Are there sweet spots in airline award charts worth knowing?
33% Point Me to the Plane
33% FrequentMiler
21% PointsMath
13% Other
Yes—many airlines have “sweet spots” where the mileage cost is unusually low, letting you stretch your points much farther.
British Airways / Avios (OneWorld)
- One‑way flights that are 2,001 – 3,000 miles cost just 12,500 Avios. A Los Angeles‑to‑Kauai leg (≈2,600 mi) falls right in this range, making a nonstop flight possible for only 12,500 miles plus a modest cash fee Point Me to the Plane .
Turkish Miles & Smiles
- Business‑class to Europe for 45,000 miles one‑way.
- Business‑class to the Middle East for 47,000 miles one‑way.
- Business‑class to Central Asia (India, Bangladesh, Nepal, etc.) for 52,500 miles one‑way.
- Economy‑class within the United States (including Alaska and Hawaii) for just 7,500 miles one‑way.
- Business‑class within the United States (including Alaska and Hawaii) for 12,500 miles one‑way FrequentMiler .
ANA (All Nippon Airways)
- North America → Europe round‑trip for only 45,000 miles.
- North America → Oceania/Australia round‑trip for 65,000 miles.
- Business‑class between the U.S. and Japan/Asia for 90,000 miles or less round‑trip Points with a Crew FrequentMiler .
American Airlines (India market)
- Economy‑class from India to Europe for just 20,000 miles.
- Business‑class on the same route for 42,500 miles, also usable on partner Etihad PointsMath .
Iberia / Avios
- A short‑haul North‑American round‑trip on American Airlines can be booked for as little as 11,000 Avios round‑trip, making it a strong value for domestic or short‑distance international flights FrequentMiler .
General Tips
- These sweet spots often appear on distance‑based or region‑based charts, so checking the specific airline’s award table is essential.
- Transfer partners like Chase Ultimate Rewards or American Express Membership Rewards can be used to fund Avios or other currencies at a 1:1 ratio, making it easier to reach the required mileage Point Me to the Plane .
By targeting these low‑cost mileage corridors, you can secure free or heavily discounted flights across a variety of routes and cabin classes.
One of the Best Award Chart Sweet Spots You Should Be Taking Advantage Of
With epic weather, amazing scenery, great beaches, and endless outdoor activities, Hawaii has something for everyone. But getting there on points and miles is rarely easy. Even if you can find saver availability to get there on miles, the US-based airlines charge a steep premium, with United and American both charging 45,000 miles round-trip for a saver coach fare from the mainland to Hawaii. This is almost double the 25,000 mile round-trip rate for a normal domestic ticket. This is an ideal time to take advantage of one of the best award chart sweet spots, British Airways’ distance-based award
Turkish demolishes its award chart
Yesterday, Prince of Travel flagged a near absolute obliteration of the Turkish Miles & Smiles award chart, with almost all awards massively increasing in price to the tune of 80% or more “overnight”. I put overnight in quotation marks because so far, I’m only seeing these prices in the new award chart — they aren’t yet reflected in search results on the website at the time of writing this post. And, oddly, Turkish is still publishing the old award chart. This much I can say with confidence: If you have Turkish miles stashed away for a rainy day, meteorologists are
The new zone-based ANA award chart
This is fast breaking news as I write, but ANA appears to be in the process of switching from a distance-based award chart to a region or zone-based award chart, effective April 12, 2015. Most airlines (like American, United, Delta, etc.) operate their awards based on regions or zones. So if you want to take a roundtrip ticket anywhere in North America, its 25,000 miles. Or anywhere in North America to anywhere in Europe is 30,000 miles (on American during peak). Currently, ANA along with British Airways and a few other carriers is DISTANE-based, so the cost of your award
Practical Sweet Spot Awards
The show must go on. After almost 3 years of Frequent Miler on the Air without missing an episode, I was determined to make it work this week despite some challenges on my end. Listen to this week’s “Giant Mailbag” stand-in for more on that and accept my apologies for unideal sound quality this week as we discuss our favorite practical sweet spots — those you can actually find available and that we have booked. Elsewhere on the blog this week, we’ve updated some excellent resources including our Marriott Bonvoy Complete Guide and some sweet spot best uses
Ultimate Guide to Airline Award Charts and How to Use Them?
There are endless possibilities. Once you have earned credit card points or those Airmiles, you will probably be interested in redeeming them for the next flight. How many miles would you need to travel from India to Europe or Within your country? This is where Airline Award Charts help. Not all airlines publish an award chart. However, airlines which do so are quite popular among travellers. It is because there are many Sweet Spots that arise because of it. So, let’s see everything about the Airline Award Chart and how to use it for your next travel. An airline
Searching for business class sweet-spots in Iberia’s OneWorld award chart
Yesterday Nick posted in detail about a sweet-spot on Iberia’s American Airlines award chart: From 11K RT on American: A sweet spot for North American flight redemptions. His post showed that Iberia Avios may be the best currency for flying American Airlines on short round-trip itineraries. That got me thinking about flying domestic 1st class or international business class. Does Iberia have similar sweet-spots for flying American Airlines up-front? Here is Iberia’s American Airlines award chart (their OneWorld chart is very similar if not identical): AA usually charges 50,000 miles for round-trip 2-cabin 1st class (this is