I’ve given you the main credit cards to look into in this post, but you don’t just want those right? You’re the kind of person that wants to understand the whole credit card world. That’s fair, you want to learn how to fish not just be given them. Well let me pull back the curtain and break it all down in this post.
While credit card partners are constantly changing and new card issuers come out this is the most up to date version of credit card transfer partners I currently have.
It’s a lot of information but I wanted to try and bring you up to speed before I dropped this on you. Putting all the information from the past emails together this is essentially what you get. A breakdown of each airline alliance along with hotels and what card issuers transfer to each one and transfer ratios.
I’ve been in the game for awhile and I still refer back to this chart regularly because there is just so much information to remember. Look at it, save it, and always refer back to it because it’ll help.
The good thing about technology is that as time has gone on, the number of tools and resources to figure out how to book award travel has only increased. The bad thing is that you can get complacent and only rely on the tools to find award availability. While the tools are great. At the end of the day they are just that, tools. Nothing is going to beat putting in the work and checking the websites yourself. There is no one tool that does it all and they are constantly adding and removing airlines so while its a good starting point don’t forget to do the manual searches too.
I’ll try and keep it straightforward with the tool suggestions. While these are definitely not the only ones to use these are the ones that I’ve found the easiest to use.
Flight Route Map
FlightConnections – It’s free and I use it to see what airports are connected to each other through which airlines and what days those flights are
Award Search Services
Seats.Aero – Helps aggregate award booking and you’re able to set up alerts when they become available
Awayz – Easiest way to find award availability for hotels while also setting up alerts for availability. (Use code BETTERTHANPOINTS for $10 off)
Airline Seat Maps
Aerolopa – Super detailed seat maps with windows
SeatMaps – New kid on the block
Seat Guru – The OG but seat maps aren’t the most current anymore
Subscription Services
Going – Formally Scotts Cheap Flights
While using these tools to find award availability is great, remember that you can often book the same flight through multiple airlines that are in the same alliance or have partnerships at different rates. What might show on United at one rate might be lower on ANA but you might get the best value booking it through Virgin Atlantic.
Being knowledgeable of the transfer partners as well of the taxes and fees each airline charges will greatly help in your travel redemption journey. Last thing to note is that some airlines forward the fees to the customers while others have rules against it in their country. We’re really getting into the granular stuff now but try not to get bogged down by it. At the end of the day if you’re able to use your points to make memories then you’re doing it right.
I could keep talking but I’ll stop.
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