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How many miles do you need to get a free flight? The short answer: It depends. If you’re new to redeeming airline miles, buckle up. You'll soon learn that booking an award can be much more confusing than buying a ticket with money. But don't let that scare you off.
Airlines price their award tickets in a few primary forms. The key takeaway is that the cost in miles can be very different from the cost to book the same flight with cash. If you don’t understand how award pricing works, it's easy to spend many more miles than necessary. You also might overpay in terms of taxes and fees.
In this post, we’ll cover all the factors that can impact your out-of-pocket costs and how many miles you need for a free flight.
Page Contents
- Award Flight Pricing Basics
- Award Charts
- Region-Based Award Pricing
- How many miles do you need for a free flight?
- American Airlines Award Chart
- An example of region-based award pricing
- Advantages of region-based pricing
- Distance-Based Award Pricing
- How many miles do you need for a free flight?
- An example of distance-based award pricing
- Advantages of distance-based pricing
- Revenue-Based Award Pricing
- Dynamic Award Pricing
- Peak vs. Off-Peak Award Prices
- Standard vs. Saver Awards
- Class of Service
- International
- Domestic
- Who Is Operating Your Flights?
- Out-of-Pocket Costs
- Taxes and airport fees
- Fuel or carrier surcharges
- How the airline you fly affects fuel surcharges
- How the miles you use affect fuel surcharges
- Some countries don't allow fuel surcharges
- Award Booking Fees
- What if I Can't Find the Award Chart?
- So How Many Miles Do You Need for a Free Flight Anyway? It Depends.
Award Flight Pricing Basics
You can find three main categories of award flight pricing:
- Region-based award pricing
- Distance-based award pricing
- Revenue-based award pricing
We'll explain all three types of award pricing in detail in this post. The first two pricing methods may or may not use an award chart to spell out how many miles you need for a free flight.
Award Charts
Some airlines publish an “award chart” in documents or tables ranging from simple to unnecessarily complex. An award chart determines how many miles you’ll need for a flight. The chart may be region-based, distance-based, or some combination of the two. In the past, most airlines not using a revenue-based redemption model published an award chart. However, many airlines have ditched them in recent years.
Airlines that lack an award chart have opted for a “dynamic” pricing model instead. United Airlines is a good example, making this move in 2020. Adding to the confusion, several airlines with award charts also include dynamic pricing on how many miles you need for a free flight. In specific, U.S. airlines are the most guilty of this. You can count American and Alaska among the airlines that use an award chart mixed with dynamic pricing. In comparison, Delta and United have ditched award charts entirely. Then, there's Air Canada Aeroplan; it uses a region-based award chart with a sliding scale based on distance for flights within the chart's regions.
We'll cover how to navigate dynamic award pricing later. First, let's dig into each of the three main pricing categories.
Region-Based Award Pricing
The most prevalent type of airline award pricing is a region-based award chart. Region- or zone-based award pricing has two main characteristics:
- Countries are grouped into regions.
- The number of miles you need to travel from one region to another is fixed for each class of service (e.g., economy costs A, premium economy costs B, and business class costs C).
How many miles do you need for a free flight?
Here is an example of a region-based award chart for travel between the contiguous 48 continental United States/Canada and other regions globally:
American Airlines Award Chart
| Region: | Main Cabin starting at: | Premium Economy starting at: | Business / First starting at: |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contiguous 48 U.S. states + Canada | 12,500 | 22,500 | 25,000 |
| Mexico + Caribbean + Central America | 17,500 | 27,500 | 52,500 |
| South America – Short Haul | 20,000 | - | 30,000 |
| Alaska | 15,000 | 25,000 | 30,000 |
| Hawaii | 22,500 | 50,000 | 55,000 |
| Europe | 30,000 (22,500 off-peak) | 40,000 | 57,500 |
| South America – Long Haul | 30,000 | 40,000 | 57,500 |
| Asia + Middle East + South Pacific | 35,000 | 50,000 | 60,000 |
The above mileage requirements are borrowed from American Airlines' award chart for flights operated directly by AA or its regional partners (like American Eagle). However, this chart is a bit deceptive. Note that these are the “starting at” prices. American combines this chart with dynamic pricing.
