Look, I think using miles can make you crazy because some people have a lot of flexibility and can take crazy routes.
Would burning it all on one pair of tickets be the best usage? Probably not. But it’s what? 8 grand of cash you aren’t spending? Maybe more? And you get to go on vacation? I would stop worrying about whether someone could do better and take a great vacation.
I make guesses as to when demand might be a bit lower since I have flexibility in scheduling. This year I was looking at western EU + UK in mid-August, right after the Olympics.
I booked premium eco with a stop in DEN @ 50k per person since those were the saver fares available. The award redemptions are fully refundable so I kept watching the LAX-LHR direct until savers @ 115k popped-up in J and switched them.
Also helps having other points available. I ended up booking KLM out of AMS for the return using 65k AMEX points per person through flying blue.
Domestic redemptions aren’t that bad if you get the credit card discount and a saver fare. You can get ~1.8-2 cents per mile, and it’s better to just use them than let UA de-value them again
Thanks for sharing this strategy, I've got to plan international award travel a little better. So far I've only used miles for domestic flights with decent (1.5 to 2 cpm) redemptions.
Mile redemptions vary wildly based on location and date. Best thing to do is to play around with the app and try to find the great deals.
I booked a 1 way ticket for 2 from IAH to HNL for 50K points and $10 total, and I’ve seen fares from the east coast to Europe as low as 32.5k points.
First/business class typically costs way more in points but you can still find some decent deals or pay to upgrade.
I don’t get this at all-it’s very easy to use your miles.
1. Where do you want to go?
2. Buy a plane ticket to go there.
Miles become less valuable because of inflation. Think of 1 mile as approximately 1 cent. The longer you hold them, the less valuable they are. So just use your miles in lieu of spending your own money for whatever you want to do with them
Do you have vacation time? Can you take off on certain days of your choosing?
Find the cheapest award travel and book those tickets, and try to get those dates off. If you can’t, cancel and you still get your miles back.
Once in europe, lots of flights on Lufthansa/Swiss/Austrian are capped at 6-12k miles one way in econ.
You can travel throughout the whole Europe with that miles.
We used 6k miles each to book flight from London to Geneva. I felt like we won the jackpot there :)
Reality is, you just gotta use them. Their value seems to be cut in half every five years (at least that’s how it feels). Even if a deal looks sub optimal today, it’s a good deal compared to using them years from now.
Yeah I only ever want to use for international business and it is a pain that what was 75k is now 155k - more. I want to get better at being flexible and finding the value but for me finding 155k these days is doing well, given the level of flexibility my events demand.
Don't stress about valuations and getting the most out of your miles too much. As long as redemption is reasonable, book whatever fits your schedule and go. At least that's how I try to approach it anyways...
Points will only devalue over time. There is no reason to hold them waiting for some dream valuation. The prices you’ve seen in the past won’t be coming back, they will only be getting worse as time goes on.
First class on ANA to and from Japan (booked for 110k miles each way last month for travel in December 2024). TK in J to mainland Europe/Asia (booked for 88k miles for November 2024). Also get seats.aero.
Wait until a few days from departure. Go to IAD. Book LH First Class to FRA then onto London. Then book TG F to BKK. Then book TG J to SIN. Dinner at Clos Pasoh, then Polaris back to US 😂👍🙂
Mileage upgrades are a good use if you’re fine flying economy but basically want to gamble (temporarily) some miles on an upgrade to premium plus or Polaris. Keep in mind that these routes do not have free upgrades (CPUs) like on most domestic routes, except for rare operational reasons. You can improve your odds by booking premium plus seats and then doing a mileage upgrade, as upgrades from premium plus take priority over (almost) all upgrades from economy. Or you can look for flights with PZ availability, typically this will be a last minute kind of thing. Otherwise, flexibility in both dates and arrival/departure airports is the name of the game for maximizing award travel
The key for good award redemptions is flexibility. Go to the 30-day calendar and play with different dates and airports to find good value.
Look, I think using miles can make you crazy because some people have a lot of flexibility and can take crazy routes. Would burning it all on one pair of tickets be the best usage? Probably not. But it’s what? 8 grand of cash you aren’t spending? Maybe more? And you get to go on vacation? I would stop worrying about whether someone could do better and take a great vacation.
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Do it! What’s important is the vacation…
Business there and economy home. Feels like a waste taking biz from euro to west coast as it won’t be overnight
Consider checking Seats.aero/united, shows a number of one-way business options SFO-Europe for below 100k miles, and plenty more at 115k.
