Ah, the Old Continent. Whether you plan to search for Platform 9 3/4, hunt for trolls, sleep in castles, or are just craving a ham baguette, Europe has an undeniable allure for many travelers. Fortunately, it is probably the foreign continent with the most connections from North America, giving you a plethora of possibilities, whether you are looking to use miles or money.
It can still be tough to score an award ticket during peak travel periods. However, if you have some flexibility in terms of which airline(s) you’ll fly, the various programs below should give you at least a few options…even during busy times.
This guide has been updated for 2026 with award chart changes, surcharge information, and cancellation policies.
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What are transferable currencies?
If you want to use airline miles, it’s great to have transferable points. Transferable point programs let you transfer your points to any of several airline programs. This is appealing because it gives you the freedom to book many different flights through many different methods, some of which are strikingly cheaper than others. If you’re not familiar with transferable points programs, please check out our guides:
- Amex Membership Rewards Complete Guide
- Bilt Rewards Complete Guide
- Capital One “Rewards miles” Complete Guide
- Chase Ultimate Rewards Complete Guide
- Citi ThankYou Rewards Complete Guide
- Wells Fargo Rewards Complete Guide (coming soon)
Tips on “paid” flights to Europe
Using points for a paid fare may cost fewer miles than an award ticket and earn miles. You can sometimes find slightly cheaper pricing via small online travel agencies, though you might be sacrificing customer service if things go wrong with your flights.
It’s also worth noting that fares originating in Europe are often much cheaper; if you plan to visit Europe twice in the next year, it might make sense to consider booking an award ticket to Europe and then booking a paid fare (perhaps using points) from Europe to the US and back to Europe for your second trip. One-way business class flights from Europe to the US can also be quite reasonable, so there are a number of options to consider.
Stacking opportunities may also be available via memberships and credit cards, and certain companion tickets can also save you some money when flying to Europe (See: Complete Guide to Travel Companion Tickets).
Best ways to get to Europe using airline miles
The deals below are sorted alphabetically. Remember that the lowest price isn’t the entire picture: be sure to consider which airlines levy fuel surcharges and the ease of amassing the miles for your chosen award. See each description for where to search, how to book, and which partners you can use to transfer. It is always best to confirm availability before transferring miles to ensure the award you seek can be booked with the miles you intend to use.
Economy Class
Note that most major airline programs charge between 25K to 30K miles each way in economy class. For example, flights booked through American Airlines AAdvantage or United Mileage Plus generally cost 25K-30K each way for saver awards in economy class (though note that, with variable pricing in effect at all three major US carriers, it’s always worth checking those airlines’ sites for unadvertised specials). We have focused on programs below that regularly offer better value for those same flights, as well as flights with other partners, which provide a plethora of options between the US and Europe.
Air France / KLM Flying Blue (for Air France / KLM or other SkyTeam airlines)
- The short story: Monthly Flying Blue Promo Awards can sometimes offer excellent value between the US and Europe.
- Miles required: Varies. Economy class awards are often available from as low as 10K-15K one way during Promo Rewards sales from select airports.
- How to find awards: Search for available space at AirFrance.us (you’ll need to create a free Flying Blue frequent flyer account to search)
- How to book awards: Book online at AirFrance.com. Can also book via phone or app.
- Change and cancellation fees: €70.
- Key warnings: Flying Blue does add fuel surcharges, though they are often reasonable.
- Transfer from: Amex, Bilt, Capital One, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi Thank You Marriott Bonvoy, Wells Fargo.
ANA (for Star Alliance)
- The short story: ANA charges an excellent rate for Star Alliance flights to Europe, which is particularly good for those looking to take advantage of a free stopover on a round-trip.
- Miles required: 27.5K one-way in economy class. Fuel surcharges are passed on, but they can be avoided with the right carriers.
- How to find awards: Search for available space at United.com (Note: Do not log in — logging in may show you expanded availability based on your credit card or elite status that is not available for partner bookings) or ANA's website (though ANA requires searches to be round trip, so it is easier to find availability by searching one way at United).
- How to book awards: Book online at ANA’s website.
- Key warnings: Some carriers assess high fuel surcharges; others have none or low surcharges. The ANA website interface is not particularly user-friendly or modern-looking, so it may take some time to get used to the search features. Note that transfers to ANA are not instant. Transfers typically take 2-3 days from Amex Membership Rewards or a week or more from Marriott, so there is a risk of award space disappearing while you wait for a transfer.
- Change and cancellation fees: free to change / 3,000 miles per passenger to cancel.
