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Located in southeastern Europe with its fifth-century B.C. capital in Athens, Greece is a mountainous country with the longest coastline in the Mediterranean. The country is known for historic sites, such as the Acropolis and Parthenon, as well as picturesque island beaches, like those found at Santorini and Mykonos.
The main airport in Greece is Athens International (ATH). For this post, we’ll focus on how to fly to Athens from the U.S. using a variety of point and mile options.
The great thing about Greece is that it’s easy to get there from the U.S. You have both nonstop and 1-stop options helping to limit the amount of travel time.
We recommend searching for flights as far out in advance as possible to have the best award availability. The only scenario where you’ll want to search close to your departure date is for first class Lufthansa flights, whose award flights are typically released within 2 weeks of the departure date.
Greece is served by airline partners in the Oneworld, Star Alliance, and SkyTeam alliances. In addition, non-alliance airlines like Emirates offer flights from the U.S. to Greece.
It’s important to note that all award pricing in this article is round-trip. Depending on the program, you can cut the award price in half if you only need a one-way flight.
The Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan program is known for having sweet spots with its airline partners. Alaska Airlines is now in the Oneworld alliance and also has individual partnerships with airlines.
When flying to Athens, you have the option to fly its partners in American Airlines, Aer Lingus, British Airways, Condor, Emirates, Finnair, and Icelandair. When weighing fuel surcharges, award costs, and routing options, American Airlines is the partner we recommend.
| Cabin Class | American Airlines Miles Cost | Taxes & Fees |
| Economy Off-Peak | 45,000 | $102 |
| Economy | 60,000 | $102 |
| Business | 115,000 | $102 |
| First | 170,000 | $102 |
Hot Tip: In addition to its sweet spots, Alaska Airlines is also known for the ability to book a stopover on one-way award flights.
When you’re ready to book a flight, here are a couple of examples of seasonal flights that you can book to Athens (ATH):
You’ll want to follow these steps when the Alaska Airlines miles are in your Mileage Plan account:
Alaska Airlines only has 1 partnership with a transferable point program in Marriott Bonvoy, making it hard to earn Alaska Airlines miles. In addition to its partnership with Marriott Bonvoy, Alaska Airlines offers co-branded Bank of America credit cards that earn miles directly with your credit card spend.
For those of you looking to transfer Marriott Bonvoy points to Alaska Airlines, the point transfers take 2 days at a 3:1 ratio.
A great option for Marriott hotel fans who want a no annual fee card and automatic Marriott Bonvoy elite status.
Casual travelers who like to frequent properties that are part of the Marriott Bonvoy collection of brands may want to consider the Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card.
The Marriott Bold card rewards cardholders for Marriott stays and gives them a boost towards Marriott Bonvoy elite status.
Marriott loyalists will love this card's annual free night award, automatic elite status, and up to 17x points per $1 on Marriott hotel stays.
If you’re a frequent traveler and a Marriott loyalist, there’s a lot to love about the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card. The card comes packed with several great benefits like a free hotel night once a year, automatic Silver Elite status (with a fast-track to Gold Elite status), and multiple options for redeeming points.
Terms Apply / Rates & FeesThe Marriott Bonvoy Bevy card gives you automatic Marriott elite status and helps you earn more Marriott Bonvoy points on your everyday purchases.
The Marriott Bonvoy Bevy™ American Express® Card, the latest mid-tier offering in the Marriott Bonvoy lineup of cards, offers cardholders automatic elite status and ways to earn more Marriott Bonvoy points on each of their stays and daily purchases.
Terms Apply / Rates & FeesA premium card for Marriott fans who want perks like an annual statement credit and Free Night Award, plus a fast track to Marriott elite status.
The Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card is a premium card designed with road warriors and Marriott Bonvoy loyalists in mind.
So is the card a worthwhile addition to your wallet?
Bottom Line: Earning Alaska Airlines miles is ideal because you can book a stopover on one-way flights and the Mileage Plan program has a number of sweet spots that open up a ton of value for your miles.
In addition to using Alaska Airlines miles to fly American Airlines to Greece, you can use American Airlines’ own miles for these flights. What’s great about using American Airlines miles for flights to Europe is that the AAdvantage program has off-peak pricing for economy flights.
