US Airways is a member of the Star Alliance (not to be confused with the Rebel Alliance), a network of 21 member airlines that have partnered to offer service to virtually any location on the planet where folks actually fly to. In assessing the value of their frequent flyer program, known as Dividend Miles, we consider both the US Air and Star Alliance redemption schedules.
Note: this post addresses the older version of the SWA Rapid Rewards program which is no longer offered. Unless you are an airline historian, you should really be reading our new post, “How Much Are Southwest Airlines Points Actually Worth?“.
To earn a Standard Award good for one free roundtrip ticket on Southwest Airlines requires 16 credits. You earn 1 credit for each one-way leg of a trip. So, 8 round-trip flights would earn you a free Standard Award from the Rapid Rewards Program.
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Members of AirTran Airways A+ Rewards program earn credits for flight segments. And of course you can earn more credits if you use the AirTran Airways A+ Visa Card. PlasticIQ has attempted to estimate the monetary value of a single AirTran Airways A+ credit.
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In order for PlasticIQ to accurately rank the dozens of credit cards with frequent flyer programs, it is necessary to calculate the dollar value per mile for each of these programs. We have written numerous articles about each, but below is a table which summarizes our estimated values for each program along with a link to a more detailed posting.
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The Continental OnePass frequent flyer program offers both SaverPass and EasyPass fares for many global destinations. SaverPass fares require far fewer miles to obtain flights, but suffer from limited availability. Conversely, EasyPass fares, while requiring significantly more miles, have no availability restrictions.
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The schedule to earn ANA international flight awards is somewhat complicated. Here are some of the basics of how it all works:
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In September, 2009, JetBlue announced some major changes to its TrueBlue frequent flyer program, requiring PlasticIQ to completely re-evaluate our estimate of the worth of JetBlue’s TrueBlue points. Previously, we had estimated JetBlue points to be worth about $0.0120 per point. With the changes to the program, that estimate has climbed slightly to about $0.0122 per point.
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At a high level, estimating the value of Delta Skymiles is a 3-step process:
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There are actually 2 tiers of the American Express Membership Rewards Program—the MR tier (this is the “full” program) and the Express Tier (which is identical to the MR tier except that you can’t transfer points to other frequent flyer/hotel programs). The Express Rewards program typically applies to AMEX cards that don’t charge annual fees, such as Blue From American Express.
Since the Express Program offers fewer redemption options than the full MR tier, you might feel like you’re getting hit below the belt (and it turns out to be true!) as the value of the points earned in the Express program is worth less than the same number of points earned through the MR program.
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The American Airlines AAdvantage (“Advantage”) Rewards program is the 1st and world’s largest frequent flyer program, or so their website claims. Travelers earn miles when they fly on American Airlines, American Connection/Eagle, or more than 20 other airline partners. The American Airlines Advantage program offers several different types of awards:
