Imagine a 7-week adventure through the South Pacific and up into North and Southeast Asia — hopping across three continents, seven countries, and fourteen cities — all while celebrating a graduation and an anniversary. Sounds like a dream, right? Well, we’re living it!
I’ve discovered top three secrets to make your family award ticket redemption a breeze. You will find them straightforward and easy to follow once broken down into manageable chunks. Let me dive in for you these gems so you can take away immediately.
Secret 1: Make The Most Of Stopovers
Who says you can’t enjoy a little extra adventure on the way to your destination? I did just that by using Aeroplan (Air Canada’s mileage program) to book four of us Singapore Airlines business class tickets from San Francisco to Sydney in the first place. Typically, there are two business class seats available on one of the two daily flights for partners like Air Canada. (On some days, they even release two on both daily flights too!) Even though I changed to another redemption ultimately, this was our nifty plan to fly four of us to The Down Under:
Firstly, flew my daughters to Singapore. They would stay with our family friends in Singapore for one day. Then they met us in Changi Airport on next day so four of us would continue the flight to Sydney together. This is how it looked like:
- Monday: San Francisco to Singapore
- Tuesday: Stopover in Singapore for 1 day (with just 5,000 points for a stopover through Air Canada Aeroplan)
- Wednesday: Singapore to Sydney
As we added a stopover in Singapore, the system would add 5,000 points into the original reward rate. It became 120,000 Air Canada Aeroplan points for each of them.
Secondly, to join my daughters in Singapore, I booked me and my husband a connecting instead:
- Tuesday: San Francisco to Sydney with a transfer flight in Singapore. As this did not involve stopover, we managed all this for 115,000 Air Canada Aeroplan points per person in Singapore Airlines business class.
Pro Tip (Act Fast!): From now through July 30, take advantage of a 20% Air Canada Aeroplan transfer bonus from Chase Ultimate Rewards (UR). With this 20% bonus,
- You can get those $7,000 Singapore Airlines business class tickets from 115,000 points down to 96,000 points.
- The redemption rate drops to 96,000 ~ 100,000 points, which is nearly 45% less than what it would require for Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer program.
Secret 2: Diversify Your Award Programs
Think of award points like a good cheese board – variety is key. Here’s how to keep your points game strong:
- Credit Cards:
The fastest way to stack points is through credit card sign-up bonuses. Flexible points let you transfer them to various programs when you need them. For our trip, Chase UR points and Amex Membership Rewards (MR) points covered most of our bookings. While many believe in using Chase UR points for Hyatt’s hotel award redemption, I prefer keeping my options flexible and diverse. So, when transfer bonuses came around, I transferred some of my Chase UR points to Air Canada Aeroplan.
Chase UR is also a good source for United Airlines. Despite some complain about its devaluation, I highly recommend it for Japan domestic redemptions. Our original plan for moving between Korea and Japan involved using 35,200 United Airlines miles (8,800 United Airlines miles one way per person) for four Asiana Airlines economy class tickets from Seoul to Sendai, saving us close to $1,000 out of pocket.
(Note: The recent update of the domestic award chart increase the direct 2-hour flight between Seoul, Korea (ICN) to Sendai, Japan from 8,800 United Airlines miles to 12,500 miles)
- Buy Points During Promotions:
When traveling as a family, points can disappear faster than you’d think. I bough Alaska Airlines mileage at 60 ~ 70% bonus promotion sale event last year, and used them for our flights from Seoul Incheon to Sapporo on Korean Air. Normally, each ticket would cost >400,000 Korean Won (~ $280) in economy class (based on the similar cancelation / refund policy.) Using 7,500 Alaska Airlines miles at the value of $1.97 cents per miles, we got them for just $150 each.
Pro-Tip: During Alaska Airlines’ promotion from June 12 to June 26, you can score an extra 50,000 miles when you buy 100,000 miles at $1.97 cents per mile.
🔥Further reading: How to Save 50% on Short-Haul Flights with Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
- Travel Credits:
Many credit cards and frequent flyer programs offer travel credits that can trim down costs. When flying from New Zealand to Australia, I used Google Flights and Flightsconnection to explore options. I found a daily Emirates flight from Christchurch to Sydney on its super jumbo Airbus A380. While using Air Canada Aeroplan for this redemption was the best deal, the Amex Business Platinum’s 35% MR points rebate benefit for air tickets purchase made it even sweeter. Here is the Math:
Initial Air Canada Aeroplan Redemption:
- Economy class: 15,000 points + $146 CAD
- Business class: 39,000 points + $146 CAD
- First class: 69,000 points + $146 CAD
However, redeeming Air Canada Aeroplan points for this 3-hour Emirates flights was dynamic, sometimes as high as 36,000 points for economy class, 65,000 points for business class and 128,000 points for first class.
Better Deal with Amex Business Platinum 35% rebate:
Then I later switched to a 35% MR points rebate with my Amex Business Platinum benefit. This means:
- First class: 97,000 points → 71,000 points after 35% rebate
- Business class: 104,000 points for 2 tickets → 38,000 points after 35% rebate
This was considered as revenue tickets, we were eligible to earn award miles to their frequent flyer program. Emirates First class, no matter which one is (Airbus A380 or Boeing 777-300ER “Game Changer”), has become a must on everyone’s bucket list.
Secret 3: Embrace New / Unfamiliar Award Programs
Sometimes, stepping out of your comfort zone leads to the best discoveries. I had never used Qatar Airways program before and even struggled to link my British Airways program account with it. But, by discovering that using Qatar Airways Avios to redeem for Cathay Pacific business class awards would need with only 50% cost of the Cathay Pacific miles and British Airways Avios rates pushed me to give it a try.
- Further Reading: How To Best Use Avios To Book The Reward Flights
- Further Reading: 5 Sweet Spots You Need To Know About Avios – Save Enough For A Business Class Round Trip To South America
Similarly, before booking our four business class awards from Taipei to San Francisco, I had rarely used Flying Blue (frequent flyer program for Air France and KLM). Shifting from dreaming of Japan Airlines first class to embracing Flying Blue, I discovered it offered a generous award availability for our intended return date. By applying the “early bird” mindset, leveraging transfer bonuses, and using the family pooling function offered by the Flying Blue program, I successfully secured four business class tickets of China Airlines for 88,000 miles each, despite some system glitches. Since then, I’ve found many other hidden gems on Flying Blue that are less commonly reported.
The mind always tells us we are correct with something we know. However, we haven’t compared and cross-checked the redemption rates of most partners to identify the most favorable. (Note: “Most favorable” means different things to different families; it’s not necessarily the lowest cost.)
We adjusted our plan to add Hong Kong as a spot for a flash visit. Instead of using British Airways program, I also checked with American Airlines program. Not only did I save some of my “Avios” (they can be more valuable for Japan Airlines first class redemption), but I also found there were more than 2 tickets on American Airlines search tool for Japan Airlines business class award. I was a stranger to American Airlines, but with the changes in their loyalty program, I found it easier to earn miles and status. Through AA eShopping portal and AAhotels portal, I’ve earned plenty of miles, so I was generous in using American Airlines program for my other two business class tickets to Hong Kong.
- Further Reading: How To Best Reach American Airlines Elite Levels With Daily Spending
Final Thoughts
Ready to transform your next family trip into a seamless, points-powered adventure? With these three secrets, I have got from the 7-week family award travel redemption. You’ll soon be a pro at award ticket redemption after reading this post, so enjoying every moment of your cozy travels!
