What is Award Travel?

The Basics of Award Travel

Award travel allows you to exchange points or miles for airline tickets, hotel stays, and other travel experiences instead of paying cash. These points can be earned through credit card spending, airline loyalty programs, hotel stays, and various other methods.

What is an award flight?

An award flight is a flight booked using frequent flyer miles or loyalty points instead of paying the cash fare. When you fly with an airline or earn points through a credit card, those points can be redeemed for "award seats" that airlines release on their flights.

Every flight typically has a limited number of award seats available. These seats are offered at a fixed points price set by the airline's award chart, plus a small amount of taxes and fees paid in cash. For example, a British Airways business class flight from London to New York might cost 50,000 Avios plus around $250 in taxes, compared to a cash price of $3,000 or more.

Award flights are available across all cabin classes: Economy, Premium Economy, Business, and First Class. The number of points required increases with the cabin class, but the value you get per point also tends to increase significantly in premium cabins.

Types of Points and Miles

There are several categories of points and miles:

• Airline miles Earned by flying with specific airlines or their partners
• Hotel points Earned through stays at hotel chains like Marriott, Hilton, and Hyatt
• Transferable points Credit card points that can be transferred to multiple airline and hotel partners
• Bank travel portals Points that can be used directly through bank travel booking platforms

The Value of Award Travel

Award travel often provides the best value when booking premium cabins (business or first class) on international flights, where the cash price might be thousands of dollars, but the points cost represents a fraction of that value. Strategic booking can yield 2-10 cents per point in value, compared to the standard 1-1.5 cents typically offered through cash-back options.

How to search and book award flights

Finding award flights requires searching for available award seats, which airlines release in limited quantities on each flight. Here is how award flights work in practice:

1. 1
   Choose your route and dates Decide where you want to fly and when. Flexibility with dates gives you the best chance of finding availability, as award seats can vary significantly from one day to the next.
2. 2
   Search for award availability You can search each airline's website individually, or use a tool like Award Travel Finder to search across multiple programs and BYOK seats.aero in one shot. This saves hours of checking multiple sites.
3. 3
   Compare points costs across programs The same flight can often be booked through different loyalty programs at different points prices. For example, a Cathay Pacific flight might be bookable with Asia Miles, British Airways Avios, or Qatar Airways Avios at varying rates.
4. 4
   Check taxes and fees Award flights still require paying taxes and surcharges in cash. These vary widely: some airlines charge minimal fees, while others add significant fuel surcharges that can exceed $500 on long-haul flights.
5. 5
   Book through the right program Once you find availability, book directly through the loyalty program that offers the best value. You will need enough points in that program's currency to complete the booking.

Developing Your Award Travel Strategy

A successful award travel strategy involves:

• Identifying your travel goals
• Selecting the right credit cards and loyalty programs
• Understanding award charts and sweet spots - check our British Airways Avios Guides for detailed pricing
• Being flexible with dates and destinations
• Planning well in advance for the best availability
• Using tools like Award Travel Finder to simplify the search process