Master Chart: Here Are The Best Ways To Book Every American Or Alaska Award Flight Within The US And Canada!

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Update: This chart has been updated with new rates after the Finnair devaluation.


Originally posted on 8/14:

The OneWorld alliance, which includes Alaska and American Airlines, is blessed with many distance-based mileage programs.

Traditionally, mileage programs were region based, which meant that short-haul flights within the US could be a poor value.

British Airways was an innovator in 2011 when they launched Avios. With just 4,500 Avios and $2.50, you could fly on short-haul flights on AA within the US. Combined with a credit card offer that broke the 100K barrier, it propelled many Americans into the mileage hobby.

Alas, inflation has hit hard and the cheapest BA Avios award is now 12,000 Avios+$5.60. But there are plenty of other OneWorld programs to focus on.

The point of a mileage ticket is to try to get outsized value compared to paid rates. You’ll always want to compare the paid rates versus the mileage rates to determine if you’re getting a good value for your miles.

Before you book an award ticket, you should always compare the rates that partner airlines charge. Each program charges a different amount of miles, based on their award charts.

Below is a guide for how many miles One World carriers charge to fly on partner American or Alaska flights. American has variable pricing, so they’re not included in this chart.

  • A few notes and tips on the chart below:
    1. Pricing is one-way, however note that you must book round-trip to get the rates below when using JAL miles. All other airlines allow one-way travel for the same price as round-trip travel.
    2. Pricing in this chart is only valid within the US and Canada.
    3. Pricing is distance based for all programs except for Finnair. You can search distances between any airports on GCmap.com. For example, a flight between Los Angeles and Miami is 2,342 miles, so use the 2,101-2,400 mileage band to find what each airline would charge for that flight.
    4. Pricing is based on partner award space being released by the airline. Alaska has a mileage award calendar that can be helpful in finding dates with award space. You can also use the American calendar and dates that cost fewer miles are more likely to have award space that can be booked by partner airlines. The BA site is also a good place to search for award space.
    5. If you have AA miles, be sure to check what they charge as well, as that number will be variable.
    6. You can now transfer points from AMEX to Hawaiian and from Hawaiian to Alaska instantly.
    7. You can combine Avios via this link via the BA site between BA, Iberia, Aer Lingus, Finnair, and Qatar.
    8. Qatar’s site can be tricky to use for partner awards. See this post for instructions.
    9. Etihad rates are rounded down, as they charge a few extra miles to their rates and reduce the taxes owed.
    10. Qatar’s site doesn’t show space on American Eagle regional flights. You can search for that space on the BA site and then call Qatar to book it. If the phone agents won’t book it after a couple of tries, you can book a mainline flight online and call to change it to a regional flight for a $25 (optional) fee.
    11. You will have to contact Finnair to book awards on American. Readers report better success chatting on the Finnair site rather than calling them.
    12. Awards on American and Alaska always book into standard economy, there are no basic economy awards.
    13. Changes and cancellations must be done more than 24 hours before flight time for many partner airlines. Fees listed have been converted into USD at current exchange rates.
    14. Always check for transfer bonuses, which can change the math for which partner to use.
    15. Iberia charges the same rates as British Airways, but they don’t allow changes or cancellations on partner travel, so there’s no reason to ever use that program for partner awards and they have been excluded from the chart below.
    16. BA and Qatar charge a separate mileage fee for each flight segment, while others allow connecting flights at no additional charge. If you are taking a connection, that will change the math between flight options significantly.

 

How do you book or get these miles? What will it cost to change a ticket? Find that info below:

 

Want to earn miles? Pick up a credit card or 3 to get on your way!

