The Best Ways to Fly to the Seychelles With Points and Miles

BY 

Michael McHugh

- UPDATED: May 8, 2021

1. Travel

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The Seychelles is an African destination that ranks high on the exotic beach scale. Similar to Bora Bora and the Maldives, the Seychelles is a remote place offering incredible beach views.

Located in the Indian Ocean off the coast of East Africa, the Seychelles is known for its beaches, reefs, and rainforests. Its main airport is located in Mahé, where we will show you how best to use your points and miles to fly to from the U.S.

Best Programs to Use to Book Flights

The Seychelles requires at least 2 long-haul flights to get to from the U.S., one of the main reasons why American travelers may look elsewhere for their beach fix.

As is the case when booking most long-haul flights, it’s best to search for award availability far in advance to increase your chances of booking the flights that you want.

What you may have not realized is that the Seychelles is serviced by all of the major airline alliances in Oneworld, Star Alliance, and SkyTeam, as well as non-alliance airline partners like Emirates.

As we dive into the article, keep in mind that all award pricing shown is round-trip.

Air Canada Aeroplan

The Air Canada Aeroplan program is best known for the ability to maximize open-jaws and stopovers and should be on the radar for those looking to fly Star Alliance partner airline flights.

If you’re ready to book a flight, below are a couple of example flights that can be booked with Aeroplan points:

• Chicago (ORD) – Addis (ADD) – Seychelles (SEZ) for 110,000 Aeroplan points round-trip in Ethiopian Airlines economy class
• Houston (IAH) – Istanbul (IST) – Addis (ADD) – Seychelles (SEZ) for 170,000 Aeroplan points round-trip in Turkish Airlines business class

It’s important to note that Turkish Airlines flies between the U.S. and the Seychelles, and South African Airways has a partnership with Air Seychelles that allows you to fly from the U.S. through Johannesburg to the Seychelles.

However, in practice, these flights are challenging to book so you’ll want to focus your efforts on booking Ethiopian through Addis Ababa (ADD).

When you have enough Aeroplan points in your account, the steps below will help you to book your next award flight:

1. Go to the Aeroplan homepage.
2. Enter your travel dates, origin and destination airports, number of travelers, and desired class of booking.
3. Book the flight on the website and pay the taxes and fees with a credit card.

Earning Aeroplan Points

It’s easy to earn Aeroplan points because the airline partners with American Express, Capital One, and Marriott Bonvoy.

Aeroplan also has a co-branded credit card, however, the welcome offer and the earning structure aren’t great so we recommend that you focus on earning transferable points instead.

For those of you looking to transfer points from Amex, Capital One, and/or Marriott to Aeroplan, keep these transfer ratios and transfer times in mind: Amex points transfer instantly at a 1:1 ratio, Capital One points transfer instantly at a 2:1.5 ratio, and Marriott point transfers take 5 days at a 3:1 ratio.

To earn more Capital One miles, here are some of the personal cards that we recommend:

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan

Non-alliance airline Alaska Airlines has partnerships with individual airlines, and sometimes this can open up interesting opportunities.

In the case of partner flights to the Seychelles, Emirates is the partner we recommend. Although British Airways and Condor fly to the Seychelles, the surcharges on British Airways are steep, and the routing required to fly Condor is not ideal.

Hot Tip: Alaska Airlines is best known for the ability to book a stopover on one-way flights and its competitive pricing when booking partner award flights. 

The number of miles required to fly Emirates to the Seychelles is high, however, if you have Alaska and/or Emirates miles and want to fly in style to the Seychelles, below are a couple of examples of round-trip flights that you can book with a stopover in Dubai (DXB):

• Newark (EWR) –  Seychelles (SEZ) for 95,000 Alaska miles in Emirates economy class
• New York (JFK) – Seychelles (SEZ) for 240,000 Alaska miles in Emirates business class

Once the Alaska Airlines miles are in your account, follow these steps to book your award flight:

1. Go to the Alaska Airlines website.
2. Search for your routing, dates of travel, cabin class, and the number of passengers.
3. Click the flight that you want, click Add To Cart, and then click Next.
4. Book the award ticket and pay the taxes and fees with a credit card.

