Best Points Redemptions Departing from LAX

If you’re based on the West Coast, Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) is one of your best gateways to the wider world. Approximately 69 carriers operate flights out of LAX, making it the fourth busiest airport in the world. So, wherever your destination, you can easily get there from LAX.

If you have a stash of points to spend but don’t know where to go, here are some suggestions for the best places to fly to from LAX using points and miles, as well as which frequent flyer rewards program is best to book your flights. Keep in mind that this list isn’t exhaustive, but just gives you some inspiration for your next points-funded trip out of Los Angeles.

LAX to Australia

With idyllic white-sand beaches, the Great Barrier Reef, the Outback and bustling cities, Australia features high on many travelers’ bucket lists. Luckily, Los Angeles serves as an excellent hub for getting to the Land Down Under.

Oneworld Carriers

When flying to Australia from Los Angeles, utilizing Oneworld alliance airlines and their partner award charts can score you lucrative rates. Oneworld includes airlines such as Qantas Airways, American Airlines and Alaska Airlines.

And what could be better than flying to Australia on its flag carrier, Qantas Airways?

Qantas operates nonstop flights from Los Angeles to Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne, making it a great choice to get to any region in Australia.

Qantas operates two different types of award flights: Classic Flight Rewards and Classic Plus Flight Rewards.

Classic Flight Rewards are available for both Qantas- and partner-operated award flights and are priced using a distance-based award chart. Classic Plus Flight Rewards are available for Qantas-operated flights only and use dynamic pricing.

While Classic Plus Flight Rewards have greater availability, Class Flight Rewards allow you to reap more value from your points.

A flight from Los Angeles to Sydney, Brisbane or Melbourne falls into Qantas’ 7,001-8,400 distance category, with the following award rates for its Classic Flight Rewards chart:

You could fly nonstop from Los Angeles to Sydney for just 41,900 miles each way in economy.

You can also book American Airlines flights from Los Angeles to Sydney for the same price, due to Qantas and American Airlines’ joint membership in the Oneworld alliance. This can come in handy when dynamically-priced award fares booked directly through American Airlines soar during peak travel seasons.

The main drawback of flying to Australia with Qantas is the challenge of finding premium cabin award availability. If you want to fly to the Land Down Under in a lie-flat business- or first-class seat, you’ll need to plan your trip well in advance and keep your eyes peeled for award fares. The LAX to Australia route is highly sought-after and Qantas’ business- and first-class products are even more popular, making it difficult to find award availability.

Qantas also gives its frequent flyers first dibs when it comes to premium cabin award seats, making it difficult to find award fares through other programs.

If you find availability, you can book premium cabin award fares on American Airlines-operated award flights through Qantas for a cheaper price than what you’d pay directly with American Airlines.

For instance, an award flight from Los Angeles to Sydney booked directly through American Airlines might cost the following:

While the economy award rate of 35,000 miles is competitive, paying 108,500 miles for premium economy, 222,500 miles for business or 232,500 miles for first class is hefty. You can take advantage of Qantas’ Classic Flight Rewards chart to book the same premium economy award fare for 81,300 miles, the same business award fare for just 108,400 miles or the same first-class fare for 162,800 miles.

Alternatively, if you can find premium cabin award availability with either Qantas or American Airlines, you can get even lower rates by booking the fares through Oneworld alliance partner Alaska Mileage Plan. Alaska’s distance- and zone-based partner award charts charge the following rates on Qantas and American Airlines flights to Australia:

That means you could pay 55,000 miles instead of 81,300 miles for a premium economy fare, 85,000 miles instead of 108,400 miles for a business-class fare and 130,000 miles instead of 162,800 miles for a first-class award fare.

Booking award flights through Alaska also enables you to add a free stopover to your itinerary at one of the hub airports of the airline you’re flying with. While you can only book one stopover on international round trip itineraries, you can book two one-way flights with a stopover each to get around this rule.

If you can find award availability, booking business- or first-class tickets on Qantas or American Airlines-operated flights—either through Qantas or Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan—offers significant value. Otherwise, stick to economy fares for a cheap flight Down Under and back.

Star Alliance Carriers

You can take advantage of the Star Alliance network, including United Airlines, Air Canada and All Nippon Airways (ANA), to get you from Los Angeles to Australia and back.

United Airlines is a solid option when it comes to booking economy award fares from Los Angeles to Australia.

You can find an economy Saver Award flight with United from Los Angeles to Sydney for around 52,400 miles each way. When looking for United award flights, it’s best to log into your United MileagePlus account first, as United displays greater award availability to its members.

If you can’t find Saver Award availability with United, you can book your United fares through Air Canada Mileage Plan instead.

