How to Fly (Including Business Class!) to Mexico & Central America With Chase Sapphire Preferred

November 19, 2015 By Million Mile Secrets

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Folks with the Chase Sapphire Preferred card can transfer their Chase Ultimate Rewards points to airline transfer partners like United Airlines and British Airways, for award flights to Mexico and Central America.

How To Fly Including Business Class To Mexico Central America With Chase Sapphire Preferred — See More of Mexico and Central America! Use Chase Ultimate Rewards Points for a Trip South of the Border

I’ll show you how to use your points for award flights. And how to earn more points on everyday purchases for more Big Travel!

How To Fly With Chase Sapphire Preferred Series Index

How to Fly to Europe Using the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card
How to Fly (Including Business Class!) to Mexico & Central America With Chase Sapphire Preferred
How to Fly (Including Business Class!) to the Caribbean With Chase Sapphire Preferred
How to Fly (Including Business Class!) to South America With Chase Sapphire Preferred

Why Chase Ultimate Rewards Points?

Link: Chase Ultimate Rewards Transfer Partners

Chase Ultimate Rewards points are flexible points that transfer 1:1 to certain airlines and hotels. There are never any transfer fees and most transfers are instant.

I also like that Chase Ultimate Rewards points do NOT expire.

By transferring to airlines and hotels, you’ll often get much more from your points than if you redeemed them for travel bookings, merchandise, or cash back.

In particular, these airlines are useful for award flights when you want to visit to Mexico or Central America:

United Airlines
British Airways

Note: Once you transfer your Chase Ultimate rewards points to a travel partner, you can NOT transfer them back. And they become subject to the airline or hotel’s expiration rules.

Using United Airlines Miles to Mexico and Central America

Link: United Airlines Award Chart

Link: United Airlines Partners

Link: United Airlines Partner Award Chart

Link: The Ultimate Guide to United Airlines Miles

To Mexico and Central America, United Airlines charges:

35,000 United Airlines miles for a round-trip coach award ticket
60,000 United Airlines miles for a round-trip Business Class award ticket
80,000 United Airlines miles for a round-trip First Class award ticket

Note that United Airlines doesn’t have many planes that have First Class to these destinations. So your options are mainly coach or Business Class.

You can use United Airlines miles to fly on:

United Airlines
Air Canada
Copa Airlines (for routes to Central America)

You do NOT have to memorize which airlines fly to the places you want to visit. They’ll show up automatically in the award search!

Using British Airways Avios Points to Mexico and Central America

Link: British Airways Award Flight Calculator

Link: Wandering Aramean’s Avios Map

Depending on where you start, you might prefer to use British Airways Avios points to fly on their partner American Airlines. Prices vary based on the route because British Airways has a distance-based award program. So folks in the South who are already closer to Mexico or Central America can get a better deal than with other mileage programs.

But, be aware that British Airways charges per flight segment. So if you have to connect, you’ll have to pay for each flight.

You can use Wandering Aramean’s Avios calculator tool to see the cost of each flight. It’s always worth checking if you can get a better deal, or a more convenient flight, with British Airways Avios points.

Note: British Airways is changing the price of the shortest (under 650 miles) partner flights in North America starting February 3, 2016. Flights which currently cost 4,500 British Airways Avios points 1-way in coach will cost 7,500 British Airways Avios points after that date.

Why Fly on an Airline Partner?

You might decide to fly on a partner airline if:

Their flight times are more convenient for you
There’s nothing available on United Airlines
You prefer to fly out of a certain airport (JFK instead of EWR, for example)
You want to try a new airline

And keep in mind, you can use United Airlines miles or British Airways Avios points to book award flights on partner airlines, but you can NOT transfer them to the other airline directly.

Don’t Forget Southwest!

Link: Southwest Route Map

Southwest now has international flights, including destinations in Mexico and Central America.

Folks with the Southwest Companion Pass will definitely want to check if Southwest flies to where you want to go, because it’s like getting a 2-for-1 ticket (you only pay the taxes and fees on the 2nd ticket)!

Or, you could fly Southwest to or from your destination, and use miles if 1 of the flights is very expensive. And, this is a way to get more flexibility if you can’t find flights on specific dates.

What’s Your Best Option?

Let’s look at a few examples!

1. From Boston to Mexico & Central America

Folks in Boston can usually get a better deal with United Airlines miles than British Airways Avios points, depending on where you connect and what class of service you want to fly.

While it’s worth checking to see how many points you’ll need, in most cases, United Airlines is your best choice. Don’t forget, you’ll soon need more points for short flights with British Airways Avios points starting February 2016.

a. Cancun, Mexico

I searched for award flights from Boston to Cancun, and found over 80 options, but all of them have connections.

In coach, you have your choice of flight times and connection cities on both United Airlines and Air Canada. Taxes and fees are ~$73, and it doesn’t cost more in cash to fly in Business Class or First Class (although you will pay more in miles).

Note that United Airlines sometimes mixes their cabins. In this example, the ~1 hour flight from Boston to Washington, DC, is in coach, but the longer flight from Washington, DC, to Cancun is in Business Class. But always check by clicking “Details.”

And, if you have the choice between a “Saver” award or a “Standard” award for the same class of service, always choose the Saver level. In this example, you’ll pay over double the miles for the same flights if you select “Standard”!

Note you’ll only pay 14,500 British Airways Avios points and $25 to fly on American Airlines from Boston to Cancun 1-way, even with a connection in Philadelphia. But this price will increase to 17,500 British Airways Avios points in February 2016 (depending on where you connect), and there aren’t as many flights available as United Airlines.

So it’s up to you which choice fits better with your schedule!

b. Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

For the route from Boston to Puerto Vallarta, I could only find award flights on United Airlines with connections. That said, there were ~70 options to choose from, with award seats available nearly every day in March 2016. That’s perfect for a Spring Break vacation!

But seats are harder to find in April 2016, so this route seems to vary a lot from month to month.

I was able to find lots of seats in both coach and Business Class, and you have your pick of flight times!

You can also choose to pay 17,500 British Airways Avios points, but again, you may pay more depending on where you connect. And the 1 or 2 flights available per day is nowhere near the ~70 flights United Airlines offers. If you’re going to connect anyway, choose the flights that work best for you.

c. San Jose, Costa Rica

There are lots of available award seats from Boston to San Jose, especially on Copa Airlines, an airline based in Central America.

Available award flights are patchy and there doesn’t seem to be a pattern, so you’ll need some flexibility if you want to redeem your miles for this route.

Taxes on this route are low, only ~$47 to ~$52 each way, depending on which airline you fly and which country you connect in.

2. From Dallas to Mexico & Central America