Award Travel
Free travel is the goal of most award travelers. Having the best tools, like AwardHacker, is ideal to find the flights you need to reach that expensive and/or hard-to reach destination. The best tools make it easier to book award flights saving you money in the process.
As I mentioned in my post on earning transferable points, flexible point programs are where I’ve found the most value. The flexibility to pick and choose the best redemption is why I recommend this strategy.
When you start amassing transferable points, I recommend using Wikipedia early in the process. The Wikipedia platform is an excellent tool for matching the airlines and destinations that you need with the points and miles that you have.
AwardHacker
AwardHacker, in conjunction with Wikipedia, is another tool that I’ve found helpful. It’s a free product created to help anyone find the best award flights without being an expert in every airline program.
The AwardHacker platform covers most frequent flyer programs, supports distance-based charts, route information, and miles needed for each route.
AwardHacker uses a set of inputs to determine the best points and miles to use. The inputs are Departing Airport, Arriving Airport, Route Type, Cabin Type, Number of Stops, Frequent Flyer Program, and On/Off-Peak Award.
Departing / Arriving Airport
I compiled the list of SkyTeam alliance partners with non-stop flights from the U.S. to Italy. As an example, one of the routes is a non-stop Delta flight between New York (JFK) and Venice (VCE).
After running all of the combinations, it was clear on AwardHacker that using Korean Air miles was the best business class redemption. Korean Air is a Chase Ultimate Rewards partner, meaning I can transfer URs directly from Chase to Korean Air at a 1:1 ratio instantaneously.
Route Type
I selected business class between the airports and dates that worked best for us. Keep in mind that if economy makes more sense for you, simply select ‘economy’ in the Route Type drop down.
The required mileage will change sometimes when you use different departing and/or arriving airports. The reason is because some airlines use different award charts, which creates differences in the amount of miles required.
Cabin Type
We opted to fly in business class because we have never flown in premium cabin before. What better way to wake up in Italy than after an overnight flight in Delta One!
We’ve flown in economy on Cathay Pacific to Asia and United Airlines to Europe, so we decided to change it up this time. I’ll report back on our experience in Delta One in a future post.
Number of Stops
I value non-stop flights to avoid potential airline delays. The downside with this preference is that the best redemptions may require a connection.
I recommend toggling between the non-top and one-stop option on AwardHacker. The advantage is that you’ll see exactly what premium is required between them. Adding a connection can sometimes be a great way to maximize your points and miles.
Frequent Flyer Program
Transferable points are the reason I do not have to worry about this input most of the time. When you earn transferable points, you can use those points to fly on the credit cards airline partners. In return, these airline partners allow you to fly on airlines within the three major airline alliances.
If you have airline miles with one or multiple airlines, select the frequent flyer program(s) of your choice on AwardHacker. With your frequent flyer program(s) selected, you’ll only see results corresponding to the programs that you have airline miles in.
On/Off-Peak Award
Several airline programs, including British Airways, use an on and off-peak award calendar. Flying on off-peak dates can save you a significant amount of miles. An example of this is flying Aer Lingus from the U.S. to Ireland on off-peak dates.
If you’re evaluating using points and miles between multiple programs, the Off-Peak option is a great tool to have at your disposal.
Conclusion on AwardHacker
The AwardHacker platform provides a valuable starting point in understanding what program is best to use with the points and miles that you have. Being able to see which airline program work best for your trip is what I like most about the website.
Have you used the AwardHacker tool? What other tools do you recommend? Please let me know in the comments below or by sending me an email pointswithq@gmail.com.
Thanks for reading!
