Looking for the cheapest ways to get to the Caribbean? This post outlines the best options available to get there by using frequent flyer rewards programs available to the major US transferable currencies, including American Express Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Capital One Miles, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi ThankYou points, Marriott Bonvoy points and Wells Fargo Rewards.
With a relative lack of luxurious premium cabin options and what are in some cases relatively short flights, economy class might be a desirable option for some award travelers. This post includes excellent ways to get to the Caribbean in both economy class and business class.
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 a number of 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)
Dynamic award pricing affects award fares
Note that all major US Carriers flying to Mexico/the Caribbean/Central America use some variation of dynamic award pricing. That means there is no longer a “standard saver” price for an award flight on United using United miles or on American using American miles (although in practice there are “starting from” amounts). You’ll therefore want to check their sites directly for award pricing as they may sometimes be your best option.
Best ways to the Caribbean and Central America using point and 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 (though in this region you won’t encounter many) 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 be sure that the award you seek can be booked with the miles you intend.
American AAdvantage
- The short story: American now has variable award pricing but sometimes runs web specials, both advertised and unadvertised, which can sometimes present solid value on its own flights.
- Miles required: Varies from ~10K miles one way for economy and ~22.5K in business. Web Specials can dip well below those prices, however.
- How to find awards: Search AA.com
- How to book awards: Book at AA.com
- Key warnings: Note that "web specials" can not be changed, but can be cancelled and redeposited for free. If transferring from Marriott, note that transfers may take 7 days or more in some instances. American offers award holds for 5 days.
- Transfer from: Marriott
Alaska Mileage Plan (for AA)
- The short story: Alaska's partner chart has become one of the best ways to book short-to-medium distance AA flights. This could be especially good for short international flights like Miami to Grand Cayman or other points from the Southern or Northeastern US to the Caribbean.
- Miles required: 4,500 miles in economy or 9,000 in first for flights up to 700 miles in distance, 7,500/15,000 miles for flights of 701 to 1,400 miles or 12,500/25,000 for flight between 1,401 and 2,100 miles.
- How to find awards: Search for available space at AlaskaAir.com.
- How to book awards: Book online at AlaskaAir.com.
- Key warnings: Alaska often has lower availability than booking direct on AA. For flights with connections, Qantas or Finnair may sometimes be a better deal.
- Transfer from: Bilt, Marriott
Delta SkyMiles
- The short story: Delta has regular flash sales to the Caribbean where it is sometimes possible to get solid value.
- Miles required: Varies, but enter your starting airport at the Travel is Free Delta mileage calculator and just check the "international" box to find destinations that may present a good deal.
- How to find awards: Search for available space at Delta.com.
- How to book awards: Book online at Delta.com.
- Key warnings: Delta pricing can be very unpredictable and varies wildly.
- Transfer from: Amex
Finnair Avios (for AA and Alaska)
- The short story: Finnair's zone-based award chart is now the best option among Avios partners for most medium-to-long AA or Alaska flights to the Caribbean, Central America and Mexico.
- Miles required: 12,500 Avios in economy for Alaska flights and 13,000 Avios in economy or 25,000 for business class on American Airlines. Alaska business class isn't competitive at 49,500 Avios one-way.
- How to find awards: Search for available Alaska space at britishairways.com.
- How to book awards: Book via chat at finnair.com or over the phone at 929-474-6049 or 323-694-7646 (Mon–Fri 8 a.m.–8 p.m., Sat–Sun 8 a.m.–6 p.m. Eastern Time)
- Key warnings: The British Airways site sometimes shows phantom award space for AA (see: Phantom menace: an award search time suck). You may want to double-check Qantas.com for availability before transferring points. Finnair's booking process remains difficult to deal with. It sounds like chat reps tend to be better at booking AA/Alaska flights.
- Transfer from: Capital One. Also transfer to BA and then to Finnair with Amex, Bilt, Chase, Wells Fargo or to Qatar and then to Finnair with Citi.