- No fuel surcharges on: Air Canada, Scandinavian Airlines, Air China, Air New Zealand, Avianca, Copa Airlines, Etihad, and United.
- Low fuel surcharges on: Asiana, LOT Polish, Turkish.
- Transfer from: Amex Membership Rewards, Marriott Bonvoy
Atmos Rewards
- The short story: Atmos Reward's distance-based award chart offers competitive pricing to and from Europe, starting at 22.5K points one-way with a free stopover on a one-way award.
- Miles required: Alaska has a mix of region-based and distance-based award charts. Between the US and Europe, flights of 1,501 to 3,500 miles cost 22,500 points in business class. Flights covering 3,501 to 5,000 miles cost 27,500 points one way, while flights of 5,000+ miles (e.g., to/from Los Angeles and San Francisco) start at 35k points. Sometimes, connecting itineraries price in a lower distance band than expected.
- How to find awards: Search for available space at AlaskaAirlines.com
- How to book awards: Book online at AlaskaAirlines.com.
- Change and cancellation fees: None for award tickets. There is a non-refundable $12.50 partner booking fee that's waived for Summit Visa cardholders
- Key warnings: Multi-partner itineraries, outside those that include British Airways or American Airlines, are still impossible to book as a single ticket.
- Transfer from: Bilt Rewards, Marriott Bonvoy
Avianca LifeMiles (for Star Alliance)
- The short story: Avianca LifeMiles increased award costs in 2025 and again in 2026, but sometimes still offers a good deal for Star Alliance awards.
- Miles required: 35-48K one-way between the US and Europe has significantly decreased the value to be had, particularly from East Coast airports. However, with the right transfer bonus, this can sometimes still present an opportunity for a deal.
- How to find awards: Search for available space at LifeMiles.com (you’ll need to create a free Avianca LifeMiles frequent flyer account)
- How to book awards: Book online at LifeMiles.com. Can also book via email. Phone bookings are known to be a hassle, but also possible.
- Change and cancellation fees: Theoretically $50 within a region, though flights between regions can cost $200 to cancel.
- Key warning: Availability on LifeMiles.com does not always match what you’ll find on United.com. Phone agents generally do not see better availability than what is shown at LifeMiles.com, and it seems that manual bookings via email have ended. Always check the LifeMiles site before transferring points. Keep in mind that the mandatory $25 booking fee (added to all bookings) is the same whether one-way or round trip, so book round-trip to save.
- Transfer from: Amex, Bilt, Capital One, Citi, Wells Fargo, Marriott.
Cathay Pacific Asia Miles (for oneworld partner airlines)
- The short story: Cathay Pacific has reasonable pricing for single-partner oneworld redemptions, particularly those requiring connections, since they charge based on cumulative distance.
- Miles required: 27K miles one-way for a cumulative distance of 2,751 to 5,000 miles, which covers most of the US to Europe. The next distance band, which covers up to 7,500 miles, would be 40K miles.
- How to find awards: Search for available space at AsiaMiles.com (you’ll need to create a free Asia Miles frequent flyer account to search)
- How to book awards: Book online at AsiaMiles.com. Can also book via phone.
- Change and cancellation fees: $50 or 7,500 miles if done online, or $90 or 13,500 miles if done over the phone (fees are per person, per sector) for changes. $120 or 17,000 miles to cancel.
- Key warnings: Fuel surcharges are moderate, depending on route and origin.
- Transfer from: Amex Membership Rewards (at a 5:4 ratio), Bilt Rewards, Capital One Miles, Citi ThankYou Rewards, Marriott Bonvoy
Etihad Guest (for AA or Brussels Airlines)
- The short story: Etihad Guest offers decent value for flying on partners American Airlines or Brussels Airlines between the US and Europe at the shorter end of its distance-based award chart, but watch out for the punitive cancellation policy.
- Miles required: 28K miles each way for flights of 2,001 to 2,500 miles flown or 34K for flights of 2,501 to 3,000 miles flown.
- How to find awards: You should be able to find and book American Airlines award space on Etihad's website. You may need to search United.com for Brussels Airlines space.
- How to book awards: Book on Etihad's website or call Etihad Guest at 1-877-690-0767.
- Change and Cancellation fees: Etihad has a punitive cancellation policy for all award bookings, whereby you’ll lose a significant chunk of miles for cancelling your flight. No cancellations or changes are permitted to any tickets within 72 hours of departure, and cancellations are not allowed at any time for Value Tickets. Free changes and cancellations are allowed more than 72 hours before departure for Deluxe tickets. Cancelling comfort tickets more than 72 hours pre-departure will cause you to lose 25% of the fare, while changes can be made for an AED 200 fee. More than 72 hours before departure, changes are allowed for value tickets for a fee of 600 AED.
