Michael's Miles Round-Up

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Happy Friday Reader!

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Of all the domestic airlines to book with points and miles, American Airlines is one of the more complicated ones to book when using transfer partners, especially compared to United or Delta. Here's a breakdown of your options:

1. Of course, you've got American Airlines miles to book American Airlines flights on their own program. That's easy, and I'm not going to dig into that. The problem is, this is only an option if you have AA miles or Citi points, which transfer to AA.
2. Same goes for Alaska miles. If you have Alaska miles, you can book American Airlines flights, and it's not uncommon for this to be your cheapest option. But we've got a similar problem here too: you need Alaska miles, which are only available if you earn them directly or through Bilt, which transfers to Alaska.
3. Qantas is an option available from more flexible points currencies, but it's hardly ever going to be your cheapest choice. It's a significant option, though, because finding American Airlines flights bookable with Qantas miles is very easy, and that's very important to keep in mind whenever we start looking at flights to book on these next two partners, which are Qatar Airways and Finnair.

Qatar and Finnair are often going to be the cheapest transfer partners to use with flexible points currencies (Amex, Chase, Citi, Capital One, etc.). But you can only book nonstop AA flights with either of these programs.

Technically only a few banks transfer directly to Qatar or Finnair, but because they both use the Avios currency, they're available to all banks thanks to the fact that you can transfer your Avios amongst the Avios programs (here's a video on how).

To find these flights, my general workflow is to search on AwardTool (or PointsYeah, Roame, whatever your award search tool of choice is), and then search for the dates you're interested in on the route you're flying.

That tool will likely find any option with American, Alaska, and Qantas miles, but it won't find Qatar and Finnair options. So here's what you do:

You filter your results to look for a nonstop AA flight that's available to book with Qantas miles. You generally have to filter for it because it's not going to be one of the cheapest options, so it'll be buried.

If there's a nonstop flight available to book via a partner like Qantas, that tells me it's probably bookable with Qatar Airways and Finnair, so I can now check Qatar's website to see if it's available.

With that said, you could just directly search Qatar if that's your end goal to begin with, but I personally don't like navigating Qatar's website since it's a little slow and searches one day at a time, so I tend to do it this way. I also like to see what my other options are at the same time via an award search tool.

Now, searching and booking on Qatar's website is pretty straightforward. You just go in, select Use Avios, search for the flight, and book it.

With Finnair, you're not able to search and book online through their website like you would expect. You have to inquire about it via the chat feature in the bottom right-hand corner of their website, or you can call them. You'd just ask if they see that AA flight available to book with Avios, and then you can proceed with booking from there.

For pricing: Qatar is going to be cheaper, since they charge by distance, with prices running 9,500 - 13,000 - 14,500 - and 16,000 Avios one way as the distance increases.

Whereas Finnair charges a flat rate of 16,500 Avios one way for domestic flights no matter the distance. (Oddly, flights to Hawaii or Mexico/Central America are only 15,000.)

So there's your quick guide on finding American Airlines flights to book with your credit card miles!

P.S. There's sadly some news that just came out this week, making booking these flights via Qatar even harder now if you're not just booking for yourself. See the Featured News section for details.

P.P.S. Cathay Pacific is an additional option to book domestic AA flights, but it's very random to find availability. I haven’t found a reliable way to search for domestic AA availability other than checking Cathay’s website directly. The price is either 10,000 or 15,000 points depending on the distance between the origin and destination, and that's the same whether you're flying nonstop or connecting.

Feel like searching for flights isn't for you? ​
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Deals they send include domestic trips, international flights to Europe, cheap cash fares to Japan, rare premium hotel award space, and more - for 2 passengers and more.

