six months, with an annual fee of $250 (USD).
• American Express US Marriott Bonvoy Business Card : Earn three Free Night Awards worth 50,000 points apiece,   upon spending $6,000 (USD) in the first six months , with an annual fee of $125 (USD).

In addition, Chase has also partnered with the hotel chain, offering two co-branded personal cards on the Visa network:

• Chase Marriott Bonvoy Bold Card: Earn 30,000 Bonvoy points upon spending $1,000 in the first three months, with an annual fee of $0.
• Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Card: Earn five Free Night Awards worth 50,000 points apiece upon spending $5,000 (USD) within the first three months, with an annual fee of $95.
• Chase Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful Card:  Earn 85,000 Marriott Bonvoy points upon spending $4,000 in the first three months, with an annual fee of $250 (USD).

All of the above cards are quite compelling once you consider the annual Free Night Awards you earn.

Also, keep in mind that if you’ve received the welcome bonus on an Amex US Marriott Bonvoy card within the last 24 months, you’re not eligible for the Chase offers, and vice versa.

So even though there are many ways to earn Bonvoy points from US credit cards, you’ll have to choose just one that suits you best in the short term.

Previous Promotions

As you decide whether this promotion is a good opportunity for you to meet your travel goals, here’s a look back at Marriott Bonvoy’s past bonuses on purchasing points:

With so many other ways to collect Marriott Bonvoy points, I wouldn’t rush to speculatively buy points at 0.89 cents per point (USD).

But if you need to push your balance over the hump for a dream redemption , this promotion can help you make it happen.

C onsider loading up with a 40% bonus – cash rates at top-tier properties are astronomical, and points bookings are only getting further out of reach as well, so don’t let the opportunity pass you by. 

Make sure to purchase Marriott Bonvoy points before March 31, 2024  to take advantage of this offer if you’re interested.

• Earn 70,000 Bonvoy points upon spending $3,000 in the first three months
• Plus, earn an extra 3 Bonvoy points per dollar spent on eligible travel and gas purchases in the first six months, up to 15,000 points
• Also, receive an annual Free Night Award worth 35,000 Bonvoy points  starting in your second year with the card
• Also, receive 15 elite-qualifying nights every year and automatic Marriott Bonvoy Silver Elite status
• Bonus Bonvoy points for referring family and friends
• Annual fee: $120

This is a recurring article, regularly updated with the latest promotion. Some comments may refer to past promotions that are no longer available.

I am only getting 35% bonus, and not able to find this 40%

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Politics latest: PM 'appalled' by police protest row; Truss backs Trump and Sunak to win elections

Former prime minister Liz Truss has blamed her downfall on "deep resistance within the establishment" in an interview with Sky News. Meanwhile, Labour leader Keir Starmer has said the Tories have "lost any right" to call themselves patriotic.

Sunday 21 April 2024 15:15, UK

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• Liz Truss refuses to apologise for higher interest rates in Sky News interview
• 'I want Rishi Sunak to win' - Truss
• Adam Boulton: What Truss and Trump have in common
• PM 'appalled' by police protest row
• Met Police chief's resignation 'not the way forward' - Labour
• Rishi Sunak 'not a real Conservative', Reform leader claims
• General election date 'above my pay grade' - Sunak ally
• Labour vows to get prisons built
• Tap here to subscribe to Electoral Dysfunction
• Live reporting by Charlotte Chelsom-Pill

But before you go, here are the headlines:

• Liz Truss has refused to apologise to homeowners for higher interest rates in an interview with Sky News;
• The former prime minister also said she had changed her mind on "problematic" net zero legislation;
• The Metropolitan Police chief is facing calls to quit over the force's handling of a recent pro-Palestinian protest;
• He will meet Jewish groups after the force threatened to arrest an "openly Jewish" man;
• Labour's shadow justice secretary told Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips the force have "not covered themselves in glory", but the Met chief's resignation is not "the way forward";
• Reform UK leader Richard Tice has accused Rishi Sunak of not being a "real Conservative," telling Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips there will be a "realignment of the right";
• A number of MPs are running the London Marathon today, including Chancellor Jeremy Hunt who is running the race for the third and "the last" time.

We'll be back from 6am with all the latest.

People voting in local elections in England on 2 May will need to provide photo ID.

It is the second year the requirement has been in place - but in 2023,  14,000 people couldn't cast their ballot because they didn't take ID to the polling booth.