- Key warnings: Etihad also has a brutal expiration policy: miles are valid for 18 months, and that period can only be extended if you take a flight with Etihad or a partner airline and credit it to Etihad Guest.
- Transfer from: Amex Membership Rewards (ends 6/1/26), Bilt Rewards, Capital One, Citi Thank You, Marriott Bonvoy
Emirates Skywards
- The short story: Emirates can be a great deal for economy class between New York (JFK) and Milan or Newark (EWR) and Athens, although surcharges have doubled to ~$290 roundtrip.
- Miles required: Starting at 17.5K one-way.
- How to find awards: Search for availability at Emirates.com.
- How to book awards: Book online at Emirates.com.
- Change and cancellation fees: Date change: $25; destination change or cancellation: $75
- Key warnings: Emirates has high fuel surcharges, and sometimes round-trip saver awards can be difficult to find.
- Transfer from: Amex (1000:800), Bilt, Citi (1000:800), Capital One (1000:750), Marriott
Qatar Airways Privilege Club Avios (for JetBlue)
- The short story: Qatar Airways Privilege Club offers reasonable award pricing on JetBlue with no surcharges.
- Miles required: 25K each way. Taxes & fees departing the US are just $10.10.
- How to find awards: Search for space via QatarAirways.com. Theoretically, you should be able to start by finding "P" class space for economy class awards using advanced routing codes via ITA Matrix, though we've found awards available even when ITA Matrix shows no "P" class space, so your best bet may be to hunt around at QatarAirways.com.
- How to book awards: Book on QatarAirways.com
- Change and cancellation fees: $25 more than 24 hours in advance / $100 Between 3-24 hours in advance / Nonrefundable within 3 hours or after departure
- Key warnings: Note that Qatar only charges mandatory taxes ($10.10 departing the US and between ~$40-$100 departing Europe) with no additional carrier-imposed surcharges on JetBlue awards.
- Transfer from: Amex, Citi. Also transfer to BA and then to Qatar with: Bilt, Capital One, Chase, Wells Fargo
Qantas Frequent Flyer (for oneworld partner airlines)
- The short story: Qantas offers bdecent award prices from the US Northeast to Northwestern Europe on itineraries with a distance of 3600 miles or fewer each way.
- Miles required: 23,300 miles for itineraries covering a distance between 2401 miles and 3,600 miles. No fuel surcharges on American.
- How to find awards: Search for available space at Qantas.com (you’ll need to create a free Qantas Frequent Flyer account).
- How to book awards: Book online at Qantas.com.
- Change and cancellation fees: 5,000 miles per passenger to change/6,000 miles per passenger to cancel.
- Key warning: Atmos Rewards or American AAdvantage is often a better value if you have direct flights.
- Transfer from: Amex, Citi, Capital One, Marriott
Virgin Atlantic (for Air France / KLM or Virgin Atlantic)
- The short story: Virgin Atlantic offers excellent economy-class pricing on Air France/KLM, particularly from the Eastern US to Europe, and on its own flights to the UK (albeit with very high surcharges). Premium Economy can also be an excellent deal. See the full Virgin Atlantic award chart for travel on Air France / KLM here.
- Miles required:
- For flying Air France / KLM During "standard season" (not peak) dates, 12,000 miles each way in economy class between the East Coast of the US and Western Europe, or 20,000 miles each way to Central Europe (and North Africa). From the Western or Central US to Western Europe is 15,000 miles; to Eastern Europe, 23,000 miles.
- For flying on Virgin Atlantic to/from the UK: Prices start as low as 6,000 points each way to/from the East Coast or 9,000 points each way to/from the West Coast.
- Note that fees are ~$160 one-way to London or ~$250-$300 one-way from London
- How to find awards: Search for available space at VirginAtlantic.com
- How to book awards: Book online at VirginAtlantic.com. See: Book Air France & KLM with Virgin Atlantic Miles.
- Change/Cancellation fees: $100. If your original taxes were less than $100, Virgin Atlantic will allow you to simply forfeit the taxes.
- Key warnings: The zone-based award chart for Air France/KLM flights can be a bit confusing at first, but the nice thing about booking Air France/KLM flights with Virgin Atlantic miles is that Virgin Atlantic does not charge each segment separately, as it does with other partners or its own flights. In this case, you'll pay the region prices even if connecting.
- Transfer from: Amex, Capital One, Citi, Chase, Marriott, Bilt, Wells Fargo
Business and First Class
Now that variable pricing is in effect at all of the major US carriers, it’s always worth checking those airlines’ sites for unadvertised specials. We have generally focused on programs below that regularly offer better value for those same flights, as well as flights with other partners, which provide a plethora of options between the US and Europe.
