Stephen is an established voice in the credit card space, with over 70 to his name. His work has been in publications like The Washington Post, and his Au Points and Awards Consulting Services is used...
Edited by: Keri Stooksbury
With years of experience in corporate marketing and as the Executive Director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Qatar, Keri is now Editor-in-Chief at UP, overseeing daily content operations and r...
& Kellie Jez
Kellie’s professional experience has led her to a deep passion for compliance, data reporting, and process improvement. Kellie’s learned the ins and outs of the points and miles world and leads UP’s c...
39 comments
Marie
February 04, 2019
Hi, thank you for all that. i am feeling quite lost after reading all this information. i am new to mileage traveling. I want to fly out of Florida going to India stopping in Europe on my way there or back. What would you suggest?
Stephen Au
February 05, 2019
Hey Marie,
There are too many options based on the information you provided. We need more information such as what miles and points you have, what airports you want to fly out of, which city you want to stop at in Europe, etc.
Thanks!
Gary Sandhu
April 02, 2019
A friend and I want to fly to Delhi from Los Angeles in the first week in Nov using American Express points and Chase Ultimate Rewards for Business Class. What is the best option for us?
I have never used points and don’t know anything about the redemption of points.
Stephen Au
April 02, 2019
Hey Gary,
It is probably best to figure out what airlines you want to fly first. This guide goes in-depth on which points to use to fly to India. Try reading through this guide and figuring out as much as you can by reading this guide.
B. Lee
April 10, 2019
I have 98,000 Singapore Airlines (Krisflyer) miles that will expire in a few months. Can I use them to fly from SFO (or SEA) to fly to India (DEL) business class? If not, what great deals/options to use them—I’m also interested in South America (Bolivia) or Turkey (Istanbul). Thanks for your help!
Stephen Au
April 17, 2019
Hey Lee,
Unfortunately, you don’t have enough miles to get to India from SFO in Singapore Airlines Business Class. You’ll need 109,000 for a Saver award. You should consider a flight from SFO to Singapore in Business, which will cost 95,000 miles one-way!
Thanks for reading.
narkmrsou
April 13, 2019
Hey Stephen,
Thank you for great article. I have TYP from citi and would like to utilize for a trip to South India. am based of NY/NJ area and would prefer to fly from EWR or JFK. what is the cheapest option in miles including surcharge/taxes to travel MAA (India) for example. Based on your article, seems Alaska miles for Emirates or United seems better. Do you recommend anything as best for the cheapest miles ? Am not considering business/first class at this moment.
Stephen Au
April 17, 2019
Hey, there’s too little information provided here. For example, do you want nonstop flights to India versus connecting flights?
What miles do you have? One of the best options is using ANA miles. Another option is AA miles too.
Sam
April 28, 2019
Steve, I want to close my wife and my amex cards to avoid the $1,100 (combined) annual fees by May 7th. We have a combined ~270,000 amex points to transfer. In our chase ultimate rewards we have combined ~700,000 account. Sometime this year a trip to Delhi/Mumbai is in the cards from Houston. Two questions; 1. Which program should I transfer my amex points to get best value on business/first class to India. 2. If we weren’t to travel to India, which transfer would yield the best value on domestic US travel. Thanks!
Stephen Au
April 28, 2019
Hey Sam,
1. You can consider transferring to ANA with AmEx points. The best ways are listed in the above article.
2. Best value domestic U.S. travel is generally with British Airways Avios or Southwest miles.
AJ
June 17, 2019
Hi Stephen, That is great analysis. However I did not get why you mentioned answer 55k for the question What is the fewest number of miles you can use to book an economy class award flight to India?
When there are United economy 42500k onw way. Delta 40k one way. Is 55k miles for round trip on ANA?
Stephen Au
June 17, 2019
Hey AJ,
This is a round-trip cost. Thanks for reading.
JD
June 29, 2019
Hi Stephen ,
Thank you for this wonderful article, I have 180k Chase ultimate rewards points, and I want to travel business class to india(Delhi) from LAX. What would be my best travel option with transfer of points. I think I can transfer the points to United mileage plus and travel on United airlines for 180k +Tax. But not sure if 180k is for round trip or one way?
