• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact Us
  • Ask Scott
Travel Codex

Travel Codex

Your Resource for Better Travel

  • Subscribe
  • Credit Cards
  • Reviews
  • Guides & Tips
  • Award Travel

Redeeming Airline Miles for Travel on a Different Partner

by Scott Mackenzie
Last updated December 13, 2017

Some readers have recently peppered me with questions about booking travel on a partner airline using miles in a different program, so I’ll write a refresher post. There are three essential rules to remember when booking partner award tickets.

Rule #1: You’ll follow the award chart and redemption policies of the airline that issues the miles, not the airline you fly.

This is good and bad news. Different programs have different prices and access to different award space. Is it more valuable to have 25,000 British Airways Avios or 30,000 Alaska Airlines miles? It depends, but simply saying more is better is not correct.

Another reader wanted to transfer ThankYou Rewards points to Qantas and then transfer them again to Emirates. You can use Qantas miles to book travel on Emirates under the rules of the Qantas program, but you can’t transfer them to Emirates directly.

Rule #2: You can’t transfer miles between airlines. With very, very few exceptions your miles are stuck with the airline that already holds them.

I’ve also been asked about how to redeem “Star Alliance” miles. It matters much more if the miles are issued by United Airlines or Singapore Airlines, for example. Each has different rules and prices even though you can redeem United miles on Singapore and vice versa.

What is relevant is that sometimes two programs have the same transfer partners. Again, go back to Rule #1. Both United and Singapore are partners with Ultimate Rewards, for example, so keep this in mind before transferring Ultimate Rewards points. If the two carriers have access to the same award (sometimes but not always true), then one might allow you to redeem fewer miles or pay lower fees.

Rule #3: Using miles for travel on a partner isn’t without its complications.

Huge Sale: Lindblad Expeditions Galápagos Cruise From $5,000
Trending
Huge Sale: Lindblad Expeditions Galápagos Cruise From $5,000

Agents for the airline that issues the miles may be unfamiliar with their own rules or rely on buggy computer systems. Travelers need to be educated about what is and is not possible and watch carefully to catch honest mistakes.

Furthermore, the tradeoffs when booking award travel are different from those for booking paid travel. In either case the price is usually the same, but availability tends to be much more scarce for award travel. Thus, an award traveler should be willing to make additional connections or travel at less convenient times in order to obtain what is, overall, a better itinerary (e.g., in a higher cabin class).

Here are some examples of what I’m describing:

Alaska has a rule that only one partner can be booked at a time, but some agents aren’t aware that KLM and Air France are considered the same because they share a common program, Flying Blue. Combining them creates more flexibility when booking intra-Europe awards.

United Airlines will not display Singapore Airlines award space. Period. But even Singapore’s business class is a better (and cheaper) experience than United’s first class to Asia. You have to know to call an agent on the phone or search elsewhere to find this award space.

American Airlines’ mobile automation system is outdated, and some of their agents are not well educated on international partners. During a recent attempt to book an award from Tokyo-Haneda to Kuala Lumpur, I was misinterpreted as asking for Tokyo-Narita several times — by human and machine.

British Airways generally has a good award search tool, but it does not handle connecting flights well. On that same attempt to book award travel to KUL, an online search returned zero results until I performed separate queries from HND to HKG and then HKG to KUL.

Staying familiar with the rules and exceptions for partner awards will help you enjoy traveling more and get better value from your miles. It can mean the difference between no award space and lots of award space. It can result in a better overall experience with premium carriers. And it can unlock opportunities for cheaper prices that let you travel more often.

  • 4shares
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Email

Read This Next

  • an airplane on the runway
    American Airline Reward Travel Zones
  • How to Convert Bing Rewards Points to Airline Miles
    How to Convert Bing Rewards Points to Airline Miles
  • Discover Card for Travel and Miles

About Scott Mackenzie

Scott is a former scientist and business student who created Travel Codex to unravel the complexity of travel loyalty programs. After 11 years in Seattle, he now lives in Austin with his wife and flies over 100,000 miles every year.

Primary Sidebar

Over 100K+ Followers

Subscribe to updates from Travel Codex

none

Learn to how to find the cheapest awards.

Search Now

none

Transfer points to get more value.

See Options

none

Compare credit cards to earn more miles.

Explore Offers

Contact

If you have a question or would like to make a press inquiry, please contact:

Scott Mackenzie
Editor in Chief
scott@travelcodex.com

For updates:
Subscribe to RSS
Subscribe to Apple News

Privacy Policy


© Travel Codex, LLC All Rights Reserved.


Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Travel Codex with appropriate and specific directions to the original content.