How Do I Redeem Miles for Flights with Airline Partners?
TPG reader Paul emailed me to ask about booking awards with airline partners:
"I've been booking award flights on Air Canada for years. However, I've seen your articles about using miles to book with other airlines. Does that mean I can bypass the Aeroplan site and use my miles to book travel directly with any Star Alliance partner?"
The process of booking awards on partner airlines is often confusing to new award travelers, but it's a skill well worth learning. Alliances and other non-alliance partnerships give you more opportunities to redeem miles for high value, and can help you travel beyond the regions served by your airline of choice. Paul isn't exactly a "new" award traveler (since he's been using Aeroplan for years), but it sounds like he hasn't fully discovered how far his miles can take him.
The first thing to understand is that the miles you use don't have to come from the airline you fly. You can use the Aeroplan program to book awards not only on Air Canada, but also on Star Alliance partners like United, ANA, Singapore and more. As an example, last year I redeemed 62,500 Aeroplan miles (transferred from American Express) for a first-class flight to Europe on Lufthansa. However, if you're redeeming Aeroplan miles, then you'll still do the actual booking through Aeroplan, regardless of which carrier you use.
Another important concept is that while you might use miles from one airline to fly on another, neither of them necessarily offer the best way to search for award availability. For example, when redeeming Aeroplan miles for flights on another carrier, you might prefer to use United.com to browse your flight options, especially if you're piecing together a complicated itinerary. Once your routing has been established, you can book through Aeroplan either online or by phone.
Using three different airlines to find availability, book your award and actually fly may seem like extra work. However, each program has its strengths and weaknesses, and learning how to navigate them will help you get the most value from your miles down the line.
For more information about booking awards with airline partners, check out these posts:
- Earning and Redeeming Miles on Non-Alliance Partners
- How to Search for Oneworld Award Availability
- How to Search for SkyTeam Award Availability
- Learning to Book Partner Awards — TPG Reader Success Story
If you have any other questions, please tweet me @thepointsguy, message me on Facebook or send me an email at info@thepointsguy.com.
TPG featured card
Rewards
| 2X miles | 2 miles per dollar on every purchase |
| 5X miles | 5 miles per dollar on flights and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Business Travel |
| 10X miles | 10 miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Business Travel |
Intro offer
Annual Fee
Recommended Credit
Why We Chose It
The Capital One Venture X Business Card has all the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card has to offer and more. It offers an incredible welcome bonus and requires an equally impressive spend to qualify. In addition, the card comes with premium travel perks like annual travel credit. (Partner offer)Pros
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- In addition, the card comes with many premium travel perks such as an annual $300 credit for bookings through Capital One Business Travel.
- Business owners are also able to add employee cards for free.
Cons
- The card requires significant spending to earn the welcome offer.
- Another drawback is that the annual travel credit can only be used on bookings made through Capital One Business Travel.
- LIMITED-TIME OFFER: Earn up to 400K bonus miles: 200K miles when you spend $30K in the first 3 months, and an additional 200k miles when you spend $150k in the first 6 months
- Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase, everywhere—with no limits or category restrictions
- Earn 10X miles on hotels and rental cars and 5X miles on flights and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Business Travel
- With no preset spending limit, enjoy big purchasing power that adapts so you can spend more and earn more rewards
- Empower your teams to make business purchases while earning rewards on their transactions, with free employee and virtual cards. Plus, automatically sync your transaction data with your accounting software and pay your vendors with ease
- Redeem your miles on flights, hotels and more. Plus, transfer your miles to any of the 15+ travel loyalty programs
- Every year, you'll get 10,000 bonus miles after your account anniversary date. Plus, receive an annual $300 credit for bookings made through Capital One Business Travel
- Receive up to a $120 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®. Enjoy access to 1,300+ airport lounges worldwide, including Capital One Lounge locations and Priority Pass™ lounges, after enrollment
- Enjoy a $100 experience credit and other premium benefits with every hotel and vacation rental booked from the Premier Collection
- This is a pay-in-full card, so your balance is due in full every month
Rewards Rate
| 2X miles | 2 miles per dollar on every purchase |
| 5X miles | 5 miles per dollar on flights and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Business Travel |
| 10X miles | 10 miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Business Travel |
Intro Offer
Earn 200K miles when you spend $30K in the first 3 months, and an additional 200K miles when you spend $150K in the first 6 monthsLIMITED-TIME OFFER: Earn up to 400K bonus milesAnnual Fee
$395Recommended Credit
Credit ranges are a variation of FICO® Score 8, one of many types of credit scores lenders may use when considering your credit card application.740-850Excellent
Why We Chose It
The Capital One Venture X Business Card has all the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card has to offer and more. It offers an incredible welcome bonus and requires an equally impressive spend to qualify. In addition, the card comes with premium travel perks like annual travel credit. (Partner offer)Pros
- The Capital One Venture X business card has a very lucrative welcome offer.
- In addition, the card comes with many premium travel perks such as an annual $300 credit for bookings through Capital One Business Travel.
- Business owners are also able to add employee cards for free.
Cons
- The card requires significant spending to earn the welcome offer.
- Another drawback is that the annual travel credit can only be used on bookings made through Capital One Business Travel.
- LIMITED-TIME OFFER: Earn up to 400K bonus miles: 200K miles when you spend $30K in the first 3 months, and an additional 200k miles when you spend $150k in the first 6 months
- Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase, everywhere—with no limits or category restrictions
- Earn 10X miles on hotels and rental cars and 5X miles on flights and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Business Travel
- With no preset spending limit, enjoy big purchasing power that adapts so you can spend more and earn more rewards
- Empower your teams to make business purchases while earning rewards on their transactions, with free employee and virtual cards. Plus, automatically sync your transaction data with your accounting software and pay your vendors with ease
- Redeem your miles on flights, hotels and more. Plus, transfer your miles to any of the 15+ travel loyalty programs
- Every year, you'll get 10,000 bonus miles after your account anniversary date. Plus, receive an annual $300 credit for bookings made through Capital One Business Travel
- Receive up to a $120 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®. Enjoy access to 1,300+ airport lounges worldwide, including Capital One Lounge locations and Priority Pass™ lounges, after enrollment
- Enjoy a $100 experience credit and other premium benefits with every hotel and vacation rental booked from the Premier Collection
- This is a pay-in-full card, so your balance is due in full every month