My family of 3 (minus an unwilling teenager) are flying to Maui, Hawaii for a total of $33.60 ($11.20 each for taxes) ROUND TRIP. How’d we do this? Well, we simply used the reward points earned through everyday spending with our Chase Sapphire Preferred Visa (which earns points called “Ultimate Rewards”) and Starwood Preferred Guest American Express (SPG) . Then maneuvered partner airlines to “purchase” the tickets!It’s true. My family of 3 (minus an unwilling teenager) are flying to Maui, Hawaii for a total of $33.60 ($11.20 each for taxes) ROUNDTRIP. How’d we do this? Well, we simply used the reward points earned through everyday spending with our Chase Sapphire Preferred Visa (which earns points called “Ultimate Rewards”) and Starwood Preferred Guest American Express (SPG) . Then maneuvered partner airlines to “purchase” the tickets!
Let me break it down:
3 Roundtrip Tickets to Maui, Hawaii from Boise, Idaho
Total Cost: 75k points & $33.60 ($11.20 taxes each)
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We are flying on Delta Airlines; however, I used Korean Airlines to make this reservation.
Here’s why: Korean Airlines is a partner (SkyTeam, you can read all about airline partnerships and alliances here) of Delta Airlines. Any partner airline can book award tickets for another airline in their partnership; the airline you use to BOOK your tickets charges THEIR own award “price” (miles or points) despite the fact you are not flying on their airline. (read this 3-10 times over again….I know it can be confusing!)
Korean Airlines has a flat award chart for North American flights, which includes Hawaii. I simply looked for my preferred flight dates and times on the Delta website, wrote down the flight numbers, then went to Korean Airlines website and booked our flights!
Below is Korean Airlines Award Chart for North American flights:
If I would have booked these identical tickets through Delta Airlines (by calling Delta or through Delta’s own website) the tickets would have cost $3,014.00 cash, or 210,000 miles PLUS $33.00. YIKES!
We saved $2980.40, or 135,000 points!!!
For a fun comparison, below is the price I would have paid with cash, and what the tickets would have cost if booked through Delta directly using Delta SkyMiles:
Here’s how I earned the points to book these tickets:
I transferred 25k SPG points from my Starwood Preferred Guest AMEX using the SPG website to transfer to Korean Airlines (Bonus: SPG gifts 5k FREE points for every 20k points transferred to a partner airline). I also transferred 45k Chase Ultimate Rewards points from Chase Sapphire Preferred VISA and Chase Business INK VISA to Korean Airlines for a total of 75k points!
**Subscribe to Serena on the GO to see how I will use this EXACT Korean Airlines “trick” to book 2 Roundtrip FIRST CLASS tickets from Boise to Fort Lauderdale for our Celebrity cruise in March. This will only $22 + 90k miles, flying on Delta**
Important information about Korean Airlines:
To book your tickets through Korean Airlines you’ll select the “Skyteam Award” option on Korean Airlines website as seen below:
Korean Airlines does not allow award booking for NON-family members. You must create family member loyalty (Skypass) account numbers for each family member prior to booking award tickets on their website. This simple process includes submission of documentation (marriage and birth certificates); detailed information is in the Skypass section of Korean Airline’s website.
Once my flights were booked by Korean Airlines I logged into Delta Airlines website under “My Trips”to ensure everything went smoothly….it did!
Below is more information on the credit cards and reward points I used to book this flight:
Chase Sapphire Preferred (VISA) (apply here)
+50k point sign up BONUS once you meet the minimum spending requirement
+5k additional BONUS points if you add an authorized user to your account
+ Sending a “Friend Referral” will earn another BONUS 10k referral points
Added Bonus Information:
+Your spouse applies, meets the minimum spending requirement and then receives their own 50k point sign up BONUS
+Spouse adds you as authorized user to earn an additional 5k BONUS points
Using this single credit card one couple can earn 120k points JUST by signing up and meeting the minimum spending requirements! That’s enough for FIVE ROUNDTRIP tickets to Hawaii!
Chase Business Ink (VISA) (apply here)
+80k point sign up BONUS once you meet the minimum spending requirement
+5k additional BONUS points if you add an authorized user to your account
+Your spouse applies, meets the minimum spending requirement and then receives their own 50k point sign up BONUS (there is no referal allowed with this card)
+Spouse adds you as authorized user to earn an additional 5k BONUS points
Using this single credit card one couple can earn 170k points JUST by signing up and meeting the minimum spending requirements! That’s enough for SEVEN ROUNDTRIP tickets to Hawaii!