A better example is the American Airlines partner award chart. Partner flight prices use a region-based award chart. The charts are arranged in tables for flights departing one region and going to another, with prices dependent on cabin class. There's also a chart for flights entirely within the same region. Below is the chart for partner flights departing the contiguous 48 U.S. states and Canada. Find your destination region and cabin class to determine how many miles you need for a free flight. Easy!
American Partner Award Chart - From Lower 48 States & Canada
| To: | Main Cabin - Off Peak | Main Cabin | Premium Economy | Business / First | First |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Contiguous 48 U.S. states & Canada | - | 12,500 | 22,500 | 25,000 | 50,000 |
| Alaska | - | 15,000 | 25,000 | 30,000 | 55,000 |
| Hawaii | - | 22,500 | 50,000 | 55,000 | 80,000 |
| Caribbean | - | 17,500 | - | 27,500 | 52,500 |
| Mexico | - | 17,500 | - | 27,500 | 52,500 |
| Central America | - | 17,500 | - | 27,500 | 52,500 |
| South America Region 1 | - | 20,000 | - | 30,000 | 55,000 |
| South America Region 2 | - | 20,000 | 40,000 | 57,500 | 85,000 |
| Europe | 22,500 | 30,000 | 40,000 | 57,500 | 85,000 |
| Middle East | - | 40,000 | 62,500 | 70,000 | 115,000 |
| Indian Subcontinent | - | 40,000 | 62,500 | 70,000 | 115,000 |
| Africa | - | 40,000 | 65,000 | 75,000 | 120,000 |
| Asia Region 1 | - | 35,000 | 50,000 | 60,000 | 80,000 |
| Asia Region 2 | - | 37,500 | 50,000 | 70,000 | 110,000 |
| South Pacific | - | 40,000 | 65,000 | 80,000 | 110,000 |
American Airlines publishes its region definitions here, highlighting which countries are in which region.
An example of region-based award pricing
After confirming that the U.K. is part of the Europe region, we can head to aa.com to look for a flight from Los Angeles to London. Economy class (American calls this “Main Cabin”) prices start at 22,500 miles for a one-way off-peak ticket — just like the award chart says.
Notice the varied pricing, though. The nonstop flight on British Airways costs 22,500 miles per passenger but has high taxes and fees. The nonstop flight on American Airlines has dynamic pricing, costing 27,000 miles per passenger, but doesn't levy these extra fees.There also is an option for premium economy, costing 40,000 miles on British Airways but a whopping 140,000 on AA!
The prices for AA's nonstop flights are higher than numbers in the award chart. That's because American is offering only standard (rather than saver) awards based on their dynamic model. We'll cover what those terms mean in more detail below.
The main takeaway here is that the award chart will tell you the lowest price you can pay for each class of service. However, that doesn't mean you'll be able to book every flight at the lowest price. Knowing that is important to avoid paying more airline miles than necessary. If you're willing to connect (rather than taking a nonstop flight) or pay more in surcharges to fly British Airways, you can pay 40,000 miles for a premium economy award — rather than the 140,00 AAdvantage® miles that AA is charging on its direct flight between Los Angeles and London.
Advantages of region-based pricing
There are multiple positives to region-based pricing, and you may be able to exploit these to maximize your airline miles. The first is that the cost between regions is the same no matter where in the region you’re flying. This is in contrast to cash tickets, which are often much more expensive if you’re flying to/from small or regional airports. Los Angeles to London costs 30,000 AAdvantage miles on peak dates, but so does Santa Fe, New Mexico to Gdansk, Poland.
Another advantage of region-based pricing is that each program has its own set of prices with its own sweet spots. One type of airline miles might have the best pricing between the U.S. and England, but another might have lower pricing between the U.S. and South Africa. If you have multiple types of reward points, you'll have the flexibility to book at a lower cost.
