Airline partners not those I usually fly
Mar 24, 2019, 6:37 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2019
Posts: 44
Airline partners not those I usually fly
Im having hard time finding value for these ThankYou points because these airlines are not major US carriers. I understand you can book thru alliances, but I imagine seating is limited. Anyone with different experiences?
Mar 24, 2019, 11:53 pm
#3
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 10,904
Do you have any desire to travel internationally, or do you only want to travel domestically? Because, if you want to travel internationally (particularly in premium cabins) major US airlines often offer a worse experience than top European or Asian airlines. This might be a good time to try a new airline. In particular, there are some top-end classes of service (SQ Suites, EY Residences) that can be booked by transferring miles to those airlines directly but not through partners.
If you only want to travel domestically, there are some options, both for independent airlines that are partners with major US airlines, and alliance members.
If you only want to travel domestically, there are some options, both for independent airlines that are partners with major US airlines, and alliance members.
Mar 26, 2019, 8:59 pm
#4
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: ORD
Programs: AA PLT
Posts: 2,781
Avianca LifeMiles has become my go-to for TYP redemption, both internationally and for domestic UA flights, the latter of which are often cheaper than with UA miles themselves. I once lucked out when needing to waitlist on EVA with their own miles, which I could only do with TYP, but other than that, I don't get a lot of value out of the other transfer partners.
Mar 28, 2019, 10:30 am
#5
Join Date: Jan 2017
Posts: 790
Getting 1.25 cents per point when redeeming through their TYP portal is not terrible either. I am not sure if I got lucky or what, but they were also cheaper in price on a Malaysia Airlines flight advertised on Google Flights / the major OTAs.
Mar 28, 2019, 12:43 pm
#6
Join Date: Jul 2016
Location: Dallas, TX
Programs: WN A-List Pref, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Gold, IHG Plat
Posts: 460
It's certainly better than 1 cpp, but really pales compared to the value available via partners. It's important to note that redeeming for travel at 1.25 cpp earns award and qualifying miles, so the value is a little higher once that's accounted for.
Mar 28, 2019, 12:45 pm
#7
Join Date: Jan 2017
Posts: 790
I think the best use case is for buying cheap-ish economy tickets. Obviously for business class flights, it is a better way to go usually to transfer miles.
Mar 28, 2019, 6:09 pm
#8
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 10,904
For many airlines, saver economy space will open up very late on flights that are not full (even though walk-up prices remain high, often due to advance purchase requirements on cheap fares) This is one of the few times that it's possible to get good value for miles redemption on an economy ticket (if you are in a situation where you have no choice but to buy a walkup ticket). It's high enough that it's worthwhile to make sure that you always have enough miles in your account to get such an award ticket (since transfers are often not instantaneous, so you may not be able to rely on that in a walk-up situation)