Skip to content

The Miles Genie

Miles and points are my favorite currency

Below Header

Home
Current Offers
- Best Current Credit Card Offers (May 2022)
Getting Started
Earning
Redeeming
TMG’s favorite travel essentials
About
Contact

Search for:

Contact

If you’re looking for award booking help, please fill out the form on the award booking page.

Name(required)

Email Address(required)

Website

Comment

Δ

Like this:

Like Loading...

Want to be the first one to receive the new stuff?

Enter your email address below and we'll send you the goodies straight to your inbox.

No spam. Pinky promise!

Thank You For Subscribing

This means the world to us!

Spamming is not included! Pinky promise.

Follow on Tiktok @themilesgenie

@themilesgenie
Reply to @sriharsha8767 one of the best values you’ll get with Ultimate Rewards! #awardtravel #japantraveltips #milesandpoints #chasesapphire
♬ Tokyo Drift - Xavier Wulf

Travel Freely makes award travel simple. Sign up today for free and use the CardGenie feature for personalized recommendations!

Instagram

themilesgenie

TL;DR: Miles and points saved our spring break! We

TL;DR: Miles and points saved our spring break! We redeemed 25k points per night for a hotel that had nightly rates of over $1500.
⛷
The long story: If you’ve been here for the past year you may remember that last April/may, there were $200-300 fares to Japan. We found available dates for this fare that coincided with spring break and booked it. Japan would surely be open by March 2022, right?
🇯🇵
Yeahhhh so a few months ago when it became clear we were going to have to make a backup plan, I started looking into different options. We were in Park City over Thanksgiving but unfortunately the slopes couldn’t open as scheduled due to lack of snow. So our kids were begging to ski once we broke the news that Japan wasn’t going to happen.
❄️
Spring break is a very popular time for award travelers like us which is why I usually suggest booking as far in advance as possible. I knew the most popular points properties would be tough to get considering we were less than 2 months out. I kept playing with dates and eventually found a few consecutive nights at Grand Hyatt Vail for 25k World of Hyatt points per night (off peak/standard/peak dates pricing for standard rooms at this property is 21k/25k/29k). We thought maybe we’d spend a few nights in Vail then a few at Beaver Creek or another nearby ski area. But then we ended up being able to add more nights that became available at Grand Hyatt Vail! Rates at this property were about $1500 per night after taxes and fees so this is a crazy good value. I definitely don’t suggest waiting until the last minute to book but we got very lucky this time. #parentingwin
🎿
We loved everything about this property but especially the location. There’s a ski lift right at the ski valet/ski rental shop. It’s an easy shuttle ride or walk to the village.
🥂
Because we booked so last minute, ski school and restaurants were so booked up, but the concierge came through big time! Thanks to the concierge, we were able to book a couple days with a ski instructor for the kids, plus we were able to get dinner reservations at some great places.
#awardtravel #milesandpoints #worldofhyatt #grandhyattvail

6️⃣🥳 Happy birthday to these 2 👯‍♀️! Highly suggest traveling with kids starting at a young age. Of course I also recommend taking adults only trips and leaving them with grandparents when possible but that’s neither here nor there 😅. The older they get, the easier it gets and the more fun it is. We gave them some new ski gear to break the news about an upcoming ski trip. Don’t worry, the grandparents/family came through with the Barbies, dolls, fidget poppers, and other fun gifts
⛷
Today instead of having a birthday party or traveling, we took them to Six Flags. They are now tall enough to ride so many of the rides, and it was the first time we were able to not split up at a theme park and have the girls go to the little kid rides and Jack go to some bigger rides. I love roller coasters and thrill rides now, but I would have been terrified of some of the things we rode today as a 6 year old. I feel like we’ve entered a new era!
🎢
Also pro tip: go to Six Flags off season. It was a beautiful day and it was a ghost town at SF Over Texas. No lines and no crowds whatsoever!!

TL;DR fixed redemption charts are the reason I tal

TL;DR fixed redemption charts are the reason I talk about transfer partners so much

There are two redemption options when you have transferable bank points such as Amex Membership Rewards. Actually there’s more but these are the two most valuable ways to redeem for travel.

