As it says on the tin, I"m trying to figure out the best way to get between the US and Belarus on points. Both my parents and I fly there about once a year to visit family, and usually buy cash tickets. They're located in DTW, so usually fly KLM/Air France with a connection in Amsterdam or CDG, but obviously Delta redemption rates for this particular route are terrible, so I'm trying to figure out what their other options are.

I'm doing this in part because I'm trying to convince my parents to get a miles and points credit card, and want them to get one that earns points they can transfer to a program actually useful to them. I recently found out just how bad their points earning strategy was (they seem to think Expedia Gold status and Visa Signature travel protections are enough while earning 1 point/$ on just about everything and I nearly had an aneurysm) and told my dad to get the Chase Sapphire Preferred as the most obvious choice, since they already bank with Chase and it's a good card to start with. But I'm not sure if there are other transfer partners from either Amex or Citi that would work better for this route.

So, what are your immediate thoughts on what programs to look at?