Start With the Trip You Already Mean to Take
You should leave this page with one benchmark for your trip, and a reason to trust it or throw it out. Name the trip first: a short domestic hop, a coast-to-coast flight, Europe, or Asia. The miles below are cells in our award file for that kind of trip. A published row is a number you can plan around. A starting level is only what the file last stored for a program that prices in the search.
If you are new to this, the award travel beginner guide explains transferable points before you chase a number. If the balance is not there yet, earning miles without flying and the travel card ranking are the ground game. Do not transfer until the seat is on the screen.
Domestic: A Short Hop Is Not Coast-to-Coast
A smaller balance can buy a short domestic seat. Which row you are on still decides the miles.
British Airways publishes no numeric Avios chart. On short-haul domestic economy, Avios is listed at 6,600 miles one-way, and that figure is an unverified snapshot. Use it as a distance clue, then read the price in the booking tool.
Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles is listed at 15,000 miles one-way on that same short-haul domestic economy row. Same kind of trip, different program, different ask.
Coast-to-coast sits on the long-haul domestic row. Delta SkyMiles publishes no award chart. Pricing is dynamic, and the stored figures are unverifiable starting levels, not a chart. The long-haul domestic economy figure in our data is 10,000 miles one-way. Believe the search if it is higher.
Shorter awards in general are the subject of best redemptions under 50,000 miles. The same question for one region is already written up for the Caribbean and for Iceland.
Europe: Chart Rows and Starting Levels
Europe is its own table. Every figure in this section is one-way unless the row itself is round-trip. A live seat can differ from the row, so search before you transfer.
Air Canada Aeroplan to Europe is listed at 32,500 miles in economy and 60,000 miles in business, one-way. That business figure is a partner-chart price you can plan around while you wait for the seat.
Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles to Europe is listed at 55,000 miles in economy and 90,000 miles in business, one-way. The higher ask is a different program, not a sale that disappeared.
Iberia Plus to Europe is listed at 17,000 miles in economy, one-way. Business is listed at 40,500 miles one-way, with a peak figure of 59,000 miles one-way on the same row. These Iberia figures are an unverified snapshot and should not be read as operator-confirmed. The Iberia Plus guide is where to go next if that row is the one you might book.
Air France/KLM Flying Blue is fully dynamic, and these are starting levels: 25,000 miles in economy and 60,000 miles in business, one-way to Europe. The Flying Blue guide covers the monthly Promo Rewards that can cut a selected route.
ANA Mileage Club prices its own awards round-trip only. Transatlantic business is listed at 88,000 miles round-trip. You book both directions together. The ANA Mileage Club guide explains that quirk.
The full Europe comparison, program by program, is the best miles for flights to Europe. If the goal is business class near the Aeroplan business figure above, start with business class to Europe under 60,000 miles.
Asia: A Separate Table
Asia is not the Europe table with a longer flight. Read these rows on their own.
Air Canada Aeroplan to Asia is listed at 50,000 miles in economy and 85,000 miles in business, one-way.
Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles to Asia is listed at 75,000 miles in economy and 130,000 miles in business, one-way.
American Airlines AAdvantage prices dynamically, with no published chart. The Asia figures in our data are 35,000 miles in economy and 60,000 miles in business, one-way. Those are starting levels. The AAdvantage guide is the place to read what that program will and will not hold still.
The region page is the best miles for flights to Asia.
Pay the Business Miles Only If You Would Have Paid Cash
On each route above, business is the higher of the two figures in that program's row. Spend the extra miles only if you would have bought that cabin with cash. If you would have flown economy, the business row is a nicer seat, not money you saved.
Put your cash fare next to the mileage price in the cents-per-point calculator. What cents per point means is how to read the result for one booking, not as a lifetime average for the currency.
The Award Can Still Ask for Cash
The mile figure is not the whole ticket. Carrier-imposed surcharges and government taxes can still be due at checkout, and they change with the program and with whose metal you fly.
A low mile figure with a painful cash copay can lose to a higher mile figure that checks out clean. Read how fuel surcharges work, then confirm the cash due on the booking screen.
When you have the city pair, follow how to find award space and how to book the award. Compare programs in the search tool or on the explore map. If the live price is higher than the listed row, believe the search.
Flight delayed or canceled? Under EU rules you may be owed real cash compensation — even on award tickets. AirHelp checks your eligibility for free and only takes a fee if they win your claim.
The Bottom Line
Match the trip to one row above, keep the caveat that came with that row, and add the cash the program still charges. That is the price of the free flight. The booking screen wins if it disagrees.