1️⃣Booking portal (amextravel.com)
This $3,199.87 roundtrip business class ticket from JFK to Milan, would require 319,987 points (2nd slide)
✈️
This route is operated by Emirates (it’s one of their fifth freedom routes between the US and Europe). This brings us to the 2nd redemption method.
2️⃣Transfer partners
This exact same roundtrip ticket is 90k Emirates miles plus $157. To get the 90k points, you can transfer Amex to Emirates 1:1 (3rd slide)
✈️
You can transfer Amex points to 17 airline partners, including Emirates. Then you redeem just like you would redeem miles with that airline program. This is how you can get a much lower redemption price and thus a better value out of your points.
✈️
Award seats are always subject to availability, but if a ‘Saver’ ticket is available to book with Emirates miles, it’s always going to be 90k roundtrip for this route in business class (4th slide) In other words, unlike the portal, the paid fare does not determine the redemption price.
⛽️
There are fuel surcharges but they’re reasonable. The fuel surcharges go up and down, but lately, the total after taxes, fees, and fuel surcharges has been in the $150-$200 range roundtrip for this route.
🧿
There is also a Newark to Athens route on Emirates for the same redemption price. You can find more info on my blog.
💳
Note that all 4 transferable bank currencies transfer to Emirates so this would also be possible with those. #awardtravel #milesandpoints #pointsandmiles #traveltipsandtricks #amextravel #emiratesbusinessclass

Redeem ✨60,000✨ Amex points for the EXACT same

Redeem ✨60,000✨ Amex points for the EXACT same flight to Brazil that would require over 153k Amex points if you don’t book using my favorite method.
🏞 Fun fact: this was our first international trip together
📷Ignore the subpar quality of the first two photos. They were taken 12 years ago
✈️
There are 2 ways to redeem Amex points for flights:
1️⃣ (3rd photo) You can redeem them at amextravel.com at a fixed value of 1 cent per point. When paid fares are low, this may be a viable option, but the paid fare for this Houston to Rio flight I’m looking at is $1536. This means 153,600 points are required. Note: Idk why paid fares are this high. I’d typically expect fares to Brazil to be around $1000, but the higher fare means the second way to redeem Amex points is even more valuable!
2️⃣ You can check Amex’s 17 airline transfer partners to see if there are any award flights available. This is my preferred way of booking. It requires some extra steps, but it’s worth it.
✈️
United is not one of Amex’s partners, but Amex has a few other partners you can use to book United flights. Avianca Lifemiles can be redeemed for award flights operated by Star Alliance airlines such as United. This is always subject to availability, but if available, Avianca’s redemption price for IAH-GIG is always 30k each way or 60k RT in economy (4th photo). It doesn’t matter what the paid fare is. This is how it’s possible to get more than 1 cent per point. If I can redeem 60k points for a flight that costs $1536, that’s a cents per point value of 2.5.
⛽️
Avianca Lifemiles does not collect fuel surcharges on award tickets, so you only have to pay government/foreign taxes. There is a partner booking fee, but your out of pocket total for this roundtrip should still be under $100.
💻
You can search for and book these award seats on the Lifemiles website or app.
🚫 Do not transfer any points to Lifemiles before confirming availability and redemption pricing for your route and dates.
Note: Avianca is also a Capital One and Citi TY partner so this also works with Venture miles or Citi Thank You points. #awardtravel #milesandpoints #amexmembershiprewards #riodejaneiro #traveltipsandtricks