Air Canada Aeroplan
- The short story: Aeroplan uses the same "Atlantic" region for Africa, the Middle East, and the Indian subcontinent. They also offer a stopover on a one-way award ticket for 5,000 miles, which can be particularly valuable. Lap infants are just $25 CAD or 2,500 miles per direction (far cheaper than what most programs charge). Note that Air Canada and United awards are priced dynamically, with no maximum cap.
- Miles required: 60K-110K each way in business class or 90K-140K each way in first class based on distance (See our complete guide to Aeroplan for more details). Partner awards don't incur fuel surcharges.
- How to find awards: Search for available space at AirCanada.com
- How to book awards: Book online at AirCanada.com. Can also book via phone. Complicated stopover itineraries must be booked via phone. Lap infants must be added to your reservation over the phone.
- Change and cancellation fees: Changes cost "$100" for "Lowest" fare awards; there's no fee to change Flex or Latitude awards. Cancellations cost $150 for most standard awards when done online at AirCanada.com (or $175 via a call center). Other flex awards are free to change or cancel.
- Key warnings: You'll pay more miles based on distance, but keep in mind that you can add a stopover on a one-way ticket for 5,000 miles, which makes Aeroplan a better deal if you're looking to visit two countries in one trip (like Spain & India or Germany & South Africa or Portugal & Morocco as examples).
- Transfer from: Amex Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Capital One, Marriott
American Airlines AAdvantage
- The short story: American Airlines charges 57.5K miles one-way for partner business class awards to/from Europe. It no longer publishes an award chart for its own flights, but connecting itineraries can sometimes be priced very reasonably.
- Miles required: 57.5K miles one-way for partner business class to/from Europe. American does not publish an award chart for its own flights, but we often see itineraries that connect within the US priced for less than nonstop awards to Europe.
- How to find awards: Search for available space at AA.com.
- How to book awards: Book online at AA.com.
- Change and cancellation fees: None for award tickets. Note that Web Specials can not be changed, but can be cancelled and redeposited without a fee.
- Key warnings: Watch out for high surcharges on British Airways awards to/from the UK (surcharges can be much more reasonable departing from other European countries on British Airways). Note that nonstop routes on American Airlines-operated flights to Europe can often cost an exorbitant number of miles, but connecting from a non-hub within the United States can sometimes drastically reduce the cost of an award.
- Transfer from: Citi, Marriott
Air France / KLM Flying Blue
- The short story: Monthly Flying Blue Promo Awards and even regular standard awards can sometimes offer excellent value between the US and Europe.
- Miles required: Varies. Air France no longer has an award chart, but business class awards between North America and Europe start at 60K one way (when you can find them). Promo awards often offer better value, with business-class awards sometimes available for 40 K.
- How to find awards: Search for available space at AirFrance.us (you’ll need to create a free Flying Blue frequent flyer account to search)
- How to book awards: Book online at AirFrance.com. Can also book via phone.
- Change and cancellation fees: €70.
- Key warnings: Air France / KLM does add fuel surcharges, and they continue to become more egregious (now ~$300-$350 in taxes and fees each way).
- Transfer from: Amex, Bilt, Capital One, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi Thank You Marriott Bonvoy, Wells Fargo.
ANA Mileage Club
- The short story: ANA offers one of the best deals around for business class to Europe on Star Alliance airlines.
- Miles required: 50K one-way in business class. Fuel surcharges are passed on, but they can be avoided with the right carriers.
- How to find awards: Search for available space at United.com (Note: Do not log in — logging in may show you expanded availability based on your credit card or elite status that is not available for partner bookings) or ANA's website (though ANA requires searches to be round trip, so it is easier to find availability by searching one way at United first).
- How to book awards: Book online at ANA’s website.
- Change and cancellation fees: free to change / 3,000 miles per passenger to cancel.
- Key warnings: Some carriers assess high fuel surcharges; others have none or low surcharges. The ANA website interface is not particularly user-friendly or modern-looking, so it may take some time to get used to the search features. Note that transfers to ANA are not instant. Transfers typically take 2-3 days from Amex Membership Rewards or a week or more from Marriott, so there is a risk of award space disappearing while you wait for a transfer.
- No fuel surcharges on: Air Canada, Scandinavian Airlines, Air China, Air New Zealand, Avianca, Copa Airlines, Etihad, and United.
- Low fuel surcharges on: Asiana, LOT Polish, Turkish.
