The answer to this question depends a lot on where you want to travel and in what class. If you don’t have any specific destinations in mind, American Airways AAdvantage and United MileagePlus can take you just about anywhere you might want to go, and for most people, I recommend collecting miles in both programs. This means getting the Chase Ultimate Rewards cards (Sapphire, Ink), Chase United Explorer cards, and Citi AAdvantage cards.
For someone just starting out, I recommend getting the Chase Sapphire Preferred card first. Recently, Chase has not been approving people who like to apply for lots of credit cards (which will be you eventually, if you follow the advice on this website), so it’s a good idea to get that card before you have such a track record. Here’s a suggested list for starting out with American and United, but honestly, the order doesn’t really matter:
- Chase Sapphire Preferred Card
- Citi / AAdvantage Platinum Select MasterCard
- Chase Ink Plus Business Card
- Chase United MileagePlus Explorer Card
- CitiBusiness / AAdvantage Platinum Select World MasterCard
- Chase United MileagePlus Explorer Business Card
You’ll notice that a few of these are business cards. See the FAQ should you have any questions about this. It is useful to add business cards to your stable if you can.
If you plan on travelling exclusively in economy class within the continental U.S., Caribbean, and parts of Central America, you might consider focusing on Southwest Airlines. This is especially true if you have a significant other or travel buddy with whom you can use the Companion Pass.
Otherwise, if you have a specific destination and class of service in mind, see below.
Table of Contents
Which Miles Should I Use?
This is roughly the same question as “Which credit card should I get?” but the answer can help direct you to collecting the most useful miles for an upcoming trip. To that end, below I have a list of various regions throughout the world and the best miles to use to travel to them in economy, business, or first class. I only select from the mileage programs that I cover on this website, so if you’re a little more advanced and would like to consider awards with other programs, you can always search with AwardHacker or AwardMaximizer. Neither tool is perfectly accurate though, and they do miss a few things, such as Singapore’s cheap flights from the mainland U.S. to Hawaii.
Also, keep in mind that having the “best” miles is no use if there is no availability on the dates you want, so in the long run, it’s best to have miles in many different programs.
A few more notes before we get started:
- All of the mileage prices below assume your travel originates in the United States.
- Not every airline agrees what region a particular country belongs in. For example, United considers the Canary Islands part of Northern Africa, but American considers them part of Europe, making them much cheaper to fly to using AAdvantage miles. I have a list of countries where you can use this kind of knowledge to your advantage at How To Save Miles By Knowing Your Geography.
- American Airlines routes involving British Airways are not a good value due to fuel surcharges. You’ll want to avoid awards that include them as part of your itinerary. This mostly comes into play on flights to Europe that connect in London.
- British Airways Avios is not listed in the table below (except in one place) because their rewards program is distance based, and the prices of their flights can vary depending on where you are flying to/from. Be sure to check any prices you find below with their Award Chart if you are flying economy class within North or South America.
- Southwest Rapid Rewards is not listed in the table below because their rewards program is revenue based, and the prices of their flights can vary due to a variety of factors. Be sure to check the price with Southwest if you are flying economy class anywhere on their route network.
Any mileage programs marked with a * show pricing that is only available if your award does not include any alliance partners (i.e. you only fly American Airlines flights if using American AAdvantage or United Airlines flights if using United MileagePlus).