Earning Alaska Mileage Plan Miles

Alaska Airlines miles are tough to earn due to the fact that Alaska Airlines only partners with 1 transferable point program in Marriott Bonvoy. With that said, Alaska miles are extremely valuable because Alaska Airlines has favorable award rules and competitive award charts.

Alaska Airlines also offers co-branded Bank of America credit cards that earn miles directly with your credit card spending. By pairing these credit cards with ones that earn Marriott points, you will be on your way to booking your next award flight with Alaska Airlines.

If it makes sense for you to transfer Marriott points to Alaska Airlines, the point transfers take 2 days at a 3:1 ratio.

For those looking to earn Marriott points, here are the Marriott credit cards that we recommend checking out:

American Airlines AAdvantage

The first Oneworld member on our list is American Airlines. The AAdvantage program has been gutted over the years of many of its sweet spots, however, you may be able to find value when booking its partner airline flights (such as Etihad and Qatar Airways) to the Middle East. We don’t recommend Oneworld airline partner British Airways due to the brutal fuel surcharges.

For flights to the Seychelles, American Airlines considers Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Morocco, Seychelles, South Africa, and Tanzania among those in its Africa region.

Here are a couple of flight options to consider if you have the necessary American Airlines miles to book a flight:

• Chicago (ORD) – Abu Dhabi (AUH) – Seychelles (SEZ) for 80,000 American miles in Etihad economy class
• Atlanta (ATL) – Doha (DOH) – Seychelles (SEZ) for 150,000 American miles in Qatar business class

You’ll want to follow the steps below to a flight with American miles:

1. Head to the American Airlines website.
2. Search for your routing, dates of travel, cabin class, and the number of passengers.
3. Book the flight and pay the taxes and fees with a credit card.

Earning American Airlines AAdvantage Miles

It’s easy to earn American Airlines miles due to the number of co-branded American Airlines credit cards that are available and its partnership with Marriott Bonvoy.

The easiest way to earn miles is by putting your spending on an American Airlines credit card. A second way to earn American miles is to earn Marriott points, and then transfer those points to American Airlines.

For those looking to transfer Marriott points to American Airlines, the point transfer takes 2 days at a 3:1 ratio.

Bottom Line: Delta and United have now moved their award programs to dynamic award pricing. Both American Airlines and Alaska Airlines have kept award charts, however, based on some award pricing we’re seeing on the American Airlines website, dynamic award pricing seems eminent.

ANA

A second Star Alliance airline program to keep your eye on is the ANA Mileage Club program. This program is known for having a competitive award chart when booking its own and partner airline flights.

The main drawbacks with ANA are that partner award flights must be booked round-trip and its search engine isn’t the easiest to navigate.

ANA considers the Seychelles part of its Africa and the Middle East region, joining the likes of South Africa, Mauritius, Jordan, and Lebanon, among others.

When you’ve built up enough points and miles to book a flight, here are a couple of options to consider:

• Washington, D.C. (IAD) – Addis (ADD) – Seychelles (SEZ) for 80,000 ANA miles in Ethiopian economy class
• Miami (MIA) – Istanbul (IST) – Addis (ADD) – Seychelles (SEZ) for 150,000 ANA miles in Turkish business class

With the ANA miles in your account, it’s helpful to follow these steps when you going through the booking process:

1. Go to the Aeroplan and United websites.
2. Search for your routing, dates of travel, cabin class, and the number of passengers.
3. Confirm the same availability on the ANA website.
4. Book the flight, and pay the taxes and fees with a credit card.

Earning ANA Miles

ANA doesn’t offer a co-branded credit card so the easiest way to earn ANA miles is to put your spend on cards that earn American Express and Marriott Bonvoy points.

When you have enough points to book one of these award flights, transferring from Amex to ANA takes 2-3 days at a 1:1 ratio and the Marriott to ANA point transfer takes 7 days at a 3:1 ratio.

If you’re looking for recommendations on American Express credit cards, here are the ones we recommend:

Recommended Amex Cards (Personal)

Recommended Amex Cards (Business)

Bottom Line: ANA has competitive award pricing, however, Aeroplan and United are more flexible by allowing you to book one-way Star Alliance award flights. 

Asiana Airlines Asiana Club

Another Star Alliance program to consider is Asiana Airlines Asiana Club. It’s a program that’s not well known but can provide competitive pricing when booking partner airline flights.

