Domestic Airfare Points Rankings

If you live in the United States, Air Canada is a complicated alternative to United Airlines, though better value can be found.

• Similar to United, you can access Star Alliance international flights through Air Canada, but sometimes at lowerr point totals
• You cannot book flights between two U.S. cities
• Air Canada can be useful for international flights that naturally route through Canada.
• Aeroplan allows up to two stopovers per flight for 5,000 points each

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club can offer solid value, but only in specific cases.

• Virgin adds fuel surcharges to many awards, especially on its own metal and transatlantic routes.
• ANA Business Class roundtrips between the U.S. and Japan are among the cheapest in points but require round-trip bookings and can be hard to find.
• You can transfer points from Amex, Chase, Citi, and Bilt, which makes miles easy to earn (if you have a Virgin Red account, you can transfer from Capital One as well).
• Virgin Red is a loyalty system that allows you to earn and redeem points on things beyond flights
• It is separate from Virgin Flying Club, but both earn Virgin points and can be combined when you have an account with both

Quality hotels but points go fast with high per night point cost.

• Amex’s one-card-per-lifetime rule makes it difficult to accrue Hilton points using Hilton cards exclusively.
• Hilton is part of the Amex partner reward system and at 1:2 is a decent transfer value.
• Hilton has high quality hotels and excellent coverage both in the US and internationally.
• We recommend this system as more of a filler. Either as a specific destination or an upscale IHG when no Hyatt stays are available.

Their poor points redemption value leaves Bonvoy near the bottom of our rankings.

• There are multiple cards with great point transfer options. In theory, this is good.
• Finding a solid value for a Marriott stay is a challenge. A one night stay at desirable destinations can match the number of points from one card bonus.
• Values can be found, but they can be frustrating to find, so it isn’t a terrible system. It just doesn’t have the usefulness of many of the other hotel systems.

Wells Fargo Rewards should only be considered when you've exhausted Chase, Amex, or Capital One

• One unique feature of Wells Fargo Rewards is that they can be transferred or gifted to another Wells Fargo customer
• The Autograph cards are the only cards with transferable miles to partners
• Wells Fargo doesn’t have the same robust list of transfer partners as other Rewards programs like Chase or Amex
• But there is still value to be had, like transferring to Flying Blue and redeeming miles for one of their monthly Promo Rewards

Free Spirit is best for budget travelers who value low costs and no frills:

• Members can often find redemptions for as low as 2500 points
• There is great value with flash sales and off-peak flights
• Earning status can cancel out ancillary fees
• They have two co-branded credit cards but no transfer partners to earn points with
• Spirit does not belong to an airline alliance and has no other airline partners, limiting their network and points redemption options

Frontier Miles is best for those who travel light and on a budget:

• Find very cheap domestic flights and flights to and from the Caribbean.
• Award flights can be as low as 20,000 points round trip.
• Elite status can waive bag and seat fees, which keeps overall costs low.
• No credit card transfer partners and only one co-branded card.
• Frontier has no airline partners for earning or redeeming miles.
• Fees for bags and seats can make cheap fares expensive, and the route network is limited.

Finnair is one of seven airlines that use Avios as their currency.

• Earning Avios lets you transfer freely between Aer Lingus, British Airways, Iberia, Qatar, Vueling, and Loganair.
• You can find strong value on flights between Europe and Asia or when connecting from the U.S. to Europe to Asia.
• Finnair is useful for booking partner flights on Alaska or American to Hawaii.
• Downsides include no co-branded U.S. credit card and only Capital One as a transfer partner.

The Discover It Miles program is straightforward and easy, but the lack of significant welcome offers makes this a poor program to invest in

• Discover does not offer transferable miles either, making the program even less valuable
• You can only open one Discover card in 12 months, which significantly limits your ability to collect miles
• The best way to use Discover It Miles for travel is by using them to cover any travel purchase made in the last 180 days

Bank of America Travel Rewards is a low tier program in the points and miles hobby:

• There are one or two cards worth getting, but only in the right situations
• Having an existing relationship with the bank or needing a break from the big credit card issuers are the main reasons you might want to get into this system
• Redeeming rewards is simple and straightforward, but you’ll only earn 1 cent per point at best
• Many cards only offer cash back rewards
• Its lack of any transfer partners puts this system near the bottom of our rankings

Barclay Arrival Miles died out over time due to poor competitiveness and lack of flexibility.