There are 22 different types of ID you can use - and if you don't have any of them, you can register for a Voter Authority Certificate.

Here's everything you need to know to avoid being caught out:

We have been reporting today that there's a lengthy list of MPs taking part in the London Marathon today - with one MP running for the 18th time ( see post at 11.27am ).

But none so far have taken the title for fastest-ever MP to run the race from Matthew Parris. 

In 1985, he ran the marathon in 2 hours, 32 minutes.

The Times columnist and former Conservative MP told Sky News he is "intensely proud, inordinately proud" at the achievement. 

"I would almost think it is the thing of which I am most proud in my entire political career," he said.

"I had trained so intensely. 

"Up hill, down dale - I would run into the House of Commons for a vote and run back after the vote."

He said he even got stopped by the police once running back from a vote. 

"It was a better result than I could have expected, so I was very proud," he said.

A power-sharing agreement between the SNP and the Greens at Holyrood is under threat after the Scottish government ditched a key climate change target.

The Scottish Green Party has said a vote on the deal, to be held at a forthcoming extraordinary general meeting (EGM), would be binding.

The date of the assembly and the crunch ballot has yet to be announced.

There is unhappiness among Green Party members after the SNP announced the Scottish government was scrapping its commitment to cut emissions by 75% by 2030. 

The Rainbow Greens, the party's LGBT wing, has also criticised the announcement, which came on the same day that the prescription of puberty blockers for new patients under the age of 18, at the gender identity service in Glasgow, would be paused.

The decision followed a landmark review of gender services for under-18s in England and Wales.

Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie said he would be urging members to back the power-sharing agreement so the party could "put Green values into practice" in government.

Writing on X, he said "many" members had been calling for an EGM to discuss the future of the agreement.

But Mr Harvie said: "As part of the Scottish government, we're making a difference on a far bigger scale than ever before."

Read more here:

In case you missed Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips, we have a recap of one of the interviews on the programme.

Richard Tice, the leader of Reform UK, claimed Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is "not a real Conservative".

He pointed to the high tax burden and even went as far as calling Mr Sunak a "socialist".

Read the full story below:

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is "appalled" by an exchange at a pro-Palestinian protest in which the Met Police threatened to arrest an "openly Jewish" man, a government source has told Sky News.

Met Police chief Sir Mark Rowley is facing calls to resign after antisemitism campaigner Gideon Falter was threatened with arrest near the protest march in London ( see post at 08.36am ).

Mr Falter, the chief executive of the Campaign Against Antisemitism, said Jewish Londoners cannot have confidence in the Met under Sir Mark's leadership and accused the commissioner of "victim blaming".

Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho earlier told Sky News the incident was "completely wrong" and that "what happens next" with regard to Sir Mark was a "matter for the Labour London mayor" ( see post at 08.40am ).

Sky News understands that Sir Mark does still retain the confidence of London mayor Sadiq Khan (see post at 11.46am) .

By Adam Boulton , Sky News commentator 

Liz Truss has much more in common with Donald Trump than just the first three letters of his surname.

Despite presenting themselves as "outsiders", both enjoyed substantial political careers and reached the top of their profession as prime minister of the UK and president of the United States respectively.

In both cases, their periods in power ended in ways that outraged their opponents and many in their own Conservative and Republican parties. Economic chaos brought on by her rash policies forced Truss out of office after just 49 days in 10 Downing Street.

Trump lost the 2020 election, refused to accept his defeat and praised the mob who stormed the Capitol in an attempt to keep him in the White House.

Many thought they were finished for good. But like those who had laughed at their ambitions earlier in their careers, the nay-sayers were wrong again. Both have been reprieved and continue to be respected as forces in their parties.

Conservative MP Mark Menzies has been suspended from the parliamentary party in light of allegations he abused local Tory party funds to pay off "bad people".

Mark Menzies strongly disputes the claims which also include accusations he used campaign funds to pay his personal medical bills.

On the Conservatives' investigation into the claims, Defence Secretary Grant Shapps told Sky News this week action was being taken "swiftly".

He added: "I think it is important to stress that the MP in question here denies the allegations and so on the basis of fairness and proper justice, I think it's important to mention that."

On the Sky News Daily, Niall Paterson is joined by political correspondent Darren McCaffrey to analyse how Westminster will cope with another scandal.

Plus, the Scottish government has come under fire for rowing back on its climate commitments.