The Seychelles is part of Asiana’s Africa award region, joining countries like Ethiopia, Kenya, and Tanzania to name a few.

As with Aeroplan and ANA, you can fly a Star Alliance airline partner with your Asiana miles. The 2 Star Alliance partners that fly between the Seychelles and the U.S. are Ethiopian and Turkish Airlines.

With the Asiana miles in your account, here are a couple of flights that you can book:

• Houston (IAH) – Addis (ADD) – Seychelles (SEZ) for 80,000 Asiana miles in Ethiopian economy class
• Atlanta (MIA) – Istanbul (IST) – Addis (ADD) – Seychelles (SEZ) for 120,000 Asiana miles in Turkish Airlines business class

Asiana Airlines doesn’t allow you to book Star Alliance partner awards online so you’ll need to call Asiana to book a flight. To make the process easier, you’ll want to follow these steps:

1. Use Aeroplan and/or United to search for award availability.
2. Enter your route, travel dates, number of passengers, and cabin class.
3. Write down all the flight information, including flight numbers, dates, and times.
4. Call Asiana Airlines at 800-227-4262 between 8:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. PST Monday-Friday.
5. Tell the representative that you want to book an Ethiopian or Turkish Airlines award flight.
6. Provide the flight numbers, travel dates, and any other flight information.
7. Once they’ve confirmed the award space, provide them with your credit card to pay for taxes and fees.

Earning Asiana Miles

For those looking to earn Asiana miles, the Marriott Bonvoy program will be your best bet because Marriott points transfer directly to Asiana Airlines. The transfer ratio is 3:1, takes 10 days, and you’ll receive a 5,000-mile bonus when transferring 60,000 Marriott points.

In addition to its Marriott partnership, Asiana also offers co-branded Bank of America credit cards that earn miles directly with your spending. Check out our guide on the best ways to earn lots of Asiana miles that will help you to earn the miles that you need.

Avianca LifeMiles

One of the best known sweet spots with the Avianca LifeMiles program is booking Lufthansa first or business class award flights without paying fuel surcharges. It’s not the lowest number of miles needed to fly transatlantic, but it can be argued that it’s the most luxurious.

Two more things to note about Avianca are that it charges a $25 award booking fee for one-way award flights and open-jaws and stopovers are not allowed.

If you’re wanting to use your Avianca Lifemiles, below are a couple of example flights that you can book:

• New York (JFK) – Addis (ADD) – Seychelles (SEZ) for 80,000 Avianca miles in Ethiopian economy class
• Los Angeles (LAX) – Istanbul (IST) – Addis (ADD) – Seychelles (SEZ) for 156,000 Avianca miles in Turkish business class

When the time comes to book your next flight with Avianca, use the steps below:

1. Go to Avianca LifeMiles. Change the language as necessary by clicking on the flag icon in the top right corner and choosing English.
2. Click Log in on the top right corner using your LifeMiles number and password.
3. Click Fly at the top banner. Type in your origin and destination airports, number of passengers, and cabin class. Click Find Flights.
4. Click and select your flights and reserve them by paying with LifeMiles and any taxes with your credit card.

Hot Tip: If you’re wanting to reduce your taxes and fees on a Star Alliance partner flight, consider using the Avianca Lifemiles program. 

Earning Avianca LifeMiles

Avianca has partnerships with American Express Membership Rewards, Capital One Miles, Citi ThankYou Rewards, and Marriott Bonvoy. The points that you earn in each of these programs can be transferred directly to Avianca to book an award flight.

Points transfer instantly at a 1:1 ratio for both American Express and Citi. It’ll take less than 24 hours for your Marriott points to transfer at a 3:1 ratio and if you transfer 60,000 Marriott points, you’ll receive a 5,000-mile bonus. Capital One Miles transfer instantly at a 2:1.5 ratio.

