Japan Airlines (JAL) is the flagship carrier of Japan. JAL’s planes and service in all cabins are consistently rated among the best in the industry. Their award program, JAL Mileage Bank (JMB), is flexible and offers some great redemption rates on flights between the U.S. and Japan. They are also a member of the powerful oneworld alliance.
For a domestic airline, Alaska Airlines is a bit of an odd duck. It’s the only regional airline that hasn’t disappeared in the past decade of consolidations, and it’s not part of any of the major alliances. However, it functions in many ways like a legacy carrier.
Starwood Preferred Guest is unlike other
In the world of travel credit card transfer programs, Chase Ultimate Rewards is still a relatively new kid on the block. Its made a name for itself, though, by offering key perks that travelers crave: extremely valuable partners, instant transfers, and an ability to use your points on any flight at any time even when award seats aren’t available.
Lufthansa’s Miles and More is one of the best frequent flyer programs among European carriers. Despite some heavy fuel surcharges by Lufthansa and most of its European partners, the Miles and More program has enough sweet spots to make it very valuable, and award flights could be a true bargain under the right circumstances.
A good way for North American frequent flyers to understand Emirates is to think of it as akin to Alaska Airlines. They are both hometown airlines that have slowly grown through strategic partnerships and smart market choices into major global forces. But they always put the expectations of local passengers first. In the case of Emirates, that means impeccable style and service.
When you’re looking for a Caribbean vacation, set your sights on St. Thomas. It’s one of the U.S. Virgin Islands just 1,100 miles southeast of Miami so it’s a snap for Americans to visit. Since the U.S. Virgin Islands (St. Thomas, St. John, and St. Croix) are a U.S. territory, American citizens don’t need a passport if traveling from the mainland or Puerto Rico.
British Airways awards are an invaluable resource for frequent flyers, thanks to their distance-based award chart, great availability, and cheap, one-tier redemption system.
Booking award tickets isn’t the easiest thing in the world. For true peace of mind, you would have to book far in advance–ideally 330 days out to guarantee availability. With nearly a year before travel though, things can happen that could impact your trip, so its important to know what the airlines policy is on award ticket changes and the types of fees they’ll incur.
Many frequent flyer gurus will tell you to never use your hard-earned miles to book a domestic award ticket. While it’s true that there may be more value when booking a first class ticket to somewhere exotic like Bali, there is definitely a time and place to spend miles to get to destinations closer to home.
As one of the three major domestic carriers, United can take you nearly anywhere you want to go in the U.S., and its partner network, including the powerful 27-member Star Alliance, can get you most places in the world.
Though it is known for its high fuel surcharges, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club is actually a very versatile program offering many ways to
All Nippon Airways, or ANA, is a Japanese airline in the powerful Star Alliance, which includes North American carriers United and Air Canada. Don’t confuse ANA’s versatile award program, Mileage Club, with the similarly named Mileage Bank offered by the other major Japanese airline, JAL.
As far as airline co-branded credit cards go, the United MileagePlus Club Card is something that people talk about surprisingly infrequently. Is that because it is a poorly constructed product? No, it’s just a premium product that is not a good fit for many United travelers because of its cost.
Cathay Pacific is the main carrier for China’s Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, so it might not seem to be the best fit for flyers based in North America. But if you need to do a lot of travel to Asia from the U.S., it’s a very safe bet: It won the 2014 Skytrax Award for Worlds Best Airline.
The Starwood Preferred Guest American Express credit card seems to have two big drawbacks right off the bat: namely, the low sign-up bonus and the very high credit score required. These are actually indicators of the audience the card is intended for: people who spend several thousand dollars per month on their credit cards and appreciate a card with luxury perks.
Like the regional carrier for the other U.S. noncontiguous state–Alaska Airlines–Hawaiian Airlines and its frequent flyer program have made themselves valuable to travelers looking for more than just a vacation to Hawaii.
There’s no doubt about it: Traveling in the first class or business class cabin of many international airlines is exciting. You’re treated like royalty, with preferred access to check-in and security lines, entry into the airlines airport lounge, a welcome glass of champagne when you board, a roomy seat that often transforms into a comfortable lie-flat bed and five-course gourmet meals. It’s easy to get used to.
Though many Delta flyers end up on codeshare Air France and KLM flights, as the three airlines are technically one but operate like three independent carrier, not very many U.S.-based flyers take advantage of the Flying Blue award program, which is used by Air France, KLM and several other primarily European airlines.
Depending on where you live or where you usually fly, you might never have the opportunity to fly Virgin America, let alone fly it often enough to use its frequent flyer program.
