I fly between Cleveland and NYC fairly often, and it’s a brutal route for people that pay for tickets. Last minute flights can easily cost $1,000 round-trip and even tickets booked in advance can cost $500 round-trip.
But that’s the beauty of miles, and there’s typically excellent availability on this route.
Currently, the route is served by American, Delta, and United, which explains the high pricing. AirTran used to fly the excellent Boeing 717 multiple times daily from Akron to LaGuardia, and it was glorious. Flight were typically under $100 round-trip and I always got upgraded to business class thanks to opening a corporate account that granted lifetime elite status. Alas, that went away when Southwest bought them, sold the 717s to Delta, and closed down their Akron operation.
For inexplicable reasons, JetBlue has never attempted to fly between Cleveland and NYC. The airline has done well flying between Cleveland and Boston, chasing United off the route, though that merely invited Delta to start flying the route.
Frontier plans to start flying once daily between Cleveland and LaGuardia, which should bring down the cost of flights for the short-term, but I don’t expect that service to last. When Spirit tried flying between Cleveland to Newark, United matched their $19 fares and quickly chased them out of the market.
Before you book an award ticket, you should always compare the rates that partner airlines charge. I decided to do a deep dive into comparing the rates charged by partner airlines on the Cleveland-NYC route.
- A few notes on the charts below:
- Pricing is one-way, unless it says round-trip required, in which case the pricing is for the round-trip.
- American, Delta, and United all have variable pricing for their own awards, but partner airlines have fixed pricing for awards on those airlines.
- United cardholders have expanded availability to book saver awards, when logged into their account and redeeming United miles. This can’t be booked with partner airlines.
- American, Delta, and United all have “everyday” awards priced higher than these levels, which can only be booked with their own miles. Partner airlines do not have the ability to book these “everyday” awards, so you’ll have to search on the partner airline website for availability.
- For an apples-to-apples comparison, Delta pricing excludes basic economy awards, which no other airlines offer. Note that if you do choose Delta basic economy, awards can’t be changed or canceled. Delta partner awards book into main cabin.
- Delta blocks partner award availability on many domestic routes within 3 weeks of departure.
- The Delta cardholders discount excludes the Delta Blue card.
- 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.
- All airlines must charge the mandatory $5.60 per direction 9/11 fee. Booking fees on fees charged on top of that.
- Always check for transfer bonuses, which can change the math for which partner to use.
Fly on American between Cleveland and JFK or LaGuardia:
| Mileage program | Economy | First Class | Booking method | Mileage transfer options | Award fees |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| American | 5K-14K variable | 15K-28.5K variable | Online | Marriott 60K:20K | Booking fee: $0 Change fee: $0 Cancel fee: $0 |
| Alaska | Currently 7.5K Will drop to 4.5K in March | Currently 25K Will drop to 9K in March | Online | Marriott 60K:25K | Booking fee: $12.50 each way Change fee: $0 Cancel fee: $0 |
| British Airways | 8,250 | 16,500 | Online | AMEX, Chase, Capital One, or Citi 1:1 instantly. Marriott 60K:25K | Booking fee: $0 Change fee: $5.60 each way Cancel fee: $5.60 each way |
| Etihad | 6,000 | 10,000 | Online | AMEX, Capital One, or Citi 1:1 instantly. Marriott 60K:25K | Booking fee: $14-$24 each way Change fee: $27 Cancel fee: 25% >21 days, 50% 8-21 days, 75% 1-7 days before departure. |
| Iberia | 8,250 | 16,500 | Online | AMEX, Chase, Capital One, or Citi 1:1 instantly. Marriott 60K:25K | Booking fee: $0 Change fee: Not allowed Cancel fee: Not allowed |
| JAL | 12,000 round-trip required | 24,000 round-trip required | Online | Marriott 60K:25K | Booking fee: $0 Change fee: Not allowed Cancel fee: $21 |
| Qatar | 6,000 | 12,500 | Phone | AMEX, Chase, Capital One, or Citi 1:1 instantly. Marriott 60K:25K | Booking fee: $0 Change fee: $25 Cancel fee: $25 |
| Qantas | 8,000 | 18,400 | Online | AMEX, Capital One, or Citi 1:1 instantly. Marriott 60K:25K | Booking fee: $0 Change fee: 5,000 points Cancel fee: 6,000 points |
