10 mistakes to avoid when redeeming airline points and miles

Even the most seasoned award traveler can make mistakes when using airline points and miles. This can lead to a less comfortable flight, extra fees or even an inability to travel.

Fortunately, the most common mistakes when booking airline award travel are easy to avoid. We’ll explain the most common errors and how to ensure your future award redemptions go as planned.

Related: Your ultimate guide on how to search award availability for the major airlines

Putting all your eggs in one basket

Though earning a generous welcome bonus on a credit card is an easy way to boost your rewards balance to secure your next dream redemption, devaluations are an unfortunate reality of the points and miles industry.

For example, you could have 60,000 miles saved up, close to the 63,000 miles needed to book that flight to Europe, when the program suddenly increases the rates to 70,000 miles without notice.

Suddenly, you’re further away from taking that trip.

As we have seen this year, programs can (and do) increase redemption rates without notice to their members. So the general rule is to not hoard your points and miles to avoid the risk of being hit with an unexpected price rise within your favorite airline loyalty program.

Another way to protect yourself against airline program devaluations is to earn transferable credit card points rather than points in a specific program. This allows you to keep your options open until you are ready to book and avoid devaluations within one program.

Related: How (and why) you should earn transferable credit card points in 2024

Relying solely on an airline’s website

To beginners, it may seem strange to be told that an airline’s website isn’t always reliable when searching for award tickets. While major improvements have occurred over the last few years, you may still not see all possible options for using your hard-earned rewards.

For example, partner airlines don’t always appear. Even when they do, your site may not show all available routings. A program also may allow for stopovers or other flexible redemption options — but they’re not always apparent.

You can search for award availability across the three major alliances in various ways, but no airline offers a perfect user experience. Some allow calendar searches if you’re flexible on your dates, while others have effective filtering options. If you’re just getting started, it’s worth taking some time to explore the major U.S. carriers’ websites (American, Delta and United), but you can also start with a more general website like Google Flights or Flight Connections. Explore the airlines that operate flights on your desired dates and filter by alliance or individual carrier.

Just remember that partner airlines don’t always appear online. With some awards, your best bet may be to call.

It’s also a good idea to familiarize yourself with external tools like Seats.Aero and ExpertFlyer (owned by TPG’s parent company, Red Ventures). Doing so can help you track hard-to-find award space to redeem your miles more efficiently.

Related: TPG beginners guide: Everything you need to know about points, miles, airlines and credit cards

Relying solely on a phone agent

Just as an airline’s website may not be completely accurate, don’t assume that its phone agents are always on point. Many don’t understand routing rules or don’t know how to search for award inventory on partner airlines. We’ve often found that agents are unwilling to search across multiple dates, simply telling us there is no availability and ending the call. Know your routing rules and guide the agent if you need to.

It can also be really helpful to develop an understanding of airline fare classes. In short, every airline ticket has a one- or two-letter fare code corresponding to your ticket type. And if you know the correct fare classes for award reservations, you can push an agent to confirm a ticket.

For example, Star Alliance standardizes the fare classes for award tickets across its 26 member airlines — X is for economy, I is for business class and O is for first class. If you find an I-fare ticket on a Star Alliance airline, it should be bookable via the frequent flyer program of any carrier in the alliance.

When you’re not getting a satisfactory answer, a good strategy is to hang up and try again. Don’t assume an agent knows more than you do — especially when you’ve confirmed that award space exists.

Related: Don’t wait on hold: Here’s how to reach airline customer service quickly

Not searching segment by segment

Another key mistake applies when you’re booking complicated itineraries with multiple stops. Occasionally, you might run into situations where a website doesn’t price awards correctly or doesn’t display all flight options for one or more reasons:

• An inability to combine two or more partner airlines
• An inability to combine a low-level business-class flight with a low-level coach flight to price the ticket as a low-level business-class award
• A tendency to “force” you onto the airline’s own flights

Some websites allow you to search segment by segment using a “multicity” search, but to be safe, try searching for one flight at a time. If you can’t get the website to combine the flights properly, call to book the ticket. This way, you are armed with the exact flights you want and can spoon-feed them to the phone agent.

Unfortunately, it’s worth noting that this doesn’t always work. American Airlines, for example, uses “married segment” logic when pricing award tickets on its own flights. As a result, if you find a flight from Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) via John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) at the saver level, that doesn’t mean you can automatically book JFK-LAX.

