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Quick summary
The article outlines practical strategies for using points and miles to travel within Europe, including when to pay cash versus redeeming rewards.
It emphasizes the importance of calculating the value of points or miles against cash prices and factoring in taxes and fees.
Travelers are encouraged to leverage airline alliances for more redemption options and to consider alternative carriers and train travel for cost savings.
Maximizing layovers and open-jaw itineraries can help travelers see more destinations without extra costs.
What to consider
Always compare the cash price to the points or miles required, referencing TPG's valuations as of the latest update, to ensure you get good value.
Be aware of potentially high taxes and fees on award tickets, which can reduce the value of redemptions.
Each airline has specific rules for stopovers, open jaws and connections, so review terms carefully before booking.
What you'll miss from the article
Detailed step-by-step examples for calculating point value and tips for using partner airline websites to find the best award availability.
Generated by AI with support from our editorial team.
The offers and benefits mentioned below are subject to change at anytime, and may no longer be available.
Today, TPG Contributor Lori Zaino offers her best tips and tricks for using points and miles for getting around Europe. (All photos are by the author unless otherwise noted.)
Chances are, you're planing to visit more than one European city — or country — while you're in the area. If you've managed to bank a ton of points and miles, the good news is you can use them to not only get to Europe, but to get around Europe as well. Here are six easy tips for saving money during your European adventure, listed here in no particular order since they're all equally useful.
1. Always Do the Points & Miles Math to See if Paying Cash is Smarter
The moon over Dublin, where you can connect to more European cities — for less.
If you can take a train or fly on a low-cost carrier affordably — especially on one of Europe's low-cost carriers — you may not want to waste your precious points and miles if it means you really aren't getting a good value from it.
To be sure, do the math before you book. Take the cost of the flight in cash divided by the cost in miles to see how many cents in value you'll be getting for each mile. Then check the value you'd be getting against TPG's monthly valuation to confirm if it's really worth your while. For example, if you can buy a flight on British Airways for $100 or 10,000 Avios, you're really getting a value of one cent per Avios — after checking that value against TPG's most recent valuation, which puts Avios at 1.5 cents per mile, you can see this isn't a great deal. In this case, you may just want to buy the flight for $100 — or a $40 Ryanair flight instead.
If you end up deciding to pay for your ticket in cash instead of redeeming an award ticket, pay with a credit card like the Platinum Card from American Express that'll give you 5x points for flights booked directly with airlines.
Ryanair, Wizz Air, Flybe, Volotea, Pegasus Airlines, Vueling and EasyJet are low-cost airline alternatives if you prefer to pay cash for your flight, just read all the fine print before booking to make sure you're clear on all rules and added costs.
Train travel is also another alternative to consider for cheap and rapid travel within European countries and cities.
2. Know Your Airline Alliances
Enjoy a sunset in Crete thanks to Aegean Airlines, a Star Alliance member.
Great news for travelers: Europe is actually home to a number of alliance-affiliated airlines. Oneworld has Air Berlin, British Airways, Finnair and Iberia, while Star Alliance has 11 European members: Adria Airways, Aegean Airlines, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Croatia Airlines, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, SAS, Swiss, TAP Portugal and Turkish Airlines. SkyTeam has Aeroflot, Air Europa, Air France, Alitalia, Czech Airlines, KLM and Tarom, a Romanian-based airline.
At the very least, you can earn miles for flying these airlines and bank them to your American Airlines, Delta or United account, so make sure you always add your frequent flyer number for any flights you may have on these partner airlines.
Also note that when searching for partner availability, you may not be able to find much unless you use other websites, especially with Oneworld partners. For example, you can use Qantas to show Iberia award availability and then call American Airlines to book. Or try searching Flying Blue for SkyTeam awards. United's website should pull in most of its European partners when searching, though you can use the ANA and Aeroplan sites to search as well.
3. Take Advantage of Credit Card Sign-Up Bonuses
Right now, The Platinum Card® from American Express is offering a sign-up bonus of 60,000 Membership Rewards points when you spend $5,000 within the first three months of opening your account. These points can then be transferred to partner airline programs, giving you more options for intra-European travel redemptions.
4. Use Online Shopping Portals to Earn an Extra Bonus
Keep an eye out for bonuses on shopping portals. Image courtesy of SkyMiles Shopping.
Always watch for any type of bonus that could help you earn some extra miles — the easiest way to do that of course is by keeping an eye on this site, which is updated several times throughout each day with the latest points and miles info. But you already knew that.
TPG usually details whether or not these extra-buy bonuses are worth it and posts when there are transfer bonuses that could help give your mileage account the extra boost it needs when transferring between programs, giving you just enough miles for say, a one-way ticket from London to Budapest.
Stay especially attentive around holidays like Valentine's Day or Mother's Day, as shopping portals often offer huge bonuses on gift items like flowers and candy.
5. Maximize Connections and Open-Jaw Itineraries
This view of a beautiful canal in Amsterdam could be yours soon enough.
If you're using points and miles to get to Europe, consider extending any connection you may have from three hours to 23 hours so you can spend a whole day exploring a new city. For example, if you're heading to Amsterdam but have a layover in London, extend the layover so you can spend the day there.
Anything less than 24 hours is considered a connection and it's a fun way to check out a new place without having to spend more on a hotel room. In fact, some airports, like Istanbul's Atatürk Airport (IST), offer free tours of the city if you book a long layover when you fly on Turkish Airways, a Star Alliance partner. So, for instance, you could fly from the US to Turkey, enjoy a city tour of Istanbul, then fly to your final destination — not a bad use of United Airlines miles if you can swing it!
Open-jaw itineraries also may make more sense as well, meaning you fly into one city and out of another, like going into London and leaving from Paris. This way, you only need to get from London to Paris on a one-way ticket instead of round-trip, meaning you are really maximizing those points and miles. However, make sure to read the fine print before booking stopovers, open jaws and connections as each airline has its own specific rules for these types of routing options.
Bottom Line
With a little planning and by paying attention to airline alliances and when to take advantage of credit card sign-up bonuses, you can easily turn those points and miles into the ultimate European vacation. Bon voyage!
What are your secrets for getting around Europe with points and miles? Let us know below.
Comments
By commenting, you agree to our Community Guidelines to help create a positive space for conversation. The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser, our partners, or The Points Guy (“TPG”). They have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any of these parties. All responses are submitted by individual contributors, and neither the bank advertiser, our partners, nor TPG are responsible for ensuring that all posts and/or questions are answered.
