r/awardtravel

Have been able to put a Japan trip together. Was able to snag JALs A350 F last week and just snagged ANAs F into JFK. Booked 2 nights at the Park Hyatt to finish my trip over this past weekend.

Have to say im absolutely pumped. For all the negative changes to the hobby that have come recently and will probably come to the future, I was just able to put the finishing touches to a dream trip that never would have been possible at this level without it. This is absolutely still freaking worth it lol

I was wondering if there’s a service or app that lets you enter your home airport and travel dates without needing to choose a destination first. Most of the services I've seen require a destination first and then searching for flights.

My home base is Washington/IAD, if for example I want to travel September 2026, I'd like to see available destinations along with premium cabin/business class award availability and the number of points required; example destinations would be London, Mexico City, Amsterdam, Moscow, or anywhere else.

I'm looking for a destination from my area airports that pops up something I would not have thought to have gone to.

I realize that Google Flights can do it, but I want a product that will do based on POINTS not cash.

I originally had LAS - SEA - PPT scheduled for this summer, but that route was axed towards the end of 2025. Booked on Air Tahiti Nui metal through Alaskan miles. When I called Alaskan to change the flight a few months ago, they recommended changing the flight to be LAS - PDX - LAX - PPT, and dropping the first two connecting flights later when I inevitably found something direct LAS - LAX.

As we're getting closer (~2mo) and I've finalized my repositioning flight LAS - LAX, I called Alaskan. They said there's no way for them to drop the first two legs, as Air Tahiti Nui is adamant about keeping the original departure city (LAS) the same.

Am I SOL here, or is this worth calling again to try and find a different representative?

Got this email from BA just now....

> We wanted to let you know that from May 27, 2026 the price of Reward Flights will increase. This will only affect the cash element of your booking.

> Rest assured that any Reward Flights booked prior to this change will remain at the current price. Reward Flights continue to offer great value and the Avios required will remain unchanged.

> Thank you for your continued support and understanding.

Hi all,

Hope this post is allowed. Basically, I'm looking for some ideas of First Class sweet spots, so I can try out various different seats.

I am based in the UK, but happy to travel to start my itinerary elsewhere (preferably East).

I've done BA F and Qatar F (on ex-Cathay 777), and have got Etihad A380 Apartment booked (140k miles). But, the Amex to Etihad transfer partnership is ending in June, so that flight might be a one-off. I know you book can Etihad with Flying Blue, but not F.

I've found Qatar F from Dubai to the UK (on the A380), for 81k avios, so might try that.

I would love to try Emirates F, but I know they limit their F redemptions to status holders only. I can see that Qantas FF can also book EK F, but you also need Silver status for that. Is there a way I can book J, and then upgrade with either cash or miles without status? Ideally with miles! I saw some (relatively) low price F redemptions with Qantas from Athens to DXB, but I couldn't book it.

Would also live to try Singapore F, are there any sweet spots or Fifth freedom routes that I could book, and a rough idea of points/cash?

Any other airlines where F redemptions are possible?

We are a family of 3, but I am willing to travel solo for some of these flights.

I have approx 700k Amex MR (UK), 200k Avios, 100k Marriott, 50k Virgin Points, and some Turkish Miles. I also have Aeroplan and Flying Blue accounts (but no miles).

I don't mind short flights, as I just want to try out the seats, just would love an idea of what routes are available with which FFP, and go from there.

Thank you!

Has anyone booked economy Delta US to HND via flying blue and used cash and or points to upgrade to a better seat? If so how much and what was the timing?

Hi all,

I’m trying to upgrade my son’s Cathay Pacific Premium Economy ticket to Business using Asia Miles, but the request is currently waitlisted.

A bit more context: his grandparents are already booked in Business on the same flight. We purchased my son’s ticket later, and by then Business fares had become insanely expensive (likely due to the recent oil price spike), so we ended up buying Premium Economy instead and submitted an Asia Miles upgrade request afterward.

Ideally, we’d really like him seated with his grandparents in Business if possible.

I’m wondering:

• Is there any way to improve the chances of clearing the waitlist?
• Does calling Cathay / Asia Miles help at all in situations like this?
• Would mentioning that immediate family members are already in Business make any difference?
• Do upgrades typically clear close to departure?
• Any recent Cathay upgrade waitlist experiences?

This is a paid Premium Economy fare, not an award ticket.

Appreciate any advice or data points — thanks!

Currently enrolled in AA dining and shopping. Im a beginner with miles so dont come for me if this is a stupid question. I just recently started racking up miles on a venture card. I live in Florida and will use Orlando, Lauderdale and Miami. I only travel a couple times a year but if I can accumulate miles and save money the goal would be able to travel as much as I can afford. I want to mostly travel to Europe and some Asian countries. Just wondering if using the AA dining portal would be better value than signing up for deltas dining portal or United.

I am in Canada, and it seems I cannot directly convert my Avion Rewards points (from my RBC Ion card) to Aeroplan points. If I am planning a trip to Europe, and using my points from my American Express for the bulk of the airplane tickets by converting them to Aeroplan points, is there any way to use the Avion Points on this trip- on any aspect of it? Thank you so much!

