1 Flight / 4 Ways
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EDITORIAL DISCLOSURE:
Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.
Whenever I’m booking flights, you’ll probably hear me talk about airline alliances and partners. And while it can be a tricky concept, understanding partner flight options will open up so many options to you for booking flights with points!
We’re talking about tens of thousands of points in potential savings.
So let’s walk through one example of how you can search for one flight, four different ways!
✈️ The Flight
I was recently searching for business class award flights for a trip home from London, which got me thinking about how many different ways I could search for this one route. 🤔
So let’s start at the source, on British Airways.
This flight from London (LHR) to Los Angeles (LAX) is offered by British Airways and was bookable on their site for 90,000 Avios and $475 in taxes and fees.
You’ll also notice some other payment options at the bottom. 👆🏼If you want to save some miles, you could opt to pay fewer miles and pay more in cash, but I rarely choose that option unless I wasn’t able to get the miles I needed.
BUT I think we can do better than this. 😉
🫱🏻🫲🏽 Partner Options
Anytime I book an award flight, I always, always check for partner options before booking. You never know what options or rates will be available. Coming across a better flight deal feels like finding buried treasure. 🎉🌟👑
Since I know that British Airways is part of the One World alliance, I started with a couple of partner airlines that I knew commonly offered their award flights.
First up: Qatar Airways.
They offer this same exact flight for 90,000 Avios and $580 in taxes and fees. The price in miles is the same as booking direct, but the taxes are higher, so that’s a “no” for me!
Next partner option: American Airlines.
Now we’ve got an interesting option! 👏🏻 This same exact flight on this partner airline is just 57,500 miles and $794 in taxes and fees. So while this does have a higher cash cost per ticket, the miles needed to book are significantly lower.
Our last partner airline (although NOT in the same alliance): Alaska Airlines.
To book this flight through Alaska, you’ll pay 70,000 miles and $808 in taxes and fees. So the miles are lower than Qatar and British Airways, but the taxes are the highest of any airline option.
🤷🏻♀️ So what do we do?
After you have searched and found all your options, it’s time to decide what is best for you and your travel goals.
Are you wanting to save as much cash as possible? Then British Airways would be the best way to save on those fees.
Or maybe you want the best deal overall? Then American would be my choice since the miles are significantly lower and taxes are about the same as a couple of the other airline options.
So much depends on what points you have, what dates you find, and what makes the most sense for your budget! But knowing where to look and how to search will set you up for success on your next award travel booking.
👉🏻 Want to learn more about airline alliances and partners?
Dive into an in-depth overview of painters with session 1 of our 6 part workshop series! We teach you all the ins and outs of airline alliances, partners and codeshares, and tips and strategies for finding award flights.
💻 SIGN UP HERE!
Side note: I cannot say thank you enough for using my links to apply! I earn a commission for those applications at no cost to you, and it helps keep all the free resources and support coming! 🩷
EDITORIAL DISCLOSURE: Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.
