Wanderlust World Wanderlust World Visit the airline's website to determine the miles required for your planned trip or upgrade. The amount of miles required for various awards depends on factors that include distance of the trip, class of service or value of the merchandise. As of 2010, an economy-class saver award ticket for domestic travel within the United States typically costs 25,000 miles. A first-class award ticket from the United States to Costa Rica can cost 60,000 miles.
Find the "Use/Redeem Miles" section or similar on the airline's website. Options are usually broken down into Travel, Shopping and Dining and Other. Search based on options available for the amount of miles you have or browse all rewards. To trade miles, look for the "Exchange Miles and Points Section" or similar. Locate the conversion rate to trade frequent-flier miles on your program for miles or points on another. The exchange rate will vary by program; it is typically a better value to redeem miles than trade them.
Make your award selection. In general, a ticket offers better value over merchandise or gift cards. As of October 2010, an economy-class ticket on a major carrier from Los Angeles to Charlotte, North Carolina for travel in May 2011 is valued at about $550 and costs 25,000 miles. However, an 8-gigabyte iPod touch retails for $229 but costs about the same number of miles (24,800).
Click on "Saver Awards" or similar under the "Use Miles" section to make your selection. Click on "Search for Awards Now" or similar and enter the to and from locations and the date. From the list of available flight times, select the outbound and return flights that work best for your schedule and click the continue button. Enter personal information and a credit card to pay for airport taxes, which are excluded from awards. The miles will be deducted from your account immediately.