 

If you, a member in your household, or an authorized user has one of the following Chase cards, you can transfer points into miles:
  • Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card has a 60K signup bonus for spending $4K in 3 months, earns 2.1 points per dollar on travel after the card's 10% anniversary bonus, 3.1 points per dollar on dining, streaming, and online groceries after the card's 10% anniversary bonus, has a $50 hotel credit, can transfer all Chase points into miles, and points are worth at least 1.25 cents each for paid travel ($95 annual fee). Read more here.
  • Chase Sapphire Reserve® has a 60K signup bonus for spending $4K in 3 months, earns 3 points per dollar on dining/travel, has a $300 travel credit, can transfer all Chase points into miles, and points are worth at least 1.5 cents each for paid travel ($550 annual fee with $300 travel credit). Read more here.
  • Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card has a 90K signup bonus for spending $8K in 3 months, and earns 3 points per dollar on up to $150K of annual spending on shipping, advertising, and travel, can transfer all Chase points into miles, and points are worth at least 1.25 cents each for paid travel ($95 annual fee). Read more here.
Chase no-annual fee cards that are fantastic for earning points, but require one of the cards above for points transfers include:
  • Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card has a $750 signup bonus in the form of 75K points for spending $6K in 3 months, and earns 1.5 points per dollar on business purchases ($0 annual fee). Read more here.
  • Ink Business Cash® Credit Card has a $350 signup bonus in the form of 35K points for spending $3K in 3 months and another $400 signup bonus in the form of 40K bonus points for spending another $3K in 6 months for a total of 75,000 Chase Ultimate points. This card earns 5 points per dollar on the first $25,000 in combined purchases on cable, TV, telecom, cellular, and office supply stores, plus 2 points per dollar on dining and gas on up to $25,000 in purchases ($0 annual fee). Read more here.
  • Chase Freedom Flex has a 20K signup bonus for spending $500 in 3 months, plus 5 points on rotating categories, 5 points per dollar on travel purchased through Chase Travel, and 3 points per dollar on dining and drugstores ($0 annual fee). Read more here. All information about the Chase Freedom Flex Card has been collected independently by DansDeals.
  • Chase Freedom Unlimited® has a limited-time 25K signup bonus for spending $500 in 3 months, 1.5 points per dollar everywhere, 5 points per dollar (marketed as 5% cash back) on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, and 3 points per dollar on dining and drugstores ($0 annual fee). Read more here.
AMEX cards with transferable Membership Rewards points to miles include, select benefits require enrollment via your AMEX account. Terms apply to offers on this page: Capital One cards with transferable points include:
  • Limited time offer: Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card is offering 75,000 bonus miles for spending $4K in 3 months and a $250 travel credit, plus 2 miles per dollar spent on every purchase, transfer points to airlines and hotels, 5K MLB redemptions, and more. No foreign transaction fees. $95 annual fee. Read more here. 
  • Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card is offering 75,000 bonus miles for spending $4K in 3 months, plus earn 2 miles per dollar spent on every purchase, $300 annual travel credit for bookings through Capital One Travel, 10K anniversary bonus miles, Global Entry/Pre-Check, Capital One lounge access, Priority Pass Lounge membership, Hertz President's Circle status, free lounge access and status for free additional cardholders, transfer miles to airlines and hotels, 5K MLB redemptions, and more. No foreign transaction fees. $395 annual fee. Read more here.
  • Capital One Venture X Business is offering 150,000 bonus miles for spending $30K in 3 months, plus earn 2 miles per dollar spent on every purchase, $300 annual travel credit for bookings through Capital One Travel, 10K anniversary bonus miles, Global Entry/Pre-Check, Capital One lounge access, Enhanced Priority Pass Lounge membership, transfer miles to airlines and hotels, 5K MLB redemptions, and more. $395 annual fee. No foreign transaction fees. Read more here.
  • Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card is offering 20,000 bonus miles for spending $500 in 3 months, transfer miles to airlines and hotels, 5K MLB redemptions, and more. No foreign transaction fees. No annual fee.
  • Capital One Spark Miles for Business is offering 50,000 bonus miles for spending $4,500 in 3 months, 2 miles per dollar spent on every purchase, Global Entry/PreCheck, transfer miles to airlines and hotels, 5K MLB redemptions, and more. No foreign transaction fees. $0 intro annual fee for the first year, then $95.
  • Capital One Spark Cash is offering $750 cash back (convertible to 75,000 miles) for spending $7,500 in 3 months, 2% back everywhere, $40 MLB redemptions, and more. No foreign transaction fees. $0 intro annual fee for the first year, then $95.
  • New offer: Capital One Spark Cash Plus is offering $2,000 cash back (convertible to 200,000 miles) for spending $30,000 in 3 months, plus get another $2,000 cash back for every $500K spent in your first year, 2% back everywhere, $40 MLB redemptions, annual fee refund when you spend $150K/year, and more. No foreign transaction fees. $150 annual fee. Read more here.
Marriott AMEX cards include:

How do you book AA or Alaska award travel?

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84 Comments On "Master Chart: Here Are The Best Ways To Book Every American Or Alaska Award Flight Within The US And Canada!"

All opinions expressed below are user generated and the opinions aren’t provided, reviewed or endorsed by any advertiser or DansDeals.

Yehuda57

This is incredibly helpful, thank you!

Dr Moose

Etihad officially charges that amount, but it’s always shown a weird amount when it comes time to actually book. I think they force you to use some miles to cover the taxes and fees.

myi

Indeed i just had that with a flight from PHL-YYZ. Showing 6,000 miles to book and $19 tax.
So i transferred 6k C1 and tried booking that flight. kept erroring out. but for a millisecond i saw something about needing 6043 miles to book that flight and $18.xx in taxes. so the actual amount varies when it comes time to book. Ended up calling in and having them book it for me. As well I ended up transferring that extra 1k to my Etihad account to be able to make that booking. So for the future, seems you need to make a mock booking to see exactly how many miles is needed.

Mike lot

Can you book Finnair jfk to tlv on aa. What are rates on main and business and surcharges

Danfan

Thanks Dan, great job! I was totally unaware of Finnair’s sweet spots. I can not see American availability on their website, can I rely on the fact that I see availability on BA, and transfer points, and call to book. or I should first make sure with them they also see availability ?

CtownBin

Looks like Alaska is by far the best in most cases and overall. Too bad it’s harder to get their mile but c’est la vie…

Jeremy

Not sure of that when considering fees. FinnAir is a strong contender.

Mo

What’s the best/quickest way to get Chase UR transferred over to Alaska miles. If I’m not mistaken they don’t transfer directly? Is there a way? Thanks for another very helpful post!

Jeremy

What about using Krisflyer miles to book onto Alaska? Any chance that works for American flights with Alaska codeshares? Could be a great deal for those SEA-LAX flights.

Moshe

Looks like Amex to finnair is getting shut down in October. I’m already having issues transferring now

Bigjoe

Would love the same chart for star alliance and sky miles

Jeremy

100%

OB

Early August, I booked ORD to BWI (622 miles per gcmap) for only 6K on Qatar.

Bert

Amazing resource – thanks!

Chuchum Ainer

Thanks!

Yitz

This is awesome, I needed this! I didnt know that Eithad was so cheap for short haul (ersp if theres a connection), why havent I been hearing about them?:) Any caveats to booking with them?

Yitz

Also if theres a very out of the way connection but the origin and destination are within the short haul amount, does that get charged higher (assuming not per segment airline, lets say CLE-NYC connecting in MIA booked via Eithad)?

JW

Thanks for this, Dan! I had just booked a cross country flight on AA using Alaska miles like three days ago. I was able to chat with finnair and get the same flight for 5k less miles plus it was really just ~23k Amex points which I’d much rather spend than 35k Alaska miles even if they’re not as valuable as they used to be.

Myi

Indeed. I enjoy skimming through such posts. Informative. And to the point. Great guide.

And optional to pay fees. (-;

Nfd

MSP-YYZ is 678 miles which should be bookable for 4500 miles on Alaska, however there is no non-stop flights with oneworld carriers , and with a connection in ORD it becomes 736 miles where it should be 7500 Alaska miles.. however Alaska only shows business class availability on AA even though you can book individual segments separately in economy for 4500 miles each with a total of 9K miles but then has to be on 2 separate tickets

Shafi

Excellent. But unfortunately no way on the app to bookmark this. A bookmark option would be great.