JetBlue TrueBlue
- The short story: JetBlue TrueBlue points are typically only worth about 1.5c towards the cost of a flight, but when prices are low that can mean that a transfer to JetBlue might make sense. Further, JetBlue flies its excellent Mint product to Aruba, Dominican Republic, Grenada, St. Lucia, Barbados, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands, Costa Rica and St. Maarten from either New York or Boston which is likely the best business class in the region.
- Miles required: Varies by route but can be less than other options when cash prices are low. Sometimes well under 10K points one-way in economy.
- How to find awards: Search for available space at JetBlue.com.
- How to book awards: Book online at JetBlue.com.
- Change and cancellation fees: None for award tickets except for Blue Basic. For those Blue Basic fares, changes are $100 on itineraries in the U.S., Caribbean, Mexico, Central America or $200 for other routes.
- Key warnings: Note that transfers from Membership Rewards cost a small excise fee. Transfers are free from other transferable currencies.
- Transfer from: Amex, Citi, Chase, Marriott
Qantas (for AA and Alaska)
- The short story: Qantas offers better pricing than traditional American Airlines award prices on itineraries with a distance of 1200 miles or fewer each way and has no close-in booking fee.
- Miles required: 8,000 miles each way for itineraries covering a distance up to 600 miles (like Miami to Grand Cayman) or 12,000 miles each way for itineraries covering a distance up to 1200 miles (like Miami to most of Central America and the Caribbean). (See: Strengths of Qantas for AA redemptions).
- 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.
- Key warnings: Alaska Mileage Plan might be a better value if you have direct flights and Finnair will be significantly cheaper on flights over 1,200 miles.
- Transfer from: Amex, Citi, Capital One, Marriott
Southwest Rapid Rewards
- The short story: Southwest points are typically only worth about 1.5c towards the cost of a flight, but certain taxes aren't charged on award tickets which can make for a redemption value as high as 1.9 cents per point to some Latin American destinations.
- Miles required: Varies by route.
- How to find awards: Search for available space at Southwest.com
- How to book awards: Book online at Southwest.com
- Key warnings: Keep in mind that if you pay for Early Bird Check In and then later cancel or change your flight, you will lose the benefit without a refund.
- Transfer from: Chase
Turkish Miles & Smiles (for United)
- The short story: Turkish Miles & Smiles offers very good award pricing for Star Alliance flights to Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.
- Miles required: From 10,000 each way in economy class or 15,000 miles each way in business class which includes the continental US to/from Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.
- How to find awards: Search United.com and look for "Saver Awards". You can also try searching via the Turkish Airlines website, but it does not always show full availability.
- How to book awards: Some awards can be booked online at TurkishAirlines.com (click "Award Ticket" on the home page, then log in and choose the "Star Alliance" tab on the award search tool). If you see an award on AirCanada.com that is not available at the Turkish website, you can try an email booking. Once an email agent sets up the reservation, you can call to pay the taxes and ticket rather than emailing back with the requested screen shots of your credit card and ID.
- Key warnings: Turkish appears to have a max connect time of 4 hours on a domestic itinerary, so itineraries with a longer connection would require 2 awards. Also, for an unknown reason, Turkish phone agents often can't see award space that other partner airlines can see. Booking over the phone can be very challenging. We highly recommend calling to put an award on hold before you transfer points to Turkish miles.
- Transfer from: Bilt, Citi Thank You, Capital One, Marriott Bonvoy
United MileagePlus
- The short story: United offers decent pricing to the Caribbean in economy, but dynamic pricing means that there's a huge variance in prices.
- Miles required: From 9-11K miles each way plus $5.60 for the cheapest saver-level economy class awards.
- How to find awards: Search for available space at United.com
- How to book awards: Book online at United.com
- Key warnings: United has eliminated its award chart, so you may see many different prices for award tickets.
