Like Pointhub, Milewise will search your potential options for redeeming miles or points on awards on several different airlines.
Milewise also has a really easy to use interface with a few extras, including a flexible date search.
Using the flexible dates option, there seem to be lots of opportunities for low-level award space in the front of the plane. And although only one rewards redemption is shown per date combination, clicking on your preferred dates will show you all of your choices.
Milewise also ranks your options, with a 100 signifying the best option.
Notice in this case, you have three options that all result in the exact same flights: either by transferring Chase Ultimate Rewards points, using United miles, or using Continental miles. Chase takes the lead in this scenario because the monetary value that Milewise assigned to Chase makes this option cost the equivalent of $685 (they consider United and Continental miles more valuable, thus more expensive options).
It’s also convenient how Milewise spells out the taxes & fees required on an award ticket. In this case, it’s minimal across all airlines. If you choose to pay cash instead of redeeming an award, you’ll also quickly see how many miles you’ll earn. Milewise will add in any elite bonuses you qualify for if you link your account numbers (similar to using Award Wallet)
Just like with Pointhub, not all airlines are covered right now. American Airlines has specifically excluded itself from the results (a shame!) and other airlines just haven’t been built into the system yet. No hotel searches are currently covered.
Overall, I think this is a great tool for domestic flights and a good starting point for international redemptions. It’s important to realize these may not be your only options, so if you don’t find the exact flights you want online, give the airline a call.
I hope that PointHub strengthens its searching power to include more airlines and hotels in the future because I think they have a great start.
Head to Curacao! It’s pretty well known that 25,000 miles will get you a round-trip economy-class ticket to the US-49 or Canada, but what you may not know is that AA offers reduced-mileage awards during off-peak travel seasons. You can use your 25,000 miles for a round-trip ticket to the Caribbean from September 7 – November 14. Although this is hurricane season for most of the Caribbean, Curacao’s far-southern location keeps it mostly immune from tropical storms, making this a fantastic destination year-round. You’ll get a taste of the Netherlands, snorkel in an incredible nationally protected marine park, and of course, enjoy beautiful beaches.
Book a short trip! United is one of the few airlines that requires fewer miles for shorter flights. Most redemptions to the US/Canada are 25,000 miles, but if your destination is no more than 700 miles away in distance, you can book that reward for only 20,000 miles. There are some great possibilities for decent value with this depending on your starting point. From where I am on the east coast, I can head to Montreal for 20,000 miles instead of paying $600-800 out of pocket. You can visit a first-class city on a flight that’s only 1-2 hours long, making it a perfect weekend getaway. Plus, you can save that remaining 5,000 miles towards your next trip!
Go north to Alaska! There’s a surprising amount of availability for awards to Alaska using Delta miles, and given the price to get to some smaller communities in the state, this can be an incredible value. Throw in the fact that you’re allowed a free stopover and you can save even more. For example, for a mere 25,000 miles you could fly to Anchorage to see the start of the Iditarod as your stopover, and then later continue to Nome to see the race finish before flying home directly from Nome. Even in economy, this is a ticket that could cost upwards of $1,000.
Take a transatlantic cruise! Each fall, cruiselines re-position ships from the Mediterranean to the United States. These sailings are often an incredible bargain: 14 days of food, entertainment, lodging, and a few ports of call for under $750 a person even including all of the unadvertised taxes, fees, and service charges. The catch? One-way airfare to Europe to board the cruise in the first place can often hold a huge pricetag. United allows you to book one-way awards at exactly half the cost of a round-trip ticket, making this a perfect solution. For 50,000 United miles, you can fly pampered in business class, a ticket that otherwise can easily cost $5,000+. Star Alliance has a comprehensive European route network, making it easy to get to just about any embarkation city.
Go island-hopping in Hawaii. A coach ticket to Hawaii starts at just 40,000 miles, and when you add in Delta’s options for a free stopover and open-jaw ticket, you could actually hit two islands for the price of one. Plus, you’d have 10,000 miles leftover, which is enough miles for a round-trip inter-island ticket booked on partner Hawaiian Airlines while you’re over there. Each island offers a little something different: surely the Na Pali coast in Kauai is worlds different from Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island or snorkeling in Molokini Crater off the coast of Maui. Why limit yourself to just one island when you could check out a few?
Finally take that trip to Patagonia! AA’s partner Lan Airlines is known for offering a great business class product – so great, in fact, that some people put it in the same ranks as other airlines first class. For only 100,000 miles you can get to anywhere in South America, but I think it would be hard to top traveling to the tip of the world in comfort. Starting in Ushuaia, you could tour the Tierra del Fuego before cruising around Cape Horn into Chile and then heading north to take in spectacular Torres del Paine National Park and trek on Perito Moreno Glacier.
Experience ancient history in Jordan. Believe it or not, there’s a ton of Star Alliance airlines that will fly you into Jordan, all of which offer compelling stopover options (along with traditional European hubs, you could try Istanbul with Turkish Airlines or Cairo with Egypt Air at no extra charge). The ancient city of Petra is obviously a huge draw for the country, but you can also float in the Dead Sea or spend the night in the middle of the desert at Wadi Rum. Yes, it’s 80,000 miles just for economy, but on a trip as exciting as this, will you care that you’re sitting in coach? You could always upgrade to business class for one direction of travel, bringing the mileage required up to 100,000.
SkyTeam offers some of the best routes into Africa, so 100,000 miles will get you an economy-ticket to the Serengeti. If you’re a hardy traveler who’s planning on staying in bush camps in the African savannah anyway, coach class probably won’t phase you – especially once you factor in a European stopover to stretch your legs and break up the journey by a few days. Budget travel isn’t for everyone, but if it means you can finally take that trip of a lifetime, this is one way to get there.
Here’s your chance to head to Indonesia. Partner Cathay Pacific has long been considered a comfortable way to head there in first class for only 135,000 miles, but with Malaysia Airlines set to join oneworld in 2012, even more availability to Indonesia should open up, and AA’s one-way awards will even let you book one direction of travel on each airline in order to try out a few different products. Indonesia’s islands have something for everyone, and is high on my list of countries to visit. With temples centuries old, active volcanoes, tropical jungles, unique underwater life, heartfelt people, and lots of bang for your buck, you can’t go wrong.
Take a mini round-the-world trip. United has some very flexible routing rules on awards, allowing you to fly to Asia via Europe (rather than the west coast USA), including a stopover at your European hub. What this means for you is that for 140,000 miles, you can fly in first class from the United States to Europe to Asia (and back to the USA). Break up that long flight with a few days in Germany before continuing on to Thailand for a well-rounded vacation that offers a little bit of everything, and check out Lufthansa and Thai, two of the finest first class airlines. Besides, how cool would it be to walk into the office after your vacation and be able to brag that you went to two different continents in just one vacation?
Did someone say Australia? Delta’s partnership with Virgin Australia means it’s actually possible to find availability in business class on a nonstop flight from the US to Australia for 150,000 miles. Luckily, this business class product is top notch, so you’ll have nothing to complain about on the long flight to the other side of the world. Besides, it’s hard to go wrong with traveling to a country that has everything from the beautiful city of Sydney to the Great Barrier Reef and the natural wonders of the Outback. See ya there, mate.