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• Qatar Airways has restricted award bookings to four pre-approved family members. To unlock this booking feature, members must have a 30+ day old account and a history of direct earning by flying Qatar Airways (or on a partner) or earning from their cobranded card (points transfers don't count). Big bad change. My first thought for an easy workaround is to book an AA flight and enter their Qatar frequent flyer number so the earned miles credit to that account.
• Rove now allows you to share miles with up to three users annually, with limits of 200,000 miles per transfer and 600,000 total annual miles.
• Paze is giving $10 back when spending $10+ at select merchants 10 times per card, some are calling it the "deal of the year", see details of what still works here. (If you have a credit card at all you're likely eligible.)
• Wyndham has refreshed their current card offerings with higher annual fees and new earning rates which I don't love, but they're not requiring existing cardholders to switch to new earning rates which is great.
• Wyndham also released a new premium card with a $395 annual fee and a mixed bag of benefits. ​
• Q3 5x Bonus Categories for the Chase Freedom Flex card has been announced: Gas/EV Charging, Public Transit, Select Live Entertainment, & United Way.
• Starting August 1st, Amex's Resy Credit will be restricted to Amex-designated restaurants, no Resy venues are expected to be taken away from current list.
• Citi's 50% transfer bonus to Accor Live Limitless (ALL) means you transfer at a 4 Citi Points : 3 ALL points. With ALL being a revenue based currency you're looking at getting 1.72 cents per Citi point.
• Wells Fargo's Attune credit card has been discontinued.

Point Sales:

Purchasing points on sale is a way to access travel sweet spots at a cash discount, especially useful for those who can't earn points quickly through credit cards (those living outside of the U.S.) or those who want to fast-track specific luxury redemptions.

I recommend only purchasing points with a redemption in mind, or if you're topping off an account.

​Learn more with my Points Purchase Playbook + Calculator.
​
Air Canada up to 30% bonus as low as 1.89 cents each, exp 6/30​
Alaska Airlines 100% Bonus as low as 1.88 cents each, exp 7/5​
American Airlines up to 40% bonus as low as 2.26 cents each, tiered
​Choice Privileges up to 40% bonus as low as 0.74 cents each, exp 7/1
​Hilton Honors 100% bonus as low as 0.5 cents each, exp unk
​JetBlue up to 20% bonus as low as 2.4 cents each, exp 6/25
​Lufthansa up to 50% bonus as low as 1.39 cents each, exp 6/30
​Marriott up to ​40% bonus​ as low as 0.89 cents each, exp 6/23
​Qatar Airways up to 20% bonus as low as 1.92 cents each, exp unk.
​Southwest up to 45% discount as low as 1.65 cents each, exp 7/22
​United Airlines up to 100% bonus as low as 1.88 cents each, exp 6/24
​Virgin Atlantic up to 70% bonus as low as 1.48 cents each, exp 7/7
​World of Hyatt up to 20% discount as low as 2.17 cents each, exp 7/27
​Wyndham up to 80% bonus as low as 0.72 cents each, exp 7/3

People love their American Airlines miles for good reason. Here are some of the sweet spots that are available to book outside of your typical domestic flights.

If you're interested in supporting NMT via affiliate links here's how:

​Sign up for Travel Freely with my affiliate link then apply to any card through their CardGenie feature while logged in.

That's it. I get a small commission at no cost to you, and it's actually how I'm able to cover Chase, Capital One, and Amex content more freely.

"***" = Different from last week
"**" = Apply through Travel Freely after signing up with my affiliate link.​

Flexible Points Cards:​
-***Chase Sapphire Preferred $95 - 100k, after $5k spend​
​-Chase Sapphire Reserve $795 - 100k after $6k spend.
-***Chase Sapphire Reserve Business $795 - 200k after $30k spend in 6 months
-Chase Freedom Unlimited $0 - 20k/$200 after $500 spend in 3 months
-*****Chase Ink Unlimited $0 - 100k points after $8000 spent in 4 months
-*****Chase Ink Cash $0 100k points after $8000 spent in 4 months
- **Chase Ink Business Preferred $95 - 100k points after $8000 spent in 3 months. (Sign up through Travel Freely)

