MileValue is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as CreditCards.com. This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. This site does not include all financial companies or all available financial offers. Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.

Note: Some of the offers mentioned below may have changed or are no longer be available. You can view current offers here.


Update 4/14/14: US Airways has increased the price of its awards to North Asia in business class to 110k miles roundtrip.

In December, I compiled Comparison Tables of United, Delta, US Airways, and American Airlines Award Charts to show which program had the cheapest awards in each cabin to every country you want to visit.

With Delta announcing a new award chart that takes effect for awards booked January 1, 2015, I have updated the tables for economy and business class.

There are a few ways to use these charts.

  1. Figure out which miles to earn for your next big trip based on which airline offers the lowest award prices.
  2. See where the miles you already have offer a better deal than their competitors.

Links to award charts:

A few more notes about the charts:

  • The roundtrip price is shown for all awards. The charts note that American, United, and now Delta will allow one way awards for half that price but US Airways doesn’t.
  • The charts are for awards originating in the US 49 (excluding Hawaii) and Canada. The charts note that American charges the same price for awards originating in Hawaii, but that United, US Airways, and Delta don’t.
  • Two numbers separated by a slash in the Delta column represent the First Class and Business Elite prices. Business Elite is the better and more expensive offering.
  • Two numbers separated by a slash in the United column represent the United-chart price and partner-chart price. The partner-chart price is higher.
  • Two numbers separated by a slash in the American Airlines or US Airways columns represent off peak and peak pricing. For off peak dates, see their award charts.
  • The best price to a country or region is noted in blue.
  • Each airline has differently defined regions. I accounted for some of that in Asia, but not all of it. If I have a major mistake or omission, let me know in the comments.
  • All prices shown are in thousands of miles and are for awards booked at the Saver, MileSAAver, Low, or Level 1 award price, whatever the airline calls its cheapest award seats.

Economy Award Chart

Remember that there are two changes between the June 1, 2014 and January 1, 2015 Delta economy award charts:

  1. Awards between the US and the Middle East are dropping from 90k miles roundtrip to 40k miles each way.
  2. Awards between the US and the South Asian Subcontinent are dropping from 90k miles roundtrip to 40k miles each way.

Those drops put Delta in a tie for the cheapest economy awards to those regions.

Screen Shot 2014-03-07 at 7.51.43 AM

Business Class

The one change to Delta’s business class award chart on January 1, 2015 is that roundtrip awards from the US to Northern South America are going down in price from 90k miles roundtrip to 40k miles each way.

American and United still have cheaper prices, but it is a welcome change.

Screen Shot 2014-03-07 at 7.52.01 AM

Getting US Airways Miles

US Airways has the best award chart, so you should rack up US Airways miles.

Right now, the US Airways MasterCard is offering 50,000 bonus miles on first purchase.

Not only is that a mega-sign up bonus for no minimum spending requirement, but US Airways has the best award chart of any airline.

Another reason to get the card now is that it will disappear in early 2015 when the US Airways and American Airlines loyalty programs merge. Get the miles while you still can.

I will try to use my US Airways miles as soon as possible to take advantage of the US Airways award chart and partners. You don’t need to rush to spend your US Airways miles if you have no use for them at the moment, though, because when the US Airways and American Airlines programs merge, the miles balances will merge too, and the very good American Airlines chart will be the new program’s award chart.


Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.

Just getting started in the world of points and miles? The Chase Sapphire Preferred is the best card for you to start with.

With a bonus of 60,000 points after $4,000 spend in the first 3 months, 5x points on travel booked through the Chase Travel Portal and 3x points on restaurants, streaming services, and online groceries (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs), this card truly cannot be beat for getting started!


Editorial Disclaimer: The editorial content is not provided or commissioned by the credit card issuers. Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of the credit card issuers, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card issuers.

The comments section below is not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser’s responsibility to ensure all questions are answered.