The AAdvantage program also allows you to use miles to fly British Airways and Iberia to Greece. Due to the fuel surcharges when flying British Airways, Iberia is the only partner airline flight we recommend.
| Cabin Class | American Airlines & Oneworld Miles Cost | Taxes & Fees |
| Economy Off-Peak | 45,000 | $60 |
| Economy | 60,000 | $60 |
| Business | 115,000 | $60 |
| First | 170,000 | $60 |
Hot Tip: You’ll want to search for Iberia flights on the British Airways website and then call American Airlines at 800-433-7300 to book the flight.
If you have enough American Airlines miles in your account, below are a couple of flight options to Athens (ATH) to consider booking:
To make the AAdvantage award flight booking process easier, we recommend using these steps:
For Iberia award flights, follow these steps:
American Airlines miles are relatively easy to earn because it partners with Marriott Bonvoy and has a number of co-branded credit cards that can come with substantial welcome offers. By putting your spend on Marriott Bonvoy and American Airlines credit cards, you’ll be well on your way to booking your next award flight.
If you already have Marriott Bonvoy points and want to transfer them to American Airlines, the point transfer takes 2 days at a 3:1 ratio. With Marriott Bonvoy point transfers, you’ll receive a 5,000-mile bonus for every 60,000 points that you transfer.
Bottom Line: Keep your eye on the American Airlines AAdvantage program as it’s highly likely the airline will move towards dynamic award pricing in the near term. This means that there will no longer be an award chart and instead, the award price will be tied to the cash cost of the flight.
The ANA Mileage Club program is the first Star Alliance partner to keep your eye on. Mileage Club has a number of sweet spots, including partner airline flights, with one of those being flights between the U.S. and Europe.
Before getting too excited about the competitive award pricing shown above, it’s important to note that ANA partner flights must be booked round-trip. Another drawback is that the ANA search engine isn’t as easy to use as the United Airlines search engine.
| Cabin Class | ANA Miles Cost | Taxes & Fees |
| Economy | 55,000 | $118+ |
| Business | 88,000 | $118+ |
Hot Tip: We recommend searching for Star Alliance partner flights first on United’s website, and then confirming the same award availability on the ANA website.
There are a number of Star Alliance options that you can consider for flights between the U.S. and Greece. You’ll want to focus on LOT Polish, Singapore Airlines (economy), TAP Portugal, and United award flights. Austrian, Brussels, Lufthansa, and SWISS Air award flights have high fuel surcharges, so keep that in mind before booking your flights.
Below are a couple of options to consider when you have the required number of Mileage Club miles in your ANA account:
We recommend following these steps when you’re ready to book a flight with your ANA miles:
ANA is an Amex airline partner and Marriott Bonvoy, so the easiest way to earn ANA miles is to transfer your points from these programs to ANA. Unlike many airline programs, ANA doesn’t offer co-branded credit cards for the U.S. market.
If you have enough American Express and/or Marriott Bonvoy points to book a flight, the Amex point transfers take 2 to 3 days at a 1:1 ratio and Marriott Bonvoy point transfers take 7 days at a 3:1 ratio. With that said, below are best American Express credit cards that we recommend you should consider:
Terms Apply / Rates & FeesThis card is undoubtedly the #1 card for luxury travel benefits. From the best lounge access (of any card) to statement credits, to complimentary elite status, you can’t go wrong.
When it comes to cards that offer top-notch benefits, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better card out there than The Platinum Card® from American Express.
Make no mistake — the Amex Platinum card is a premium card with a premium price tag. With amazing benefits like best-in-class airport lounge access, hotel elite status, and tremendous value in annual statement credits, it can easily prove to be one of the most lucrative cards in your wallet year after year.
Terms Apply / Rates & FeesThis is the go-to card for food lovers who dine out at restaurants and those who want big rewards at U.S. supermarkets!
The American Express® Gold Card is definitely a game-changer.
With this card, you can earn 4x Membership Rewards points at restaurants and you’ll also earn 4x Membership Rewards points at U.S. supermarkets on up to $25,000 per calendar year in purchases, then 1x.
There isn’t another card on the market that offers a 1-2 punch like this. Of course, there are a number of other benefits of the Gold Card as well, including extra monthly dining rewards and more.
If you’re a business owner, there are a number of Amex business credit cards that we recommend.
Bottom Line: Aeroplan and United Airlines have the ability to book one-way partner airline flights, so only consider using ANA miles if you’re interested in booking round-trip flights.
