How to Get to Italy With Miles and Points

  • Joseph Hostetler

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    INSIDER SECRET: One of the WORST ways to get to Europe is by using British Airways Avios points to fly on British Airways. One of the BEST ways to get to Europe is by transferring British Airways Avios points to either Iberia or Aer Lingus and flying those airlines instead.

    Because of its history, ancient architecture and unbelievable food and wine, Italy is near the top of nearly everyone’s wish list. (It’s certainly on mine.) From the US, free flights to Italy (lots of cities in Europe, actually) are easy to accomplish, thanks the best credit cards for travel.

    We’ll show you how to get to Italy with miles and points, as well as secrets to securing the best deal.

    Need to know how to get to Italy with miles and points? You’ve got plenty of options. (Photo by theskaman306/Shutterstock)

    How to Get to Italy With Miles and Points

    Italy isn’t a small country. You’ll easily spend 12 hours driving from top to bottom. So choosing the right airport is an important beginning to your trip.

    Italy has several international airports, but here are the most popular:

    These are the airports we often see with the best deals. No matter what you want to see in Italy, one of these airports will serve you well and you shouldn’t have much problem reaching them with miles and points.

    1. Star Alliance to Italy Using Air Canada Aeroplan Miles

    Air Canada Aeroplan offers a great opportunity to use miles to fly across the Atlantic. Air Canada is also part of Star Alliance, so they’ve got most of the same partners as United Airlines.

    Here’s what Air Canada Aeroplan charges for one-way award flights to Italy from the continental US:

    You’ll pay fewer Air Canada Aeroplan miles for flights in business class and first class compared to United Airlines miles, but know that Air Canada Aeroplan adds fuel surcharges to their own award flights and flights on certain partners. So it’s always best to do the math and compare what you’re be saving in miles versus what you might pay in fuel surcharges.

    Air Canada Aeroplan miles are huge value for award flights on United Airlines or certain other Star Alliance partners, like SWISS.

    To avoid fuel surcharges, stick to Brussels Airlines, SAS, Singapore Airlines, SWISS, Turkish Airlines and United Airlines when booking award flights using Aeroplan miles. These airlines do NOT pass along high taxes and fees.

    Earn Air Canada Aeroplan Miles

    You can also transfer Marriott points to Air Canada Aeroplan. So you could consider cards like:

    2. Star Alliance to Italy With United Airlines Miles

    A stash of United Airlines miles is one of the best tools for booking free travel to Italy. There are many reasons for this.

    Most important, United Airlines is a member of Star Alliance, which has the most daily flight options between the US and Europe. More flights each day mean more award seats and an easier time finding a flight that meets your needs.

    Because United Airlines has such a diverse route network within the continental US, United Airlines miles are also a great option for folks who don’t live near major airports.

    For example, you probably have tons of options if you plan to leave for Italy from New York City. But for folks who are based in smaller cities as I am, you’ll need to connect to a much larger international airport before you fly across the Atlantic.

    United Airlines makes it easy to book United Airlines award flights on their own website and even conveniently pieces together trips that contain flights on both United Airlines and one of United Airlines’ Star Alliance partners (for the longer international flight).

    United Airlines charges the following amounts for one-way award flights on their own planes to Europe:

    Weird quirk alert: United Airlines will charge you more miles for flights in business class when you fly with one of their partners instead of with them.

    Remember that United Airlines charges additional miles for flights in Business Class on partner airlines.

    If the transatlantic flight on your journey is on one of United Airlines’ partners, you’ll pay the following for a one-way flight:

    Redeeming United Airlines miles for an award flight in business class on a Star Alliance partner requires more miles and is less of a steal.

    One of the absolute best perks of United Airlines is that they never add fuel surcharges to award flights. You’ll never see exorbitant fees on a flight booked with United Airlines miles.

    Earn United Airlines Miles

    United Airlines is a Chase Ultimate Rewards transfer partner, so it’s easy to earn United Airlines miles with cards like:

    Or you can earn miles directly with cards like the United℠ Explorer Card or United℠ Business Card.

    3. Oneworld to Italy Using American Airlines Miles

    American Airlines miles can also be incredibly valuable for award flights to and from Italy. American Airlines has several hub cities throughout the US, so it’s not difficult to book a seat on any of the dozens of daily nonstop flight options to Europe. You’ll have the easiest time if you live near any of the following cities:

    American Airlines is part of the oneworld alliance and only has a few partner airlines that fly across the Atlantic. If you want to fly with American Airlines’ partners, you can choose from:

    You’ll want to try to avoid flights on British Airways because they charge extensive taxes and fees (sometimes up to $500 per person), even when flying in coach.

    Award flights to Italy on oneworld alliance partners show conveniently on the American Airlines website. You can even view available award flights, taxes and fees without logging in to your American Airlines account.

    For most of the year, one-way award flights to Europe on American Airlines or one of their oneworld alliance partners cost the following:

    American Airlines also offers off-peak award pricing during certain times of the year, making award flights to Italy some of the cheapest available. These off-peak award flights are only available in coach from January 10 to March 14 and November 1 to December 14. If you can plan your travel to Italy within these dates, award flights are even cheaper at only 22,500 American Airlines miles one-way in coach.