You’ll want to consider the Citi ThankYou cards below if you’re looking to transfer Citi ThankYou Points to Avianca:

Best Citi Credit Card for Travel	Benefits	Drawbacks
Citi Premier℠ Card Learn More (at our partner's secure site)	Earn 3x at restaurants, supermarkets, gas stations, air travel, and hotels; plus, 1x on all other purchases.	$95 annual fee
Citi Prestige® Card Learn More (at Citi's secure site)	Earn 5x spent on airlines and dining, 3 points/dollars on hotel and cruise lines, 1 point/dollar on all other purchases, transfer points to airline partners, 4th hotel night free (limited to 2 uses per calendar year), $250 airline credit, Priority Pass Lounge access + 2 guests, and Global Entry or TSA PreCheck credit	$495 Annual Fee, must be a frequent traveler to maximize the benefits of the card.

Additional ways to earn more LifeMiles are to apply for Avianca’s co-branded credit cards or you can buy LifeMiles when a discount is offered.

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles

Our second Oneworld program to use to book flights to the Seychelles is Cathay Pacific, known for its ability to book British Airways flights with reduced fuel surcharges.

Unfortunately for this redemption, you’ll need to call Cathay Pacific to book the flight as you cannot book all of its partner airline flights online.

The Cathay Pacific Asia Miles program doesn’t have an award chart when you’re flying 1 Oneworld airline partner. To figure out the number of miles needed for award flights to the Seychelles, 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.

British Airways has long layovers and more than 2 stopovers, so consider booking flights to the Seychelles on Qatar:

• New York (JFK) – Doha (DOH) – Seychelles (SEZ) for 94,000 Cathay Pacific miles in Qatar economy class
• Chicago (ORD) – Doha (DOH) – Seychelles (SEZ) for 170,000 Cathay Pacific miles in Qatar business class

For those who want to book a flight with Cathay Pacific Asia Miles, use the steps below to your next award flight:

1. Head to the British Airways website.
2. Search for your routing, dates of travel, cabin class, and the number of passengers.
3. Select the flight that you want.
4. Call Cathay Pacific at 866-892 2598 to confirm award availability.
5. Book the flight and pay the taxes and fees with your credit card.

Earning Cathay Pacific Asia Miles

Cathay Pacific partners with American Express, Capital One, Citi ThankYou Rewards, and Marriott Bonvoy, making it easy to earn Cathay Pacific miles.

For each of these programs, keep the transfer ratios and transfer times in mind: American Express point transfers take 1-4 days at a 1:1 ratio, Capital One point transfers take 36 hours at 2:1.5 ratio, Citi point transfers take 24 hours at a 1:1 ratio, and Marriott point transfers take 5 days at a 3:1 ratio.

Cathay Pacific also offers a co-branded credit card from Synchrony Bank for another way to earn Cathay Pacific miles. When you spend money on this credit card, you will earn miles directly with your spending.

Hot Tip: If you need to fly British Airways transatlantic, consider using Cathay Pacific miles to book your next award flight. 

Iberia Avios

Iberia is a program that may be familiar to U.S. travelers due to the ability to sometimes book American Airlines flights cheaper than what both American Airlines and British Airways charge for the same flights.

One big difference between booking American Airlines flights with British Airways versus Iberia is that Iberia requires you to book round-trip flights. With British Airways, you can book a one-way partner airline flight.

For Oneworld flights to the Seychelles, Qatar is the airline partner to fly.  Here are a couple of routes to consider:

• Philadelphia (PHL) – Doha (DOH) – Seychelles (SEZ) for 65,000 Iberia Avios in Qatar economy class
• Dallas (DFW) – Doha (DOH) – Seychelles (SEZ) for 150,000 Iberia Avios in Qatar business class

You’ll want to follow these steps when you’re ready to book a Qatar flight to the Seychelles:

1. Go to the British Airways website.
2. Search for your routing, dates of travel, cabin class, and the number of passengers.
3. Write down the flight information.
4. Call Iberia at 800-772-4642 to confirm the availability.
5. Book the award flight over the phone. and pay the taxes and fees with your credit card.

Earning Iberia Avios (Miles)

Iberia has partnerships with American Express, Chase, and Marriott Bonvoy, so it’s easy to earn Avios to book an award flight.

The transfer times and ratios across the programs are different so keep these guidelines in mind before making any transfers: American Express point transfers take 2 days at a 1:1 ratio, Chase points transfer instantly at a 1:1 ratio, and Marriott point transfers take 24-36 hours at a 3:1 ratio. Marriott point transfers come with a 5,000-mile bonus when transferring 60,000 points, so keep this in mind before you transfer your Marriott points.