Thanks
Stephen Au
June 30, 2019
Hey JD,
If you’ve got 180,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points, the best bet is to transfer to United MileagePlus. Currently, it costs 85,000 miles one-way if you can locate saver award availability. If it says anything more, it’s not the cheapest cost. Thanks for reading.
Jd
July 01, 2019
Hi Stephen,
Thanks for replying. How do I find out if there is a availability of the saver award? I only see everyday award when I look for the tickets on United.
Stephen Au
July 02, 2019
Hi JD,
There’s no “simple” way to find availability on the saver level. You have to sift through the different dates and see what the airlines release.
john
August 01, 2019
Hi Stephen,
I really enjoy reading your articles.
I’d like to fly business class on Emirates from SFO to Chennai, India in late October, or Jan 2020. I have 125K miles on United which I don’t think can used for travel upgrades with Emirates. I’m looking at signing up with a credit card to jump start miles which can be used on Emirates. I bill about 2k/month on Credit Card with FedEx, so that’s helpful for sure.
Any suggestions on which credit card to consider? Capital One has 2:1 point for miles on Emirates, and I’m not sure about point:miles with Bank Of America /Alaska Airlines card.
John
Stephen Au
August 06, 2019
John,
If you want to fly Emirates business class, you’ll want to earn either Amex points or Marriott points. In your timeframe, it may not be practical to book Emirates business class, as you’ll need time to accrue points and search for award availability.
JJoseph
August 08, 2019
Hi Stephen,
Great article with lots of information. I really enjoyed reading it.
Question: I have about 250,000 miles with Star Alliance split been United and Avianca. About 150,000 of that is with United. My wife and I are planning to visit India and we would like to fly in Business class. The plan is to fly from Houston to New Delhi/Mumbai. But since my points are split between two airlines, can I use my United MileagePlus miles to book a ticket on the Avianca website as they’re partners?
Thanks,
JJ
Andrew Kunesh
August 08, 2019
Hey JJ, thanks for reaching out.
Avianca and United are both Star Alliance partners and can largely book the same award tickets. So while you can’t use United MileagePlus miles to book a ticket on Avianca’s website, you can book your wife’s ticket with Avianca LifeMiles and your ticket with United MileagePlus miles (or vice-versa). Just make sure that the flight has two award seats available by searching for two tickets.
Jito
August 18, 2019
Hello,
I have some Amex points, can you tell me which airlines are the best option to travel from Wichita,KS to BOM in first class?
Jarrod West
August 19, 2019
Hi Jito,
Using Amex Membership Rewards your best options would likely be Aeroplan, Avianca, or ANA. This can vary based on availability and if Amex is running any sort of transfer bonuses.
All three of those programs fall within Star Alliance, so search for availability on United, Air Canada, and ANA’s site, and pay close attention to the operating airline during your search.
Thanks for reading!
kesavan
October 16, 2019
I am interested in using my delta miles to fly to Chennai – MAA from IAD. Prefer business class. Not sure of the best way/airlines for this award? Please help
Stephen Au
October 16, 2019
Hi kesavan
Flying business class to India is definitely a great goal to have. If you’ve read through our guide and still need help, you can consider using my consulting services. Please feel free to reach out to me at stephen@upgradedpoints.com.
Rakesh B Patel
January 04, 2020
FYI – Alaska Mileage Plan allows for JAL JFK -> NRT -> DEL for 60k miles one-way for Business and 70k miles for First class to NRT and Business to DEL. Layover is long at NRT though going – had not checked return layover time. Have to call in for Cathay Pacific at 62.5k for business and 70k for first to HKG and business to DEL, but availability searching requires a bit of work.
Stephen Au
January 04, 2020
Hi Rakesh,
Thanks for your feedback. I just checked with Alaska Airlines, and the price for JFK – NRT – DEL is 62,500 Alaska miles in business and 70,000 miles in first. Cathay Pacific is the same.
Rakesh B Patel
April 21, 2020
FYI – JAL is still 60k/70k for JFK to DEL – flights go via HND instead now. Bookable online, unlike the work required to search for flights on BA and call in to Alaska to book Cathay. Would be nice if Cathay was online as well. I’m sure the award rates will change at some point though with Alaska joining Oneworld. The JAL first class is usually limited to 2 seats and shows up close (within 2 months of flights) for Jan time frame. Checking for Cathay via BA did not show much availability unfortunately at the time I checked and BA likes to stick to showing their flights over partners.