Savvy travelers also can take advantage of differences in how frequent-flyer programs define their award-chart regions. Air France–KLM Flying Blue includes Northern Africa as part of Europe and charges less to fly there than many competitors that include these countries as part of Africa or the Middle East. Similarly, American Airlines recently moved Morocco from Africa to Europe in its definitions, making it significantly less expensive to fly there from the United States.
Distance-Based Award Pricing
The second most common way to calculate how many miles you need for a free flight is based on distance. In this model, the country or region you're visiting doesn't matter. Instead, the price of your award ticket is based on the flight's distance (in miles).
Some programs use the total distance you fly on your entire itinerary. Other programs calculate a price for each flight segment separately before adding them together. That can get expensive if your first flight goes west, from St. Louis to Denver, before your second flight flies east from Denver to Paris.
How many miles do you need for a free flight?
One example of an award program that prices award tickets based on the total distance flown is Cathay Pacific Asia Miles. Here's the standard Asia Miles distance-based award chart:
| Distance | Economy | Premium economy | Business | First |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ultra-short: 1–750 miles | 7,500 | 11,000 | 16,000 | N/A |
| Short type 1: 751–2,750 miles | 10,000 | 20,000 | 28,000 | 43,000 |
| Short type 2: 751–2,750 miles | 12,500 | 23,000 | 32,000 | 50,000 |
| Medium: 2,751–5,000 miles | 20,000 | 38,000 | 58,000 | 90,000 |
| Long: 5,001–7,500 miles | 27,000 | 50,000 | 84,000 | 125,000 |
| Ultra-long: 7,501+ miles | 38,000 | 75,000 | 110,000 | 160,000 |
At its most basic, Cathay has several “bands” of total flight distance for a given award. If your total flight distance is between 1–750 miles, you are charged the fewest amount of Asia Miles. Increasing the distance flown increases the cost in Asia Miles, up to the maximum amount — charged for itineraries of 7,501 or more flown miles.
Several airline programs publish multiple award charts. Asia Miles also has a Oneworld multi-carrier award chart, which is also distance-based. This is used specifically for partner awards with segments on two or more Oneworld partner airlines.
| Distance in miles | Economy | Business | First |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 1,000 | 30,000 | 60,000 | 75,000 |
| 1,001–1,500 | 35,000 | 65,000 | 85,000 |
| 1,501–2,000 | 40,000 | 70,000 | 95,000 |
| 2,001–4,000 | 45,000 | 80,000 | 110,000 |
| 4,001–7,500 | 63,000 | 100,000 | 150,000 |
| 7,501–9,000 | 68,000 | 120,000 | 165,000 |
| 9,001–10,000 | 77,000 | 135,000 | 175,000 |
| 10,001–14,000 | 95,000 | 170,000 | 250,000 |
| 14,001–18,000 | 105,000 | 210,000 | 310,000 |
| 18,001–20,000 | 115,000 | 230,000 | 330,000 |
| 20,001–25,000 | 126,000 | 250,000 | 350,000 |
| 25,001–35,000 | 140,000 | 265,000 | 365,000 |
| 35,001–50,000 | 160,000 | 280,000 | 380,000 |
A full treatment of the Asia Miles award program is outside the scope of this post. Instead, we're highlighting how distance-based award programs function. In addition, there is nuance to each program.
Consider British Airways Executive Club. This popular program also uses distance-based award pricing, but the pricing method is different. Instead of pricing the ticket according to the total distance for your overall itinerary, BA calculates a price for each individual flight segment on your itinerary.