Asiana Airlines Asiana Club is a second Star Alliance program to consider. Asiana continues to fly under the radar but Asiana Club can provide value if you know how to use it.
The main downside with Asiana Club is that Star Alliance partner flights require a phone call to Asiana to book flights. In addition, you can’t use the Asiana Airlines website to search for Star Alliance airline partner flights.
| Cabin Class | Asiana Miles Cost | Taxes & Fees |
| Economy | 50,000 | $118+ |
| Business | 80,000 | $118+ |
Hot Tip: Like ANA, we recommend searching for Star Alliance partner airline flights on United’s website, and then calling Asiana to book the award flight.
With the Asiana miles in your account, here are a couple of flights to Athens (ATH) that you can book:
Using Asiana Club is more challenging than other programs, so we recommend the steps below to help you book your flight:
It’s not easy to earn Asiana Airlines miles because the airline only has 1 transfer partner in the Marriott Bonvoy program. If you have Marriott Bonvoy points, the transfer takes 10 days at a ratio is 3:1 and you’ll receive a 5,000-mile bonus when transferring 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points.
The Avianca LifeMiles program is yet another Star Alliance airline program that you should consider using for flights to Greece. One of the best uses of Avianca miles is to book Lufthansa first or business class. You won’t have to pay fuel surcharges like you would with ANA and Asiana Airlines.
One major drawback with Avianca is the fact that it doesn’t have access to the same award availability as United and Air Canada, which may mean that you miss out on some flights.
| Cabin Class | LifeMiles Cost | Taxes & Fees |
| Economy | 60,000 | $118+ |
| Business | 126,000 | $118+ |
| First | 174,000 | $118+ |
Hot Tip: Before booking a flight with Avianca Lifemiles, keep in mind that Avianca charges a $25 award booking fee for one-way award flights, and that open-jaws and stopovers are not allowed.
For those of you who have Avianca Lifemiles, here are a couple of flight ideas to Athens (ATH):
The booking process with Avianca can be challenging, so use these steps to help make the process easier:
American Express, Capital One, Citi, and Marriott Bonvoy partner with Avianca. These partnerships make it easy to earn Avianca LifeMiles that can then be used to book an award flight.
Before transferring any points, keep in mind that points transfer instantly at a 1:1 ratio for American Express, Capital One, and Citi. Marriott Bonvoy point transfers take less than 24 hours at a 3:1 ratio. In addition, for every 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points that you transfer to Avianca, you’ll receive a 5,000-mile bonus.
Additional ways to earn Avianca LifeMiles is by putting your spend on its co-branded credit cards or by buying LifeMiles when a discount is offered.
Frequent flyers will enjoy 3x ThankYou Points at restaurants, gas stations, supermarkets, air travel, and hotels.
The Citi Premier® Card is an excellent option for anyone looking for an all-around travel rewards credit card. The card helps you earn points fast with great 3x bonus categories such as restaurants, supermarkets, gas stations, airfare, and hotels. Plus, it offers access to airline and hotel transfer partners, doesn’t charge foreign transaction fees, and has a reasonable annual fee!
This no annual fee card rewards cardholders for everyday purchases. Earn bonus points at supermarkets and gas stations, plus your points are rounded up on every purchase.
Great card for the average spender with no specific focus category; worry-free cash-back earning on everything!
The Citi® Double Cash Card has long been one of the top cash-back credit cards on the market, and the card now has the ability to earn Citi ThankYou Points!
This means that cardholders of the Double Cash card will now earn 2% on every purchase with unlimited 1% cash back when you buy, plus an additional 1% as you pay for those purchases. Cash back is earned in the form of ThankYou Points. This means each billing cycle, you will earn 1 ThankYou point per $1 spent on purchases and an additional ThankYou point for every $1 paid on your purchase balance as long as there is a corresponding balance in your Purchase Tracker.
Citi has turned the Double Cash card into a top choice for those who are looking for an everyday, no-fuss credit card.
Earn big on purchases in your top eligible spend category, up to the first $500 each billing cycle, with no annual fee!
The Citi Custom Cash® Card is inventive when it comes to cash-back credit cards. Instead of earning a set amount of cash-back on predetermined bonus categories, the Citi Custom Cash card earns 5% cash-back on your highest eligible spend category each billing cycle, without an annual fee.