- Transfer from: Amex, Marriott
Atmos Rewards
- The short story: Alaska's distance-based award chart offers excellent pricing on shorter business-class routes to and from Europe, starting at 45K points one-way with a free stopover on a one-way award.
- Miles required: Alaska has a mix of region-based and distance-based award charts. Between the US and Europe, flights of 1,501 to 3,500 miles cost 45k points in business class. Flights covering 3,501 to 5,000 miles cost 55k one way, while 5,000+ miles (ie, Los Angeles and San Francisco) start at 70k points. Sometimes, connecting itineraries price in a lower distance band than expected.
- How to find awards: Search for available space at AlaskaAirlines.com
- How to book awards: Book online at AlaskaAirlines.com.
- Change and cancellation fees: None for award tickets. There is a non-refundable $12.50 partner booking fee that's waived for Summit Visa cardholders
- Key warnings: Multi-partner itineraries, outside those that include British Airways or American Airlines, are still impossible to book as a single ticket.
- Transfer from: Bilt Rewards, Marriott Bonvoy
Avianca LifeMiles
- The short story: Avianca LifeMiles offers competitive-ish business class pricing for Star Alliance awards to Europe, with no fuel surcharges.
- Miles required: 69-93K each way in business class with no fuel surcharges. Routes that price at 93K as of 2026 can likely be booked through other Star Alliance programs for fewer miles, but particularly for West Coast travelers, the 69K routes present opportunities for solid deals, particularly for those who subscribe to Lifemiles Plus and/or catch a good transfer bonus.
- How to find awards: Search for available space at LifeMiles.com (you’ll need to create a free Avianca LifeMiles frequent flyer account) or with any of several tools that support LifeMiles (see: Which award search tool is best?)
- How to book awards: Book online at LifeMiles.com. Can also book via email. Phone bookings are known to be a hassle but also possible.
- Change and cancellation fees: Theoretically $50 within a region, though flights between regions can cost $200 to cancel.
- Key warnings: Availability at LifeMiles.com does not always match what you’ll find at United.com. Phone agents generally do not see better availability than what is shown at LifeMiles.com. Always check the LifeMiles site before transferring points. Keep in mind that the mandatory $25 booking fee (added to all bookings) is the same whether one-way or round trip, so book round trip to save.
- Transfer from: Amex, Bilt, Capital One, Citi, Wells Fargo, Marriott.
Emirates Skywards
- The short story: Emirates charges a very reasonable number of miles for business or first-class travel between New York (JFK) and Milan or Newark (EWR), and Athens, with round-trip business pricing particularly attractive. Surcharges are brutal.
- Miles required: 87K one-way or 108K round-trip in business class. First Class is 102K one-way and 204K round-trip. Unfortunately, surcharges are much higher now, and can top $900 round-trip for business class.
- How to find awards: Search for availability at Emirates.com.
- How to book awards: Book online at Emirates.com.
- Change and cancellation fees: Date change: $25 / Destination change or cancel: $75
- Key warnings: Emirates has high fuel surcharges, and sometimes round-trip saver awards can be difficult to find.
- Transfer from: Amex (1000:800), Bilt, Citi (1000:800), Capital One (1000:750), Marriott
Iberia Avios
- The short story: Iberia charges as few as 50.5K miles one-way in business class on its own flights from New York, Boston, Chicago, or DC to Madrid during off-peak season. Sometimes they run a winter travel promotion for even less. We don't recommend using Iberia for partner awards as they are completely nonrefundable.
- Miles required: Varies by distance, but starts at 50.5K during off-peak dates or 59K during peak dates on Iberia metal. Fuel surcharges are very mild (around $175 in total taxes & fees round-trip; if booking one-way, surcharges are higher leaving Europe than flying to Europe).
- How to find awards: Search Iberia.com.
- How to book awards: Book at Iberia.com.
- Key warnings: Iberia's website can be challenging to navigate, and availability is hard to find. There are some surcharges, but they are moderate from the US to Europe, and are much lower than when using British Airways Avios. Note that Iberia's award chart is distance-based, so itineraries with connections will require more miles. Sometimes connecting itineraries will have availability even when the nonstop legs between the US and Spain are not available on their own.
- Change and cancellation fees: €25/$40 for Basic, Premium Economy, or Business Class (we’ve had recent data points suggesting this is $40 for US customers, despite no mention on the website). Only on flights operated by Iberia, Iberia Express, and Air Nostrum are partner awards nonrefundable.
- Transfer from: Amex, Bilt, Chase, Wells Fargo. Also transfer to BA and then to Iberia with: Capital One, Citi
Japan Airlines Mileage Bank (for oneworld partners)
- The short story: Japan Airlines Mileage Bank charges as few as 42K miles one-way for American Airlines business class awards to/from Europe.
