11 Mistakes to Avoid When Redeeming Airline Miles, According to an Expert

Being a frequent flier means you get rewarded for the time you spend up in the sky by earning miles or points that can be used for more travel. Redeeming those rewards can be as simple as logging into your account with a preferred airline and booking yourself another flight. Or it may entail putting credit card points you’ve earned through non-travel-related purchases toward a trip through the card issuer’s travel portal. Depending on the program and how much you invest in it, you might even be able to rack up enough miles or points to book a flight for free.

Other times, it might take a bit of shopping around on different flight-buying sites, transferring points or making a purchase to keep rewards active, and ultimately being strategic about using rewards to make sure you’re getting a good deal. As with anything, there are some dos and don’ts to follow to get the most of your frequent-flier rewards. Here, expert Spencer Howard, founder of the travel website Straight to the Points, lists some mistakes to avoid when redeeming points and miles through airlines and credit cards.

Letting Your Miles Expire

An advantage of flying with certain airlines — such as Delta, JetBlue, Southwest, Hawaiian Airlines, Alaska Airlines, and United — is that the miles and points you earn never expire as long as your account stays active. You can use Air Canada miles for 18 months and American Airlines miles for 36 months without any qualifying activity on those accounts.

Although you should be mindful of expiration dates, you don’t have to rush to redeem points. You can often reset the expiry clock by earning or redeeming just a single mile. That includes making a purchase with an associated airline credit card, shopping through airlines’ online portals, or just transferring a small bundle of miles to another member’s account. There are lots of ways to keep your miles going for when you eventually want to redeem them.

Looking for Award Flights in the Wrong Places

An award flight is a flight that’s fully paid for with your airline miles. Your airline might also call them award tickets. These can be tough to find because not all airline websites show the same availability, especially on partner flights. “I always tell people to start by thinking about airline alliances,” Howard says. As an example, he says you can search for Star Alliance awards through United. “Start a search there, then run another one with Air Canada Aeroplan to confirm the availability. Delta.com can be used to find SkyTeam awards.” This includes flights on Air France, KLM, Korean Air, and others.

Waiting Too Long to Book

Airline awards can be tricky to pin down. Howard recommends booking as soon as you find an award you like. “I’ve had too many clients and readers wait a few days only to find the award seats were gone.” The awards go even faster when there’s a deal going on. So, if you find a ticket that fits with your desired travel dates and destinations, go ahead and hit that book button. Otherwise, your plans could remain up in the air.

Being Too Specific About Your Travel Dates

Booking plane tickets with points or miles can be a total crapshoot. “Flexibility is key,” says Howard, especially when you’re hoping for a premium seat. “If you’re locked into traveling on specific dates, it can be tough to find award space in the most luxurious first-class cabins. Being open to different travel dates can make all the difference.”

Overpaying for an Award Flight

Prices for the same flight can vary drastically depending on the day of travel and the different classes of service. That’s because airlines are extraordinarily adept at adaptive pricing, adjusting the mileage levels based on factors like search demand, airfare fluctuations, and more. Before cashing in your miles, go through these steps: First, if your airline publishes award charts, like American Airlines does, use the “saver”-level awards as a benchmark for how much you should spend. If your airline doesn’t offer award charts, like Delta and United, do a few different searches on routes you’re interested in, plugging in different dates over several months, and check the range of mileage pricing. Aim for the lower end of the spectrum when you finally do end up booking something.

Not Shopping Around for the Best Deal

Another way to overspend on award tickets is by not considering all the different types of miles or points you could use for the same ticket. These days, airlines have so many partners — both other carriers as well as credit card issuers — and by thinking about what Howard calls “arbitrage opportunities,” you can use the mileage currency that gets you the best return.

Here’s an example he offers: Say a one-way business class award ticket from the U.S. to Europe on Lufthansa costs 77,000 United MileagePlus miles. You might be able to get it for just 70,000 Air Canada Aeroplan miles or even fewer Turkish Airlines miles, since all the airlines are part of the Star Alliance. Don’t have Turkish miles? If you have a Citi credit card, you actually might, thanks to Citi ThankYou Rewards. Sure, it takes a few extra steps to convert your points and then book, but it’s worth it to save miles for your next trip.

Transferring Credit Card Points Too Early or Late

Several credit card reward programs — including American Express Membership Rewards, Capital One Venture Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, and Citi ThankYou Rewards — allow you to transfer points to partner airline programs. Amex points, for instance, transfer to Delta SkyMiles, Air Canada Aeroplan, and about 20 others. Chase Ultimate Rewards points can be converted into miles for around 10 airlines, including United, Southwest, and JetBlue.

“Before transferring credit card points to an airline, I strongly recommend confirming that there is award space, because once you do so, there’s no going back,” says Howard, meaning you can’t turn those miles back into credit card points if you eventually decide not to book. “Additionally, remember that not all transfers process instantly. That can be an important consideration, since the award space you found could disappear if your points transfer takes several days to go through.”

Using Airline Miles Instead of Credit Card Points

In addition to being able to turn Amex, Capital One, Chase, and Citi points into miles with their airline partners, you can also pay for flights directly with these points using the credit card issuers’ travel portals. For example, points collected through American Express Membership Rewards, Citi ThankYou Rewards, and Capital One Venture Rewards are worth $0.01 apiece when you book through their respective portals. Chase offers a little more — $0.0125 per point for Sapphire Preferred cardholders and $0.015 per point for Chase Sapphire Reserve cardholders.

You might want to do a little math to make sure you’re getting the most value out of your points. First, look at the prices for the flight you want and compare those prices to mileage redemptions. Divide the cash price over the number of miles needed to get the per-mile value. If that value is lower than what you’d get by simply redeeming your credit card points for the same flight, then you might be better off booking your ticket directly through the credit card issuer’s travel portal.

Paying Outrageous Taxes and Surcharges

Certain frequent-flier programs, like British Airways Executive Club, are notorious for piling surcharges in the hundreds or even thousands of dollars onto award tickets. Howard calls these charges “the resort fees of the airline industry,” saying, “you get excited about using your hard-earned miles and points to book an award ticket only to find out you also owe over $1,000 in taxes and fees.” But this isn’t the case for all frequent-flier programs, and there are workarounds to avoid paying outrageous taxes and surcharges. For example, he suggests using miles from Air Canada Aeroplan, United MileagePlus, or Avianca LifeMiles to avoid high fees on Star Alliance partners. “Similarly, American Airlines AAdvantage can be used to book many Oneworld partners without surcharges.”

Buying Miles Instead of Transferring or Pooling

Although frequent-flier programs often run bonuses or discounts on mileage sales, those rarely turn out to be good deals. That’s because they charge such a premium to buy miles that you don’t often get the same value back when it’s time to redeem them for flights. It might be a convenient option to do it this way if you need only a couple thousand more points for a specific, imminent flight, but there’s usually a better way of booking flights that could save you money.

If you have transferable credit card points that can be converted into miles with your preferred airline, that’s generally the easiest, cheapest, and fastest way to top up your account. You might also be able to transfer miles from a friend or family member’s account, which tends to cost less than buying them outright. Some airlines even let you “pool” points with your family or household members for free. Among the ones that do are JetBlue, Frontier Airlines, Air Canada, and British Airways.

Not Using Them for What You Really Want

The key to making the most of your miles is to focus on the kinds of travel experiences you want to use them for, Howard says. “It’s so easy to lose sight of what’s important to you. If using miles and points for business and first-class flights is your priority, that’s great.” On the other hand, “if it’s using as few miles as possible so you can take more trips, fly economy. If flying non-stop matters, use a few more points to avoid a connection.” Just decide what you really want, and then use your miles to make it happen instead of getting caught up in trying to book the most over-the-top option. Above all, Howard says, “redeeming miles and points is a choose-your-own-adventure game, and you get to decide what you prioritize.”