Sometimes the best use of your miles is not for a luxurious longhaul first class flight but a short domestic flight in economy class.
An Award Expert client needed to travel from Chicago to Birmingham this weekend. Dates were set in stone. Times were set in stone. Out Friday morning, back Saturday afternoon.
Economy class fares were steep. At $720.40, United Airlines was the cheapest non-stop option. That’s steep for a short domestic economy class flight on a regional jet.
Don’t think I neglected to check Southwest out of Midway. Both American and Southwest were more expensive.
Ok, $720.41…but what about award space? The client had a glut of American Express and United miles.
Surprisingly, these same pair of flights that United was charging $741 had saver space: only 10K points each way because the flight was under 800 miles.
20K points or $720.40? That’s a no brainer.
But wait. United charges a $75/ticket close-in processing fee for those without status. My client has no status, so he’d be looking at 20K miles + $80.60 r/t in taxes/fees. Aeroplan, the loyalty program of Air Canada and an American Express transfer partner, charges 25K miles but has no close-in booking fee. Thus, the ticket would cost 25K miles + $5.60.
Is 5K miles worth $75? I value both United and AMEX points at 1.5 cents each, so 5,000 miles is $75. An even exchange. Since miles/points are a depreciating asset, we used Aeroplan and saved the out-of-pocket expense.
Completing the math, 25K miles for $720.40 meant 2.8 cents per miles. That’s an amazing redemption rate, especially considering my client was prepared to pay the $720.40.
CONCLUSION
Talk about a boring redemption…Chicago to Birmingham on a CRJ. But sometimes the best use of your miles and points are where you least expect them.
image: Tony Hisgett / Wikimedia Commons
No AA space to use Avios, I presume?
Is it no longer possible to book united flights outside of the close-in booking period, and then call to change the dates and not get hit with the CIBF?
Probably not worth the time to try.
It’s been about a year since United axed that.
It’s dead but quite recently. https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/29412144-post233.html
That was such a great deal I just booked it myself. Any tips on how to position to Chicago for this?
Hopefully he accounts for what he paid you into his cents/mile calculation.
For real! An extra $150 really drags down the value.
I used precisely this strategy to position myself from DC to NY to take advantage of an LH J fare that was substantially lower from NY than from DC. Redeemed United miles to fly from DCA to EWR and then used my Amex Plat credits (which I had already allocated to United) to pay the baggage fees. I find that this is particularly good with miles earned on a legacy US carrier (ie, not transfers in) since those miles just sit there otherwise unused. And it’s a great use of the Amex credits which are frustratingly restrictive.
I don’t get it.
I was thinking Avios use as well. Good value though.
No AA space.
This is precisely the reason why I have not yet flown in business class long haul yet! Live in Germany & Switzerland, but from the UK, and find avios too valuable for the short haul BA flights to London to redeem them for anything else. Had to fly back on Thursday, cash economy price was 505 euros, compared to 4,000 avios plus £17.50. That’s over 10p a point! (not that I would ever pay the 505 euros for an 80 minute flight).
During my Cornell days, I used to routinely redeem for ITH to EWR for weekend getaways and to visit friends and family. It was always $608 roundtrip, or 20,000 miles. I would always book the award using UA miles for more than 21 days into the future and then call to change the date back to what I needed (most often, 24 or 48 hours from departure). Getting 3+ cents per mile was amazing.
This is a great option for personal travel. Of course, business travel on routes like this delivers outsized benefit now that status has a revenue component.