To calculate how many miles you need for a trip, find the distance between your point of departure and your first connection. Then, find that distance band in the award chart and write down the number of Avios required. Repeat the process for each segment; the total cost is the sum of each individual flight in your itinerary. Below is the BA partner award chart with prices for each flight segment.
| Distance/Zone | Economy | Premium Economy | Business | First |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Up to 650 miles (Zone 1) | 8,250 | 9,000 | 16,500 | 24,000 |
| 651 to 1,151 miles (Zone 2) | 11,000 | 12,500 | 20,500 | 33,000 |
| 1,152 to 2,000 miles (Zone 3) | 13,000 | 16,500 | 29,000 | 44,000 |
| 2,001 to 3,000 miles (Zone 4) | 16,000 | 25,250 | 42,000 | 51,500 |
| 3,001 to 4,000 miles (Zone 5) | 20,750 | 41,250 | 62,000 | 82,500 |
| 4,001 to 5,500 miles (Zone 6) | 25,750 | 51,500 | 77,250 | 103,000 |
| 5,501 to 6,500 miles (Zone 7) | 31,000 | 62,000 | 92,750 | 123,750 |
| 6,501 to 7,000 miles (Zone 8) | 36,250 | 72,250 | 108,250 | 144,250 |
| 7,001+ miles (Zone 9) | 51,500 | 103,000 | 154,500 | 206,000 |
An example of distance-based award pricing
Here's an example of the British Airways award calculation for an economy-class trip from Miami to San Francisco with a connection in Dallas.
- Miami (MIA) to Dallas (DFW): 1,121 miles
- Dallas (DFW) to San Francisco (SFO): 1,464 miles
The first flight segment falls into zone two, costing 16,000 Avios. The second flight segment falls into zone three, requiring 18,000 Avios. Adding those together, a one-way ticket for this routing costs 34,000 Avios.
But on the way back, let's say you find a nonstop flight from San Francisco to Miami. Since you don't have a connection, you just need the total distance from SFO to MIA — 2,585 miles. That means the return flight will fall into zone four and cost 20,000 Avios. Much cheaper!
Pro tip: Great Circle Mapper is the perfect tool for checking flight distances. The only information you need is the IATA airport code for each stop on your itinerary.
Advantages of distance-based pricing
As the example above show, the British Airways Avios pricing can be great for nonstop flights, especially if the distance falls just below the upper limit of one of the pricing bands (We're looking at you, Montreal to Dublin!). If you need multiple connections to reach your destination, Cathay Pacific and other programs that use the total distance are usually cheaper than pricing based on each flight segment.
Distance-based and region-based pricing are very different, and one typically offers a far better price than the other, depending on where you're flying and how many stops you take along the way. Compare prices and then pick the program with the lowest mileage requirements for your trip. The origin, destination, route, and loyalty program all play into how many miles you need for a free flight.
Revenue-Based Award Pricing
With revenue-based pricing, the price in miles is directly tied to the cash price of the flight. These programs have more in common with fixed-value rewards since every mile is worth a specific amount toward travel (or an amount within a fixed range). Examples of revenue-based programs are Southwest Rapid Rewards and JetBlue TrueBlue.
Revenue-based pricing models do have variances, though. For some, the price in miles is directly tied to the cash cost. Each mile is worth a fixed value, and you can calculate how many you need quite easily. With others — Rapid Rewards and TrueBlue included — the redemption rate varies slightly. Some tickets yield slightly better value than others, though there's a fairly strict range of value for most redemptions (e.g., Southwest award tickets generally fall in the 1.3¢–1.6¢ per mile range, though that's sure to change with the 2024 devaluation).
Revenue-based pricing rarely presents opportunities for maximizing your frequent flyer miles. If a ticket is expensive to buy, it's also expensive when using miles. On the other hand, you won't spend nearly as much time checking flight distances or learning about award charts. If you value simplicity over maximizing the return on each mile spent, these programs might win you over.
Dynamic Award Pricing
As mentioned above, some carriers have a dynamic element. This is essentially a mix of region-based and revenue-based pricing. These carriers may publish an award chart (e.g., American Airlines) with “starting at” prices, but many awards will be priced higher. In rare instances, awards may price lower than what the chart says. This is because dynamic pricing factors in the cash cost of the flight.