Fly on Delta between Cleveland and JFK or LaGuardia:
| Mileage program | Economy | First Class | Booking method | Mileage transfer options | Award fees |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delta (Delta AMEX cardholders) | 8K-18.2K variable | 14.8K-25.9K variable | Online | AMEX 1:1 instantly Marriott 60K:20K | Booking fee: $0 Change fee: $0 Cancel fee: $0 |
| Delta (non-cardholders) | 9.5K-21.5K variable | 17.5K-30.5K variable | Online | AMEX 1:1 instantly Marriott 60K:20K | Booking fee: $0 Change fee: $0 Cancel fee: $0 |
| Air France/KLM | 10.5K | 20K | Online | AMEX, Chase, Capital One, or Citi 1:1 instantly. Marriott 60K:25K | Booking fee: $11-$18 Change fee: $75 Cancel fee: $75 |
| El Al | 11.5K | 35K | Phone | None | Booking fee: $0 Change fee: Unpublished Cancel fee: Unpublished |
| Virgin Atlantic | 7.5K | 21K | Online | AMEX, Chase, Capital One, or Citi 1:1 instantly. Marriott 60K:25K | Booking fee: $0 Change fee: $5.60 each way Cancel fee: $5.60 each way |
Fly on United between Cleveland and Newark:
| Mileage program | Economy | First Class | Booking method | Mileage transfer options | Award fees |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United (Infinite cardholder) | 8.3K-13.5K variable | 30K | Online | Chase 1:1 instantly Marriott 60K:30K | Booking fee: $0 Change fee: $0 Cancel fee: $0 |
| United (non-cardholder) | 9.2K-15K variable | 30K | Online | Chase 1:1 instantly Marriott 60K:30K | Booking fee: $0 Change fee: $0 Cancel fee: $0 |
| ANA | 30K round-trip required | 55K round-trip required | Online | AMEX 1:1, 1-2 days Marriott 60K:25K | Booking fee: $0 Change fee: $0 Cancel fee: 3,000 miles |
| Aegean | 12.5K | 21K | Online | Marriott 60K:25K | Booking fee: $0 Change fee: $25 Cancel fee: $25 |
| Air Canada | 6K | 15K | Online | AMEX, Chase, or Capital One 1:1 instantly. Marriott 60K:25K | Booking fee: $29 for one-way or round-trip Change fee: $74 Cancel fee: $111 |
| Avianca Lifemiles | 6.5K | 15K | Online | AMEX, Capital One, or Citi 1:1 instantly. Marriott 60K:20K | Booking fee: $10 for one-way or round-trip Change fee: $150 Cancel fee: $50 |
| Singapore | 14K | 26K | Online | AMEX, Chase, Capital One, or Citi 1:1 instantly. Marriott 60K:25K | Booking fee: $0 Change fee: $50 Cancel fee: $75 |
| Turkish | 10K | 15K | Online | Capital One or Citi 1:1 instantly. Marriott 60K:25K | Booking fee: $0 Change fee: $70 Cancel fee: $70 |
Want to see a deep dive like this on other routes? Hit the comments with your suggestions!
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77 Comments On "Before You Book That Award Ticket, Compare The Partner Booking Options! A Deep Dive Into Cleveland-NYC Award Pricing"
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NYC-FCO
Great chart! Thank you.
For American, if one partner doesn’t show availability for a flight, is it safe to assume that none will, or is it worth it to look at all partners?
Following. Same question re United.
It’s always worth checking 2 partners just to make sure.
+1. Recently booked a United NY-ORD flight, UA charged 45k miles for it, AC displayed no availability for nonstop UA flights that on that date, and Turkish had it widely available for 7.5K.
It’s worth checking others because airlines sites are often buggy and won’t show everything.
I guess isreal and Newark
Make that NYC-TLV.
Yes, Dan we all need the same chart for ELAL NYC – TLV for economy and premium seats, please. Thanks.
Newark and Montreal
Ewr-mia
YYZ-NYC
Thanks for this information. I needed this route, and I saw tickets for $500+. Now I see that Aeroplan (Air Canada) for the 6-8k points per way on United. I never knew points purchase could have such a benefit on economy travel!
lax or sna to stl
lax or sna to ewr
lax or sna to nas
ORD – NYC
Turkish can be notoriously difficult to work with
I’m sure many of your readers will appreciate NYC-MIA/FLL
Thank you Dan!! Yes this route
Yes
Agree
Agree
Aa first transcontinental
Delta Basic economy awards are actually fully cancellable, despite starting otherwise. They just borrowed the wording from cash bookings.
You know that from experience cancelling a basic economy ticket more than 24 hours after booking?
Yes. Multiple experiences
Don’t they charge a fee to cancel domestic basic economy bookings?
Off topic..
Is there any preferred chase CC account to park Chase points?
Thanks
Either Sapphire or Ink Preferred.