How I used 8500 points per ticket on the exact sam

How I used 8500 points per ticket on the exact same Delta flight that would have required 25,000 Skymiles (skypesos)
✈️
First of all, Delta has dynamic redemption pricing which means redemption price can vary from day to day on any given route. Sometimes drastically.
✈️
On our dates, it was 25k Skymiles per ticket for a one way DFW-SLC ticket (it was over Thanksgiving so high redemption prices aren’t surprising). I just looked at January flights and most were 12k or 13k Delta miles, so the way I booked is still better.
✈️
Chase UR, Amex MR, and Citi TYP points transfer to Virgin Atlantic 1:1 in case you’re wondering how and why I had Virgin Atlantic miles
✈️
Virgin Atlantic has a partnership with Delta which means you can redeem VS miles for flights operated by Delta. The redemption pricing is distance based. Note that VS has a different chart for Delta US-Europe routes
✈️
For the route I booked (DFW to SLC) the redemption price is 8500 miles plus $5.60. These seats are subject to availability, but if available, this is a fixed price unlike Delta Skymiles. If a seat is available for this route, the price is always 8500 one way, regardless of the paid fare.
✈️
Note about availability: If you see a ticket available to book with Skymiles, it does not necessarily mean that ticket will be available to book with VS miles. You have to confirm availability with VS (you can do this on their website). Always confirm availability and pricing before transferring any points to VS. Honestly, it was kind of a miracle that 5 tickets were available to book with VS miles during peak holiday travel
✈️
This particular redemption (VS miles to book Delta flights) works best with nonstop flights. An itinerary with connecting flights would require more miles/points. For itineraries with connecting flights, you can try AirFrance, another Chase/Amex partner. Sometimes AirFrance’s redemption prices for Delta flights are also better than Delta Skymiles.
✈️
The other way was actually a reasonable paid fare so I used some Delta credits I had and paid for those tickets.
#awardtravel #deltaskymiles #virginatlantic #travelonabudget #milesandpoints #parkcity #amex #chaseultimaterewards

Pre-Thanksgiving workout ⛸. Brace yourself becau

Pre-Thanksgiving workout ⛸. Brace yourself because I know it’s shocking, but we actually did not book our hotel on points this time! Rates were lower than you would think for Thanksgiving week. It wouldn’t have made sense to redeem points. But we have family here with us and needed multiple rooms, so I did a little experiment. I wanted to compare the experience when booking direct with a hotel (and having mid-tier status with said hotel) vs. booking through Amex Travel (for Fine Hotels & Resorts/Hotel Collection properties) and I’ll post about it when we get back! #awardtravel #parkcityutah #amexlife

How we booked our Maldives trip will be published

How we booked our Maldives trip will be published on the blog tomorrow but I wanted to share our grand totals because it’s a little shocking!
🏝Total value: $23,567
🏝Our total: $2,394 (and miles and points of course)

✈️Now, this total is just our flights, including seaplane, and hotel stay. We redeemed a total of 553,000 miles and points.

💳I want to be clear that the Maldives isn't a cheap destination by any means. While we were able to get most of our flights and hotel stay covered with points, food and activities are expensive and this trip was nowhere near free once you factor all of that in. There are definitely other destinations where your out of pocket expenses can be minimized. This isn't one of them. That said, redeeming miles for fantastic business class flights to and from, plus redeeming points to cover most of our hotel stay definitely helps make a trip like this feasible.
.
.
.
#maldivestravel #milesandpoints #pointsandmiles #lemeridienmaldives #marriottbonvoy #emiratesbusinessclass #qatarqsuites #aadvantagemiles #chaseultimaterewards #amexmembershiprewards

💔 The world lost a good one this past week. My

💔 The world lost a good one this past week. My father in law passed away peacefully after a battle with cancer. He was such an interesting man who loved nothing more than traveling the world and then teaching all of us about different cultures. He and my mother in law even took the Viking inaugural 5 month cruise around the world a few years ago. The first photo is him in Christchurch, New Zealand on said cruise.
I wanted to share some of Ryan’s eulogy.

“When I was 5 and Dustin was 7, my dad was walking by the Palm-Aire tennis courts in our neighborhood and saw a junior tournament going on. He watched a young solid player and was very impressed. My dad was a basketball, football, baseball, and track star in high school and had only dabbled in tennis in college. He asked the kid’s parents how many tennis lessons he took and they said one private and one clinic per week. He went into the pro shop and asked the pro at the club how much it would cost to do a clinic and a private per week. He then realized that if he quit smoking a pack of cigarettes a day, he could afford the lessons for us. He quit smoking that day for good and started my brother and I on a journey that led Dustin and I to play college tennis at SMU...”

I just love that story. He taught Ryan to put his family and his kids first. But it was this part of Ryan’s eulogy that really got me:

“…He took us on trips to Europe that he could barely afford because he wanted us to broaden our horizons and become well-rounded. Some of these trips he sat out and sent us with mom to save money…”

He was a teacher, but he was a huge advocate of “not all classrooms have four walls”. We will continue his legacy by showing our kids the world. We’re forever grateful for the impact he had on so many lives 💔😢 RIP, Bill.