Thanks to that unique perk, you’ll never need to worry about whether you’re using the right card for the right purchase, as your Citi Custom Cash card will always pay you 5% back on whichever category you end up spending the most on each month.
Cathay Pacific is our second Oneworld program to use in addition to American Airlines. There aren’t a ton of sweet spots within the Asia Miles program, but one potential one to mention is to use Asia Miles to fly Iberia.
Not all Cathay Pacific airline partners can be booked online, so that’s one major drawback to using Asia Miles. In theory, you should be able to book Iberia flights online. However, the booking process will likely not piece together the Iberia flights that you want. So you’ll want to call Cathay Pacific to book Iberia flights.
American Airlines is one of the Cathay Pacific airline partners that you can’t book online. Like Iberia, you’ll have to call Cathay Pacific to book American Airlines flights.
With that out of the way, it’s important to note that the Asia Miles program doesn’t have an award chart when you’re flying a Oneworld airline partner.
| Cabin Class | Cathay Pacific Asia Miles Cost | Taxes & Fees |
| Economy | 54,000 to 70,000 | $183+ |
| Business | 100,000 to 140,000 | $183+ |
Hot Tip: To figure out the number of miles needed for an award flight, you’ll need to reference the Cathay Pacific Asia Miles Standard Award chart and add 5,000 miles to the award pricing shown in that chart.
American Airlines and Iberia are the 2 Cathay Pacific airline partners that we recommend for flights to Greece. British Airways is an option, however, the fuel surcharges are high and will eat up the value of your Asia Miles. With that said, here are the partner award flights to Athens (ATH) that you should consider:
When you’re ready to book an award flight, reference the steps shown below during the booking process:
American Express, Capital One, Citi, and Marriott Bonvoy are all Cathay Pacific Asia Miles partners, making it easy to earn Cathay Pacific miles.
Before transferring any points to Cathay Pacific, keep the transfer ratios and transfer times in mind: American Express point transfers take 1 to 4 days at a 1:1 ratio, Capital One point transfers take 36 hours at a 1:1 ratio, Citi point transfers take 24 hours at a 1:1 ratio, and Marriott Bonvoy point transfers take 5 days at a 3:1 ratio.
Another way that you can earn Cathay Pacific Asia Miles is by putting your spend on the co-branded credit cards from Synchrony Bank. The spend that you put on these cards will directly earn Cathay Pacific Asia Miles.
Terms Apply / Rates & FeesThe Capital One Venture X card is an excellent option for travelers looking for an all-in-one premium credit card.
The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card is the premium Capital One travel rewards card on the block.
Points and miles fans will be surprised to see that the Capital One Venture X card packs quite the punch when it comes to bookings made through Capital One, all while offering the lowest annual fee among premium credit cards.
Depending on your travel goals and preferences, the Capital One Venture X card could very well end up being your go-to card in your wallet.
Terms Apply / Rates & FeesGet 2x miles plus some of the most flexible redemptions offered by a travel credit card!
As a frequent traveler with excellent credit, you’re always on the lookout for a credit card that comes with all the bells and whistles. And the easier it is to understand, the better!
The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card is one of the most popular rewards cards on the market. It’s perfect for anyone in search of a great sign-up bonus, high rewards rates, and flexible redemption options.
Terms Apply / Rates & FeesThe card offers unlimited miles at 1.25x per $1 and no annual fee. When you consider the flexible rewards, frequent travelers come out on top.
Interested in a travel rewards credit card without one of those pesky annual fees? Then say hello to the Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card, the no-annual-fee version of the more popular Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card.
In addition to no annual fee, the Capital One VentureOne card offers no foreign transaction fees.
But is this card worth its salt, or is it merely a shell of the more popular Capital One Venture card?
If you’re a business owner, consider Capital One’s business credit cards.
Bottom Line: Cathay Pacific Asia Miles are easy to get a hold of because of Cathay Pacific’s partnerships with American Express, Capital One, Citi, and Marriott Bonvoy.
Etihad is not in an airline alliance; instead, it has partnerships with individual airlines that allow you to use Etihad Guest miles to book an award flight on that airline partner. The Etihad Guest program is full of sweet spots, including flights between the U.S. and Europe, and the U.S. and Africa.
| Cabin Class | Etihad Miles Cost | Taxes & Fees | |
| American | Economy Off-Peak | 40,000 | $60 |
| Economy | 60,000 | $60 | |
| Business | 100,000 | $60 | |
| First | 125,000 | $60 | |
| Brussels | Economy | 44,000 | $522 |
| Business | 88,000 | $522 | |
| Royal Air Maroc | Economy | 44,000 | $520 |
| Business | 88,000 | $520 |
Hot Tip: One main downside with using Etihad Guest miles is that you’ll have to call Etihad to book a partner award flight. From personal experience, the Etihad Guest agents are competent making the booking process relatively easy.