These carriers include dynamic pricing in their awards:
- Alaska Airlines has an award chart but also uses dynamic pricing.
- American Airlines has an award chart for partners but uses dynamic pricing for its own flights.
- Delta Air Lines has fully dynamic pricing.
- United Airlines has fully dynamic pricing, although award “floors” can be found roughly based on region.
Peak vs. Off-Peak Award Prices
Award charts will tell you how many airline miles you need for a flight, but there are several other factors you need to know about before you start planning your next trip. Some frequent-flyer programs designate certain dates as “peak” or “off-peak.” These preset dates, determined in advance, are subject to higher or lower costs.
Here are a few examples:
- British Airways Executive Club: British Airways divides the entire calendar year into “peak” and “off-peak” dates, with pricing varying on these dates. Higher prices (peak) are found near holidays, for example.
- Iberia Plus: Like British Airways, Iberia designates “peak” and “off-peak” dates.
- Aer Lingus AerClub:Like the two airlines above, Aer Lingus uses a similar calendar. This makes sense since the airlines share a rewards currency and allow transfers between programs.
- American AAdvantage: American has Main Cabin Off-Peak dates for Europe. The normal one-way economy price from the U.S. mainland to Europe is 30,000 miles. During the off-peak dates, awards start at 22,500 miles.
- Virgin Atlantic Flying Club:Flying Club also divides the year into standard season and peak season for awards on Virgin Atlantic flights, with lower prices during standard season times.
For some programs, you can find a calendar of dates, such as this one for British Airways, though the programs make the calendar harder and harder to find each year.
When peak or off-peak dates affect award costs, both prices should be included in the award chart. If you can adjust your travel dates to fly on off-peak dates, it can lead to big savings.
Standard vs. Saver Awards
As we noted in the American AAdvantage example earlier, an award chart tells you the lowest price for a given itinerary. However, that doesn't mean you'll always find tickets for that price. Airlines would prefer to sell a seat for cash than give it to someone paying with points or miles. Thus, airlines limit the number of seats you can book as an award ticket. This limited selection of flights is often referred to as “award availability” or “award space.”
Years ago, “the price was the price” for award tickets. If you found a seat bookable with miles, you paid the price in the award chart.If there wasn't award space on that flight, you'd have to find a different one. But as frequent flyer programs became more sophisticated, many began to offer more award space to customers willing to spend more miles. This led to a distinction between “Saver” and “Standard” awards.
The least expensive award tickets (the prices you'll find on the award chart) are generally “Saver,” while “Standard” awards are available at a higher price. Airline programs are not always clear, though, if they're actually offering you Saver pricing. United is the exception. You can easily see which flights are Saver level award space.
You should try to avoid “standard” award pricing if at all possible. While the difference between Saver and Standard isn't drastic sometimes (the United example above is much better than the AA example used previously), it can multiply quickly when you're booking flights for your entire family.
Remember that saver availability is determined on a flight-by-flight basis. Availability can change by the hour, based on demand. If you don't find a saver seat on your preferred flight, check other itineraries or consider flying a day earlier or later. Because award inventory changes frequently, the best plan may be checking again later to see if the options have improved. And if the airline offers free changes, book something that's “OK” and keep checking back for the flight you really want, changing your ticket if you find availability.
Class of Service
You can generally use your miles to book travel in economy, business, and first class. Some programs also have a separate set of prices for premium economy or basic economy. If you have more than one flight during your trip, you'll likely pay the cost for the most premium seat during your trip — and will likely pay that rate for the whole trip, even if just one flight is in premium economy while the other two are in “normal” economy. There are exceptions, however.
For example, if you book a business-class award ticket with American Airlines from the U.S. to Europe, American will charge you the full business-class price. That's the case even if you fly in economy on a short flight (ex: to get to Chicago) before connecting to business class for the transatlantic flight. While this isn't ideal, it's helpful to have the option to mix classes of service on a ticket. If the most convenient flight isn't available as a saver award in the class you're paying for, you can voluntarily downgrade with most programs.
