How to Book a Flight with Points

How Airlines Set the Price In Miles

Each airline has their own method for determining the cost of an award ticket. These methods can be divided into two categories: fixed award pricing and dynamic award pricing.

Fixed award charts

Fixed award charts show exactly how many miles an award redemption will cost. This doesn't mean that the redemption will be the same all year round, but it does mean that it will be easy to determine how many miles a trip will cost since this won't fluctuate from day to day.

Each airline has their own unique spin on their award chart. Fixed award prices may vary by season, distance, region, or the number of segments.

The plus of a fixed award chart is that it is predictable. Typically, though, with a fixed award chart only a certain number of seats are available to book with points and miles. If those sell out, you won't be able to book on that flight.

This pricing is becoming more rare for U.S. based airlines.

Examples of Fixed Award Charts

Region / Zone based award charts

Award rates set by destination region, often with seasonal tiers.

To:
Off-Peak
Standard
Peak
Anytime
Continental U.S.
7,500
12,500
20,000
30,000
Hawaii
20,000
22,500
30,000
45,000
Caribbean / Mexico
12,500
17,500
25,000
35,000
Europe
22,500
30,000
40,000
60,000
Asia
—
35,000
55,000
75,000
Distance based award charts

Award rates set by miles flown and cabin class.

Distance
Economy
Business
First
0–650 miles
5,000
8,500
—
651–1,150 miles
7,500
13,500
—
1,151–2,000 miles
12,500
25,000
35,000
2,001–3,000 miles
17,500
35,000
45,000
3,001–5,000 miles
25,000
50,000
70,000
5,001+ miles
35,000
70,000
100,000

Numbers shown are illustrative examples to demonstrate chart structure — actual rates vary by airline and change over time.

Types of fixed price charts

Some airlines have a fixed award chart that stays the same all year round, while others will price flights according to season (typically standard, peak, and off peak).

Some airlines fix award prices by distance flown and some use a region/zone pricing model.

Finally, some airlines will charge you based on the number of legs on your itinerary. So a flight from New York to Honolulu with a layover in Chicago (two legs) will cost twice as many points as a direct flight from New York to Honolulu (one flight).

Dynamic award pricing

Dynamic award pricing is just that, dynamic.

Airline prices when booked with cash are dynamic. They fluctuate from day to day with demand, and a flight that costs $100 one day may go up to $300 the next day. We don't know when and whether a flight price will go up and down.

Dynamic award pricing works the same way.

The number of miles required to purchase a flight will fluctuate and what's 30,000 miles one day may be 120,000 miles another day.

Sometimes (like with Southwest Airlines) the number of miles is strictly tied to the cost of the ticket in dollars so your miles are always worth the same amount. For most airlines, however, the dollar and miles price is loosely correlated and the redemption value of a ticket will vary from day to day.

It can be harder to plan out how many miles you will need to save for a trip because prices can (and will) change. Typically when airlines switch to dynamic pricing, people who fly business class will see fewer deals but economy class flier seem to have some opportunities for cheaper flights.

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