Niall speaks to science correspondent Thomas Moore about the consequences of the government missing eight out of 12 of its annual climate commitments.

👉 Listen above then tap here to follow the Sky News Daily wherever you get your podcasts 👈

The head of the Met Police is to meet Jewish community leadership groups amid a row over the force threatening to arrest an "openly Jewish" man.

Sir Mark Rowley will meet representatives from the Board of Deputies of British Jews, the Jewish Leadership Council and Community Security Trust (CST). 

Confirming the meeting, the Board of Deputies of British Jews said they would be discussing this "serious issue".

Sir Mark is facing calls to resign after antisemitism campaigner Gideon Falter was threatened with arrest near a pro-Palestinian march in London ( see post at 08.36am ).

Campaign Against Antisemitism have told Sky News they are not attending the meeting.

Sky News understands the meeting is expected to take place on Thursday.

The Sky News live poll tracker - collated and updated by our Data and Forensics team - aggregates various surveys to indicate how voters feel about the different political parties.

With the local election campaign well under way, Labour is still sitting comfortably on a roughly 21-point lead, averaging at 43.6% in the polls, with the Tories on 23.1%.

In third is Reform UK on 12.3%, followed by the Lib Dems on 9.2%.

The Green Party stands at 6.5%, and the SNP on 3.1%.

See the latest update below - and you can read more about the methodology behind the tracker  here .

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Delta bullish on 2024 demand, Amex partnership; less so on the Paris Olympics

Delta Air Lines is forecasting another busy summer travel season, buoyed by a sustained demand for leisure travel — not to mention a far more robust business travel sector that's been slow to improve in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

The company reported its first-quarter 2024 earnings Wednesday, revealing it made $37 million — a modest profit, though that's not unexpected during the winter months.

During a conference call, executives at the Atlanta-based carrier shed some light on Delta's plans for this year and beyond.

The plans include a renewed focus on its longtime hubs, and a lot of anticipation for overseas travel — but a less-than-bullish view of perhaps the summer's biggest global event.

Want more airline-specific news? Sign up for TPG's free biweekly Aviation newsletter .

Travel demand remains strong

As the calendar shifted to 2024, travel industry watchers wondered if the "revenge travel" craze witnessed ever since 2022 might finally begin to subside — or if the packed airport terminals and tourist hot spots seen the last two summers might be here to stay.

It appears to be the latter, at least as far as Delta is concerned.

During the first three-plus months of 2024, Delta has recorded its 11 highest sales days ever, CEO Ed Bastian noted during a conference call with analysts Wednesday.

Business travel finally rebounding?

Part of those surging sales, no doubt, are thanks to what Delta is characterizing as a "meaningful" step forward for business travel.

Ever since pandemic-related restrictions were lifted, travel's resurgence has been led by leisure travel and, more recently, "group" travel (think travelers headed to conferences). Classic, last-minute, one- or two-day business trips have consistently lagged behind pre-pandemic levels, though.

And the travel landscape's recovery across the U.S. has been uneven, as hospitality analytics firm CoStar noted in a February report . In 2023, the study showed, per-room hotel revenue surged over 2019 levels in some popular conference destinations like Las Vegas, Phoenix, Tampa and San Diego ... but lagged far behind in the likes of San Francisco, Minneapolis, Philadelphia and Los Angeles.

Might 2024 be different?

"Since the start of the year, we've seen a sustained acceleration in business travel," Delta President Glen Hauenstein said Wednesday, noting ticket sales via corporate accounts rose 14% during January, February and March over that same period in 2023.

Leisure travel not fading, either

But it's not just business travelers giving Delta reason for optimism this year.

"Delta's core consumers are in a healthy position, and travel remains a top purchase priority," Bastian added on Wednesday's conference call.

More broadly, there are signs of another big year for air travel; the Transportation Security Administration recorded its 10th-busiest day ever at U.S. checkpoints leading into the recent Easter weekend, suggesting a continued demand for leisure travel like weekend getaways and vacations.

A big part of Delta's summer 2024 plans involves international flying.

In June, July and August, Delta's seats to Europe will be up 11% versus 2019, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium (though by a more modest 6% over last summer), reflecting the sustained interest in overseas trips.

This summer, Delta is also planning year-over-year seat growth of more than 20% to transpacific destinations in Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and Japan collectively, per Cirium.