- Miles required: 42K miles one-way for AA business class between the East Coast and Europe. Surcharges are under $50 each way.
- How to find awards: Search with Japan Airlines online. This can be a tricky process the first time; you can find a step-by-step guide here.
- How to book awards: Book with Japan Airlines online.
- Change and cancellation fees: Japan Airlines Mileage Bank does not allow changes to ticketed awards. The good news is that they have a very reasonable award cancellation fee of 3,100 JPY.
- Key warnings: The worst thing about Japan Airlines Mileage Bank is that the program features a hard expiration policy. Miles expire at the end of the month, 36 months from the date they were earned/transferred in. There is no way to extend the validity or reinstate expired miles. Also note that JAL limits members to redeeming miles for themselves and family members.
- Transfer from: Capital One (1000:750), Bilt, Marriott
Japan Airlines Mileage Bank (for Emirates and Air France/KLM)
- The short story: Japan Airlines Mileage Bank partners with Emirates and Air France/KLM Flying Blue. It charges as few as 60K miles one-way for business-class awards on both carriers to/from Europe, while incurring much lower surcharges.
- Miles required: 60K miles one-way for business class between the East Coast and Europe. Surcharges are under $100-$150 on Emirates and under $10 on Air France when departing from the US. Surcharges on British Airways flights are much lower than those of other programs, around $200-$250.
- How to find awards: Search with Japan Airlines online. This can be a tricky process the first time; you can find a step-by-step guide here.
- How to book awards: Book with Japan Airlines online.
- Change and cancellation fees: Japan Airlines Mileage Bank does not allow changes to ticketed awards. The good news is that they have a very reasonable award cancellation fee of 3,100 JPY.
- Key warnings: The worst thing about Japan Airlines Mileage Bank is its hard expiration policy. Miles expire at the end of the month, 36 months after the date they were earned or transferred. There is no way to extend the validity or reinstate expired miles. Also note that JAL limits members to redeeming miles for themselves and family members.
- Transfer from: Capital One (1000:750), Bilt, Marriott
Qatar Airways Privilege Club Avios (for JetBlue Mint)
- The short story: Qatar Airways Privilege Club offers reasonable award pricing on JetBlue, which can be a great way to book Mint (business) class to Europe.
- Miles required: 78K each way. Taxes & fees departing the US are $10.10.
- How to find awards: You can search for space via QatarAirways.com, but it is easier to start by finding "I" class space for business class awards. You can find this via a paid tool like ExpertFlyer or with advanced routing codes via ITA Matrix. See the video instructions in this post for detailed instructions about how to find and book space.
- How to book awards: Book on QatarAirways.com
- Change and cancellation fees: $25 more than 24 hours in advance / $100 Between 3-24 hours in advance / Nonrefundable within 3 hours or after departure
- Key warnings: Note that Qatar only charges mandatory taxes ($10.10 departing the US and between ~$40-$100 departing Europe) with no additional carrier-imposed surcharges on JetBlue awards.
- Transfer from: Amex, Citi. Also transfer to BA and then to Qatar with: Bilt, Capital One, Chase, Wells Fargo
Qantas Frequent Flyer (for oneworld partner airlines)
- Miles required: Qantas charges 68,400 points for American Airlines business class awards with a distance of 2401-3600 miles each way. This includes the Northeast US to much of Western Europe.
- See the full award chart here. No fuel surcharges on American Airlines or Alaska.
- How to find awards: Search for available space at Qantas.com (you’ll need to create a free Qantas Frequent Flyer account).
- How to book awards: Book online at Qantas.com.
- Change and cancellation fees: 5,000 miles per passenger to change or 6,000 miles per passenger to cancel.
- Key warnings: Atmos Rewards or American AAdvantage might be a better value if you have direct flights (though this varies with precise distance).
- Transfer from: Amex, Citi, Capital One, Marriott
Turkish Miles & Smiles
- The short story: Turkish has decimated rates to and from Europe on partners, but still offers what could be a reasonable value on its own flights, particularly when they offer expanded award availability to their own members.
- Miles required: 65K miles each way in business class. Note that connecting itineraries on Turkish price as the sum of both segments, making them much more expensive. Partner awards are much less competitive at 85-90K each way between the US and Europe.
- How to find awards: Go to turkishairlines.com and click the button to book an award ticket, then log in to your account and search. Note that there may be bookable options on Star Alliance partners that do not appear on the site but which may be bookable via email.