​
-AMEX Gold $325 has an offer for "as high as" 100k
​-AMEX Business Gold $375 - "as high as" 200k Targeted Offer after $15,000 spent in 3 months. Try copying and pasting link into Private/Incognito browser. ​
​-AMEX Platinum $895 - "as high as" 175k after $12k spend
-AMEX Platinum from Schwab/Morgan Stanley $895 - 150k after $12k spend. Ends July 8th​
-AMEX Business Platinum $895 - "as high as 300k" after $20,000 spent in 3 months; Also here's a 200k No Lifetime Language link.
​-Amex Business Blue Plus $0 - 75k, after $6000 in 4 months (Targeted offer). If it errors out when you click apply now, that means you’re not eligible.​
​​
-Capital One Venture X $395 - 75k points after $4,000 in 3mo.
-Capital One Venture $95 - 75k after $4,000 in 3mo.
-Capital One Venture Business $95 - 100k after $10k in 3 months.
-Capital One Venture X Business $395 - 150k bonus, after $30,000 in 3 months.
-Capital One Spark Cash $95 - $1000, or 100k if you have Venture Miles earning card, you can transfer cash into miles.
-Capital One Spark Cash Plus $150 - $2000, or 200k if you have Venture Miles earning card.
-Capital One Savor $0 - $250 cash back (25k points) after $500 in 3 months
-Citi Strata Elite $595 - 75k points, $595 annual fee
-Citi Strata Premier $95 - 60k points, $95 annual fee

Hotel Cards​
-AMEX Marriott Business Card $125 - 150k points + $125 Statement Credit after $8000 in 6 months, Ends 7/15
-**IHG Premier Card $99 - up to 185k points after $6000 spent in 6 months, tiered. (Apply through Travel Freely). Ends June 24th

Airline cards:
​-AMEX Delta SkyMiles Cards $150-$650 - Bonus up to 125k miles. Ends 7/15.
- Bank of America Atmos Summit $395 - (Alaska Airlines Card): 100k + 50% Flight Discount after $6500 in 90 days
- Bank of America Atmos Business $95 - 80k + $99 companion fare after $5000 in first 90 days.
- Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select $99, waived first year - 80K miles after $1K spend in 3 months. (Use Flight Code: 000000)
- Citi AAdvantage® Executive $595 - 100k miles after $10k spent in 3 months
-Southwest Cards $99+ - 80-90k after $1000-$3000 spent.

Atlanta (ATL) - Europe: Economy for 18.75k Miles
Boston (BOS) - Europe: Economy for 18.75k Miles
Houston (IAH) - Europe: Economy for 18.75k Miles
Minneapolis (MSP) - Europe: Economy for 18.75k Miles
New York (JFK) - Europe: Economy for 18.75k Miles
Seattle (SEA) - Europe: Economy for 18.75k Miles

**Chicago (ORD) - Europe: Economy for 18.75k Miles
**Las Vegas (LAS) - Europe: Premium Economy for 30k Miles
**Toronto (YYZ) - Europe: Premium Economy for 30k Miles
**Washington (IAD) - Europe: Economy for 18.75k Miles

**These awards are only available for Flying Blue Extra subscribers, this subscription starts at 379 EUR per year.

- Book by the end of June, for travel dates up to November 30th, 2026. Includes reversed routing.
(Here's how to book it step by step.)

- Flying Blue Promo Awards are 25% discounted fares offered by KLM & Air France. Offer changes every month, and is released on the first weekday of the month. Above are U.S.-based routes, click here for other international-based deals.

Singapore Krisflyer Spontaneous Escapes

There are no deals to/from the U.S. this month, but you can find flights from Singapore to other cities in Asia.​
​See details here.​
​
​Krisflyer Spontaneous Escapes are 30% off last-minute award tickets on Singapore Airlines on specific routes. Offers are typically released on the 15th of every month. Here's how to search on Singapore's website.

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American Express:​
Flying Blue (Air France/KLM) 25% - Ends 6/30
Marriott 20% - Ends 6/30
​Avianca 15% - Ends 7/15

Capital One:​
​None.

Chase: ​
​Marriott 55% - Ends 6/30
​Virgin Atlantic 30% - Ends 7/14

Citi:​
​Qatar Airways 30% - Ends 6/30
Accor 50% (Now transfers 4:3) - Ends 7/18

Rove:
​Turkish Airlines 50% - Ends 6/30

Have a good weekend!
​
​Michael​
​Nurse Michael Travels

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