Etihad offers 2 different types of options for flights to Greece with a couple of ideas shown below. You can fly to Athens (ATH) nonstop on American Airlines with lower fees or fly Brussels or Royal Air Maroc with higher fees and fewer miles than American Airlines would require for business class.
The booking process is different depending on the partner that you fly. Here are the steps for each option:
It’s easy to earn Etihad Guest miles because the airline partners with American Express, Capital One, Citi, and Marriott Bonvoy. The points and miles that you earn in each of these programs can be transferred directly to Etihad to book an award flight.
It’s important to keep the transfer ratios and transfer times in mind before transferring any points or miles: American Express points transfer instantly at a 1:1 ratio, Capital One point transfers take 36 hours at 1:1 ratio, Citi point transfers take 6 days at a 1:1 ratio, and Marriott Bonvoy point transfers take 5 days at a 3:1 ratio.
Etihad doesn’t currently offer credit cards for the U.S. market, so you’ll want to earn points and miles in these programs and then transfer them to Etihad.
Bottom Line: Etihad Guest is a program that you can use to fly its partner airline flights, including American Airlines, at competitive award prices.
Our third Oneworld Alliance airline program to consider is Iberia. It’s a program travelers in the U.S. may be familiar with as you can use Iberia Avios (miles), similar to British Airways Avios, to book American Airlines flights.
| Cabin Class | Iberia Avios Cost (Iberia) | Taxes & Fees |
| Economy Off-Peak | 42,500 to 51,000 | $183+ |
| Business Off-Peak | 85,000 to 102,000 | $183+ |
Hot Tip: The primary difference when booking American Airlines flights with Iberia versus British Airways is that Iberia requires you to book round-trip partner airline flights.
When booking flights to Greece using Iberia Avios, you’ll want to book Iberia’s own flights. You do have the option to book Oneworld partner airline flights. However, Iberia offers the best option when taking into account fuel surcharges, award pricing, and routing.
Flights options to Athens (ATH) that you can book include:
Once the Iberia Avios are in your account, follow the steps below when you’re ready to book an award flight:
American Express, Chase, and Marriott Bonvoy partner with Iberia, making it easy to earn Avios to book an award flight.
You’ll want to keep these guidelines in mind before transferring any points as the transfer times and ratios across the programs are different: American Express point transfers take 2 days at a 1:1 ratio, Chase points transfer instantly at a 1:1 ratio, and Marriott Bonvoy point transfers take 24 to 36 hours at a 3:1 ratio.
For those transferring Marriott Bonvoy points to Iberia, remember that you’ll receive a 5,000-mile bonus for every 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points that you transfer.
Iberia also offers a co-branded Chase credit card that allows you to earn Iberia Avios with your spend. The Avios that you earn can then be used to book an award flight. A combination of the Iberia co-branded credit card and these Chase credit cards will ensure you have enough Avios to book your next award flight:
A fantastic travel card with a huge welcome offer, good benefits, and perks for a moderate annual fee.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® card is one of the best travel rewards cards on the market. Its bonus categories include travel, dining, online grocery purchases, and streaming services, which gives you the opportunity to earn lots of bonus points on these purchases.
Additionally, it offers flexible point redemption options, no foreign transaction fees, and excellent travel insurance coverage including primary car rental insurance. With benefits like these, it’s easy to see why this card is an excellent choice for any traveler.
A top player in the high-end premium travel credit card space that earns 3x points on travel and dining while offering top luxury perks.
If you’re looking for an all-around excellent travel rewards card, the Chase Sapphire Reserve® is one of the best options out there.
The card combines elite travel benefits and perks like airport lounge access, with excellent point earning and redemption options. Plus it offers top-notch travel insurance protections to keep you covered whether you’re at home or on the road.
Don’t forget the $300 annual travel credit which really helps to reduce the annual fee!
Bottom Line: U.S. travelers should turn to Iberia when looking to book American Airlines flights. The award rates can be lower than what you’ll find when using British Airways to book American Airlines flights.
