Milez.biz -- Updates

Updates to Calculator

On this page we publish updates we make to the Milez.biz calculator. Any time we add new data or we change the way the calculator works, you can
find the update here.

Use the award rate calculator to do a search on any route, or click here if you're looking for suggestions on how to use your miles

Aeroplan Relaunched

Air Canada’s Aeroplan program has been redesigned and relaunched in November 2020. The relaunched program still has award rate tables but they are now a blend of zone-based rates and distance-based rates. We have adjusted the milez.biz code and data so it would accommodate the new calculations.

Aeroplan used to divide the world into 15 geographical zones; the new program only has four zones. In other words, many zones were amalgamated. This brings both advantages and disadvantages to the miles cost of award flights. Generally speaking, flights across an ocean now cost a little more due to mile devaluation. However, flights within a zone can in some cases be significantly less expensive, especially where multiple zones were merged into one zone.

For example:

The lowest round-trip award rate for a flight in economy between North America and Europe is now 70,000 miles. This used to be 60,000 from anywhere in North America to the Europe I Zone, e.g. an award ticket from Los Angeles to Vienna. That same redemption is now 110,000 miles due to the long distance between the destinations.

On the other hand, travelling from Rome to Cairo used to cost 45,000 miles for a round trip ticket in economy. Now, this rate has dropped to only 25,000 miles because the two destinations are within the same Atlantic Zone and relatively close to each other (and there is a direct flight).

There are many more examples like that. The sweet spots will be found between destinations in the same zones that used to be in distinct zones, especially if there are direct flights or where the connecting airport is along the route, geographically speaking. For example, an award flight from Austin, TX, to Havana, Cuba, used to cost 40,000 miles round-trip in economy; now, even with the connection in Houston, the round-trip is only 20,000 miles.

One of the key changes to the Aeroplan program is the removal of the fuel surcharges. Certain airlines like Air Canada, Lufthansa and Austrian used to charge very high fuel surcharges on award tickets, which made redemptions on those airlines very unattractive. These have been eliminated so that even with the somewhat higher award rates it may now be worth using your miles on flights with those airlines.

Another novelty is that you can now interrupt one-way itineraries. This was not possible in the old iteration of Aeroplan. There is a 5,000-mile cost associated to a stopover but this may be a very attractive option for many travellers.

The old Aeroplan award rates are no longer valid. However, we will leave the old calculator up and running for a few weeks so that you can compare the rates and find awards tickets that may be a better deal now. The new Aeroplan calculator on milez.biz includes all the Star Alliance carriers as well as the Aeroplan partner airlines: Etihad, Canadian North, GOL, Azul, Air Serbia, Air Creebec, Olympic, Eurowings, Vistara and Juneyao.

Here are some other interesting random comparisons (all the rates below refer to economy round-trip award tickets):

Better:

AKL-DPS (- 20K)

SYD - SIN (- 20K)

ADD - DXB (- 40K)

CAI - ATH (- 25K)

VVO - ICN (- 24K)

GUM - NRT (- 15K)

PTY - MIA (- 20K)

WAW - SVO (- 15K)

Worse:

SEA - TLV (+ 30K)

YVR- LIS (+ 20K)

IAD - NRT (+ 25K)

PEK - BOM (+ 25K)

SYD- RAR (+ 20K)

ANC - MIA (+ 20 K)

PTY - BOG (+ 20K)

8 January, 2021

Calculate and Compare by Alliance

We have added one-click alliance selection options to our award rate calculator. Simply type in the name of one of the three major alliances and then select it if you want to quickly compare all programs within an alliance:

15 December, 2020

Added Royal Air Maroc Routes to oneworld calculators

All oneworld calculators now also have the Royal Air Maroc (AT) routes included. This adds many new destinations in Morocco and mainly western Africa to the oneworld universe.

Here's an example for the award rates across the various oneworld programs for the direct flight between Montreal and Casablanca.

We have also added the Royal Air Maroc (Safar Flyer) oneworld calculator.

26 September, 2020

MyAirItalyClub Calculator Added

We have added the award rate calculator for Air Italy (IG); the frequent flyer program name is MyAirItalyClub. Most Air Italy flights connect through the hub in Milan Malpensa (MXP). We have also added the transfer calculator for transfers to and from MyAirItalyClub to American Express Italy.

6 February, 2020

Copa Own Metal Calculator

We have now also added the frequent flyer miles calculator for Copa's ConnectMiles awards on its own flights. The geographic zones are defined the same as for the Star Alliance destinations but the rates differ slightly. In addition the "own metal" flights have saver and standard categories.

See, for example, New York City to Panama City.

27 January, 2020

New Calculator: ConnectMiles (CopaAirlines)

Milez.biz has added one more Star Alliance calculator: ConnectMiles, the frequent flyer program for CopaAirlines, based in Panama. Panama is a good connecting point to get to South America, where Star Alliance does not have too many partners. For example, it makes Suriname (AMS to PBM on Star Alliance programs) or Paraguay (ASU to MAD) reachable on an award ticket.

22 January, 2020

Premium Economy Rates Added to American Airlines Calculator

We have added the premium economy rates to our calculators and have updated some of the rates that have changed. The significant changes are to be found mainly on the routes to Hawaii.

30 December, 2019

Small Devaluation of the Aegean Program

Aegean's program Miles+Bonus has suddenly devalued its award chart. However, only a few routes were affected by this and the change is not monumental. Redemption rates have gone up mainly for routes involving a European destination. For example, a first class award ticket from North America to Europe has gone up 30,000 miles for the round trip: San Francisco to Athens

Also itineraries within the Far East have gone up, Singapore to Tokyo now costs 65,000 miles in business class (round trip), this used to be 42,000.

20 December, 2019

Qantas Adds Air France as Partner

Qantas and Air France recently announced a partnership, which means that Qantas Frequent Flyer members can now redeem flights operated by Air France. We have added the Air France route network to the Qantas Partners Classic Award calculator.

These routes include all domestic destinations in France (such as Nice to Bordeaux) as well as all AF's international routes, for example Tahiti to Paris. Most international routes connect through the Charles de Gaulle (CDG) or Orly (ORY) airports in Paris.

19 December, 2019

Remaining JAL Partner Calculators

We have now also added the remaining JAl partner calculators

- Air France, compare the different JAL options for traveling from, Tokyo to Paris
- Hawaiian Airlines, for example Haneda straight to Big Island
- Korean Air, you can use Korean to travel from Japan to Hawaii, Osaka-Honolulu
- China Eastern
- Bangkok Airways
- JetStar, compare rates for domestic flights in Japan with the normal JAL rates, e.g. Tokyo to Okinawa

9 December, 2019