Best flights from DSM to LAS using AMEX MR?
 

My wife and I are wanting to go to Vegas for about 3 nights in August. I have the AMEX trifecta so looking to use my membership rewards points to fly and also book the hotels within the Fine Hotels and Resorts program. Any ideas of the best way to fly from Southeast Iowa to Vegas using only points? Transfer partners?

Distance from these airports:

DSM: 1 hour
OMA: 3 hours
MCI: 3.5 hours
MSP: 4 hours
ORD: 5 hours

Im willing to drive a bit if the deal is good enough.

Welcome to FT!

Do you only want to fly nonstop, or are you OK with connections?
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For nonstops, your only options from DSM are Allegiant, Frontier, and Southwest. Given those choices, I would just pay cash on Southwest, which will give you each two free checked bags, if needed.

If you're willing to connect, plenty of options with AA, DL, and UA. With MR points, you could transfer to Air Canada Aeroplan or Avianca LifeMiles -- among others -- to redeem for "Saver" award seats on UA -- if you can find them. For DL, you can transfer MR points directly to Delta, but Amex charges a fee to transfer MR points to domestic FFPs. You could also transfer to one of DL's international partners to avoid the Amex transfer fee, but the redemption rate might be more (or less) than what DL would charge directly.

Under your circumstances, I do not see a compelling reason to drive to a more distant airport.

Good luck!

Saver Seats
 

I’m willing to connect. I’d like to take advantage of the Delta Skyclubs and Centurion Lounges whenever possible. Where can I get more information on those “Saver” seats you mentioned?

thanks for the help I appreciate it 👍🏻

When you do an award search on united.com, Saver awards -- if available -- should be indicated with the word, "Saver." Such flights should be available through other Star Alliance FFPs, but you should always check first, before transferring any of your MR points to a program.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...5d78857975.png

If you want to redeem for award travel on DL without using DL miles (to avoid Amex's fee for transfers to domestic FFPs), here's a helpful primer, courtesy of The Points Guy:

https://thepointsguy.com/guide/searc...-availability/

If you're willing to sign up for another credit card, you can apply for a Barclays/AAdvantage credit card to redeem for travel on American, which sometimes has very low redemption rates for domestic award travel. You can check availability on American at aa.com -- no log-in required. The current Barclays credit-card offer is 50,000 AA miles after one purchase of any amount charged to the card, with the $99 annual fee waived for the first year. Details here:

https://www.applyaviator.com/

Here's an example of a low redemption rate on AA for a Tuesday night departure in August:

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...ca097da0ee.png

Wow thanks for the info! Looks like I have a lot
to learn lol. I really appreciate the help! Good stuff 👍🏻