Below is a quick side-by-side comparison of the miles required for award tickets from various frequent flyer programs. The chart assumes that the continental U.S. is your departure point. This chart also assumes that your trip does not violate any blackout dates or restrictions. For example, if you want to fly around a major holiday, you can expect to use more miles.

A quick analysis shows that Continental’s program requires the fewest miles for a domestic round trip. American’s program, on the other hands, beats out the others on most international destinations, in terms of required miles.

These charts are unofficial, and are for comparison purposes only. To view the official award charts for these programs, please visit the frequent flyer program websites on our links page.

Comparison of minimum mileage required for round-trip award ticket, departing from the continental U.S. (as of June 2008)

Program U.S., Canada Hawaii Mexico, Caribbean Central America Northern South America Southern South America Europe North Asia Southeast Asia India Middle East Africa South Pacific
Continental OnePass 20,000 35,000 35,000 35,000 35,000 50,000 50,000 70,000 70,000 90,000 90,000 90,000 100,000
American Airlines AAdvantage 25,000 35,000 25,000 30,000 30,000 40,000 40,000 50,000 n/a 75,000 n/a n/a n/a
US Airways Dividend Miles 25,000 35,000 30,000 30,000 50,000 50,000 50,000 60,000 80,000 80,000 75,000 70,000 80,000
Delta SkyMiles 25,000 35,000 30,000 35,000 35,000 50,000 50,000 60,000 60,000 80,000 80,000 80,000 100,000
Northwest WorldPerks 25,000 35,000 35,000 35,000 35,000 50,000 50,000 60,000 60,000 90,000 90,000 90,000 100,000
United Mileage Plus 50,000 70,000 70,000 70,000 100,000 100,000 100,000 120,000 120,000 n/a 120,000 n/a 150,000 (Australia)