A wedding brings together two families, two lives, two assortments of belongings — and, in the case of some dear friends of mine, two troves of points and miles.
When they started their search for award space, though, they grew a bit frustrated, finding lofty redemption rates with the Iikes of United Airlines MileagePlus and Delta Air Lines SkyMiles.
My advice, which we often preach here at TPG: Check international frequent flyer programs!
Having transferable credit card rewards effectively gives you access to a wide range of airline partners spanning the globe, most of which have a long list of partner airlines themselves through global alliances — and many of which offer far better redemption options than U.S. airlines.
Depending on your card issuer, you may be able to transfer your points to a program like Air Canada Aeroplan, Avianca LifeMiles or Air France-KLM Flying Blue, or to an international airline that uses Avios — such as British Airways, Aer Lingus, Iberia or Qatar Airways (among others).
You can even book domestic U.S. flights through some international partners’ loyalty programs, making use of airline alliances.
This can be the key to finding a redemption your points can afford.
In the case of my friends, they opted to pool their Chase and Amex points in Flying Blue, scoring a Chicago-to-Croatia round trip on KLM (with stops, of course, in Amsterdam).
While living vicariously through their trip photos, I was reminded of how life-changing points can be when it comes to travel — and of the value offered by the combination of flexible rewards and airline loyalty programs.
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