"For many, many years, the Pacific was a drag on our earnings," Hauenstein told investors at an industry conference last month, noting transpacific travel is among the factors Delta leaders are "most excited about" this year.

Paris 2024 won't be a boon

When you combine big overseas plans with a sustained appetite for travel, Delta must be ecstatic about the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympic Games ... right?

After all, among the Big Three U.S. carriers, Delta has a bigger presence in Paris than American Airlines and United Airlines combined, with 2.3 million seats to Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) scheduled for this summer, per Cirium.

Let's just say, the prospects are a little more lukewarm than you might expect.

"Generally, the Olympics are not good for airline revenues. And this year, I think, is no exception to that," Hauenstein said Wednesday, noting that business travel typically takes a back seat during the weeks surrounding the games.

"So I wouldn't say that's going to be a windfall," Hauenstein said. "It's actually going to be a bit of a head wind for us."

Despite that, Bastian was quick to say Delta is firmly behind the U.S. Olympians.

"We're very excited as a sponsor for Team USA," he said. "We'll get through it."

Delta's Amex partnership is as robust as ever

Delta made $1.7 billion through its partnership with American Express during the first quarter, executives said this week.

The company hopes to make a whopping $7.5 billion through its Amex tie-up in 2024, topping last year's equally eye-popping $6.8 billion.

Last month, Delta leaders reiterated a factoid that's both a common talking point and a staggering statistic: If you add up all the spending every Delta-Amex customer charges to their card, the total approaches 1% of the U.S. gross domestic product, the company says.

Delta also noted how the company has worked with Amex to expand the number of retail locations where the issuer's cards are accepted, sometimes a pesky hurdle bemoaned by Amex cardmembers.

Amex cards are accepted at an "all-time high" number of mechants domestically, Hauenstein said. And increasingly, Delta and Amex have focused on this in cities overseas — particularly where the airline flies its SkyMiles members.

"We worked with [Amex] on prioritizing those places that Americans like to go for vacations," Hauenstein added.

That could mean even more places abroad where you can swipe your Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card when buying a souvenir, or earn 4 Membership Rewards points per dollar by charging your dinner out to your American Express® Gold Card .

Responding to industry safety concernsdel

The aviation industry has faced its share of negative attention in recent months, ever since the midair blowout of a door plug on an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 jet in January.

The incident reignited a spotlight on quality control at Boeing, helping fuel a major leadership shake-up at the plane-maker.

Recently, United has also been at the center of attention amid a series of maintenance problems that prompted Federal Aviation Administration scrutiny (though a top aviation expert TPG spoke with questioned whether the series of incidents on United truly strayed from the routine).

Those events led United executives to pen letters both customers and staff reaffirming the carrier's commitment to safety.

Asked broadly about maintenance challenges elsewhere in the industry, and whether Delta has plans for any similar communications, Bastian said this:

"Safety is job one at all times, every single day. We don't send out special messages around safety. Every day is safety day around here."

For its part, Delta said it had already committed significant resources to maintenance over the last year, and noted Wednesday that maintenance-related flight cancellations were down significantly, year-over-year, in the first quarter.

Focusing back on its core cities

Over the last few years, Delta has grown at a breakneck pace at Boston Logan International Airport (BOS), solidifying itself as a top player in the market after first announcing the city as a hub in 2019.

In 2024, Delta's domestic seats out of Boston will be up a striking 34% from 2019, Cirium data shows.

But it's come at the cost of restoring capacity to its longtime stalwart cities, Delta executives said Wednesday.

"Coming out of COVID, we had to allocate the resources we had available." Hauenstein told analysts. "And those resources went to our once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to take leading positions in places like Boston and Los Angeles, at the expense of rebuilding our core hubs."

To his point, 2024 domestic seats from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) and Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) are down more than 5% versus 2019 levels, Cirium shows. They're down by 13% at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW).

But that may improve in the near future.

"Our ability to now go back and put seats back into our core," Hauenstein explained, "is where we're focused for the rest of this year."

Among other steps, Delta hopes to continue improving its usage of regional jets. Amid a pilot shortage at regional airlines, Delta leaders estimate the airline's network currently has 50 to 100 parked or underutilized regional jets.

Related reading:

• Your complete guide to the Delta SkyMiles program
• Best Delta credit cards
• Delta Medallion status: What it is and how to earn it
• Maximize your airfare: The best credit cards for booking flights
• The best credit cards to reach elite status
• How to survive basic economy on Delta Air Lines