Stephen Au
April 22, 2020
Hey Rakesh,
Thanks for catching that. I updated the guide accordingly to reflect this.
Tabitha
April 10, 2020
How did you land this itinerary? ” San Francisco (SFO) – Hong Kong (HKG) – Chennai/Mumbai (MAA/BOM) round-trip for 140,000 AA miles + ~$160 in taxes & fees in Cathay Pacific first class”
I’m currently looking for PHL-DEL MAA-PHL and premium economy on AA shows up a 125k miles. Wondering what I’m missing!
Stephen Au
April 14, 2020
Tabitha,
You have to find availability for that ticket. Also, that price is in Alaska Airlines miles, not AA miles. Those are totally different mileage systems.
Sameer
February 11, 2021
Hey Stephen, Can you suggest what airline partners are best for Qatar Airlines from JFK to India? I read that Qmiles are terrible for redemptions, so would my best bet would be through Oneworld? Any additional insight on that is appreciated.
Jarrod West
March 12, 2021
Hi Sameer,
Just to clarify, are you asking which miles you should redeem for a flight with Qatar Airways? Or are you asking where you should credit the miles you will earn from a Qatar Airways flight?
If it is a booking question then using AA miles is perhaps the best way to book Qatar flights. You can view our booking guide on it for more information.
If you’re wondering where you should credit the miles you earn from a Qatar Airways flight, that will largely depend on which loyalty programs on the most useful to you. I recommend you use a tool like wheretocredit.com to help determine this. Personally, I would credit to American Airlines, but your mileage may vary.
Thanks for reading!
Arun
March 19, 2021
Hey Stephen, I have around 90000 Amex Points (Gold Card). Could you please guide me or let me know if there is a way to book direct flights to Bangalore, IN from SFO, which is currently offered only by United and Air India (prefer United). I also have Chase points that are easily transferrable to United but for AMEX, one has to route through Star Alliance/Aeroplan/ANA etc. and the problem with that is, you cannot book the direct flights (layover in Canada or Japan depending on which route you choose). I am looking to combine my points.
Would really appreciate your suggestion/advice.
Thanks
AV
Jarrod West
April 06, 2021
Hi Arun,
You are correct that your only two direct flight options are via United or Air India. If you prefer to fly with United, then you’ll want to transfer your Amex Membership Rewards points to Air Canada Aeroplan (their Star Alliance partner) to book the ticket. You can search for award availability directly on the Aeroplan website, here is our guide on how to do just that.
The ticket should cost 60,000 points if you want to fly in economy and 85,000 points if you want to fly in business class.
Best of luck with your search and thanks for reading!
Sunny
November 06, 2022
One sweet spot I would add is Qatar Airways using AA miles. 70k points + ~$40 in taxes/fees in QSuites one way. More hoops to make the booking but lots of options from multiple cities in the US with the ability to connect to multiple cities in India
Sam
November 21, 2022
Sunny, could you share the process for Amex points to be transferred to AA and then book Qatar flight.
Anup
December 12, 2022
Sunny, I am curious about this also. I’ve been searching for redemption options on QR but I don’t believe the award space is shared with partners online. Can you share your findings?
Sunny
December 16, 2022
You can’t transfer Amex to AA. You can use Bilt though to transfer to AA. The other option is to transfer Amex to BA, which can also book Qatar if available, thought the price comes to 85k points + ~$100 in taxes. Lots of transfer bonuses to Avios come up for Amex and Chase through the year
Note that QR availability doesn’t show up on AA most times. You can check availability using BA and then call up American to book. Takes a lot of time and you need to specify which fights and dates you want. I was able to book QSuites from JFK-BLR this way.
Sunny
June 05, 2023
June 2023:
Looking at Economy Class for Alaska Airline out of IAH, and the only airline partners I get are Qatar and Singapore. Cathay and JAL not listed. Unfortunately, no ability to transfer from Cap 1 or Chase!
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