On the other hand, some programs charge you a prorated amount based on the distance in each class of service. Avianca LifeMiles lets you choose which class of service you want on a flight-by-flight basis, with each flight showing its own price. British Airways and other segment-distance pricing schemes usually give you a mileage discount for segments traveled in a lower class of service.
Here are the different classes of service that you may find listed in an award chart:
International
- Basic Economy
- Economy
- Premium Economy
- Business Class
- First Class
Domestic
- Basic Economy
- Economy
- Economy Plus (the same seat, but with extra legroom)
- Business Class* (applies to the top class of service on domestic flights with only two cabins)
- First Class (applies to three-cabin aircraft with a separate business class)
*Many airlines call the comfy recliner seats at the front of the plane “First Class” on domestic flights. Fortunately, most frequent flyer programs consider this business class for award pricing. This means you'll only be charged the more expensive “first class” award price if your flight has three distinct classes of service. American's “A321T” aircraft is a good example of a three-cabin configuration on a domestic flight within the U.S.
Domestic first class typically books into business class in most award charts. Thus, it's typically possible to combine an international business-class ticket with a connection in domestic first without having to pay the award cost of an international first-class ticket.
Related: How To Fly American Airlines' Best Business (and First) Class Seats Within the U.S.
Who Is Operating Your Flights?
The last factor affecting how many miles you need for an award ticket is the airline operating your flight. Some frequent-flier programs have different prices depending on which partner you fly. We included an example above: the Asia Miles award chart for Oneworld itineraries with two or more carriers. Some programs even have a separate award chart for each airline partner. For example, Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles uses a separate award chart for each partner.
Other programs have one price for flights on that airline and a different price for travel on partner airlines. For example, United charges fewer miles for business class on United flights than partner flights like Lufthansa, EVA Air, or Ethiopian Airlines.
Related: Beginner's Guide to Airline Alliances and Partnerships
Out-of-Pocket Costs
Award tickets aren’t completely free. When you redeem airline miles, you’ll still be responsible for paying taxes, fees, and carrier surcharges. You can minimize these out-of-pocket costs in several ways. You may have to choose between paying fewer miles or less cash, though. To help you find the optimal balance, let's examinie the different factors that impact the amount you'll pay out of pocket.
Taxes and airport fees
Many countries and airports add mandatory taxes and fees to flights departing from, arriving at, or connecting through their airports. The U.K.'s Air Passenger Duty is a prime example of a country tax. The $5.60 September 11 Security Fee levied on all tickets departing a U.S. airport is an example of an administrative fee. Some airports add their own fees. In nearly all cases, these costs are passed directly to the traveler, charged whether you're paying cash or miles for your ticket.
While these fees do not change how many miles you need for a free flight, they do affect the total cost of a ticket. If you're comparing a cash fare with an award, make sure you subtract the fees to determine the value you're getting for the miles you're redeeming.
Fuel or carrier surcharges
Fuel surcharges (sometimes called carrier surcharges) are a made-up fee introduced by airlines about 15 years ago at a time when fuel costs were unusually high. Airlines created fuel surcharges as an extra way to get income and offset their operating costs. Of course, when fuel prices came back down, many airlines continued to charge these fees. With a cash ticket, any fuel surcharge amount is included in the overall cost of the ticket. You probably haven't noticed its presence. However, on an award ticket, you’ll usually pay these fuel surcharges even after redeeming your miles.
Whether you pay fuel surcharges (and how much), depends on several different factors. These include the airline that operates your flight, the type of miles you use to book, and, sometimes, the place you start your trip.
How the airline you fly affects fuel surcharges
Let’s use an example of flying from New York-JFK to London Heathrow (LHR). British Airways is notorious for its high fuel surcharges; conversely, American Airlines doesn't charge them on its own flights. If you fly from JFK to LHR on an American Airlines-operated flight, you won’t pay any fuel surcharges. If you fly with BA, you will. $5.60 versus $307.30 is a big difference.