- How to book awards: Book online at turkishairlines.com or over the phone at 1-800-874-8875 or via email.
- Change and cancellation fees: The fee to change or cancel is $70 per passenger, though I've been unsuccessful in finding agents who know how to change a partner award. Thus cancelling for $70 is your best bet.
- Key warnings: Turkish is sometimes unable to see Star Alliance availability for no explicable reason. No fuel surcharges on Air Canada, United, Avianca, or SAS. Low fuel surcharges on LOT Polish and Turkish.
- Transfer from: Bilt Rewards, Capital One, Citi Thank You, Marriott Bonvoy
Virgin Atlantic (Virgin Atlantic or Delta)
- The short story: Virgin Atlantic often offers Delta flights for fewer miles than Delta would charge for the same itineraries, which used to make them an attractive option for booking Delta One to Europe. However, they have unfortunately added very high surcharges to these flights, which makes them far less appealing than they once were. Surprisingly, Virgin can also be a very good deal for flights on its own metal now that it prices them dynamically.
- Miles required:
- Delta flights: 57.5K miles each way in business class (for direct flights) between the East Coast and Central US and Europe, or 77.5K between the West Coast and Europe in peak season. Off-peak prices are 47.5K / 67.5K.
- Virgin flights: Prices start at 29K each way in business class and can go up to the stratosphere due to dynamic pricing.
- Surcharges can add an additional $1000+ each way.
- How to find awards: Search for available space at VirginAtlantic.com. See: Book Delta with Virgin Atlantic miles online.
- How to book awards: Book online at VirginAtlantic.com.
- Change/Cancellation fees: $100. If your original taxes were less than $100, Virgin Atlantic will allow you to simply forfeit the taxes.
- Key warnings: Virgin Atlantic charges for each segment separately, so it is not a good choice for connecting itineraries. Note that Virgin Atlantic adds significant surcharges on Delta flights to and from Europe. Some major European airports are not loaded into Virgin Atlantic’s website, so you may have to call to check availability/book.
- Transfer from: Amex Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Capital One Miles, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi Thank You Rewards, Marriott Bonvoy
United
- The short story: United charges a relatively hefty sum of miles for business class flights between the US and Europe (~88K on partner airlines), but the lack of fuel surcharges can be a major advantage for booking partners like Lufthansa...and free changes and cancellations are appealing. Additionally, United credit card holders now get a 10-15% discount on award pricing and access to much more availability.
- Miles required: Starting at 88K one-way in business class between the US and Europe on partner airlines and 80K on United. Economy awards start at ~26-27K.
- How to find awards: Search for available space at United.com.
- How to book awards: Book online at United.com.
- Change and cancellation fees: There are no fees to change or cancel award tickets.
- Key warnings: United has eliminated its award chart, so you may see many different prices for award tickets.
- Transfer from: Bilt Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Marriott Bonvoy
List of transfer partners (how to get the miles)
The following chart shows the available transferable points programs for each of the above airline frequent flyer programs:
| Rewards Program | Amex Transfer Ratio (and transfer time) | Chase Transfer Ratio (and transfer time) | Citi Transfer Ratio (and transfer time) | Capital One Transfer Ratio (and transfer time) | Bilt Transfer Ratio (and transfer time) | Wells Fargo Transfer Ratio (and transfer time) | Rove Transfer Ratio (and transfer time) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aer Lingus Avios | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 via Qatar (~1 day) | 1 to 1 via BA (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Unknown) | 1 to 1 via Qatar () |
| Air Canada Aeroplan | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | |||
| Air France KLM Flying Blue | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Unknown) | 1 to 1 (Instant) |
| ANA Mileage Club | 1 to 1 (~1 day) | ||||||
| Avianca LifeMiles | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Unknown) | ||
| British Airways Avios | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 via Qatar (~1 day) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Unknown) | 1 to 1 via Qatar () |
| Emirates Skywards | 1000 to 800 (Instant) | 1000 to 800 (Instant) | 1,000 to 750 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | |||
| Etihad Guest | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (~1 hour) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Unknown) | 1 to 1 (Unknown) | ||
| Iberia Avios | 1 to 1 (~12-24 hours (slower over weekend)) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 via Qatar (~1 day) | 1 to 1 via BA (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Unknown) | 1 to 1 via Qatar () |
| Qantas Frequent Flyer | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (~1 day) | 1 to 1 (~1 day) | ||||
| Qatar Privilege Club Avios | 1 to 1 (12-24 hours) | 1 to 1 via BA (Instant) | 1 to 1 (~1 day) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Unknown) | 1 to 1 (Unknown) |
| Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles | 1 to 1 (12-24 hours) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Unknown) | |||
| United MileagePlus | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | |||||
| Virgin Atlantic Flying Club | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Unknown) | 1 to 1 (Unknown) |
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I am totally lost…it says above that Am Air flights are 57.5K from US to Europe…I am hunting for a business ticket from Miami to Zurich and it’s currently listed at 488K miles! What am I missing here?
