How To Redeem Travel Points & Air Miles For Cheap Flights (Step-by-step Guide)

Ever wondered how the frequent fliers are able to book luxury flights at practically no cost, the answer is that they are able to redeem their travel points on flights, in a more efficient manner. All that you have been earning by miles, all that you buy with your credit card, all those loyalty points of yours can take you closer to your next adventure, without a trip to the bank with a wallet full of cash.

As the airline reward programs and credit card reward systems continue to grow exponentially in 2026, knowing how to redeem air miles to fly can save you very large amounts of money. It is a step-by-step view of the whole process of earning and managing points and redeeming them to get cheap flights using reward points.

Step-by-Step Guide

Step 1- Understand What Travel Points and Air Miles Are

The first thing to know is what you are dealing with before you begin redeeming.

• The points are earned through credit card reward programs such as Chase Ultimate Rewards, Capital One Miles, or Amex Membership Rewards. You can earn them by spending on travelling, eating and on daily purchases.

• In their turn, air miles are bound to particular airlines such as Delta SkyMiles, United MileagePlus, or Emirates Skywards. You get them by flying on those airlines and their partners.

• The two will find you flights but they are not the same in flexibility. Travel points are flexible -You can redeem them with different airlines or even hotels. Air miles are fewer but in most cases more valuable on redemption on flights.

In case you want to be flexible, make use of the travel rewards points. However, when you tend to travel with one airline, invest your energies on their loyalty program to redeem at a higher rate.

Step 2- Know the True Value of Your Points

All the miles are not created equal. Some of them will redeem at high value (as in 1.5 to 2 cents per point) and some will redeem at much less.

The example is American Express Membership Rewards or Chase Ultimate Rewards which are likely to be the most valuable as they can be transferred to various airlines. Alternatively, direct airline miles such as Delta or United may be slightly less valuable but may be useful when making a direct reservation.

Pro Tip: an average redemption will provide you with 1.3 -1.5 cents in flight worth. Lower than that, and you may be better paying in cash.

Step 3- Use the Best Credit Cards For Travel Rewards

In order to earn your miles quickly, select the most suitable credit card to earn travel rewards in 2025. Most of such cards have huge welcome rewards, fast accrual rates on travel and dining, and travel insurance.

• Find cards that enable you to use credit card points to flight miles – this is the important aspect. There are several popular alternatives, which are:

• Chase Sapphire Preferred- Good place to start, redemptions are flexible.

• Amex Platinum Card-An ideal card to use among frequent flyers wishing to get access into the airport lounge.

• Capital One Venture X Simple, flat-rate earnings and premium benefits.

You can also earn points in areas of spend and sign-up bonuses, which can easily reach thousands of miles which can take you on your next overseas trip.

Step 4- Check Airline Redemption Availability

When you have accrued a strong balance, now it is time to find out whether your desired route has seats that can be redeemed. Go onto the site of your airline and choose the option of Book with Miles or Use Points.

When you are flexible with your travel dates or your willingness to travel out of a nearby airport, you will be able to get better availability. Point.me, AwardHacker, or ExpertFlyer are some of the tools that help to compare redemption opportunities of multiple airlines.

Step 5- Redeem Travel Points for Flights

And here comes the fun part and that is to redeem your miles.

It is also possible to use your frequent flier account when making a booking using airline miles, just log-in, select your travel route and use your points at the checkout. When you are redeeming points with a credit card, visit the travel portal in your card (i.e., Chase Travel or Amex Travel), calculate the cash or points value, and book the trip.

Unless this is not a possibility, then you can also redeem credit card points to airline partners at a better value. As an example, redeeming the Chase points to United Airlines or Amex points to Air France frequently has greater bang to the dollar.

Step 6- Take Advantage of Airline Allowances

The majority of the leading airlines belong to the international associations that enable you to spend your miles on any of several carriers. For example:

• SkyTeam (Delta, KLM, Air France)

• Star Alliance (United, Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines)

• Oneworld (British Airways, Qatar Airways, American Airlines)

This is because you can utilize your knowledge in terms of airline miles redemption to book in partner airlines even when your choice of airline is not available. The member of the Delta SkyMiles can, say, redeem his/her miles with a KLM or Air France flight, and in many cases, the price will be lower.

Step 7- Combine Points and Cash

In case you do not have enough points to get a full ticket, several airlines have points + cash reservations. This is a hybrid approach that allows you to save your out of pocket expenses and redeem lesser point balances.

It is a great choice among those travelers who fly not frequently yet still wish to redeem their earned points.

Step 8- Compare Reward Value Before You Redeem

Always maximize the use of real-life worth of your points before redemption. Divide cash cost of flight by the amount of points needed. To take an example, a flight of 600 would require 40,000 points, which would be equivalent to 1.5 cents per point, a very good deal.

Nevertheless, when the same flight costs 60,000 points, it means that you are earning 1cent per point, then it may be more reasonable to pay with money.

This comparison of doing this travel rewards points makes sure that you will maximize your redemption at all times.

Step 9- Avoid Common Fees and Mistakes

There are some fees even when redeeming travel points in flights. The types of taxes, fuel surcharge, and booking fees are prevalent particularly in international routes. The fuel surcharges in the European and Middle Eastern airlines are usually high than the U.S.-based airlines such as Delta or United.

To minimize costs:

• Make a booking on credit card travel websites with redemption rates containing taxes.

• Eschew airlines which impose a lot of fuel surcharges.

• Be in a position to have flexibility in the dates of your travel in order to negotiate the low redemption levels.

Step 10- Manage and Track Your Miles

Airline miles do not last forever unless there is use. Be sure to store your balances and expiration dates in such apps as AwardWallet or MaxRewards.

You are also able to maintain your miles through little activities such as shopping with your partners, hotel reservations or using the airline branded credit cards.

Keep in mind: several thousand miles of the unused flight could not pose as a significant difficulty, yet in the long run, they could accumulate to the loss of free flights.

Step 11- Combine Multiple Reward Programmes

A more complex tip that frequent flyers can utilize is the combination of various reward systems. You are able to combine hotel points, credit card rewards, and airline miles, and get entire travel packages, flights plus stays.

For instance:

• Move Chase Ultimate Rewards to United MileagePlus on flights.

• Buy tickets and book a hotel at Hilton Honors using Amex Membership rewards.

• Get cheap flights to Europe by combining Capital One Miles with Turkish Airlines Miles and Smiles.

• The more adaptable your rewards program, the greater your likelihood of scoring premium travel cash-ins.

Bonus Tip: What Not to redeem

In other cases, cash is better – particularly when it comes to low cost flights or short travel. Comparison of redemption value is always to be done. You should save your points in a premium cabin, long route or high season of the year when the cash price is the highest.

Reward point flights shine there where the cheap flights are concerned.

Final Thoughts

One of the most intelligent financial choices that a traveler can make is to know how to redeem the amount of travel points to get a flight. It takes the money you spend every day and turns it into an experience like you will never forget, whether it is an upgrade to business class or a last-minute weekend getaway.

Having the clear insight on the application of air miles to flights, the best credit cards to use in travel rewards, the value comparison of travel rewards points, you will always know when to spend, when to save, and when to fly in style.

Get to earning and counting your points and booking your next trip, your miles are there to get you where.

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