How To Choose The Right Award Seat
1 Flight.
9 Airlines.
Which do you choose?
The test subject for today is American Airlines Flight 3011 from Los Angeles to Philadelphia.
We’ll cover the possibilities on how you could book this flight, which sounds like a lot of information.
BUT this entire search process only took us about 15 minutes and it could save you thousands of points on your next booking…
Current cash price for this flight on November 15 is $564. 👎
1️⃣ American Airlines
Book directly with American Airlines for 19,500 points + $6:
But American Airlines miles only transfer from Citi TY Points.
2️⃣ Alaska Airlines
Available for 17,500 points + $19:
3️⃣ Qantas
Bookable for 20,700 points + $6:
4️⃣ British Airways
Pricing is 22,000 Avios + $6.
Avoid this one!
5️⃣ Iberia
Same pricing as British Airways at 22,000 Avios + $6 - so we’ll pass on this one too.
6️⃣ Qatar Airways
No availability for this date, but there is availability a week earlier for 16,000 Avios + $6:
This might be our winner if we’re flexible with dates…
7️⃣ Finnair
No availability shown for this date.
8️⃣ Cathay Pacific
Pricing is typically 15,000 Miles + $10 for this route - that’s the lowest point price among all nine options, but there’s not much availability.
9️⃣ Japan Airlines
Available for 23,000 Miles + $6 - that’s the highest point price among the options
That’ll be a no from us, dawg.
All of this is possible because all nine programs are airline partners in the One World Airline Alliance.
Basically, airline partnerships allow you to use one airline program to book a flight operated by a different partner airline within the same alliance.
So which option should you go with?
Like any financial advisor would say, it depends!
Alaska and American Airlines have great pricing, but are two hard point currencies to earn.
Other options don't seem as good for this example like Japan Airlines, British Airways, and Iberia...
BUT there could always be transfer bonuses that might make sense to book by transferring points to one of those programs.
Always run your numbers and do what works best for your situation!