In short, your first line of defense against fuel surcharges is selecting an airline that doesn't charge them in the first place. As you can see above, the fees for the flight operated by American are much lower than the flight operated by British Airways.
But maybe you really want to fly British Airways. Fortunately, there is a second line of defense if you prefer a flight operated by an airline that charges these fees.
How the miles you use affect fuel surcharges
If your operating carrier levies fuel surcharges, the frequent-flyer program you use to book your ticket can protect you. For example, if you book with , the program passes the fuel surcharges levied by other carriers onto you, charged at the time of booking. This Turkish Airlines business-class flight from Atlanta to Istanbul has $217.80 in taxes and fees after redeeming 65,000 miles.
But if you book that same flight with United MileagePlus miles, United does not pass on the fuel surcharges. However, the cost in miles is higher: 88,000 in business class.
Your out-of-pocket costs using Turkish Airlines is $217.80. With MileagePlus, the total cost is $5.60. On the downside, you'll need 88,000 United miles — much more than 65,000 Turkish miles. This is a perfect example of two region-based award charts with very different prices for the same flight. I'd be willing to pay the extra cash to save the miles in this case. 23,000 miles are worth more than $210 for a future redemption.
But with some carriers, the fuel surcharges are obscene. Look at the cash component for British Airways flights booked using Alaska miles!
Some countries don't allow fuel surcharges
Laws prevent or restrict fuel surcharges for all flights departing from certain countries. Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Hong Kong, the Philippines, and Vietnam all have restrictions on fuel surcharges.
For example, Brazil has an outright ban on all fuel surcharges for flights departing its national territory. If you fly from São Paulo to London, you won't have to pay fuel surcharges. That's true even if your flight is operated by British Airways (notorious for its fuel surcharges) and you use miles that don't protect you. But if you fly from London to São Paulo on British Airways, you'll pay all of British Airways' hefty fuel surcharges.
Related: Tired of Huge Fees on Award Flights? Fly From These Countries That Limit Fuel Surcharges
Award Booking Fees
There are a few miscellaneous fees you might encounter along the way. Some programs, like Avianca LifeMiles and Frontier Airlines, charge fees to book award tickets. Alaska MileagePlan has a booking fee too, but only when your travel includes a partner airline. Other fees include booking awards by phone or confirming your flights within a few weeks of departure (known as a “close-in” fee, typically applied to confirming a ticket within two weeks of the departure date). These additional costs vary between programs. Be sure to check before you decide on a booking strategy.
What if I Can't Find the Award Chart?
Award pricing is much less transparent now than it used to be. In the past, nearly every airline had a published award chart or a clear depiction of award pricing (e.g., a list of pricing by region or pricing per mile flown). This made it easy to understand how many miles you need for a free flight. Now, many frequent flier programs don't publish award charts.
Delta was the first to remove award charts back in 2015. We maintain an unofficial Delta SkyMiles award chart, but the number of miles that an award “should” cost is absent from Delta’s site. Instead, the cost is whatever the website says it is right now, and that could change tomorrow. Other airlines have followed suit, unfortunately.
So How Many Miles Do You Need for a Free Flight Anyway? It Depends.
The numerous pricing models can make it hard for beginners to figure out how many miles they need for a free flight. The silver lining is that this complexity also creates huge opportunities that a savvy traveler can exploit. If you spend a little time learning how each program works, you can truly maximize the value of your frequent flier miles.
However, in order to keep your options open and be ready to book with program A on this trip and program B on the next, you shoulddiversify your points into different programs. That way, you can use the best miles for any given flight. The best option for this is focusing on transferable points, such as Chase Ultimate Rewards or American Express Membership Rewards. That way, you'll have numerous options for booking your next flight, thanks to the airline partners these programs let you transfer points to; you can choose the right one on a case-by-case basis when it's time to book your flights.
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