F.I.N.A.L.L.Y. This is where it comes into play. Ava has decided to plan a graduation trip based on the knowledge she gained from Brady Yu, co-founder of TripPlus Travel. She found inspiration in debunking the award travel myth, understanding credit card choices, getting more than one cards not hurt the credit score, determining factors for her first redemption, unraveling the redemption mystery, exploring additional redemption methods, and uncovering secrets about fee-based credit cards over the last few week. Let’s dive into their conversation in this final episode to see what decision Ava makes and how she plans, LOL!
Ava: Hey Brady, I’m planning a trip with my friends to the UK after we graduate. I’ve saved some points from my credit card. I know I can use them for buying things, but I’m still lost on how to get flight tickets with these points. Can you help with any quick tips?
Brady: Credit card points can turn into flight tickets in different ways:
- Paying for your ticket bill right away
- Using points to pay for the ticket from the credit card company’s travel website, like AmexTravel or Chase Travel
- Turing points into airlines miles for an award flight ticket.
The first two ways give you more flexibility because you can use points as long as revenue tickets are for sale. Further to the second method, you can get more value from some of the credit cards, for example, Chase Sapphire Preferred®. This example where 1,000 points is worth $12.5 (1 point = 1.25 cents), way more than the usual 1 cent. Ava, the third method is more fascinating. But there’s a catch.
The tickets available for miles redemption are usually limited (Capacity control). Just because they’re selling tickets doesn’t mean there’ll be seats you can book with miles. Also, not all miles work for any airline – usually use them for flights within the airline or its alliance members. An important principle: Transferring credit card points into airlines miles is non-reversible. Always ask yourself the above 3 questions before taking an action. Ava: Brady, Can’t we just exchange miles for tickets online, like buying them with cash?
Brady: Sure thing! You can change your credit card points into plane miles super easily, like sending money on Venmo or Paypal. Then, pick ‘redeem miles / book with miles on the airline’s website. Booking your flight there is as easy as buying tickets with cash. Before you use your miles for tickets, remember tools can help your life easier.
So use the AwardPlus tool to see which airlines have open seats for mileage use to where you want to go and how many miles it might take. The AwardPlus tool shows results based on how many miles you need, listing the best ways to swap miles and which airlines to use. Try this out!. For example, when searching for a round-trip economy flight from New York to London. It indicates using Virgin Atlantic’s “mileage program” for a direct flight only needs 20,000 miles! That is a better deal than other ways. On the right side, you can also check how different credit card points can turn into Virgin Atlantic miles.
Ava: It looks like Virgin Atlantic miles offer the best value and easy transfers from all my cards! Should I switch my credit card points to Virgin Atlantic now.
Brady: Wait! Ava, One more step. It says you could use 20,000 miles for a New York to London trip. Let’s check if seats are available for miles. Limits apply here: Not all sold revenue tickets guarantee available mileage redemption avalability. To get accurate results, use Virgin Atlantic’s “mileage program” to search for their flights directly on their website.
Remember to select “show price in points (miles)” to see available mileage seats. Also, try “flexible dates” for more options. The rule is simple: Use the same mileage program for accurate searches. After searching, you’ll find seats available for 20,000 miles every day for your UK trip.
Convert your credit card points to airline miles for ticket redemption. Remember, there’s a $486 tax for this ticket. Take your time and compare ways to use points for the best deal. Ava: Hey, what does this mean? Why do we gotta compare everything together?
Brady: Credit card points can be used in different ways, like turning them into miles or using them for discounts. If we think about how much each way costs, we can pick what’s best for us. Imagine a $1,000 ticket with cool perks. Here are the ways to use points:
- Option 1: Use 170k points directly, no extra cash! (like Amex MR at 0.6 cents per point)
- Option 2: Use 80k-100k points on a travel site (like UR at 1-1.25 cents per point), no extra money needed!
- Option 3: Use 20k airline miles + $486
Every option would give you different value and request different amount of out-of-pocket. No one-size-fits-all. Only you can decide for yourselves. Happy planning and enjoy your trip, Ava! Here comes to the end of our complete boxset of “Award Travel for Young Professionals and College Students”. We hope you have enjoyed diving in the award travel. Feel free to save these articles for regular revisits! We look forward to connecting with all of you in the near future.
About Maria
Hi, I’m Maria, the founder of Maria Points The Way. I help families simplify award travel and turn points into extraordinary, luxury journeys to Asia Pacific. When I started out in Fall 2023, I created a special travel boxset—a curated 8-episode series designed to introduce my own kids (now in middle and high school) to the incredible world of miles and points.
To me, points are more than just travel perks—they’re part of financial awareness and literacy. Points are money. And that’s exactly how I teach families to think about their points: as assets to manage strategically through a personalized portfolio. I’ve woven real-life stories and practical tips into each episode to make it approachable and inspiring for families, newcomers, and curious travelers alike. Every graphic in this series was thoughtfully designed and created by me—with love—to make learning both beautiful and practical.
This guide is perfect for:
- Even high schoolers—it’s never too early to build strong financial habits and travel-savvy awareness (my kids started in elementary school!)
- Beginners exploring points and credit cards
- Recent arrivals to the U.S.
- Young professionals and college students
