Redeeming airline miles sounds like your ticket to free flights, but that's not quite the case: You'll always have to pay a bit (or maybe even a lot) in cash in addition to your hard-earned miles when booking an award ticket. In fact, those extra costs keep going up and up.
Out-of-pocket costs range wildly from a flat $5.60 tax bill on a one-way domestic flight to nearly $2,000 or more in cash for some international business and first class award tickets – yes, even after forking over hundreds of thousands of miles. That final cash cost depends on what airline frequent flyer program you're using, which airline you're flying, where you're departing from, and your final destination.
Some airlines tack on additional surcharges when you're redeeming miles, which can drastically inflate your cash costs. Within the last few weeks, Emirates and Virgin Atlantic drastically raised surcharges, making once-great deals borderline unaffordable. Yet some airline mileage programs shield you from these high cash costs entirely, leaving you only to pay the mandatory government taxes.
So here are some of the best airline frequent flyer programs to redeem miles that'll save you from paying huge taxes or surcharges. You'll notice a pattern pretty quickly: Almost all of them are from airlines in North America.
Air Canada Aeroplan
Leaning on our friendly neighbors to the north is a great way to avoid fees when using airline miles – and the redemption rates are pretty solid as well.
After a major overhaul in 2020, Air Canada's Aeroplan mileage program doesn't pass along any fuel surcharges when redeeming points. That makes it one of the best ways to fly Star Alliance carriers using points and miles – especially when booking some airlines notorious for tacking on big surcharges like Lufthansa or Swiss.
A few examples of what you can book include:
- Lie-flat seats to Europe flying Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Lufthansa business class, or SWISS business class from 60,000 points & ~$60 in taxes and fees one-way.
- Flights to Istanbul flying Turkish Airlines business class from 70,000 points & ~$140 in taxes and fees one-way.
- Business class to India or South Africa flying Lufthansa, Swiss, or Turkish from 85,000 points & ~$90 in taxes and fees one-way.
For instance, a SWISS business class ticket from New York City (JFK) to Geneva (GVA) would only cost 60,000 points plus under $60 in fees one-way. With 90,000 Air Canada points, you could actually book Lufthansa first class for the same fees.
Booking those exact same flights using other mileage programs such as ANA Mileage Club or Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles, your out-of-pocket fees could easily add up to around $800 one-way or $1,700 roundtrip. Air Canada shields you from those big cash costs.
For example, you could book roundtrip flights to Europe through ANA for 100,000 miles total or 50,000 miles each way – seemingly a steal. However, you'll be shocked to find out that you would have to pay over $1,000 each way in addition to all those points.
Aeroplan also gives you the flexibility to use even fewer points and pay a bit more in fees – or vice versa. That makes it an incredibly useful program when you are short on points.
Sure, you may spend fewer miles with other airline mileage programs, but no one wants to spend that much cash when they're already using plenty of points. Instead, use Aeroplan and save your money.
Read more: How to Book Award Tickets Through Air Canada Aeroplan
Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan Miles
Despite some big changes to its award chart and its merger with Hawaiian, Alaska Mileage Plan is arguably the single-best airline mileage program on the planet. Best of all, you'll never get stuck with a high cash bill on top of your miles when redeeming Alaska miles for flights – on most airlines, anyway.
One great example is using Alaska miles to book lie-flat business class seats on Aer Lingus to Ireland and beyond to other destinations in Europe. The award rates are low and so are the cash costs: It starts at just 45,000 Alaska miles plus $19 in taxes and fees each way.
Many other airline mileage programs charge $130 or more for those exact same flights – and more miles, too. And the savings go far beyond Aer Lingus and Ireland.
Alaska generally doesn't pass on cash surcharges, whether you're booking a flight to Tokyo with Japan Airlines, flying to Hong Kong on Cathay Pacific, hopping on Qantas down to Australia, and more. In almost every case, you'll pay just $19 or so each way and a bit more for the return flight, based upon international taxes.
There's one big exception: British Airways.
Flying British Airways into London-Heathrow (LHR), you'll pay at least 45,000 Alaska miles … plus almost $1,000 in taxes and fees. Ouch!
Read more: The Big Wins & Worst Hits of Alaska’s Award Chart Changes
American AAdvantage Miles
AAdvantage miles are great for much more than just American Airlines flights.
They can take you all over the world flying some of the world's best airlines that partner with American. Plus, they're easy to redeem since American's website is our go-to website for finding award availability on Oneworld airlines.
Sure, you'll still need to avoid flying British Airways if you don't want to pay a small fortune in taxes and fees. But you can fly nearly any other American partner airline with low cash costs when redeeming American miles.
Whether you book one of those five-star partner airlines or a trip operated by American itself, you'll rarely pay exorbitant surcharges because AAdvantage spares you from them. Virtually any one-way flight from the U.S. will clock in at $5.60 (or sometimes a tad more), including this Japan Airlines business class seat to Tokyo-Haneda (HND).
Other airline programs like British Airways or Cathay Pacific would levy at least $200 on this exact same flight.
Read more: How to Find & Book the Best American AAdvantage Miles Deals
Avianca LifeMiles
Not only does Avianca LifeMiles have some of the lowest redemption rates for business class flights on Star Alliance airlines, the quirky mileage program also doesn't pass along any fuel surcharges, period. And that means you'll always keep your cash costs low when redeeming LifeMiles.
If you want to fly Lufthansa First Class or Swiss business class, redeeming Avianca LifeMiles is often the best way to do it. You can find lower redemption rates with other airlines and a lower tax bill with some others, too … but Avianca LifeMiles almost always strikes the best balance of the two.
Here are some examples of what you can book:
- Business class to Europe flying Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Lufthansa, or Swiss from 69,000 miles & about $25 in taxes and fees one-way.