List of transfer partners
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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) |
| Alaska MileagePlan | 1 to 1 via Hawaiian (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | ||||
| 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) |
| Delta SkyMiles | 1 to 1 plus excise tax (Instant) | |||||
| Finnair Plus+ | 1 to 1 via BA (Instant) | 1 to 1 via BA (Instant) | 1 to 1 via Qatar (~1 day) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 via BA (Instant) | 1 to 1 via BA (Unknown) |
| Iberia Avios | 1 to 1 (~12 - 72 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) |
| JetBlue | 250 to 200 plus excise tax (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | |||
| 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 via BA (Instant) | 1 to 1 via BA (Instant) | 1 to 1 via BA (Unknown) |
| Southwest Rapid Rewards | 1 to 1 (Instant) | |||||
| United MileagePlus | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) |
Buying cash fares to the Caribbean using bank points
Before you transfer points, keep in mind that cash fares to the Caribbean and Central America can sometimes be quite reasonable. If you have a card that enables you to redeem your bank points at 1.5c per point (like the Chase Sapphire Reserve or US Bank Altitude Reserve), you may be better off using your points to book a paid fare and earning miles on your ticket.
For instance, a $729 round trip business class fare from Newark to Aruba could alternatively be booked for just under 50,000 points for someone with a Chase Sapphire Reserve card.
That would be about 25K each way in business class, which is comparable to what most other programs would charge for an award ticket…but this is a paid ticket that would earn miles that could be credited to United. Award flights are a better deal in some cases, but it’s always worth comparing against paid tickets.
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There’s increasing traffic between the US and Panamá; including the best award partners for booking COPA flights would have been useful.
+1 would like this info as well. That’s the reason I clicked on the post….
Maybe it is outside the intended scope of the article, but Delta companion certificate would seem to be a good option too.
No mention of either LifeMiles or Aeroplan???
And Aeromexico flights via Flying Blue.
Aegean is great if you can find availability. Easier than Turkish to deal with. It’s 12.5 in economy or 21k in business
Would you guys be willing to update this article for 2024? Lots has changed in the world of travel, and exploring the Caribbean and Central America is at the top of my list!
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While using AA or DL Skymiles
We just booked a week January 2021 in San Jose, Costa Rica @ Doubletree for the Family since we cancelled our month long South Pacific jaunt we had booked for latter this summer; after we had miles redeposited and taxes/ fees refunded. We searched shorter trips closer to home.
AA has Websavers to Central America for 20K RT and South America for 22K-30K RT (EZE 30K RT) But not sure I would want to fly 12 hours in Economy to Argentina but PE is 50K RT on 787 might be tolerable.
20K RT to Panama (even from West Coast -but you will fly thru MIA rather than LAX/PHX/DFW for other southern destinations). 40K Hilton Pts for 5 nights in Panama City Hilton’s.
Use AA awardmaper tool to get an idea of how far you can go on so little.
I haven’t full researched the new Delta partnership with LATAM but it looks like 25K/50K RT Sao Paulo (GRU), Buenos Aires (EZE), Santiago de Chile (SCL).
Any tips on how to find AA flights from Miami to Liberia, Costa Rica using Avios. When I put in LIR in the destination box it doesn’t recognize it.
You missed my favorite option, using CSR points to book a cruise out of Boston or New York. Sometimes they leave from up here right next to the Intrepid aircraft carrier, which looks puny from on board the ship.
The best method is to search and price it out yourself on the cruise line website, then call Chase to book. You can even pre-pay gratuities, allowing you to use points for that part too.
I don’t think TrueBlue is 1.5 cpp for Mint. They had a devaluation where it’s like 1.3 cpp for coach and 1.0 for Mint
You missed Spirit. They rarely release the lowest cost awards these days, but I used to regularly fly Chicago to Nicaragua for 10k miles round trip + taxes (tip: booking connections separately can save miles on Spirit). Since the credit card earns 2 points per dollar, that was a free trip for every $5000 in spend. That’s a deal that can’t be beat!
Hopefully they loosen up availability again now that passenger loads are down.