5 Gorgeous Destinations, 5 Cheap Mileage Prices

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Feeling spontaneous? You should be. You collect miles and points, which means you have the ability to fly all over the world without having to spend tons of hard earned money. Especially when the awards have the mileage price tags that all the redemption ideas listed below do.

I hope these examples inspire you to book a trip today, or start collecting to be able to do so!

All of the awards below (except #3) originate in the United States. None of them have fuel surcharges, just the standard taxes that apply to all awards.

Without further ado (and in no particular order of preference as I would go to all of these places without hesitation)…

1. 20,000 Etihad Miles to Venice

You most likely don’t have Etihad miles, but there’s a good chance you have either Membership Rewards, ThankYou Points, or SPG points. You can transfer any of those points to Etihad Guest at a 1:1 rate (if you transfer 20,000 SPG points, you’ll get an extra 5,000 bonus Etihad miles to boot).

You can book an American Airlines flight to Venice for only 20,000 Etihad miles one way if the trip is between October 15 and May 15 (because you can still book old American Airlines award chart prices/off peak dates with Alaska or Etihad Miles).

Surprise someone special in October, there’s plenty of award space for two people the second half of the month from Philadelphia:

2. 15,000 Alaska Miles to Lima

As long as you fly American Airlines between January 16 – June 14 or September 7 – November 14, it will only cost 15,000 Alaska miles one way.

Lima’s food scene is one of the hottest in the world right now–so seriously– if you’re into food, don’t miss it. You can eat at restaurants like Maido pictured below, ranked the 13th best restaurant in the entire world (or Central, also in Lima, ranked #4!).

Grab your biggest foodie friend and fly down in May. There’s availability for two almost every day between Miami and Lima.

3. 20,000 United Miles to Seoul (from Australia)

Some readers recently commented on a post that there are more Australian-based MileValue fans like them than I think. So Aussies, this one’s for you.

For just 17,500 United miles, you can fly to Seoul one way. To get there direct, fly Asiana from Sydney.

There is award space every day for two people in January and February from Sydney to Seoul. You can ski by day outside the city and party in a major metropolis by night.

Even if you don’t live in Australia, think of this as an option to add to an awesome round-the-world trip.

4. 12,500 American Airlines Miles to Cozumel

If you fly between April 27 – May 20 or September 7 – November 14 on American Airlines flights, it only costs 12,500 AA miles one way to get to Cozumel, Mexico.

Take your whole family to the Mexican island in the Caribbean Sea that’s known for diving. The calendar below shows award space for four people from Dallas:

5. 20,000 SPG points to Tokyo

The award I am actually referring to is flying American Airlines to Tokyo between October 1 to April 30, which costs 25,000 Etihad miles. But if you transfer 20,000 SPG points to Etihad Guest, you will get a 5,000 mile bonus (which you always get for transferring increments of 20,000 SPG points to any airline transfer partner).

There’s tons of space for two mid September through Mid October from Dallas……which is prime season for watching Tokyo explode with cherry blossoms.

I Don’t Live in the Cities Mentioned Above

You can add a leg from your hometown flying American to get to a gateway city for zero extra miles as long as the leg has economy Mile SAAver award space. This does not apply to #3.

Easy Ways to Get those Miles and Points

ThankYou Points

Citi Prestige® Card with 40,000 bonus ThankYou Points after $4,000 in purchases made with your card in the first 3 months the account is open.

Starpoints (SPG Points)

The Starwood Preferred Guest^®Credit Card from American Express earns 25,000 Starpoints after you spend $3,000 on the cards within the first three months of opening the account.

Alaska Airlines Miles

Alaska miles are easy to accrue since the Alaska credit cards are still churnable.

You only have to spend $1,000 in the first three months on the Alaska Airlines Visa Signature Card to unlock the 30,000 Alaska mile bonus.

United Miles

You also only have to spend $1,000 in the first three months on the United MileagePlus Explorer card (by Chase) to unlock the 30,000 United mile sign-up bonus.

American Airlines Miles

 Limited Time Offer: The Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite™ MasterCard® with 60,000 bonus American Airlines miles and Admirals Club lounge membership

Bottom Line

There are lots of ways to stretch your miles and points, even redeeming on long distance international awards. Especially if you don’t mind economy. Read more suggestions for high value redemptions in this post about how to book a round-the-world trip in 2016 using underpriced awards.