- Lufthansa First Class to Europe from roughly 120,000 miles & about $25 in taxes and fees one-way.
- Business class to Japan flying ANA from 90,000 miles & about $25 in taxes and fees one-way.
Taxes and fees will vary. For example, flying from New York City to Zurich (ZRH) would cost you 55,000 LifeMiles but around $27.80 in taxes one-way.
In comparison, booking that same flight using Turkish Airlines miles would cost you 90,000 miles … and you would also have to hand over almost $1,000 to cover taxes and fees!
Delta SkyMiles
Delta SkyMiles are almost never a smart bet to book business class awards, but they can help keep your out-of-pocket cash expenses to a minimum when booking award travel.
Whether you're booking a Delta SkyMiles flash sale to fly Delta or using your SkyMiles to book Air France, KLM, Virgin Atlantic, or any of Delta's other partner airlines, you'll never pay high fees when redeeming SkyMiles. You can't say the same for Delta's close partner, Virgin Atlantic.
After a recent hike, that U.K. airline charges an arm and leg in fees when redeeming Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points for business class flights flying Virgin Atlantic itself: just shy of $600 for a one-way to London … and even more on the return. Sure, Virgin charges fewer miles than Delta, but the difference doesn't justify Virgin's sky-high carrier-imposed fuel surcharges.
There are big savings on economy awards using your Delta SkyMiles, too. While the final amount hinges on where you're flying in and out of, we've seen SkyMiles rates to Europe for under 30,000 SkyMiles roundtrip, plus around $100.
Delta's partner airlines might charge similar rates for an economy redemption … but up to $300 or more in taxes and fees. No thank you.
Southwest Rapid Rewards
We couldn't write a story about avoiding fees without including Southwest Airlines. The airline pretty much wrote the book on not charging extra fees … well, until recently, anyway.
While you'll still need to pay taxes and fees (starting from $5.60 one-way for domestic flights) when booking flights with Southwest Rapid Rewards points, there will never be anything else on top of that. No fuel surcharges, no nasty hidden fees. International redemptions to Mexico or the Caribbean may cost you more, but it's always reasonable.
And if you have the Southwest Companion Pass, you'll only pay the taxes and fees for your companion – even when booking award travel.
United MileagePlus Miles
Last but not least, United MileagePlus is one of the best frequent flyer programs out there if you're looking to avoid high cash fees on award travel.
Similar to Aeroplan and Avianca LifeMiles, using United miles is a good way to book Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Lufthansa, Swiss, or Turkish Airlines when redeeming miles since you won't get hit with those high fuel surcharges. In many cases, however, United will charge you more miles for the same redemptions than those other options.
Where United shines here is if you'd like to make connections either domestically on United – or on other United partner flights abroad. Complicated itineraries can sometimes be very difficult to book with Aeroplan or LifeMiles, but United's booking engine often lets you easily pull up those flights.
For a one-way business class flight to Europe, for example, you'll typically pay rates starting around 88,000 miles. And if you're booking roundtrip, you can expect to pay less in taxes and fees to fly any of those carriers mentioned above.
These business class flights to Frankfurt (FRA) and back cost almost 180,000 United miles roundtrip, but you'll only be on the hook for under $150 in taxes.
If you book through many other Star Alliance frequent flyer programs, you'll pay much, much more. A program like ANA Mileage Club, for example, will charge you only 100,000 miles … but require over $2,000 in taxes.
Other Tips to Keep Your Cash Costs Low
The best way to avoid big taxes and fees when redeeming miles is to use the right airline program. But that's not the whole battle. Depending on where you're going, you could be on the hook for a lot more than you'd like.
Here are a few more things to keep in mind:
- Avoid flying out of London! The U.K. capital is notorious for the heftiest taxes in the world – and they get even bigger if you're flying up front. You can easily pay more than $300 in taxes on a one-way ticket from London to the U.S. … and that doesn't even count additional fuel surcharges. Instead, fly home from another European airport like Amsterdam (AMS), Madrid (MAD), or even Dublin (DUB).
- Book British Airways via Cathay Pacific instead! British Airways is notorious for horrible surcharges on its business and first class awards, charging $350 to $700 or more for a one-way to London. You can book those exact same flights to London using Cathay Pacific AsiaMiles for 63,000 miles and about $230. Just follow our advice above: Avoid flying home from London.
- Dead set on flying Virgin's business class to London? You'll always be on the hook for at least a few hundred dollars in additional fees flying Virgin's Upper Class suites. But rather than paying close to $600 by booking a one-way flight from the U.S. to London, you can book a similar flight with the airline using Air France/KLM Flying Blue miles and pay just $260 or so in fees one-way. While Air France/KLM charges more miles, it can easily be worth it for less than half the cash cost.
- Heading to Mexico or the Caribbean? The government taxes aren't quite as bad, but expect to pay anywhere from $85 to $150 roundtrip to many destination when using your miles – even if you're flying economy. If you're set on keeping your cash costs low, check out the U.S. Virgin Islands or Puerto Rico – it's just $11.20 or so roundtrip.
- Prepare to pay up if you're hoping to fly Emirates. After a series of fee hikes, you can now expect to pay almost $450 in taxes and fees on a roundtrip from the U.S. to Dubai (DXB) or more for business class. Sadly, you can't even escape those massive surcharges by flying Emirates' fun fifth-freedom routes between the U.S. and Europe anymore.
Bottom Line
If you want to avoid high fees when booking award travel, you'll want to choose which airline miles you use wisely.
Keep these mileage programs in mind if you prefer to save some cash. Even if it requires redeeming a few (or even a lot) more miles, you still could come out way ahead.
