Sunset over the wing of a plane is a magical moment. Photo by: Evan Berman

It’s nice to hear about the possibilities of award travel, but maybe you’re wondering about actually booking a flight with points and miles. This article will give you an example of two important things: how to book a flight using a partner airline’s award program and how to book a positioning flight.

The Goal:

I needed to get to New York City (specifically JFK) on Thursday, December 1st and I am currently located in Charleston, SC. The reason? I’m flying to a certain destination from JFK on Thursday night and didn’t want to deal with any connections or airport transfers. Delta is the only airline that flies non-stop. So, I would need to book a Delta CHS-JFK nonstop flight on Thursday as late in the afternoon as possible to minimize the time spent in the airport. This is the Goldilocks story– with flights. 🙂

Too High– Google Flights:

As I’ve said many times before, Google Flights is your friend. I checked the flights and was disappointed by what I found:

For context, the return flight that I will be purchasing is $87.

Too Low– Delta SkyMiles:

Ok, so if I’m not purchasing a cash fare, maybe using Delta SkyMiles would be a better option? As usual, the value for redeeming these miles was roughly 1.30 points per mile in economy– (149-5.60)/11,000= 1.303. I can do better, though!

Just Right– Virgin Atlantic:

I logged into my Virgin Atlantic account and searched for award availability on the same flight. Sure enough, I found award availability for just 8,500 points and $5.60. But wait, it gets better!

Through the end of the month, American Express is offering a 30% bonus on transferring Membership Rewards points to Virgin Atlantic. All transfers must be in increments of 1,000 though, so I opted to transfer 7,000 points– 8,500/1.3= 6,538.46 which, rounded up is 7,000 points.

That’s 2.05 cents per point value, which is incredible for a domestic flight– (149-5.60)/7,000= 2.048. Here is how that process worked:

Log into your AmEx account and click on the Rewards & Benefits tab at the top. Scroll down and click on Transfer Points:

Scroll down until you find the transfer partner that you wish to utilize, in this case Virgin Atlantic. If you do not have account, you will need to set one up now– and it is as easy as following the link on the AmEx page to create an account. Input your account number if you have not already done so, and include the number of points you wish to transfer:

After you input that information, double check you are sending the proper amount to the right account then hit complete transfer. AmEx says it can take up to 48 hours, but I found the transfer to be instantaneous.

Pro tip: after your transfer is completed, log out of your airline account and log back in. You will see the points/miles appear upon login if the transfer was instantaneous.

Once the points appear, it’s time for the main event: booking the flight! You’ll notice below I have 9,100 points in my account and am about to select 12:30pm-2:27pm main cabin flight.

After that, you will need to fill out your information (if you have not set up an account previously, this will include legal name, address, frequent flier number, Known Traveler number, etc.) and select a seat– if available.

Complete the purchase by paying your $5.60 in 9/11 taxes and wait for the email confirmation. You’re then all set to take your trip!

One last tip: especially if you have elite status, make sure you switch your account number from Virgin Atlantic to Delta. After you receive an email confirmation from Virgin Atlantic, sign into your Delta account, go to “Find a Trip”, and input your confirmation number for the flight. This will allow you to add the trip to “My Trips.” After this, select the trip and go to loyalty account #. Here you will change Virgin Atlantic to Delta SkyMiles and input your frequent flyer number. If you have elite status, you can get those perks despite booking through Virgin!

Recap:

This article gives you a concrete example of what I have mentioned in other articles: use your points to fly for almost free. Today’s redemption was a one-way flight to New York for 7,000 AmEx points and $5.60. Why JFK? Well, that’s the next iteration of how to fly for less… stay tuned for the rest of that trip!

Evan