Related: How to find the cheapest redemption rates using Flying Blue miles

Not being flexible with dates or airports

Airlines have complicated systems for determining which flights to make available for award redemptions. You may be out of luck if your travel plans are completely rigid. Flexibility may be impossible in some cases, but sometimes, being able to alter your schedule by a single day can make the difference between a successful redemption and being shut out.

The same holds for choosing which airports to use. If you can’t initially find the award you want from your home airport, cast a wider net. You could try an alternate gateway just a bit farther away or consider starting at a major hub and booking a separate positioning flight to get there.

Remember, allow enough time to get from one airport to another.

Related: 9 domestic lounges that are worth going out of your way for

Not planning in advance

A common myth is that award tickets must be booked the very second the flight becomes available.

While most seats will be available for some programs when first loaded, usually 11 or 12 months before the flight’s departure, some programs release last-minute award seats in the days leading up to departure.

Many people aren’t comfortable leaving the planning until the last minute, even if they find a great seat to Europe leaving, say, tomorrow.

It’s worth knowing when your program of choice loads its seats and whether they will likely add extra seats at the last minute.

Booking around nine months in advance is often a sweet spot. Virtually all programs will have loaded their seats by this point, and it’s far enough in advance that award availability should still be plentiful.

It’s best to book as early as possible for peak travel periods. For example, if you want to fly to Australia for Christmas, book as early as possible.

Related: Best times to book business-class award flights: Last-minute vs. advanced bookings

Booking and not rechecking your award flight

After you book any flight, it’s a good idea to check on it periodically. Schedule and equipment changes that completely mess up an itinerary may allow you to rebook a ticket (at no charge) on a more desirable flight. The earlier you can identify these changes, the easier it will be to find an alternate route.

In addition, you might book a coach award ticket but then see business-class availability a few weeks before departure. Depending on the airline, you may be eligible to move to a higher cabin without a change fee, though you must pay the mileage difference.

Think of your flight reservations — both award tickets and cash bookings — as plants needing attention. Otherwise, you may fall victim to a significant schedule change or cancellation, jeopardizing your trip.

Related: Complete guide to changing and canceling award tickets

Ignoring stopover and open-jaw possibilities

Some airlines allow you to book a free stopover en route to your destination or fly into and depart from different cities. These are great ways to maximize your award ticket without spending any (or many) additional miles.

For example, Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan allows you to add a stopover on international award flights at no charge — even one-way tickets. Meanwhile, United’s Excursionist Perk can add a stopover within a given region on select round-trip award itineraries, while Air Canada Aeroplan allows stopovers for 5,000 miles.

Alternatively, you could combine one-way award flights using your miles and then book a cheap cash ticket (or another form of transportation) to travel between cities.

Don’t restrict yourself to round-trip itineraries. There are many ways to use flexible routing rules to visit additional cities and get more out of your vacation.

Related: Maximizing stopovers and open jaws on award tickets

Paying unnecessary fees

Ancillary fees are a big business for airlines, and certain programs impose these on award tickets. Some airlines charge a fee for departing from a specific region, while others add fuel surcharges to travel on certain carriers. You should always look for alternate flight options to avoid these fees if possible.

If you have transferable credit card points, consider transferring them to a program that does not impose fuel surcharges, like Air Canada Aeroplan or Avianca LifeMiles.

There’s one, in particular, you’ll want to look out for: the phone ticketing fee. Agents often add this fee when you call to redeem your miles, even on awards that can’t be booked online. If a website doesn’t allow you to book a flight, politely ask the phone agent to waive the booking fee. After all, you didn’t choose to call; you had to call.

Related: Dynamic pricing vs. fuel surcharges — which is the lesser of two evils for your next redemption?

Redeeming miles for something other than flights

You’ll usually get the most value from your rewards when redeeming them for flights rather than items like gift cards, inflight purchases or online shopping. With very few exceptions, you should resist the urge to pursue other redemptions even if you can’t immediately find the award seat that works best for you. Indeed, redeeming Delta SkyMiles for a flight on peak travel dates may not offer the best value, but it almost always beats what you can get by using points or miles for merchandise or gift cards.

Overall, award ticket redemptions generally provide the best value for your points and miles.

Bottom line

Getting started in the world of points and miles takes a lot of work, and you’ll inevitably make mistakes. However, educating yourself on the ins and outs of booking award flights is a critical first step to avoiding them.

Hopefully, these suggestions will help prevent mishaps and ensure you can maximize your rewards to book your next trip.