Credit Card Reviews by Stella Shon

They have a similar network to AA in terms of reach via the Star Alliance and also (unlike Delta) allow for booking First Class international awards in the Star Alliance network, but they charge noticeably more for Partner Awards and the rates keep (stealthily) rising. United partner Lufthansa tends to have good availability to Europe making it somewhat easier to use to Europe than American, which relies heavily on British Airways and BA charges incredibly steep surcharges on those awards.

When a card earns cash back, it has a value in our calculator of $0.01, just as you'd expect! 😉

Delta uses a fully dynamic pricing model on most awards, with the program aiming to offer you about 1.1 to 1.2 cents per point. However, you can still occasionally get much more value, especially during SkyMiles Flash Sales. Note that while you can book SkyTeam alliance flights with Delta SkyMiles, you cannot book international First Class on any SkyMiles partner.

While Marriott Bonvoy dropped all award charts in favor of a dynamic pricing system, it hasn't gotten out of hand and the 5th night free on awards can still provide outsized value. It's also hard to beat the breadth of Marriott Bonvoy properties all over the world.

Since AAdvantage moved to revenue based redemptions, they are a bit less valuable than they used to be. However, they can still book First and Business Class seats on oneworld partner airlines like Qatar Airways and Japan Airlines, and we also find that they can have occasional deals with forward cabin seats on American.

Alaska miles have a few things going for them that make them worth a bit more than the average mile, especially to Asia, Fiji, and the South Pacific where they still have separate charts with great rates on First and Business Class. However, since joining Oneworld, they are increasingly making awards more expensive as they integrate new programs. They also partner with luxury Taiwan based Starlux. Additionally, only Marriott points transfer to Alaska making them harder to acquire than most.

Delta uses a fully dynamic pricing model on most awards, with the program aiming to offer you about 1.1 to 1.2 cents per point. However, you can still occasionally get much more value, especially during SkyMiles Flash Sales. Note that while you can book SkyTeam alliance flights with Delta SkyMiles, you cannot book international First Class on any SkyMiles partner.

Delta uses a fully dynamic pricing model on most awards, with the program aiming to offer you about 1.1 to 1.2 cents per point. However, you can still occasionally get much more value, especially during SkyMiles Flash Sales. Note that while you can book SkyTeam alliance flights with Delta SkyMiles, you cannot book international First Class on any SkyMiles partner.

Delta uses a fully dynamic pricing model on most awards, with the program aiming to offer you about 1.1 to 1.2 cents per point. However, you can still occasionally get much more value, especially during SkyMiles Flash Sales. Note that while you can book SkyTeam alliance flights with Delta SkyMiles, you cannot book international First Class on any SkyMiles partner.

Delta uses a fully dynamic pricing model on most awards, with the program aiming to offer you about 1.1 to 1.2 cents per point. However, you can still occasionally get much more value, especially during SkyMiles Flash Sales. Note that while you can book SkyTeam alliance flights with Delta SkyMiles, you cannot book international First Class on any SkyMiles partner.