57.5k AA miles are the partner awards. AA’s own are dynamically-priced
How do I find the “partner rewards”? Thanks in advance!
In the Search, click on Advanced Search, scroll all the way down and select Business Class (not All Classes). Then the calendar will show you the cheapest business-class awards. Or, sort by the Business price in points for the particular date. (Also, by default, AA flights show up first). There may not be any partner awards for the dates you’re looking though.
For the “List of transfer partners (how to get the miles)” table at the bottom, I suggest adding Bilt instead of Brex, and on the airline side, Alaska.
I think flying blue business class surcharges are closer to $600 vs the $3-350 in the post these days.
Iberia: DFW is a US point.
Also: They have poor customer service for those on miles. In one case, a last minute equipment change moved us from PE to E and we were not offered any miles compensation. When ‘reminded’ they offered a nugertory sum (they priced the E ticket at a high number of miles so that the amount reimburded was low relative to the amount paid for the PE ticket). A DOT complaint increased this but to far less than the value they placed on their miles when they sell them (3c). They have no US registered agent, requiring service to be made in London or Madrid at a cost of around $6,000.
“The short story: Atmos Reward’s distance-based award chart offers competitive pricing to and from Europe, starting at 2.5K points one-way with a free stopover on a one-way award.”
It should say 22.5K instead of 2.5K (although that would be nice 😉
Darn right it should. Thanks, fixed that.
sorry if this was posted before , but isnt bilt still 1:1 with emirates
Probably need to update the ANA section to reflect that you now need to be signed into a Mileage Plus account in order to see flight results in miles. Work around to see non-preferential award pricing would be to sign into someone’s account who doesn’t have status or one of their qualifying credit cards. For example your P2 spouse with neither of these.
Recently booked Finnair J with Finnair Avios (moved over from BA) – worth considering as easy enough to get elsewhere in Europe from there.
We used Finnair (also via BA) to book JAL! 🙂
And it was because of a suggestion on the FM Facebook group. Great, great tip!
I fly business class and so these awards are not much use for me. I do see that finding business class awards from the West Coast are now much more difficult than just a month ago – particularly with Alaska miles – I am now finding zero awards that were available easily last month. Now that I got both new Alaska cards (P2 the same) earned the 100K vouchers which I now find can’ really be used for a decent deal. All those 70K miles are gone – forever, I assume. In all my 25+ years playing this game I have never seen it so bad. United is about the only one I can use for a reasonable fee as long as I have one of their cards which I don’t have.
How far in advance does Turkish release award space (even in their own program)? I thought it was 350 days, but I’m looking at the end of March next year, and there’s nothing so far. Does it have to do w/ the Summer 2026 schedule? thanks
Booking partner awards via Iberia are nonrefundable. Caution. This should be added to the Avios section in this post.
That’s a key point, which is why we usually only recommend Iberia for awards on Iberia flights (which is noted in the post).
not sure where to ask this question .. Next year I’ll be going to Arusha (ARK) Africa from Orlando (MCO) and returning about two weeks later from Nairobi (NBO). Dates not settled. We are currently Delta Platinum, but that will run out at end of 2025, so I need to get equivalent status somewhere before then. We have around 750,000 Delta points, 500,000 Marriott points, 200,000 Chase points, and 1.5 Million Hilton points. (maybe 200,000 Southwest). Given the length of journey, looking to fly at least business class for majority of flight. How would you engineer status and point movement to minimize dollar spend ? EG it appears to do this on Emirates would be about $ 11k /pp. Thanks
You mentioned for Emirates: “Miles required: 87K one-way or 108K round-trip in business class. First Class is 102K one-way and 204K round-trip.”
Is 108K round-trip a typo? I’m seeing 174K round-trips.
No, it’s not, but that’s the price for roundtrip saver awards – which we note can be hard to find. If you’re seeing higher prices, one or both legs is not a saver award. I think it’s easiest to look for the one-way saver awards (which are higher-priced), then pair two of those into a roundtrip search. You’ll then see the lower price reflected.
No plans for TAP?
I have 45k TAP miles that expire May 31st.
How on earth do I use them?
Thks.
https://frequentmiler.com/recent/tag/best-ways-to-get-to – this link is broken, FYI,
Thanks – I’ve just fixed that