A fourth Oneworld Airline partner to consider using for flights to Greece is the Japan Airlines Mileage Bank program. Award pricing in the Mileage Bank program continues to be competitive, especially for those looking to book a luxurious experience on Emirates.
Japan Airlines uses a distance-based award chart so we recommend that you calculate your distance first, and then use the mileage calculated to see how many miles you’ll need to use in the Japan Airlines Oneworld and Partner airline award charts.
| Cabin Class | Japan Airlines Cost | Taxes & Fees | |
| American | Economy | 60,000 | $60+ |
| Business | 110,000 | $60+ | |
| Emirates | Economy | 47,000 | $408 |
| Business | 85,000 | $1,142 | |
| First (available until September 1, 2021) | 135,000 | $1,142 |
Hot Tip: Great Circle Mapper is the site we use and recommend if you need to calculate the distance of your flight.
For those looking to use Japan Airlines miles for flights to Athens (ATH), American Airlines and Emirates will be your 2 best options. Here are a couple of routes to show you what’s possible to book:
When the time comes to book your flight, we recommend using the steps below as you go through the process:
Japan Airlines only has a partnership with Marriott Bonvoy, so earning Japan Airlines miles isn’t easy. On top of that, Japan Airlines doesn’t offer a co-branded credit card to the U.S. market that has a sizeable welcome offer.
For those of you who have Marriott Bonvoy points and are looking to transfer them to Japan Airlines, the transfer time takes 2 days at a 3:1 ratio. It’s also important to remember that for every 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points that you transfer, you’ll receive a 5,000-mile transfer bonus.
Bottom Line: Japan Airlines requires the least number of miles to fly Emirates to Athens. You can use Alaska Airlines miles, however, the number of Alaska Airlines miles that you’ll need to book an Emirates flight is significantly more.
The lone SkyTeam partner making our list is the Korean Air SKYPASS program. The award costs are competitive, however, fuel surcharges and the difficulty in earning SKYPASS miles lowers the overall value.
Korean Air uses a zone-based award chart meaning it’ll cost the same number of miles no matter what route you fly from the U.S. to Greece. For example, you’ll need the same number of SKYPASS miles to fly from New York (JFK) nonstop to Athens (ATH) as you will to fly from Detroit (DTW) through Amsterdam (AMS) to Athens (ATH).
| Cabin Class | Korean Air Cost | Taxes & Fees |
| Economy | 50,000 | $232+ |
| Business | 80,000 | $232+ |
Hot Tip: The SKYPASS search engine is challenging to use so we recommend using Air France, Delta, and KLM to search for SkyTeam award flights.
When you have the required number of SKYPASS miles for a flight to Athens (ATH), here are a couple of SkyTeam partner airline flights that you can book:
The booking process is straightforward with Korean Air by using these steps:
With only 1 transferable point program partner in Marriott Bonvoy, it’s not easy to earn Korean Air SKYPASS miles. If you have enough Marriott Bonvoy points for this redemption, keep in mind that the transfer ratio is 3:1 and points take 7 days to transfer from Marriott Bonvoy to Korean Air.
Another way to earn Korean Air SKYPASS miles is to sign up for a Korean Air credit card. The welcome offers on these co-branded credit cards can be up to 45,000 Korean Air miles helping you to earn the miles that you need.
Bottom Line: The Korean Air SKYPASS lost a ton of value when its partnership with Chase Ultimate Rewards ended. Outside of flying Korean Air or SkyTeam partner airline flights, the main way to earn Korean Air miles is through Marriott Bonvoy.
United’s MileagePlus program doesn’t feature a fixed award chart. Instead, it prices its flights according to the cash cost of your ticket, though its Saver level awards are semi-fixed.
| Cabin Class | United Mileage Cost | Taxes & Fees |
| Economy | ~60,000 | $118+ |
| Business | ~120,000 | $118+ |
Hot Tip: It’s important to note that you can book both Star Alliance and United flights for ~60,000 miles. If you’re looking to fly business class, you’ll need ~120,000 miles to fly United and ~140,000 miles to fly a Star Alliance airline partner.
The Star Alliance has a number of European-based airline partners, so here’s a couple of routes to Athens (ATH) that you should consider:
When you have enough United Airlines miles in your account, the booking process you’ll want to follow is:
United Airlines is both a Chase transfer partner and a Marriott Bonvoy partner, so you’ll have no problem earning United Airlines miles. Each partner has a number of personal and business credit cards; the points that you earn in each program can then be transferred directly to United.
