Andrew Kunesh is TPG's Points & Miles editor. He has been active in the points and miles space since 2014, using them to travel far and wide around the world. He is originally from Chicago but moved to New York City after graduating from DePaul University. His work is featured on Credit Karma, UpgradedPoints, ValuePenguin and various other travel and finance publications. He currently holds Delta Diamond Medallion and Marriott Titanium status, and 20+ credit cards that each have a special place in Andrew's wallet.
August 15, 2021 • 8 min read
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Quick summary
Canada reopened its borders to vaccinated Americans, with award flight availability on multiple U.S. and Canadian airlines through late 2021.
Economy award seats are widely available on popular routes between major U.S. and Canadian cities, often at lower mileage rates than usual.
Travelers can use transferable points or airline miles to book these flights, but should compare the value of using points versus paying cash.
Award pricing and taxes vary by route and airline, so checking both options ensures the best deal.
What to consider
Some offers and transfer partnerships mentioned may no longer be available, so current availability should be confirmed.
Award pricing can differ significantly by airline and route, and cash fares may sometimes offer better value than using miles.
TPG's valuations can help determine whether redeeming points or paying cash is the more cost-effective choice as of the article's publication.
What you'll miss from the article
A detailed breakdown of specific routes, award prices and transfer options for maximizing value on U.S.-Canada flights this fall.
Generated by AI with support from our editorial team.
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.
If you’re looking to pay a visit to our northern neighbors this fall, you may want to book your tickets now. We’re seeing low-cost award tickets on many major U.S. and Canadian airlines through the end of the season, so you can use your transferable points and airline miles to book them.
Here, we’ll give you an overview of open award space on a handful of popular routes between the U.S. and Canada. Since these flights are short, we will show you economy award space unless otherwise noted.
The deal
Airline: Air Canada, American, Delta United and WestJet
Routes: Dozens of continental U.S. cities to major Canadian cities
Cost: From 6,000 miles one-way
Dates: September through December 2021
How to book: Search for award space with your airline of choice’s website and book by following the on-screen prompts.
Pay taxes and fees with: The Platinum Card® from American Express (5x on airfare booked directly with the airline; on up to $500,000 on these purchases per calendar year), Chase Sapphire Reserve (3x on travel) or Chase Sapphire Preferred Card (2x on travel) for travel protections on your award flight.
You can use this award space to save big bucks on your next trip to Canada. (Photo by Andrew Kunesh / The Points Guy)
Flights from the U.S. to Canada have a history of being pricy. There is little competition in the Canadian airline market and while that’s starting to change, you’ll often find high fares between even the largest U.S. and Canadian cities.
For example, you’ll find one-way basic economy fares from Chicago-O’Hare (ORD) to Toronto (YYZ) starting at $143 this October. This doesn’t sound like much until you consider that this is a shorter flight than Chicago to New York, which can be booked for as little as $59 one-way this October. (Screenshot courtesy of matrix.itasoftware.com)
That said, you should always compare the award ticket cost to the cash price to make sure it’s a good deal. Using TPG's valuations is a good starting point. In some cases, it’s worth paying cash or using the Chase Ultimate Rewards Travel Portal to book your flight instead.
For example, this flight from Portland (PDX) to Vancouver (YVR) costs $81.80 or 6,544 Chase Ultimate Rewards points if you have a Chase Sapphire Preferred and book through the travel portal. The same flight costs 12,500 United miles, so you’re better off paying cash. (Screenshot courtesy of chase.com)
Regardless of how you book, the more money you save on flights, the more you have to spend on an amazing trip to Canada.
Now, let’s take a closer look at award space from the U.S. to Canada. Here, you’ll see a handful of routes across several different airlines. This is by no means an exhaustive list, so make sure to run your own searches if you’re looking for a different route or set of dates. All prices listed are for round-trip nonstop flights with the stated airline or one of its partners.
Charlotte (CLT) to/from Montreal (YUL) with American
You can fly American’s nonstop flight from Charlotte (CLT) to Montreal (YUL) for 15,000 AAdvantage miles round-trip in October, November and December. You can book these flights with other Oneworld partners like British Airways Avios, but you’ll spend more points to do so.
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(Screenshot courtesy of aa.com)
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(Screenshot courtesy of aa.com)
Chicago-O’Hare (ORD) to/from Toronto (YYZ) with American Airlines
Further, Chicago to Toronto has saver award space almost every day in November and December on American. Round-trip awards start at 12,000 AAdvantage miles.
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(Screenshot courtesy of aa.com)
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(Screenshot courtesy of aa.com)
Los Angeles (LAX) to/from Edmonton (YEG) with WestJet
WestJet has plenty of award space on nonstop flights between Los Angeles (LAX) and Edmonton (YEG). Award space is open in economy almost every day this October and November. You can book these with Delta SkyMiles as the two carriers have a non-alliance partnership. Round-trip economy awards cost 25,000 SkyMiles and $58 in taxes and fees.
(Screenshot courtesy of delta.com)
New York-JFK and LGA to/from Montreal (YUL) with American
American also operates nonstop flights to Montreal from New York-JFK and LGA. You’ll find cheap award space on many dates toward the end of the year, with round-trip tickets as low as 12,000 miles. Here’s a look at award prices in November:
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(Screenshot courtesy of aa.com)
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(Screenshot courtesy of aa.com)
New York-JFK and LGA to/from Toronto (YYZ) with Delta
Likewise, Delta operates flights to Toronto from its New York-JFK and LGA hubs. You’ll find round-trip tickets as low as 12,000 Delta SkyMiles on many dates between October and the end of the year.
(Screenshot courtesy of delta.com)
San Francisco (SFO) to Vancouver (YVR) with Air Canada and United
United and Air Canada have lots of award space on the San Francisco (SFO) to Vancouver almost every day in September and October. United charges 21,000 miles for a round-trip ticket on most dates, while Air Canada charges as little as 19,600 points. You’ll pay minimal taxes and fees with both programs.
Boosting your AAdvantage balance with Citi ThankYou points
(Photo by John Gribben for The Points Guy)
American AAdvantage offers the best award pricing across the board this fall. AAdvantage was recently added as a temporary Citi ThankYou transfer partner through Nov. 13, 2021. Citi points transfer 1:1 to AAdvantage during this promotion.
If you want to earn AAdvantage miles, consider opening a Citi Premier® Card that’s offering a welcome bonus of 60,000 ThankYou points when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first three months of account opening.
Canada is reopening and is set to be a hot tourist destination this fall for Americans. Use the award space shown in this article to save money on your next trip to the Great White North. Again, always do your own research to see if it’s worth using points and miles to pay for your ticket. You’ll generally find the best redemption values on peak dates and business-heavy routes.
Feature photo by Massimiliano Pieraccini / Shutterstock.com
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.