Sam

Excellent work. Thank you.
Whats the best way to add a lap infant?

mk

Thank you for putting in all the hard work so we can breeze through

Larry

Are the Finnair change and cancellation fees correct?? I see a different price on the Finnair website

Jeremy

Like BA/IB, it’s the lesser of taxes or the change/cancellation fee.

Pam

I needed help so badly with this, thank you! Someone finally broke the code among all airlines & is willing to disseminate!

George j

Trying to book lax-sea via alaska airline, AA shows tons of flight options operated by AS with different pricing as expected. Hope onto BA and it displays zero results. Then tried Qantas and nada as well. Any other advices? Thanks!

L

1. The chart doesn’t include fees for booking international flights with American Airlines. Is there something I might be missing?

2. If there are fees, are they refundable if you cancel your flight?

3. How much does it cost for a lap child on an American Airlines mileage flight to Canada?

Harold

Thanks for the updates!

One interesting thing happened to me. I purchased coach seats (only thing available) on Korean Air, using Alaska points. I went to the Korean Air website and called Korean Air…they will NOT allow you to upgrade or purchase extra legroom seats unless you purchased your ticket directly with them!!

Jb

Amazing chart! How do I book on jal. I want to go from nyc to Pittsburgh. Pitt doesn’t populate on jal site?!

Oscar

I tried transferring chase points to Finnair, but there’s no option in chase to do that
Please advise

eli18

EWR-ORD is 4500 on Alaska like PHL not 7500 like the other NYC airports

New guy

On the Alaska signature card, can you use the 50k bonus miles to book a flight and then get one free? Also, how many times can you buy one get one free?

Z

Does Finnair allow stopovers on one way awards?

Jawanda

Thanks for putting this together. this is a great resource.

Newbie

If I book an American flight with Alaska miles, will my American Aviator credit card free checked bag benefit apply for that flight? Would an Alaska credit card checked bag benefit apply for the flight (on American metal)? I think I remember seeing somewhere a while ago that there was an issue with entering an AAdvantage number on a flight booked through Alaska. Thanks!

New guy

On the Alaska signature card, can you use the 50k bonus miles to book a flight and then get one free? And how many times can you buy one get one free?

Yanki

Alaska increased the domestic redemption on AA from 11/30. To 16.500/40k

stvr

This is truly incredible. That said, I think the Qantas data may be wrong. I see SFO-BUR as 10,000 miles, which doesn’t map out to anything on the chart.

Ipod

Finnair has devalued significantly, please update this chart

SD

Point of interest – CHI to EWR is actually the low mileage still – less than LGA or JFK. 4500/9K. Incredible option, I use it all the time.
———-
Re: Chicago-NYC Alaska 7500/15K

Thanks to everyone who puts so much effort into giving us so much helpful info!

bullmeister

Lots of phantom availability on Alaska’s site when booking AA lately. All you can do is call to see what the agents see and book that.

Jeremy

Dan, great job! What about Cathay Pacific/Asia Miles?

Mendel

It seems that the price for AA awards in Alaska miles is variable as well. The chart is only “starting at” price.

Jb

Dan. I love when you do this. Can you make it into a pdf so I can print it up?

EBG

You left off your caveat about Qatar funding terrorism. I’d prefer not to do any business at all with Qatar, no matter how good the deal might look. You did a long post on it, though I can’t find it now.

Chain

For some reason BA’s site doesn’t work.. wanted to know if I see availability on AA’s site to book Alaska flight, does that mean it’s available to book with Finnair as well? Thanks

Sammy From Cali

Hi,
I’m trying to book a flight from SFO to NYC on an Alaska via Chase-BA-Finnair. Before I transfer my points and book it, what’s the best way to confirm award seat availability? BA? Alaska?
Thanks!

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