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Flight Intel

To ensure that Milez.biz users are always well-informed with the latest industry intelligence and our site boasts the most up-to-date data possible, we collect anecdotal material about award flights, organized by destination pairings and frequent flyer program. We’re always looking for the following type of information:
  • What are the fees and surcharges that travelers needed to pay in order to book their award flight?
  • How was the availability of a given route(s) when it came to booking the award flight?
  • Are there tricks that program members used in order to optimize their redemption?
  • Which specific flights were used for the award ticket? Are some flights better than others?
  • How does this award ticket compare to other programs and how does it compare to a ticket bought with cash?
  • Are there specific sweet spots in the award tables that one should try to take advantage of?
  • Are there exceptions to the award tables where our calculations are not accurate?
  • What was your overall experience with a particular award ticket?
  • Was it worth cashing your miles in for a given flight?
Let us know if you have intel you would like to share. We’d also be more than happy to link to your trip reports and sources, too! Click on the "comment" button for any of the miles calculations or email us through the contact page.

Zagreb (ZAG) to Split (SPU) with Miles from Miles & More (Lufthansa) / Star Alliance

Travel with Croatia Airlines, no surcharges!

30 October, 2013

Zurich (ZRH) to Barcelona (BCN) with Miles from [OLD] Aeroplan (Air Canada) / Star Alliance

20,000 miles for an economy class round trip is a good redemption for this pair of destinations. Award seats on a direct Swiss (LX) flight from ZRH and BCN were available on short notice (3 days advance booking). Total fees were CAD 70 per flight.

1 August, 2013

Chicago (ORD) to Philipsburg (SXM) with Miles from United Mileage Plus / Star Alliance

Here's a strategy from travelisfree.com to lump two Caribbean destinations into your round-trip award ticket. The redemption is from Chicago to St. Maarten (SXM) but there is a stop-over in Grand Cayman (GCM). Overall fees were USD 156.

Source: http://travelisfree.com/2013/07/30/how-to-book-the-caribbean-hopper-with-united-miles/

30 July, 2013

Chicago (ORD) to San Juan (SJU) with Miles from United Mileage Plus

Here's a strategy from travelisfree.com to add another Caribbean destination to your round-trip award ticket between Chicago and Puerto Rico. The author added Nassau at no extra cost by routing his United flights through the Bahamas. Fees on this itinerary were USD 100.

Source: http://travelisfree.com/2013/07/30/how-to-book-the-caribbean-hopper-with-united-miles/

30 July, 2013

Toronto (YYZ) to Zurich (ZRH) with Miles from [OLD] Aeroplan (Air Canada) / Star Alliance

Air Canada (AC) has a direct flight from Toronto to Zurich and redemption seats are sometimes available. However, the heavy fuel surcharges do not make this a very attractive option as the surcharges can cost almost as much as an economy class ticket. Flights with Lufthansa (though FRA, MUC or DUS) also incur heavy surcharges.

You can get to Zurich with one stop on the following Star Alliance carriers that have much lower surcharges: Turkish Airlines (TK) via IST, LOT Polish Airlines (LO) via WAW, United Airlines (UA) via EWR or IAD, US Airways (US) via PHL, Swiss (LX) via YUL or ORD, or even Air Canada Rouge via VCE. United and Turkish seem to be the best deals with total fees around CAD 200 for a business class seat.

1 July, 2013

Paris (CDG) to Montreal (YUL) with Miles from Flying Blue (Air France, KLM) / SkyTeam

Not a good redemption according to capital.fr as this represents only a value of about EUR 0.30 per mile. Fees on the redemption between Paris and Montreal are EUR 369. An inexpensive cash ticket can be bought for EUR 520.
See the article on capital.fr here. [in French]
 

9 November, 2012

Paris (CDG) to New York (JFK) with Miles from Flying Blue (Air France, KLM) / SkyTeam

Not a great redemption according to capital.fr as this represents only a value of about EUR 0.47 per mile. Fees on the redemption between Paris and New York are EUR 368. An inexpensive cash ticket can be bought for EUR 602.
See the article on capital.fr here. [in French]
 

9 November, 2012

Paris (CDG) to Los Angeles (LAX) with Miles from Flying Blue (Air France, KLM) / SkyTeam

Not a bad redemption according to capital.fr as this represents a value of about EUR 0.72 per mile. Fees on the redemption between Paris and Los Angeles are EUR 368. An inexpensive cash ticket can be bought for EUR 728.
See the article on capital.fr here. [in French]
 

9 November, 2012

Paris (CDG) to Rio De Janeiro (GIG) with Miles from Flying Blue (Air France, KLM) / SkyTeam

Not a good redemption according to capital.fr as this represents only has a value of about EUR 0.38 per mile. Fees on the redemption between Paris and Rio are EUR 374. An inexpensive cash ticket can be bought for EUR 678.
See the article on capital.fr here. [in French]
 

9 November, 2012

Paris (CDG) to Dublin (DUB) with Miles from Flying Blue (Air France, KLM) / SkyTeam

A good redemption according to capital.fr as this represents a value of about EUR 0.83 per mile. Fees on the redemption between Paris and Dublin are EUR 45. An inexpensive cash ticket can be bought for EUR 210.
See the article on capital.fr here. [in French]
 

9 November, 2012