How to Book Flights with Reward Points: A Beginner’s Guide
If book flights reward points is on your radar, this short guide cuts through the noise. Here is what is worth knowing, and how to put it to work today.
Key Takeaways
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- One of the most significant challenges for newcomers to the world of points and miles is reserving their first flight.
One of the most significant challenges for newcomers to the world of points and miles is reserving their first flight.
In this guide, we’ll take you through the entire process, from understanding the basics of reward programs to creating a plan for accumulating points and miles.
By following our step-by-step instructions, you’ll be well on your way to becoming a savvy travel rewards pro and enjoying the perks of free or heavily discounted flights.
Table of Contents
TogglePoints and Miles: What They Are and How to Earn Them
Before diving into booking flights with points, let’s clarify what exactly points and miles are.
In the travel rewards space, “points” and “miles” are frequently used interchangeably. Points function as a currency, and can be redeemed for travel-related expenses like flights, hotels and rental cars. Using points, you can reduce or even eliminate out-of-pocket costs on numerous travel expenses.
Credit card points are generally earned using travel rewards credit cards, like the Chase Sapphire Reserve, which offers points for every dollar spent in addition to a welcome bonus. These points can be transferred to various airline partners or redeemed directly for travel expenses at a fixed value.
Airline mileage programs allow you to earn miles when flying with the airline or its partners. Additional earning opportunities include shopping, dining, or utilizing the airline’s co-branded credit card, such as Delta SkyMiles Gold American Express Card.
For more information, see our comprehensive guide on earning points and miles.
Two Options for Booking Flights With Points
Earning points is excellent, but the real goal is to turn those points into free travel.
This guide focuses on redeeming points for free flights. Flights are frequently regarded as one of the best uses of your points.
There are two main ways to use your points to book free flights:
- By using fixed-value points, which have a consistent redemption value when redeemed for travel. For example, Capital One’s fixed-value points can be redeemed for travel expenses at a rate of 1 cent per point, which means that 50,000 points can be used to book a $500 flight.
- Through an airline’s mileage program. For instance, if you use United MileagePlus miles, you can book a one-way award flight to New Zealand for as low as 40,000 points.
When you hear about people booking first-class travel or other premium cabin flights, they’re probably not doing it with fixed-value points. Instead, they’re using points accumulated with (or transferred to) airline partners.
We’ll cover how to do this in-depth in this article.
However, what’s valuable to you is personal. Fixed-value rewards have their advantages, as they offer more flexibility and can help you achieve certain travel goals that might not be possible with points transferred or earned within an airline’s mileage program.
Option #1: Booking Airfare with Fixed-Value Points
A challenge of using points through airline mileage programs is the limited availability of award seats. Airlines allocate a specific number of award seats, and during peak travel times, the available award space may be scarce or even non-existent.
This can make it difficult or impossible to find award seats during popular travel periods.
Fixed-value rewards offer a valuable alternative as they let you book cash fares, using your rewards as a credit to cover the market cost of the tickets.
Credit card companies’ travel portals allow you to search and book a wide range of flights available for sale, similar to sites like Kayak and Expedia. When you go to purchase your flight through a travel portal, you can then redeem your points towards a credit for your flight.
For example, in my Chase Ultimate Rewards account, I currently hold 35,743 Chase Ultimate Reward points. Since I have the Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card, if I were to use these points to book travel through the Chase travel portal, they hold a fixed value of 1.5 cents each.
In this case, I can apply these points as a $533.16 credit for a flight that costs $555.88, and only need to pay the remaining $19.72 for the ticket (as shown in the screenshot below).
Major credit card companies like Citi, Chase, Capital One and American Express all offer fixed-value point redemption options for travel purchases, although each works a bit differently.
Redemption rates , which represent the value of each point when redeemed , vary between these companies and their respective cards.
Here’s an overview of their unique redemption rates and features:
Credit Card CompanyFixed-Value Redemption RateFeaturesCiti1 cent per pointCiti ThankYou points can be redeemed for travel through the Citi Travel Center or used to book flights directly with airlines.Chase1 to 1.5 cents per pointChase Ultimate Rewards points vary in value depending on the card. For example, Chase Sapphire Reserve offers 1.5 cents per point when redeemed through the Chase travel portal.Capital One1 cent per pointCapital One miles can be redeemed for travel expenses (such as flights and hotels) through the Capital One travel portal, or as a statement credit for travel purchases.American Express0.6 to 1.54 cents per pointAmerican Express Membership Rewards points can be used to book travel through the Amex travel portal or as a statement credit for eligible travel purchases. Redemption rates vary by card type and how the travel is purchased.As you can see, when booking with fixed-value poin
Final Thoughts
Before you check out, double-check book flights reward points against current offers and any coupons you can stack. Small habits like this add up to real savings over a year.
Originally published at thewaystowealth.com.
R.J. Weiss
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