Originally Posted by
csudell
Southwest rewards can be used for international travel on USairways on a 1:1 conversion ratio. So a SW 50K bonus is equivalent to a 50K bonus on USAir, the way I see it.... and I could be wrong.
And here we have arrived at the fundamental misunderstanding that has plagued your air travel up to this point. You've come to the right place; we can clear all of this up for you.
Southwest points are a
cash equivalent. They are radically different from traditional airline miles.
If you use a Southwest point toward domestic "Wanna Get Away" fares, it's worth a fixed amount that's roughly 1.7 cents. If you use it toward international travel, it's a fixed 1 cent. So, for the purposes of your flight to TLV, 50k Southwest points will always be worth a fixed $500 toward airfare.
USAirways miles, on the other hand, are an entirely different currency. In that world, there are a certain number of seats on each flight that are available. If you can find one of those seats, it always costs 80k USAirways miles (plus taxes and fees) in coach,
regardless of the cash price.
To get a sense for the difference, I plugged in some random dates in February for a PHL-TLV round trip on the non-stop USAirways flights.
The cash cost is $1106 per person. That would be just under 111k Southwest points, because they are always worth 1 cent each. Using USAirways miles, it would be that fixed 80k miles per person, plus about $145 in fees. Radically different.
As a general guideline, cash equivalent programs are a better value for cheap domestic flights, rather than more expensive international flights.
If you'd like to learn more, you can explore each airline's award chart, to understand what fixed amount of miles is required for different routes, and then search for availability to see general trends.
The goal is for 4 people to fly for as little money as possible.
I have a Quicken Rewards card that is actually great for ongoing spending because for $85000 in spending I get $1500 in airfare. But that is for ongoing spending.
That Quicken card is giving you about 1.8% return. That's pretty good. However, there are a few options for 2% cash back, such as the Fidelity AMEX and Priceline Visa.
For the particular trip you're looking for, there are many different ways to cut it. If you go the miles route, you could focus on United miles. They can be redeemed for USAirways flights. You could get the United Explorer card for 50k miles and then add one of the 50k Ultimate Rewards cards. UR points transfer to UA miles 1:1.
Or you could continue to use cash equivalents, depending on the cash price on your dates.
Does all of that make sense? If so, consider doing some more research (look at award availability and cash prices for some possible dates) and reporting back.