Editor’s note: This is a recurring post, regularly updated with the latest information.
Knowing the best ways to redeem your transferable points and airline miles is important if you want to get good value. Many of the best airline award sweet spots are for international business-class flights, but great deals are also available for domestic flights if you know where to look.
This article will discuss some of the best domestic award chart sweet spots. You can use American Express Membership Rewards points, Bilt Rewards points, Capital One miles, Chase Ultimate Rewards points and Citi ThankYou Rewards points to book many of these domestic sweet spot awards.
Cheap award tickets to Hawaii
Hawaii is a reader favorite here at TPG. And thankfully, there are many great ways to reach Hawaii with points and miles. Here are a few of our favorite ways to book flights to Hawaii with major U.S. carriers.
The best ways to book United flights to Hawaii
The best flight deal to Hawaii is to book United Airlines flights with Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles. This Star Alliance loyalty program charges just 7,500 miles for a one-way flight from anywhere in the U.S. to Hawaii. Better yet, a business-class ticket is just 12,500 miles one-way — but award space is challenging to find.
You can transfer Bilt Rewards points, Capital One miles and Citi ThankYou Rewards points to Turkish Airlines.
Alternatively, you can transfer American Express Membership Rewards points, Capital One miles, Chase Ultimate Rewards points and Citi ThankYou Rewards points to Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer to book United flights to Hawaii. Award rates differ based on your departure airport but start at 19,500 miles one-way.
Book American or Alaska flights with Avios
You can use the British Airways distance-based award chart to fly American Airlines or Alaska Airlines from the West Coast to Hawaii for 13,000 Avios each way on nonstop economy flights. Both carriers operate numerous routes between the West Coast and Hawaii.
You can transfer American Express Membership Rewards points, Bilt Rewards points, Chase Ultimate Rewards points and Capital One miles to British Airways.
Always look for good deals on Southwest flights
Southwest Airlines started offering flights to Hawaii in 2019 and has been gradually adding more Hawaiian routes. Especially if you have a Southwest Companion Pass, Southwest may provide the most affordable options for using points or cash to travel to Hawaii. There are many ways to earn more Southwest points, including spending on Southwest credit cards and transferring Chase Ultimate Rewards points to Southwest Rapid Rewards.
Related: Best hotels and resorts in Hawaii
United flights with Turkish Miles&Smiles
Turkish Miles&Smiles remains an underrated airline mileage program with great benefits. Similar to flights to Hawaii, you can book other United domestic flights in economy and business class for just 7,500 and 12,500 miles one-way, respectively. This even includes transcontinental flights with lie-flat seats.
These are among the lowest award rates for domestic medium- and long-haul routes. For a comprehensive overview, check out our Turkish Miles&Smiles sweet spots guide.
As discussed above, you can transfer rewards from Bilt Rewards, Capital One and Citi ThankYou Rewards to Turkish Miles&Smiles.
Related: The best websites to search for Star Alliance award availability
United flights with Avianca LifeMiles
While Avianca LifeMiles has a standard, zone-based award chart, you’ll often see different award rates for travel within the U.S. Many domestic awards cost 7,500 miles, including this flight from Chicago to Atlanta:
And some shorter flights cost just 6,500 miles, like Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) to Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT).
You can transfer American Express Membership Rewards points, Capital One miles and Citi ThankYou Rewards points to Avianca LifeMiles. LifeMiles remains one of the best ways to redeem American Express Membership Rewards points for domestic United flights.
Related: Why you need Avianca LifeMiles for travel within the US and to Canada
British Airways Avios for short-haul American and Alaska flights
Even outside of flights to Hawaii, you can use British Airways Avios to score an excellent deal on American and Alaska domestic flights. British Airways utilizes a distance-based award chart, which means each segment of your trip is priced separately.
To maximize your value, choose short, nonstop flights whenever available. For example, American and Alaska flights up to 651 miles long cost 7,500 Avios for a one-way award, while flights between 651 and 1,151 miles cost 9,000 Avios. This is often a more affordable option than booking short-haul awards through American AAdvantage.
As a reminder, you can transfer American Express Membership Rewards points, Bilt Rewards points, Chase Ultimate Rewards points and Capital One miles to British Airways to book these awards.
Related: 4 versions of Avios: When to use Aer Lingus, Qatar Airways, Iberia and British Airways
Low-cost Delta SkyMiles awards
The Delta SkyMiles program has received criticism for its volatile award pricing and lack of published award charts. Dynamic pricing has undoubtedly made it difficult to redeem SkyMiles for high-value international flights. But you’ll sometimes find affordable domestic flights you can book with Delta SkyMiles.
For example, consider this Chicago-to-Minneapolis flight you could book for 6,000 miles in Delta basic economy or 9,000 miles in main cabin economy.
Delta even offers transcontinental flights at bargain award rates, like this Boston-to-Los Angeles flight for 7,500 miles in basic economy and 12,000 miles in main cabin economy.
You could use a Delta credit card or transfer American Express Membership Rewards points to Delta if you need to earn Delta miles.
Related: Delta’s SkyMiles changes have convinced me to stop chasing airline status, and that’s liberating
Benefit from AAdvantage’s dynamic pricing
Dynamic pricing of American Airlines awards can let you snag bargain award rates if you have flexible travel plans. For example, we found award rates between Chicago and Mexico City that start at just 10,000 miles in economy and 20,000 miles in business class.
There are plenty of domestic sweet spots, too. For example, here’s a flight between Washington’s Dulles International Airport (IAD) and Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC) for 7,500 miles in economy and 17,5000 miles in business.
American Airlines miles are historically difficult to earn. But there are still many ways to earn American Airlines miles, including American Airlines credit cards and transfers from Bilt Rewards.
Related: How to redeem miles with the American Airlines AAdvantage program
Credit cards that can help you stock up on rewards
Throughout this article, we mention various types of transferable rewards you can transfer to select airline loyalty programs. Here are some of the best cards that earn transferable points or miles:
- American Express Membership Rewards points: The Platinum Card® from American Express, The Business Platinum Card® from American Express, American Express® Gold Card and The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express
- Bilt Rewards points: Bilt Mastercard® (see rates and fees)
- Capital One miles: Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card, Capital One Venture X Business, Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card and Capital One Spark Miles for Business
- Chase Ultimate Rewards points: Chase Sapphire Reserve, Chase Sapphire Preferred Card and Ink Business Preferred Credit Card
- Citi ThankYou Rewards points: Citi Premier® Card (see rates and fees)
Although some of these cards offer excellent welcome bonuses, remember it can take a while to meet the minimum spending requirements for the bonus. So, it’s best to apply for a new card months in advance of when you expect to book your award flights.
Related: Maximize your airfare: The best credit cards for booking flights
Bottom line
Maximizing the value of your transferable rewards and airline miles requires knowledge of the best redemption strategies. While international business-class flights to far-flung destinations often offer great value, it’s essential not to overlook the domestic award chart sweet spots.
You can find excellent deals on domestic flights by leveraging transferable credit card rewards. Take advantage of these opportunities and unlock your rewards’ full domestic and international travel potential.
See Bilt Mastercard rates and fees here.
See Bilt Mastercard rewards and benefits here.
