The best points and miles to use for last-minute flights

With the ongoing pandemic, it's hard to visualize a world when travel becomes normal again, yet we're getting closer to that reality every day. When it finally happens, you may find yourself in need of a last-minute award ticket. However, not all currencies are created equal when it comes to booking flights on short notice — so today, I want to go over the best points and miles for last-minute tickets.

I'm working on the premise that you can only work with the miles you have, not ones you can get from a bonus.

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If you are stressed, keep it simple

If flights weren't exorbitantly expensive and I just needed to get from Point A to Point B on a certain date, I'd consider Capital One miles first. The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card is my go-to when I don't have the time to spend with award charts and transfer partners. With Capital One miles, you just offset your ticket's cost from your credit card statement.

You can also book tickets directly with Chase Ultimate Rewards and Citi ThankYou points, but you need to use their portals. Earn Chase Ultimate Rewards with cards like the Chase Sapphire Reserve®, Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and Chase Freedom Flex. We like the Citi Premier® Card for ThankYou points. Points are worth 1.5 cents toward travel with the Sapphire Reserve and 1.25 cents with the Preferred.

Related: Comparing the best fixed-value point credit cards

The power of transferable points

There are five major transferable point programs. We've written extensively about how every traveler should earn transferable points in some way. These points give you incredible flexibility when it comes time to redeem them for hotel stays and flights. As a reminder, here are the programs that fall into this category:

• American Express Membership Rewards
• Chase Ultimate Rewards
• Citi ThankYou Rewards
• Capital One Rewards
• Marriott Bonvoy

Between these five, you have more than 40 different airline programs to choose from when you're ready to transfer your points. Rather than being pigeonholed into one airline's points or miles, you can transfer points to a program with availability and decent award rates.

However, each of these programs has different transfer times when it comes to converting miles, ranging from instantaneous (like transferring Ultimate Rewards points to United) to a week or even longer (like transferring ThankYou points to Etihad Guest). We've investigated these times in the past for each of the programs, so be sure to refer to the following posts for estimates on when you can expect your transfer to be completed:

• American Express Membership Rewards
• Chase Ultimate Rewards
• Citi ThankYou Rewards
• Marriott Bonvoy
• Capital One Miles

In addition, some airlines tack on added fees for last-minute bookings, making them less attractive when it comes to redeeming award tickets in the days or hours before a flight.

So which specific programs are a great option for these awards? Here's my list:

Delta SkyMiles

The first program I'll highlight is one that is generally reviled in the frequent-flyer world thanks to actions like devaluing awards without warning and pulling award charts from its website. Nevertheless, the Delta SkyMiles program is a solid option for booking last-minute award tickets for a couple of key reasons. The first is the carrier's partnership with Membership Rewards. Your points transfer instantly, so you don't have to worry about award inventory disappearing.

The other key benefit to booking award tickets with Delta is the lack of last-minute ticketing fees. If you redeem SkyMiles for a flight even on the day of departure, you'll only pay the regular taxes and fees that you'd pay on an award ticket booked a month or even six months ahead of time. You won't be on the hook for close-in booking fees, which can top $75 per person.

Related: The ultimate guide to Delta partners

British Airways Executive Club

British Airways is one of my favorite airlines for award redemptions, thanks to the carrier's distance-based award chart. In many cases, it results in lower rates for partner flights than you'd get by booking directly with that partner. If you're booking last-minute, the value proposition is even sweeter since the Executive Club also imposes no fees on these awards.

What makes British Airways even more attractive for last-minute redemptions is that it partners with three of the major transferable programs (Membership Rewards, Ultimate Rewards and Marriott Bonvoy). On the flip side, American only partners with Marriott. In addition, both Amex and Chase points will transfer instantly at a 1:1 ratio, again avoiding that dreaded wait while you hope that award inventory doesn't disappear. You can also earn British Airways Avios with the British Airways Visa Signature® Card.

Aeroplan

If you're looking to redeem miles for flights on United, Air Canada's Aeroplan program is a great option. Aeroplan offers solid value, especially when you're booking last minute, and it doesn't charge close-in booking fees on award tickets. You can transfer your Membership Rewards points to Aeroplan — and, best of all, they'll post instantly.

Related: Here are 7 of our favorite ways to use Amex Membership Rewards points

Southwest and Jet Blue

I put Southwest and JetBlue in the same bucket because neither airline charges close-in fees, but both link redemption rates to ticket prices at a somewhat fixed rate. You might be better off paying cash and offsetting the cost with a card such as Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card, which lets you use miles to cover travel purchases.

If you'd prefer to pay with points, Chase Ultimate Rewards points transfer instantly to Southwest and JetBlue at a 1:1 ratio. JetBlue is also an American Express transfer partner, but neither offers good value compared to fixed rewards, so we recommend shying away from that redemption.

Bottom line

Unfortunately, redeeming award tickets within days or even a couple of weeks of departure may cost you more than if you planned ahead, especially if you book through the wrong program. But as we've outlined here, it's not impossible. This illustrates the power of the fixed-value and transferable-point currencies, as you can wait to determine how you spend your points until you need them.