My 5 Most Frequent Award Redemptions

One of the best ways to get more out of miles and points travel is to diversify and multiply your miles stash. I mean sure, you can earn miles and redeem rewards with just one credit card. But, you’ll have a much easier time and be able to travel even more if you have multiple mileage currencies.

The miles and points you should collect will depend on where you are located and where you want to go. Based on my family’s location and our current travel preferences, here are my most frequent award redemptions.

AA miles on AA flights

This is pretty straightforward. My husband and I both earn American Airlines miles from our Citi/AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite Mastercards as well as from our Bask Bank mileage accounts. Over the past few years, I’ve snagged some incredible Web Special Awards on American for as low as 6500 miles. In fact, I recently booked some awards from DFW to Orlando for our spring break trip!

Chase Ultimate Rewards/BA Avios for AA Flights

Whenever I find a MileSAAver award on American and it’s nonstop, I turn to British Airways Avios program to book. A flight that costs 12,500 miles on AA may cost only 9000 miles with British Airways Avios, and it’s the same exact flight! This is because British Airways uses a distance-based award chart. I just booked a flight home from Miami using this method.

To accumulate BA Avios, my husband and I collect Chase Ultimate Rewards with the Chase Sapphire Preferred card, the Chase Sapphire Reserve card and my Chase Ink card. We can transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards to British Airways to book the flights.

Chase Ultimate Rewards for Hyatt Stays

Hyatt is my favorite hotel brand. Whether it’s a dependable Hyatt Place location or a swanky resort like Andaz Costa Rica at Papagayo Resort, my family has always found great value with Hyatt award stays.

My husband and I each own the Chase World of Hyatt credit card. But, we frequently transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards to Hyatt for award redemptions.

Capital One Miles for Air France Flights

My family flew on Air France in business class to Europe this past summer. And, we are flying Air France to AND from Europe next summer! Air France has flights to Paris from multiple U.S. cities with easy connections to the rest of Europe.

Bank of America has its own Air France credit card. But for our flight awards, we transferred Capital One miles from our Capital One Venture X card and Capital One Venture Rewards card to Air France Flying Blue program. So easy! (Note: Amex, Citi, Chase, Marriott and Bilt points also transfer to Air France!)

Chase Ultimate Rewards for United International Flights

I don’t see great United domestic award flights from DFW. However, my family has found great award redemptions for United international flights. We used United to fly home from Switzerland and to fly home from New Zealand.

My husband and I each have the Chase United Explorer card. In addition, we frequently transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards to United. Yep, we get a lot of use out of our Chase Ultimate Rewards!

But 10 Years Ago….

Ten years ago, our travel patterns and needs were totally different. At that time, we were constantly chasing the Southwest Companion Pass via Southwest credit cards, and we limited our travel to domestic destinations. I expect our miles and points needs will constantly evolve as our family ages.

What are your most common award redemptions with your miles and points?

Author: Nancy

Nancy lives near Dallas, Texas, with her husband and three kids. Her favorite vacations include the beach, cruising and everything Disney.