I am trying to book a direct flight from DFW to HNL. The flight is operated by American Airlines, but I am booking it directly through the Alaska Airlines website.

Does anyone know if the $99 Alaska companion fare can be applied in this specific scenario?

Hey all,

I'm looking for some opinions on how to calculate CPP for my case. I redeemed 27.5k MR + $186 for a one-way MUC → SAN flight through ANA on United metal.

I'm trying to figure out the right cash price to use for the CPP calculation, and I'm kinda stuck:

The one-way cash price on United is $2,163, which seems absurd. The round-trip on the same routing is ~$1,700, so half would be $850. But I'm not even flying SAN → MUC on the outbound, I'm taking Alaska SEA → FCO, so the RT comparison isn't perfect. Additionally, Google Flights shows a one-way MUC → SAN on AA for $505.

So here, what goes into the numerator for CPP calculations? Half the $1,700 RT? The $505 AA fare? Something else? Curious how you all see this

Thanks

11/17/2026 via Aeroplan at 10 am PST today!

EDIT: 1x, letting go because I need 2 :(

I'm looking for some advice from anyone who books award travel with Flying Blue points. I need to book last minute flights (this Sunday) from EDI to IAD. I found a great deal for 51.5K points on KLM (for 2 adults and a toddler). I transferred my AmEx points over and then went to make the booking but couldn't.

Turns out I had a ghost booking in my Flying Blue account from earlier in the day when I went to check the cash price/seat availability and didn't cancel or complete the reservation. (Lesson learned - I won't make that mistake again) By the time I finished on the phone with customer service to get the ghost reservation cancelled, the award flight is now showing at 287K for that itinerary. There are other worse/less convenient itineraries at the low price but none work as well, especially with a toddler. Does anyone know if the lower fare award pricing might be being held and released after some time or if I should just assume someone else scooped in and booked the flights and the good price on the itinerary I want is gone forever? I've never booked award flights with Flying Blue so don't know how the system works.

I need to book something today so I'm not willing to wait to see if things refresh overnight. If I need to go with UA at 40K per person I will but it would be good to save some points if possible since we don't need a non-stop on the way out.

Hello everyone, looking to book an award ticket on vacation LHR-HKG (spending few days in the city then meeting friends elsewhere in southeast Asia). I can book business for 91k miles, or first for 125k miles. The taxes and fees are the same (4500 HKD, which is absurd but classic flying out of LHR). I've flown Cathay J on shorter flights and it was excellent.

I've heard Cathay first is a bit dated (read some reviews too). I wouldn't pay the cash premium to fly first over business, but 34k miles doesn't seem like too much. And first class is always a treat to fly. What would you guys suggest in this situation, especially if you've flown Cathay J/F before.

Hi all,

I found a Copa Airlines award flight from Panama (PTY) to Rio de Janeiro (GIG) for about **20k points** directly on Copa’s site.

I was hoping to use Chase Ultimate Rewards points, but it looks like Chase doesn’t transfer directly to Copa ConnectMiles.

I tried checking the same flight through other Star Alliance programs:

* United
* Air Canada Aeroplan

…but the pricing jumps to around **35k–40k points**, which feels pretty bad compared to the direct Copa pricing.

Wanted to ask:

* Is there any workaround to get Chase points into Copa?
* Any partner program that can access Copa saver inventory closer to the 20k pricing?

Trying to figure out the most efficient redemption here before I transfer points anywhere.

Thanks in advance!

Hi, I’m looking for a flight from LAX to CDG mid June to return early July and I was wondering if there was still hope for me to find a decent point redemption or if i should just end paying cash? I’m redeeming for two people and I found hope in some JetBlue flights but the price keeps fluctuating so I’m scared to transfer my points and the flight not being there when they end up in my JetBlue Account. Any and all advice is appreciated.

I found: LAX to BOS to CDG for 53,400 points + $5.60 CDG to JFK to LAX for 45,900 points + $135.93 Both Blue Core (Basic)^

I’m seeing pretty good rates (over 1.5 cpp) for some all inclusives like TRS hotels. However, I see people saying transferring to Wyndham is bad value… well Hyatt currently has nothing that good anymore… am I missing something? Chase points transfer 1:1 right? Is there hidden fees I might not know about with Wyndham? Please let me know if I’m missing something here

I am trying to book a One Way Air France flight from Paris to LA for around middle of July, and from now until June 20th I see that it is consistently only like 18K points in Economy. But the moment I jump to June 21st, it is closer to 47K points for Economy seating for the same kind of flight!

I am just learning about CC points and have never booked with miles before, so is this huge spike happening because June 21st is a month from now, meaning I need to wait until closer to my mid July flight to book with points? Or is this because of a travel spike during Peak Season? I'm just wondering if I should use Cash instead since 47K points I know could be used smarter. And also trying to figure out how many points I need for this kind of redemption. This may be a dumb question but don't want to take any chances and wanted reddit help.