Another way to earn Iberia Avios is by signing up for the Chase Iberia credit card. The money that you spend on this card will directly earn Iberia Avios. For non-Iberia Chase credit cards, these are the ones that we recommend:

Recommended Chase Cards (Personal)

Recommended Chase Cards (Business)

Bottom Line: For U.S. travelers, Iberia should be one of the first award programs you consider if you’re looking to fly an American Airlines award flight. 

Japan Airlines Mileage Bank

The Japan Airlines Mileage Bank program has started to rise on our Oneworld partner award rankings. Japan Airlines’ award pricing has always been competitive, but now the website has improved, making it easier to booking partner award flights.

You’ll be using a distance-based award chart when flying Oneworld airline partners to the Seychelles. It’s best to calculate your distance using a website like Great Circle Mapper to provide you with an estimate of the award chart mileage zone you will be within.

For Oneworld flights to the Seychelles, Qatar is going to be your best bet for reasons that we already covered. Consider these flights options for your trip to the Seychelles:

• Boston (BOS) – Doha (DOH) – Seychelles (SEZ) for 90,000 Qatar miles in Qatar economy class
• Houston (IAH) – Doha (DOH) – Seychelles (SEZ) for 120,000 Qatar miles in Qatar business class

When you’ve got the Japan Airlines miles in your account, use the steps below to help you book your flight:

1. Head to the British Airways homepage.
2. Enter your travel dates, origin and destination airports, number of travelers, and desired class of booking.
3. Confirm the same award availability on the Japan Airlines website.
4. Book the award flight and pay the taxes and fees.

Earning Japan Airlines Miles

It’s challenging to earn Japan Airlines miles because the airline only partners with Marriott Bonvoy. In addition, the Japan Airlines co-branded credit card doesn’t offer a sizable welcome offer.

If you find yourself with enough Marriott points to book a flight through Japan Airlines, the transfer time takes 2 days at a 3:1 ratio. For those with at least 60,000 Marriott points, remember that you’ll receive a 5,000-mile transfer bonus for every 60,000 points that you transfer.

United Airlines MileagePlus

United Airlines and its Mileage Plan program use dynamic pricing for its own flights. This means that there is no award chart and the mileage cost of the flight is tied to the cash cost of the flight. For partner airline flights, United Airlines still uses an award chart.

United may have higher Star Alliance award chart pricing, but the airline makes the booking process easy compared to a program like Asiana Airlines that requires a phone call.

United considers countries like Ethiopia, Ghana, Reunion Island, and Seychelles in its Central and Southern Africa region.

If you’re ready to book a flight, consider these Star Alliance route options:

• Newark (EWR) – Addis (ADD) – Seychelles (SEZ) for 80,000 United miles in Ethiopian Airlines economy class
• Chicago (ORD) – Istanbul (IST) – Addis (ADD) – Seychelles (SEZ) for 160,000 United miles in Turkish Airlines business class

You’ll want to follow the steps below when the United miles are shown in your account:

1. Go to the United website.
2. Enter your travel dates, origin and destination airports, number of travelers, and desired class of booking.
3. Select the flight that you want.
4. Pay the taxes and fees with a credit card to book your flight.

Earning United Airlines MileagePlus Miles

United Airlines partners with Chase and Marriott Bonvoy, making it easy to earn United Airline miles. Chase and Marriott offer a variety of personal and business credit cards that allow you to earn points that can be transferred directly to United. Both of these transferable point programs offer a number of credit cards that allow you to earn miles in a hurry.

For Chase point transfers, the points transfer instantly at a 1:1 ratio. With respect to Marriott point transfers, the point transfers take 2 days at a 3:1.1 ratio. Marriott point transfers have a 10% added bonus that pairs nicely with the 5,000-mile bonus when transferring 60,000 Marriott points.

Lastly, United offers co-branded credit cards from Chase. The money that you spend on Chase United Airlines cards will earn United miles directly with your spend.

Final Thoughts

The Seychelles is an exotic place that you’ll hear and see on many travelers’ lists. It’s not the easiest to get to from the U.S., but once you’re there, you’ll experience some of the best beaches on the planet.

What’s important to know is how best to get there. With this article, you have all of the award programs at your fingertips and an outline of how to earn points and miles to get you to the Seychelles.

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