    For an in-depth guide on using American Airlines miles to book award travel to Europe, head over to our guide on How to Use American Airlines Miles.

    Earn American Airlines Miles

    The fastest way to earn American Airlines miles is with these cards:

    The information for the Citi AAdvantage Platinum and CitiBusiness AAdvantage Platinum card has been collected independently by Million Mile Secrets. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

    American Airlines is also a Marriott transfer partner, so you can convert your Marriott points into American Airlines miles.

    4. Oneworld and Partners to Italy Using British Airways Avios Points

    Although we really recommend you DON’T book transatlantic award flights on British Airways because of high fuel surcharges, redeeming British Airways Avios points for flights on its partners can be a valuable play. Though I’m still not a fan.

    Folks on the East Coast can find decent deals when redeeming British Airways Avios points for award flights to Italy.

    Similar to American Airlines, British Airways is part of the oneworld alliance, so you’ll have mostly the same airline options for transatlantic flights (American Airlines, British Airways, Finnair and Iberia).

    Finding nonstop flights is important when you book any flight with British Airways Avios points because the number of miles required is not based solely on award region. Instead, British Airways uses a distance-based award chart to determine how many Avios points are required for a specific flight. It can get complicated but you can also find great deals.

    For example, an off-peak coach award flight from an East Coast city like New York to Milan costs 25,000 British Airways Avios points and a couple hundred bucks.

    However, you can spend fewer miles if you fly to a European country farther west, like Dublin. Then you can use budget airlines to hop to Italy for cheap.

    British Airways partners with Aer Lingus, which has several nonstop flights from US cities to Ireland each day. And the taxes and fees on Aer Lingus flights are not nearly as high as British Airways flights.

    You can fly Aer Lingus from the following cities to Ireland (Dublin or Shannon) for as little as 13,000 British Airways Avios points one-way in coach:

    It’s much more difficult finding available seats on those flights, though.

    British Airways, on the other hand, consistently opens lots of award seats and has a wider route network. So if you are less flexible on dates or destinations, British Airways can be a good pick if you are willing to spend some money on the taxes and fees.

    Try to avoid using British Airways Avios points for flights in business class and first class because you will pay about $500 per passenger in taxes and fees.

    Earn British Airways Avios Points

    You can earn British Airways Avios points directly with the British Airways Visa Signature® Card. Here’s our British Airways credit card review.

    And because British Airways is a Chase Ultimate Rewards, Amex Membership Rewards and Marriott transfer partner, you could consider any of the cards that earn these points mentioned earlier if you want more British Airways Avios points.

    The information for the British Airways Visa Signature Card has been collected independently by Million Mile Secrets. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

    5. SkyTeam to Italy With Delta Miles

    Here’s the thing with Delta: It doesn’t offer a standard award chart, so it’s difficult to know exactly how many miles are required for your Italian vacation unless you search for specific dates.

    On the other hand, Delta has many domestic flights, offering travelers easier access to connecting flights before traveling across the pond. And many folks find Delta to be the most reliable and comfortable US airline, so you might prefer to fly on Delta or one of its partners on your trip to Italy.

    Delta is part of the SkyTeam Alliance, and has a few partner airlines that fly between Europe and the US such as Air France, KLM, Virgin Atlantic, and others. But to search for award flights using your Delta miles, you’ll have to start at the Delta website — because Delta doesn’t tell you in advance how many miles will be required.

    And typically, Delta will charge you more miles to fly on one of their own planes as opposed to flying with one of their partners. But by using Delta’s five-week award search, you can get a good idea of how much award flights typically cost.

    Search for award flights using Delta’s five-week calendar because Delta does not publish an award chart.

    For example, a quick search on the Delta site shows that the cheapest one-way coach flight between the continental US and Italy is 25,000 Delta miles plus $6 in tax. So Delta’s low taxes and fees might be appealing for folks who have higher mileage balances but want to spend as little cash as possible.

    Delta does NOT allow you to redeem miles for international first class and Delta does not offer international first class on any of its own planes. If you want to fly in first class, you’re better off booking with American Airlines miles or Air Canada Aeroplan miles, as discussed above. For more details on booking award flights with Delta, visit this post on how to use Delta miles.

    Earn Delta Miles

    You can quickly earn a lot of Delta miles directly with cards like:

    Keep in mind, Delta is also a Marriott and Amex transfer partner. So you can boost your Delta balance by applying for the Amex Membership Rewards and Marriott cards mentioned previously.

    Bottom Line

    If you’re looking to travel to Italy, it’s helpful to explore several options. These five booking options are among the best for cheap and convenient award travel to Europe, especially if you have to connect from a smaller city to a major US international airport before crossing the Atlantic:

    But keep in mind, cash rates on coach flights to Europe have been plummeting in recent years, so you might want to start your research on Google Flights to see if redeeming miles and points is a good value. If you want to fly in business class or first class, award flights will almost always be a better value than paying cash.

    Throw any questions down in the comments! And subscribe to our newsletter for more posts to help you get to your dream destination.

    Editorial Note: We're the Million Mile Secrets team. And we're proud of our content, opinions and analysis, and of our reader's comments. These haven’t been reviewed, approved or endorsed by any of the airlines, hotels, or credit card issuers which we often write about. And that’s just how we like it! :)
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