NYC – MIA,FLL,PBI
Yes please
+1
Sorry, I am a little confused. Please pardon my ignorance, but are you saying that if I would like to fly round trip from Cleveland to Newark then the best way to do that would be by booking on Air Canada?
Or Avianca as that will cost an extra 1k points but will save you a little on the fees (or Turkish but I don’t think 3k is worth the $29 you’d save)
Fascinating
Would love to see JFK/LGA/EWR to LAX
+1
NYC-TLV
NYC to lax
Nyc-florida !
Also what kind of business product that particular airline offers vs economy
Fll to cmh
Treat up once a week with a different route .
Awesome and simoole to read chart!!!
+1
Would love to see cvg-nyc (it’s probably similar to Cleveland-nyc route)
Thanks!
Wow thanks for the write up
Now if we can get a similar write up for other popular routes.
Thanks
Nyc-mbj and other location in the Caribbean. Haven’t seen one of those
i see some routes delta allow book in the 3 weeks, for example hpn – pbi
El Al to book Delta is phone only? Is this a joke. When is the last time you got anyone from El Al on the phone?
Thanks!
How about PHX-NYC?
NYC- LAX/SAN
Are you using a specific platform to determine which partners fly the route you are taking or is this a “look-and-check” each Partner situation? i.e. How did you know you could book through JAL for American to JFK or LGA without going to the Partner website (what class did I miss for this info )
“For inexplicable reasons, JetBlue has never attempted to fly between Cleveland and NYC”
It makes perfect sense. All 3 legacy airlines have/had heavy presences on the CLE-NYC route. Why would a primarily leisure airline want to compete with the Big 3 on a route that doesn’t have a lot of leisure travel?
They didn’t try the route for many of the same reasons you (correctly) don’t think Frontier *should* try the route
Because they have a major hub in JFK for connections. That’s very different than Spirit or Frontier.
In my experience, flying a ton between Florida and NYC, whenever ticket prices are high and the legacy airlines charge the maximum amount of miles for economy, all the partner airlines show that there’s no reward flights available.
I wonder if I’m perhaps doing something wrong.
Kindly help with JFK or LGA – IND please! Those tickets are generally such a ripoff for such a short distance. Greatly appreciated!
I recently found that AA directly had 7.5K on this route while tickets were running near $200
Avianca fees for this route is $10
BWI – ORD, please!
My brother flies that route a lot. Best option is AA via BA at 8250 Avios or United via Avianca or Turkish for 7500 points. Avianca charges a $10 fee that Turkish doesn’t but Turkish can be really annoying if you aren’t booking for the account holder. SW can also be k’dai of you’re booking in advance
Thanks!
Can you do the same chart NYC to MIA, TY
Note that Delta’s discount for cardholders doesn’t apply to the no-fee Delta Blue card.
I just booked United via air Canada. It was approx. $43 booking fee per person after all fee’s and taxes. Ty this chart is very helpful!
This chart excludes the mandatory $5.60 each way tax. The booking fee is just the added fee.
AC also add on all flights to & from the USA a bs tax, I’m surprised no blogger calls them out on this.
Thanks for the post Dan.
What’s you’re take on searching for award tickets with sites like point.me Etc…? Do they usually cover all airline partners? Or do they have some flaws?
Dan?
I have tried lots of these sites in the past and have been less than impressed with the results.
NYC-Tel Aviv please!
Would be great if there was an app that would analyze the route you want to take with all the options.
Very useful, thank you!
Dream list would be:
NYC – TLV
NYC – South (East) FL region (between Miami and PBI).
NYC – West Coast (the multiple airports around LA region and/or SF region).
Deep dive Ewr-det
I’d love to see this type of breakdown for WAS-CUN (and I think this would be a good route to examine given Mexico’s popularity with Americans).
Another interesting datapoint to include in the charts would be what type of pricing system each award program uses (i.e. Region based, distance based, fully dynamic, etc.)
Great post. NYC-ORD and NYC-LAX next please.
TY. CHicago-NYC will be good.
Another good idea to include the fees. Sometimes they can be very significant for such short route. Like $75 or so on Etihad
It’s in the chart.
NY to Europe, please!
Appreciate this, Dan!
Question: why doesn’t united match spirits $29 flights from CLE to FLL as they did back in the ewr days?
Dan,
Can you elaborate on Qatar? While I certainly don’t favor the idea of doing business with this country in any way, I have been transferring Citi TYP to Qatar, getting bonuses, and moving them to BA to book domestic AA flights. You seem to say that CLE-NYC is less points with Qatar than BA but needs to be booked over the phone. I can’t seem to even find an award chart on their website, perhaps you can share? How bad is the hold time usually? I regularly need cle-ord and nyc-ord (especially hpn).