What is Award ticket?

An award ticket is a flight paid for with miles or points instead of cash; taxes, fees and surcharges almost always still have to be paid in money.

Also called: Award flight, Reward flight, Award travel.

How it works#

An award ticket exists when an airline releases a seat in exchange for miles. How many miles that seat costs is set by the programme holding the miles, not by the airline operating the flight. That is why the identical flight costs different amounts through different programmes. The cash part of an award ticket covers taxes, airport charges and, depending on the airline, a surcharge that is charged regardless of the mileage price.

Not to be confused with#

An award ticket is not the same as a mileage upgrade: an award ticket pays for the whole journey in miles, while an upgrade only buys the jump into a higher cabin on a ticket that was bought with cash.

In German#

The German term is Prämienticket. German version of this term

Related terms#

• Award chart: An award chart is a published price list stating how many miles an award flight costs in a given region and cabin, independent of the cash price of that flight.
• Award availability: Award availability is the number of seats an airline releases on a given flight for redemption with miles, which is usually far smaller than the number of seats still on sale.
• Redeposit fee: A redeposit fee is the charge a programme applies for returning already redeemed miles to the account after a cancellation.

Articles that use this term#

• Why the best redemptions are on partner airlines
• What does changing or cancelling an award ticket cost?
• What is the difference between an award chart and dynamic pricing?
• What is a point actually worth, and how do you work it out yourself?
• How do you find award space an airline’s own site won’t show?
• Are you actually covered for a rental car by your credit card?