*Note* In these scenarios, between the 4 Chase cards there would be $16,000.00 minimum spending requirement, however, you have 3 months on each card to meet this requirement so spread applications out over time if needed. The $16,000.00 you spend to meet this requirement IS additional points earned!
Chase Ulimate Rewards points can be redeemed directly through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal for travel (with 25% bonus), shopping or cash back. However, the most lucrative way to use them is by transferring them to Chase PARTNERS!
Chase Airline Partners:
British Airways Avios
Air France/KLM Flying Blue
Korean Air SkyPass
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
Southwest Rapid Rewards
United MileagePlus
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
Chase Hotel Partners
Hyatt Gold Passport (now called World of Hyatt)
Marriott Rewards (transfers to SPG)
IHG Rewards Club
Ritz-Carlton Rewards
Starwood Preferred Group Hotels-SPG (American Express) (Apply Here)
+35k point sign up BONUS once you meet the minimum spending requirement
+5k additional BONUS points if you add an authorized user to your account
Added Bonus Information:
+Your spouse applies, meets the minimum spending requirement and then receives their own 35k point sign up BONUS
+Spouse adds you as authorized user to earn an additional 5k BONUS points
Using this single credit card one couple can earn 80k points JUST by signing up and meeting the minimum spending requirements! That’s enough for THREE ROUNDTRIP tickets to Hawaii!
One of the best uses of Starwood points is transferring SPG points to airlines. There are 30+ SPG transfer partners, including hotels! SPG “Gifts” you 5k for each 20k point you transfer to an airline!!!!
By transferring your points to partners you gain flexibility and MORE reward!
Have you had a look at some of my most recent posts? How about how I plan to retire by 40? Or how I’m quitting my high paying career to do what I LOVE!
- Want to LEARN HOW TO FLY FREE? Start Here!
- I’m still on board to retire by 40 by blogging!
- How I made over $200 in my first 3 weeks blogging (AND HAVE NOW MADE OVER $480 in 4 weeks!
- I’M QUITTING! Leaving my $80k+ career for happiness!
- 3 Roundtrip Tickets to Chicago for $33
- Do Happy People Annoy YOU?
- Plan a $30k Wedding on a $5k Budget
- 15 Ways to save for your next vacation (including how to reduce student loan debt!)
Aloha! Please share your travel success and booking stories with me!
Hi! I love the info. I am a travel hacker just in the beginning stags of trying to get a blog up and running. I used flexperks points to get 3 tickets to Hawaii from MN and had to use 120k. I am looking at the Koreanair website. Do they still allow redemption for North America to North America? I do t see it listed. Thanks
Hi Jen! They sure do….Korean Air is BY FAR my favorite airline to book through (to fly Delta) for just 25k roundtrip!
Thanks for stopping by!
-Serena
Awesome thanks! I never would have thought of that!
Thank you! It’s addicting for sure!
-Serena
This is a great article, I’m going to give it a try!
Thank you! You should!
-Serena
Can you help me out, I have been trying to book a flight that I can find on Delta but when I go through Korean Air they tell me they cant find that award or anything for the entire month I want to travel? Am I doing something wrong?
Hi Justin,
Did you look for “lowest fare” tickets on Delta.com? In order to get award seats through Korean (for Delta) they need to be “lowest fare”.
I hope that helps 🙂
Serena
Serena,
What do you mean, I thought you had to search for miles? And Delta.com only lets me filter by miles or cash.
Hi Justin,
Yes, you need to search for “miles” flights, however, the only miles flights partners have access to are “lowest fare” tickets. The booking page will show “lowest fare” on it.
Serena
Serena,
I am not trying to be annoying but I found the lowest price on Delta but when I went to book that flight on Korea I came across two problems. The first is 1/2 those flights dont appear. The second is that the ones that do appear have more than 2 stops on each leg and the rep on the phone wont book. Am I supposed to book this as a multi city flight? Thanks.
Hi Serena,
Would you mind listing step by step the process you used to book an award flight on Korean/Delta? I tried this and found they would not allow Atlanta-Maui (OGG), so I tried Atlanta-Honolulu . That pairing was not accepted because the flight started and ended in North America.
Any suggestions?
Thanks for the help.
Denise
Hi Denise,
I’ve done this many times; you shouldn’t have any problems. Remember, you won’t be flying ON Korean Air, you are just having them BOOK your ticket to fly ON Delta.
I hope this helps!
Serena
Great info! I love that it is broken in steps! I am confused about one thing though, did you book through Delta or Korean sites? If it was through Korean how did it show on your Delta flights?
Hi Whendy! I book through Korean, however, they are partners with Delta so my flight reservations show up on Delta’s “My Trips” section!
Thanks for stopping by!
Serena