Economy Class
| Destination | Mileage Program | Cost (One Way) |
| Africa | American AAdvantage United MileagePlus |
40,000 |
| Asia (North) | American AAdvantage* (off-peak) | 32,500 |
| American AAdvantage United MileagePlus
Singapore KrisFlyer* (from W. Coast US) |
35,000 | |
| Asia (South) | American AAdvantage* (off-peak) | 32,500 |
| American AAdvantage* | 35,000 | |
| American AAdvantage | 37,500 | |
| Singapore KrisFlyer* | 33,000 (5th) 38,000
40,000 |
|
| United MileagePlus | 40,000 | |
| Australia & New Zealand | American AAdvantage United MileagePlus |
40,000 |
| Canada & Alaska | Singapore KrisFlyer (Alaska Airlines flights from select states) | 7,500 to 12,000 |
| American AAdvantage (Canada only) Singapore KrisFlyer
United MileagePlus* |
12,500 | |
| Caribbean & Central America | Singapore KrisFlyer (Alaska Airlines flights only) | 7,500 to 12,000 |
| American AAdvantage* (off-peak) | 12,500 | |
| American AAdvantage* | 15,000 | |
| Singapore KrisFlyer United MileagePlus |
17,500 | |
| Europe | American AAdvantage* (off-peak) Singapore KrisFlyer* |
22,500 |
| Singapore KrisFlyer | 27,500 | |
| American AAdvantage United MileagePlus |
30,000 | |
| Hawaii (from the West Coast) | Singapore KrisFlyer (Alaska Airlines flights only) |
12,000 |
| Hawaii (from the Midwest) | 11,500 to 12,500 | |
| Hawaii (from the East Coast) | Singapore KrisFlyer | 17,500 |
| Middle East & India | American AAdvantage | 40,000 |
| United MileagePlus | 42,500 | |
| Oceania (South Pacific) | United MileagePlus | 35,000 |
| American AAdvantage | 40,000 | |
| South America (Northern) | American AAdvantage* (off-peak) | 17,500 |
| American AAdvantage United MileagePlus |
20,000 | |
| South America (Southern) | American AAdvantage Singapore KrisFlyer
United MileagePlus |
30,000 |
Business Class
| Destination | Mileage Program | Cost (One Way) |
| Africa | American AAdvantage | 75,000 |
| Singapore KrisFlyer (N. Africa) | 76,500 | |
| United MileagePlus | 80,000 | |
| Asia (North) | American AAdvantage | 60,000 |
| Asia (South) | American AAdvantage | 70,000 |
| United MileagePlus* | 75,000 | |
| Australia & New Zealand | American AAdvantage United MileagePlus* |
80,000 |
| Canada & Alaska | Singapore KrisFlyer | 23,000 |
| Caribbean & Central America | American AAdvantage* | 25,000 |
| United MileagePlus | 30,000 | |
| Europe | American AAdvantage | 57,500 |
| United MileagePlus* | 60,000 | |
| Hawaii | Singapore KrisFlyer | 34,500 |
| Middle East & India | American AAdvantage | 70,000 |
| United MileagePlus* | 75,000 | |
| Singapore KrisFlyer (M. East) | 76,500 | |
| Oceania (South Pacific) | United MileagePlus* | 70,000 |
| American AAdvantage | 80,000 | |
| South America (Northern) | American AAdvantage | 30,000 |
| South America (Southern) | Singapore KrisFlyer American AAdvantage |
57,500 |
First Class
| Destination | Mileage Program | Cost (One Way) |
| Africa | Singapore KrisFlyer (N. Africa) | 99,000 |
| American AAdvantage | 120,000 | |
| United MileagePlus | 130,000 | |
| Asia (North) | American AAdvantage | 80,000 |
| Asia (South) | United MileagePlus* | 95,000 |
| American AAdvantage | 110,000 | |
| Singapore KrisFlyer* | 104,000 (5th) | |
| Australia & New Zealand | United MileagePlus* | 100,000 |
| American AAdvantage | 110,000 | |
| Canada & Alaska | Singapore KrisFlyer (Alaska Airlines flights to/from Canada and select states only) | 17,500 to 20,500 |
| Singapore KrisFlyer United MileagePlus |
34,500 35,000 |
|
| Caribbean & Central America | Singapore KrisFlyer (Alaska Airlines flights from select states) | 23,000 |
| United MileagePlus | 40,000 | |
| Europe | United MileagePlus* | 80,000 |
| American AAdvantage | 85,000 | |
| Singapore KrisFlyer* | 86,000 | |
| Hawaii | Singapore KrisFlyer United MileagePlus |
46,000 50,000 |
| Middle East & India | United MileagePlus* | 90,000 |
| Singapore KrisFlyer (M. East) | 99,000 | |
| American AAdvantage | 115,000 | |
| Oceania (South Pacific) | United MileagePlus* | 90,000 |
| American AAdvantage | 110,000 | |
| South America (Northern) | United MileagePlus | 45,000 |
| South America (Southern) | United MileagePlus | 70,000 |
Suites Class
If you want to fly in a Singapore Suite, the miles you’ll need are Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer miles. You can fly suites class to a variety of destinations throughout the world, but, unsurprisingly, many of these flights involve Singapore in some way. For more information, see Searching With Singapore Airlines (Suites Class).
Juliana, the author of MilesBriefs.com, is a Personal Finance Writer and Travel Rewards Expert with over 5 years of experience in the finance industry. Holding a Master’s degree in Finance, she provides in-depth insights on credit card offers, rewards programs, and financial tips to maximize travel savings. Connect with Juliana on Instagram @strategicmiles for the latest updates and tips on achieving financial and travel rewards success.