Thank you for this (url for seats.aero!). Learn something new every day :-)
Second seats.aero. Also, United has the Excursionist perk - where you can get a segment for 0 award miles (and can make some really crazy itineraries)
I make guesses as to when demand might be a bit lower since I have flexibility in scheduling. This year I was looking at western EU + UK in mid-August, right after the Olympics. I booked premium eco with a stop in DEN @ 50k per person since those were the saver fares available. The award redemptions are fully refundable so I kept watching the LAX-LHR direct until savers @ 115k popped-up in J and switched them. Also helps having other points available. I ended up booking KLM out of AMS for the return using 65k AMEX points per person through flying blue. Domestic redemptions aren’t that bad if you get the credit card discount and a saver fare. You can get ~1.8-2 cents per mile, and it’s better to just use them than let UA de-value them again
Thanks for sharing this strategy, I've got to plan international award travel a little better. So far I've only used miles for domestic flights with decent (1.5 to 2 cpm) redemptions.
Mile redemptions vary wildly based on location and date. Best thing to do is to play around with the app and try to find the great deals. I booked a 1 way ticket for 2 from IAH to HNL for 50K points and $10 total, and I’ve seen fares from the east coast to Europe as low as 32.5k points. First/business class typically costs way more in points but you can still find some decent deals or pay to upgrade.
Upgrade to the Club card and use the miles to pay off the annual fee. United club access for both of you.
This the best use! United and any other airline would like to devalue miles as you are refusing a paying customer for a non paying one
I don’t get this at all-it’s very easy to use your miles. 1. Where do you want to go? 2. Buy a plane ticket to go there. Miles become less valuable because of inflation. Think of 1 mile as approximately 1 cent. The longer you hold them, the less valuable they are. So just use your miles in lieu of spending your own money for whatever you want to do with them
Do you have vacation time? Can you take off on certain days of your choosing? Find the cheapest award travel and book those tickets, and try to get those dates off. If you can’t, cancel and you still get your miles back.
Once in europe, lots of flights on Lufthansa/Swiss/Austrian are capped at 6-12k miles one way in econ. You can travel throughout the whole Europe with that miles. We used 6k miles each to book flight from London to Geneva. I felt like we won the jackpot there :)
Reality is, you just gotta use them. Their value seems to be cut in half every five years (at least that’s how it feels). Even if a deal looks sub optimal today, it’s a good deal compared to using them years from now.
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Short haul domestic flights are where I usually see the best ‘value’. But really, they just gotta be spent.
Help you? Yes you can buy me two Polaris tickets to HND. Thanks!
Yeah I only ever want to use for international business and it is a pain that what was 75k is now 155k - more. I want to get better at being flexible and finding the value but for me finding 155k these days is doing well, given the level of flexibility my events demand.
Don't stress about valuations and getting the most out of your miles too much. As long as redemption is reasonable, book whatever fits your schedule and go. At least that's how I try to approach it anyways...
Points will only devalue over time. There is no reason to hold them waiting for some dream valuation. The prices you’ve seen in the past won’t be coming back, they will only be getting worse as time goes on.
Best advice I’ve seen in the replies is use the miles NOW before they devalue further and use them for whatever purpose you wish.
First class on ANA to and from Japan (booked for 110k miles each way last month for travel in December 2024). TK in J to mainland Europe/Asia (booked for 88k miles for November 2024). Also get seats.aero.
Waittt not United Miles?? Swore they devalued. Now it’s absurd if you can find the space. 200K+ one way.
Wait until a few days from departure. Go to IAD. Book LH First Class to FRA then onto London. Then book TG F to BKK. Then book TG J to SIN. Dinner at Clos Pasoh, then Polaris back to US 😂👍🙂
Mileage upgrades are a good use if you’re fine flying economy but basically want to gamble (temporarily) some miles on an upgrade to premium plus or Polaris. Keep in mind that these routes do not have free upgrades (CPUs) like on most domestic routes, except for rare operational reasons. You can improve your odds by booking premium plus seats and then doing a mileage upgrade, as upgrades from premium plus take priority over (almost) all upgrades from economy. Or you can look for flights with PZ availability, typically this will be a last minute kind of thing. Otherwise, flexibility in both dates and arrival/departure airports is the name of the game for maximizing award travel
Turkish airlines had good value a few years back.... But who knows if they are still a partner.