If you have a Capital One Venture card, this is im

If you have a Capital One Venture card, this is important. If you don’t, I’m about to give you several reasons to consider one. I have a new Chase Sapphire Preferred vs Capital One Venture comparison on my blog. Check it out!
Capital one has made all airline partners 1:1 with the exception of EVA, which is 2:1.
✈️
The possibilities are endless but here are some redemption options for Europe. All are subject to availability
✈️

1️⃣Avianca Lifemiles to book Star Alliance routes between US-Europe. Economy is 30k each way. Business is 60k or 63k each way, depending on your airport/destination. No fuel surcharges
Example:
ORD to Rome on Turkish is 63k
LAX to Zurich on Swiss is also 63k

2️⃣Turkish Miles to book Turkish US-Europe. Economy starts at 22,500 each way. Business class starts at 45k each way. There are fuel surcharges, but for business class, it may still be worth it. For example:
Chicago to Rome is 45k plus $224.

3️⃣Air Canada can also book Star Alliance, but Avianca will likely have better redemption pricing for US-Europe. One thing to keep in mind about Air Canada, however, is that you can call and add a stopover for just 5k more miles. If you’re trying to build a more complex itinerary, Air Canada may work better than Avianca

4️⃣Airfrance/KLM miles to book AF/KLM or Delta US-Europe from 56k each way.
If AF/KLM operate the flight, there are fuel surcharges. Not necessarily a deal breaker, especially in business class. Example:
DFW-Paris nonstop on AF in business-56k and $286 each way

5️⃣Etihad miles to book AA operated US-Europe routes. Economy is 20k/30k (off peak/peak). Business is 50k. No fuel surcharges.

6️⃣Emirates miles to book either of the 2 Emirates fifth freedom routes between the US and Europe.
JFK-Milan starts at 90k plus ~$160 roundtrip
EWR-Athens starts at 90k plus ~$160 roundtrip #awardtravel #milesandpoints #pointsandmiles #capitaloneventure

Our dream trip is coming to an end but I have tons

Our dream trip is coming to an end but I have tons of photos and lots of info to share! Maldives isn’t a cheap destination by any means but redeeming miles and points for flights and a hotel stay certainly softens the blow! Le Meridien did not disappoint.✌️🏝🐠🦈#lemeridienmaldives #marriottbonvoy #emiratesairline #qatarairways #maldivesresorts

Good morning from the set of our Cialis commercial

Good morning from the set of our Cialis commercial 🏝🥂#lemeridienmaldives #maldivesresorts #happyanniversary #notsponsored 😜

I’m just as excited about this flight as I am ab

I’m just as excited about this flight as I am about where we’re going! Ever since I got into the world of miles and points 8 years ago, flying on an A380 on the upper level has been at the very top of my list and we are finally taking a trip where it made sense to book this. The upper deck is probably less than 30% full on this flight and I’m pretty sure there’s more staff than passengers. We can’t imagine a more enjoyable flight, but based on reviews, the way we’re getting home may be even better. We paid ~$200 each out of pocket for these tickets and I’ll explain everything in the next few weeks. For now, I’m going to try to get my circadian rhythms in order and take a nap. See y’all on the other side of the world 🌎✌️ #emirates #a380 #awardtravel #milesandpoints #pointsandmiles

Load More... Follow on Instagram

Popular posts

How To Book Delta Flights With Chase Ultimate Rewards Points
How To Book American Airlines Flights With Amex Membership Rewards Points (Etihad Miles)
How To Book American Airlines Flights With Chase Ultimate Rewards Points
How To Search For American Airlines Award Space To Book With Partner Miles
The Miles Genie
British Airways and Iberia Award Charts
4 Reasons Chase Sapphire Preferred Is Better Than Southwest Credit Cards

Check out my recent interview with Voyage Dallas Magazine!
Thanks to Voyage Dallas for the feature

Archives

Archives

Follow The Miles Genie on Facebook

Follow The Miles Genie on Facebook

Search for:

Sort by

Categories

Categories

As an Amazon Associate, The Miles Genie earns a commission from qualifying purchases

Translate

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy

Advertiser Disclosure: We may receive compensation from links throughout this site. The editorial content is not influenced by the affiliates from which compensation is received.

Copyright © 2022 The Miles Genie

Want to save money on travel?

Subscribe now to receive the latest tips and tricks straight to your inbox (for free!)

Success

Scroll to Top

%d bloggers like this: