[milez.biz] Centralized Look-Up and Comparison Tool for Flight Award Rates
 

Hi,

We launched milez.biz about a month ago in the hopes of making the flight redemption rates from the various frequent flyer programs more transparent. We noticed that our site has been mentioned in a couple of threads here so I thought I’d start one specifically about the tool here. The site is here:
www.milez.biz

We continue to try to improve the tool so we welcome any feedback from the community.

Milez.biz is very simple: type two city names into the “From” and “To” fields, select from the auto-complete and let the calculator figure out what the rates for return flights between the two selected cities are. The rates in our database correspond to the rates published on the programs’ websites.

We have over 40 programs in the system and will be adding some more this week.

Rgds
ph

Nice tool. It would be great if you could add AA Super SAAver awards, too, like off-season North America to Europe.

just looked at JFK-MIA
British Airways Executive Club Round trip in Economy (rate calculated via LHR) 90,000
Who would want to fly from JFK to MIA vie LHR? You could use 7500 avios on AA. The tool does not tell you that.

Edit: I just read website FAQ about oneworld distance-based charts.

Very nice tool! Thanks!

Hi again,

Alpha: We try to update the data all the time. The additional AA rates are on our to-do list.

alkotik: Funny you should mention this. The oneworld rates are tricky. Until now we only had the BA flights in the system. However, we are actually going to do a data update tonight or tomorrow which will include the oneworld rates for British Airways. You will then see the JFK-MIA round trip listed under the BA rates for 15,000.

ph

It would be extremely handy (not sure how you'd do it, though) if the result showed not only the miles but any significant YQ.

A naive user might use the tool and think there's no difference between flying, say JFK-LHR, on AA or BA, but when you add in the taxes and fees, it can be pretty significant.

Hi BigLar,

Fees, surcharges etc. are somewhat complex bc they are not handled in a standard manner across all programs. We are trying to figure out a way to show this information in a meaningful way so that it is valid across the board.

Rgds
ph

I agree with BigLar, showing YQ (even just a simple Yes or No) will be extremely useful. Don't really need tax/other fee info, as these tend to be very small. But YQ usually is significant.

Is YQ something that every program will charge?
Is there an exact definition of YQ?
If I understand correctly, some programs will let you use miles and with some you must use cash.
It would really only be useful, if we could show actual amounts (be it in miles or in some currency), would it not?
(sounds like a lot of research!)

In some cases we add certain taxes directly into the calculation (e.g. Qantas domestic in AU and NZ) but maybe it would be best to to display this differently. We would need to find a way to do this uniformly across the board.

ph

Thanks for posting. Nice link

YQ refers to Fuel surcharge. Most US airlines do not charge YQ, but most foreign airlines charge YQ.

I BigLar's example, using your website, looking JFK-LHR for AA & BA, it shows AA need 60K, BA 40K for economy.

But if you actually look at ticketing, AA prob charge 60K + $150. While BA will charge 40K + $600. The main difference in $ is YQ.

So, just by looking at miles, you'd think BA is better, but in reality, I'd say most ppl would choose AA option.

Love it!
 

A very nice site. I appreciate the easy use of the search function. I also like the fact that some results would indicate how the flight would be mapped and priced (point wise). For example searching SIN-CGK would yield, among others, Qantas FF. The required miles is 60,000 but it's for flights connecting through PER.

I think attempting to show YQ can be very tricky as within a ff program itself there are different rules for applying YQ. And showing them in the result page could potentially create a very difficult page to read as opposed to right now.

A couple things I'd like to note:

1. Krisflyer sometimes would show up in a search result and sometimes won't when it's very possible to use KF for *alliance flights. (e.g., EWR-LAX)

2. In the above example of SIN-CGK, wouldn't Qantas have a one-world partner pricing that's cheaper and more direct?

3. Searching for CGK-DPS would yield results that I think would be impossible to be found (or maybe not).

Overall, love it and looking forward for to utilize it in the future.

Cheers!

May be asking too much
 

but it would be great to show what airlines charge on partners too. Very often a partner charges less than an airline's own reward program.

Also I notice only some of the airlines show their off-peak or seasonal awards.

Thanks !

I've used the site a decent amount in the past month and agree with others that it is a great idea. Here are my major suggestions (some echo what others say).

1. Putting in off-peak amount for airlines that offer those specials (i.e. AA)

2. Including fuel surcharges, as they can make an award ticket "not worth it". If it is too hard to put a certain amount in, you could use a yes or no.


Other than those two things, I'd simply say that you could add more airlines. Overall though, this is a great tool.

Hi allanfan,

Thanks for clarifying!
This is obviously something we should look at, I was not aware that the difference could be that great. I am not sure right now how we can handle this cleanly and in a way that makes sense but also in a way that we can maintain easily in the backend. We will have to analyze this.

Do fuel surcharge costs not change pretty frequently? This would make it rather difficult to keep up to date. And are the surcharges based on distance or flat rates or does this depend on the airline/program?

Anyway, we will have to look at it.

ph

Hi Tigersan,

- The flights that show a connection are from the programs that are distance based. For those programs we actually keep track of routes so that we can measure distance. The connection airport represents the route with the best rate (there may be others with the same rate but we only show one route).

- Krisflyer: We only have Singapore Airlines flights in the system right now. I think they are changing the rates at the beginning of March and we will try to also add the Star Alliance rates then.

- For Qantas we currently only have the "Qantas Classic Rewards" in the system. Qantas' oneworld rates use a different rate scheme which yet needs to be fed in into the system.
(oneworld is tricky anyway due the distance based calculations, but I think we have a most oneworld routes in teh system now)

Basically, both above issues are data related, i.e. we just need to add the data. We keep adding data as we go along, it's just a matter of time.

ph

Hi tassojunior, civico,

We continue to add more data all the time, this includes partner flights, off peak, high season rates etc.

Whenever we add data or change the site we will post about it on the Updates page.

Rgds
ph

Phlee - this is great start. Love the tool, and been playing with it a lot.

My 2c are that given the variability of YQ with routes and airlines you might be better off indicating which airlines charge them and which don't.

Very nice thank you

Great start! Second the suggestion for Aadvantage off-peak rates. We've posted it to our website.

Hi flyertalkers,

Quick update on the milez calculator. The following data is now included:

- AAdvantage off-peak and anytime rates
- Delta SkyMiles high, low and medium rates
- Dividend Miles off-peak, low, medium and high rates

Rgds
ph

Australian data added
 

Hi there,

We have added some more Australian data to our calculator:

- QFF classic award rates have been adjusted
- Virgin Australia's Velocity FF has been added (including the partner destinations)
- We have also added QFF Classic Partner rates which includes most of the oneworld airlines.

www.milez.biz

Rgds
ph

When checking JFK-VCE on BA, it says it is calculated by connecting in BCN. However, on BA you must connect through LHR.

Hi mileshound,

The calculator just tries to find the least expensive route. In the case of BA Exec. Club it looks up all the oneworld routes, calculates distance, then rate, and then displays the most advantageous one.

It could be that there are multiple routes with the same rate (maybe the rate via LHR wold be the same). In a case like that, the system simply displays the first rate it finds.

Rgds
ph

Chinese program added
 

We have now added the two main Chinese programs to the calculator:

- China Eastern
- China Southern

No longer do you need to figure out how many kms it is from one Chinese city to the next and consult rate tables to find out how many miles you need for an award flight, just type in the 2 destinations into our calculator:

http://www.milez.biz/en/list_rates.php?f=sha&t=syx

The Hawaiian Miles program has also been added.

ph

[Milez.biz] Increased program coverage
 

Hi there,

We have just added Eastern Miles (China Eastern) and Sky Pearl Club (China Southern) to our cross-program awards rate calculator.

No longer do you need to figure out how many kms it is from one Chinese city to the next and consult rate tables to find out how many miles you need for an award flight, just type in the 2 destinations into our calculator:

http://www.milez.biz/en/list_rates.php?f=sha&t=syx

Rgds
ph

This is very useful tool for a quick glance. If you can get one world mileage based awards in there this would be fantastic.^

Hi jeautk01,

Thank you, I'm glad you like the tool.

We will be adding more oneworld data. The data for those programs just takes a lot more time to prepare as we need to sometimes research flights down to the route level.

The AA and BA oneworld rates are already in the system.
Qantas Classic Partners (which includes most oneworld airlines and then some) is also in the system already.

Rgds
ph

You are showing 30k (miles) RT for Shanghai-Sanya using CZ points on the above link, but "check rates" redirects to the CZ site, and shows that 10k (km) each way is the true rate.

Hi moondog,

The distance b/w SYX and SHA is 1869 km, i.e. equivalent to 15,000 miles per segment for the award flight. Hence the 30,000 miles for the return flight.

Where did you see the rate of 20,000 on the CZ site?

Rgds
ph

KrisFlyer and Aerolíneas Argentinas Plus
 

Hi again,

New rates came into effect today ... all KrisFlyer (Singapore Airlines)rates are now in the calculator, this includes Saver, Standard and Full rates as well as the StarAlliance:

Singapore to Sydney

Aerolineas Argentinas switched over to a miles based system today, we have added the program to our calculator:

Buenos Aires to Montevideo

Enter any destinations here: www.milez.biz

Cheers
ph

I was mistaken about the distance, so my bad, but I don't think I was mistaken about the currency. That award costs 30,000 kilometers, no?

Hi again moondog,

I think it's just a question of nomenclature, and it's a bit confusing on the CZ site. On the English page it says to calculate the distance b/w airports in "km" to determine the "mileage" for a free award flight.

Basically, the SHA-SYX-SHA is 1869 km X 2, so 2 X 15,000 award points (or miles or kms -- call it what you will) for the r/t flight.

Maybe the wording is clearer on the Chinese page? Sadly, I can't read that.

Rgds
ph

Aerolíneas Argentinas Plus included in Award Rate Calculator
 

Hi everyone,

A quick note to let you know that we have included the "re-engineered" award rates for Aerolíneas Argentinas Plus in our frequent flyer award rate calculator:

www.milez.biz

AAPlus have just switched from a points based system to a miles based system, which makes it easier to compare their rates w/ most other programs.

Here's an example: Buenos Aires to Lima

Rgds
ph

New Star Alliance rates added
 

We've added the rates of two more Star Alliance programs: Miles & Smiles (Turkish Airlines) and ShebaMiles (Ethiopian Airlines). There are now 11 Star Alliance programs included in the calculator. The main difference between these programs is mainly how they zone the destinations.

Miles & Smiles, for example, zones Nigeria as part of Europe and North Africa, which makes flgiths from Europe to Nigeria pretty interesting: Amsterdam - Lagos

In the ShebaMiles program the Maldives are zoned in Oceania (!), this is likely an error, but flights from Australia to the Maldives, in theory, can be had for 40,000 miles. Sydney to Male

We have also added the full gamut of the regular Miles & Smiles rates, this includes "capacity controlled" and "seat guaranteed" rates.

Miles & Smiles Star Alliance rates
 

We've added the Star Alliance rates for Miles & Smiles (Turkish Airlines) to our global cross-program award rates calculator. There are now 11 Star Alliance programs included in the calculator. The main difference between these programs is mainly how they zone the destinations. Miles & Smiles, for example, zones Nigeria in Europe/North Africa.

We have also added the full gamut of the regular Miles & Smiles rates, this includes "capacity controlled" and "seat guaranteed" rates (high and low season). This now gives a pretty comprehensive overview of the Miles & Smiles award rates.

www.milez.biz

Ethiopian Airlines ShebaMiles in global award rate calculator
 

We've added the Star Alliance rates for ShebaMiles to our global cross-program award rates calculator. There are now 11 Star Alliance programs included in the calculator. The main difference between these programs is mainly how they zone the destinations. ShebaMiles, for example, has 4 zones for Africa, but misplaces some islands (cf. Maldives and Sao Tome).

The calculator allows you to calculate and compare rates across over 50 frequent flyer programs.

www.milez.biz

in some cases the best rates are still missing because ANA is not supported yet. It will be great if you can add it.

TAP Victoria Redmeption Zones
 

Hi,

Does anyone know where I can find the country breakdown for TAP Victoria's award redemption zones for Star Alliance flights?

The following page has the zones, but it does not list which countries belong to which zones:
http://www.tapvictoria.com/en/UseMil...nStarAlliance/

We want to include the TAP Victoria Star Alliance rates in our award rates calculator (www.milez.biz) but need to know the exact definition of the zones in order to do that.

Thanks
ph