The best and worst airline miles programs

Today’s post will focus on the best and worst of each of the major airline mileage programs. I’ll also talk about the best uses of each airline’s miles, and the best alternates to them in situations where you should avoid using them if you can. First, my rankings:

1. British Airways Avios
2. United MileagePlus
3. Southwest Rapid Rewards
4. American AAdvantage
5. Delta SkyMiles
6. US Airways Dividend Miles

Of course there are other airlines out there, but these are the programs I am most familiar with.

British Airways Avios

Great for: Short direct flights, last-minute travel, oneworld partner flying

Bad for: Long-haul travel, multi-stop itineraries, flying on British Airways

I love Avios. Because their pricing is distance- and leg-based, it costs me 9,000 miles roundtrip to fly directly to New York, Nashville, Chicago, or Raleigh from DC on American. It only costs 15,000 to go to Saint Louis, Dallas, or Miami. Pretty soon with the American and US Airways merger I should have many more options. With me in DC and my girlfriend moving to Chicago, this is by far the most economical option for us to see each other. It also doesn’t cost anything to book with Avios last-minute. I could use miles for a flight tomorrow and it would only cost me $2.50 per leg. They also allow one-way bookings, and I can cancel any itinerary and get all the miles back for free. All I lose is the $2.50 I paid per leg.

Another perk for those so inclined is that first class costs exactly 3 times the price of coach. So if I’m flying to Chicago, for instance, it costs me 13,500 miles to fly first class, versus 12,500 on another program in coach. Not a bad deal, especially because first class inventory is usually more available than coach inventory.

Finally, British Airways’ Chase card is fantastic. It earns 50,000 miles for just $1,000 spend in 3 months (equivalent to ~5 roundtrips for me), and it earns 1.25 miles per dollar spent. You can also earn Avios by transferring from both Membership Rewards (American Express) and Ultimate Rewards (Chase).

The problem with Avios is that their pricing is by leg, not by direction. If I fly DC to LA with a stop, I will get charged for each leg separately, not as one itinerary. So if you don’t live in an area where there are lots of American Airlines flights, Avios may not be so useful to you because you’ll have to pay for at least 4 legs separately every time you want to fly somewhere roundtrip. Also, ironically, avoid using Avios if you are trying to fly British Airways, as BA charges exorbitant fuel surcharges on top of the price of the miles.

The Avios website is also not the most user-friendly. If you are trying to search for award space on American, it will show you direct flights, but sometimes not one-stop itineraries. The site is even more iffy for other oneworld partners. I recommend always searching first for the flights you want on American’s website, and then heading over to BA to enter in the exact routing you want. AA.com is very user-friendly and also shows nearly all oneworld partner availability. When searching, make sure you look for “Saver” space, as this is the space that Avios miles can purchase on American.

United MileagePlus

Great for: Pretty much all flying

Bad for: Very little

MileagePlus is a great program for a few reasons. First, United has so much Saver space. Within the continental U.S. I think it probably has the most cheap award availability of any airline, and United tends to release extra saver seats if flights don’t sell out, so last-minute booking can be pretty easy with them. Another plus, for itineraries under 700 miles each way in the U.S., the price is 10,000 one-way, instead of 12,500.

Another great thing about United miles are the ability to add in very complex stopovers and open jaws. Last year for 35,000 miles roundtrip, I went DC-Denver-Puerto Vallarta-NYC. That’s the same price as DC-Puerto Vallarta. United allows one stopover and one open jaw pretty much anywhere along your itinerary.

Website-wise, United is the best. They show almost every Star Alliance partner’s availability, and everything is easily bookable.

The United credit card from Chase varies in its miles offered, but expect at least 30,000 for a signup bonus. You can also transfer miles from Ultimate Rewards.

One downside to United miles is the fee structure. It costs $75 to book less than 21 days in advance. It costs $75 to change your flights less than 21 days in advance. It costs $150 to cancel your trip.

Southwest Rapid Rewards

Great for: Short-distance, last-minute, tentative plans

Bad for: High-fare flights

Southwest’s Rapid Rewards are set at a fixed value of 60x airfare for the lowest fare bucket (Wanna Get Away). If a fare costs $200, then the points cost is 12,000. This makes cheap flying a true value for Rapid Rewards points, because while United might charge 25,000 miles roundtrip between Denver and Washington, Southwest might cost 20,000 or less.

Southwest is also the most flexible with its points. You can book anything and cancel at pretty much anytime. They’ll even refund the $2.50 per-leg fee. This makes the program great for tentative scheduling. You can purchase multiple flights and then cancel what you don’t need later at no cost.

The Southwest site has all Southwest and AirTran fares (except to 7 or 8 international AirTran destinations) available for booking on points. The site is very easy to use.

Chase has a Southwest credit card with a bonus that varies between 25,000 and 50,000. If you earn 100,000 points per year between flying and spending, you get a free one-year companion pass, meaning you can name someone who flies with you for free at all times when you fly, whether on fare or points. You can also transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards to Southwest.

American AAdvantage

Great for: General travel

Bad for: N/A

AAdvantage is the oldest frequent flyer program around. It is very similar to United’s, except all domestic legs cost 12,500+. Award availability isn’t quite as good as United, but it’s still very reasonable.

AAdvantage’s website is easy to use, but their routing rules are not as flexible as with United. For instance, an international trip can only have a stopover at the city you depart the U.S. from. This means you only have a handful of choices for stopovers if you don’t live in one of those cities (if you do, you can add on a one-way to or from your city for free as a stopover).

Fees for American are similar to United. Booking 21 days or less in advance costs $75. Changes cost $150. Cancellations cost $150.

The AAdvantage credit card from Citi has links for up to 50,000 point offers if you look around online.

Delta SkyMiles

Great for: General travel

Bad for: N/A

Delta’s SkyMiles program is just awful. There is hardly any award availability at the low level. The website is very broken and sometimes shows flights that you can’t book or doesn’t show flights that you can. There is very limited partner availability on the site as well. The reason I don’t put them in dead last is that I appreciate having no last-minute booking fees. Unfortunately it’s pretty rare that I find any flights last-minute that I actually want to fly.

The Delta American Express cards offer between 25,000 and 45,000 points. For the 45,000 point offer go to www.creditcards.com and click “CARDMATCH”. You can also transfer to SkyMiles from Amex Membership Rewards

U.S. Airways Dividend Miles

Great for: General travel

Bad for: N/A

U.S. Airways combines the worst of all the programs. It costs $25 just to book a ticket in the U.S. It costs $150 to change the reservation. It costs $150 to cancel it. It costs $75 to book last-minute.  The website is great for U.S. Airways flights but doesn’t show any partner availability. But beyond all these basic issues is the simple fact that U.S. Airways, like Delta, just doesn’t release much award space. It’s hard to use these miles.

There are three redeeming qualities to the Dividend Miles program. First, after the merger with American, all the Dividend Miles you have will become AAdvantage miles. Second, U.S. Airways is in the Star Alliance with United, and you can use your Dividend Miles on United flights. United has way more award space available than U.S. Airways. Finally, Dividend Miles are the easiest to earn. Their credit card from Barclays earns you 35,000 miles after one purchase, and you can sign up for this card multiple times and earn the bonus every time (you may have to close the original card to open another).