If you’re transferring points from Chase, the points transfer instantly at a 1:1 ratio. If you’re transferring points from Marriott Bonvoy, the point transfers take 2 days at a 3:1.1 ratio. Marriott Bonvoy point transfers have a 10% added bonus in addition to the 5,000-mile bonus you’ll receive when transferring 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points.
Another way to earn United miles is by applying for its co-branded credit cards from Chase. When you put your spend on these credit cards, you will earn United Airlines miles.
With priority boarding privileges, no foreign transaction fees and more, MileagePlus members will definitely enjoy their partnered card.
You travel United all the time, but you have heard that there could be ways to make your travel experiences even better, including priority boarding, free bags, and more miles.
You should consider the United℠ Explorer Card, because this card does all that and more!
Perfect for frequent United flyers who want premium perks like United Club access and free baggage benefits.
The United Club℠ Infinite Card is a premium card designed for the most dedicated of United frequent flyers who are looking for a card that provides the opportunity to earn extra United MileagePlus miles and receive lounge access via a yearly United Club membership.
United frequent flyers will find that the United Club Infinite card provides an enhanced experience on their United flights thanks to the money saved on each flight and the conveniences it provides.
The United Quest card is a fantastic option for United flyers looking to earn more miles and enhance their flights.
The newest addition to United’s lineup of cards is the United Quest℠ Card. With it, you can bolster your United MileagePlus miles, thanks to the bonus categories, while enjoying the card’s many perks designed to help save you money on each United flight.
With an annual fee that falls between the United℠ Explorer Card and United Club℠ Infinite Card, the United Quest card makes for a fantastic card option for United frequent flyers.
The United Gateway card is a great option for those looking to earn more United miles without paying an annual fee.
The United Gateway℠ Card is a great option for those looking to earn more United miles without wanting to pay a credit card annual fee. Plus, the card offers other solid benefits like a 25% back on United inflight purchases, purchase protection, and rental car insurance.
The United Club Business card is a great option for frequent United flyers looking for United Club access.
The United Club℠ Business Card is a premium card option for dedicated United loyalists seeking a card that offers complimentary United Club access, helps them earn and retain status, and doesn’t skip on the benefits.
From free checked bags to upgrades on award tickets and the ability to earn Premier qualifying points, there is plenty to the United Club Business card that United flyers are sure to love.
Greece is a popular destination with a rich history and so much to offer. Its location also makes it a great place to jumpstart a trip to Northern Africa, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and West Asia.
We recommend earning transferable points when planning your next trip to Greece. That way you have the most flexibility when the time comes to book your flight.
The information regarding the Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
The information regarding the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
The information regarding the United Club℠ Business Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
For rates and fees of the Marriott Bonvoy Bevy™ American Express® Card, click here.
For rates and fees of the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® card, click here.
For rates and fees of The Platinum Card® from American Express, click here.
For rates and fees of the American Express® Gold Card, click here.
Iberia requires the least number of miles book an economy flight.
Iberia and Japan Airlines require the least number of miles to book a business class flight.
Singapore Airlines requires the least number of miles to book an economy flight.
Asiana Airlines requires the least number of miles to book a business class flight.
Korean Air requires the least number of miles book an economy and business class flight.
We recommend checking both Air France, Delta, and KLM to see how many miles each of these programs will require.
Etihad requires the least number of miles book an economy and business class flight.
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Born and raised in Mobile, Alabama, Michael took his first international trip in 2013 with friends to the Bahamas. Although he didn’t travel much in his younger years, on that trip, he caught the travel bug and has been hooked ever since.
Michael first caught wind of the points and miles game in 2014 while at a bar in Washington, DC where the conversation amongst friends was quickly derailed because of an alert on a friend’s phone about a mistake fare. That’s where the love affair with points and miles began.
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Disclaimer: Any comments listed below are not from the bank advertiser, nor have they been reviewed or approved by them. No responsibility will be taken by the bank advertiser for these comments.
2 comments
Dean
January 31, 2023
I’m seeing ath-phl in august for 113k miles plus almost $900!!! Why is it so high? Doesnt match what it says here.
Jarrod West
February 01, 2023
Hi Dean,
What award program are you searching through?
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