Air Canada uses the following distance- and zone-based partner award chart to price its fares from Los Angeles to Australia:

You can fly from Los Angeles to Sydney with a connection in Melbourne—flying United on the international leg and Virgin Australia on the domestic leg—for just 87,500 miles in business class each way. If you booked that fare directly through United, you could end up paying as high as 300,000 miles.

This offers significant savings opportunities if you can find availability.

Alternatively, if you have nothing against a stopover or connecting flight in Tokyo, you can take advantage of All Nippon Airways’ (ANA’s) competitive rates to Australia.

ANA uses a zone- and distance-based award chart to price its own award flights. The price of the award flight is also influenced by seasonality, with the price increasing or decreasing depending on whether you fly in low, regular or high season. ANA allows for the booking of round trip award fares only.

Award fares on ANA-operated flights from North America (Zone 6) to Oceania (Zone 10) are competitive. Here’s an overview of ANA’s international award chart for flights between North America and Oceania:

You could fly business class from Los Angeles to Sydney, with a connection in Tokyo Haneda (HND), for 137,000 miles round trip in regular season.

You could fly the same route in economy class for just 70,000 miles round trip.

If you have flexibility in your dates and can find award availability, you could fly for as low as 60,000 miles in economy, 130,000 miles in business or 210,000 miles in first class, round trip during low season. These are incredibly competitive rates.

You can book United business-class award fares through ANA Mileage Club from Los Angeles to Australia for just 145,000 miles round trip, regardless of the season. This gives you another opportunity to find cheap award fares during periods of peak travel.

SkyTeam Carriers

The SkyTeam alliance doesn’t offer as many opportunities for award bookings to Australia as Oneworld or Star Alliance. But, Delta is a SkyTeam carrier, and you can take advantage of booking Delta Air Lines-operated award fares through Virgin Atlantic Flying Club.

Delta uses a dynamic model to price its award fares. However, these same award fares can be booked using Virgin Atlantic Flying Club’s distance-based award chart.. The following rates apply to Delta award flights booked through Virgin Atlantic:

• 65,500 miles in main cabin
• 165,000 miles in Delta One

Admittedly, these aren’t the lowest rates you can find. But, if award availability is scarce, paying 65,500 miles in Delta main cabin or 165,000 miles in Delta One each way isn’t a bad deal.

You’ll need to compare the price of booking through Virgin with that of booking directly with Delta. If you’re booking during peak travel dates, you could save a significant number of miles by booking through Virgin. For instance, a Delta main cabin fare could cost as much as 98,000 miles each way booked through Delta, compared to just 65,500 points through Virgin.

During periods of lower demand though, a basic economy fare could go for just 38,000 miles and a main cabin fare could cost 47,000 miles booked through Delta.

So if you’re struggling to find award flights to Australia, consider booking a Delta award flight and compare the price of booking directly with Delta vs. booking through Virgin Atlantic Flying Club.

LAX to Asia

Whether you’ve got your eyes set on the Taj Mahal, the cherry blossoms of Japan, the outstanding scuba diving in the Philippines and Indonesia or the cuisine in China, Los Angeles is an excellent hub for getting to Asia.

There are a number of transpacific routes you can take advantage of with a wide range of airlines to choose from.

Oneworld Carriers

You can use American Airlines AAdvantage to find low award rates from Los Angeles to Asia.

While American Airlines uses dynamic pricing for its own award flights, it continues to use a zone-based chart for partner award flights.

American Airlines splits Asia into two regions: Asia 1 and Asia 2.

For partner-operated flights to Asia 1 from Los Angeles, the following award rates apply:

Asia 1 includes flights to Japan and Korea. That means you could fly on a Oneworld alliance partner such as Japan Airlines or Cathay Pacific to Japan or Korea for just 35,000 miles in economy each way and a maximum of 80,000 in first class each way.

For instance, here’s an award flight from Los Angeles to Osaka (KIX) for just 60,000 miles each way in Japan Airlines’ business class.

For partner-operated flights to Asia 2 from Los Angeles, American Airlines charges the following rates:

Asia 2 includes partner-operated flights to Brunei, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. If you can find award availability, you could fly business class for just 70,000 miles each way and first class for 110,000 miles each way to any of these destinations in Asia.

Economy rates are also highly competitive. For instance, you could fly from Los Angeles to Jakarta (CGK) with Japan Airlines, with a stopover in Tokyo, for just 37,500 miles each way.

Likewise, you could fly with Cathay Pacific to Bangkok (BKK) or Phnom Penh (PNH) for just 37,500 miles each way.

If you don’t mind a stopover, booking Oneworld alliance flights through AAdvantage with Cathay Pacific and Japan Airlines offers significant value for your miles when flying out of Los Angeles.

Star Alliance Carriers

You can fly to Asia from Los Angeles by utilizing the award charts of multiple airlines in the Star Alliance and their extensive partner network.

ANA Mileage Club is one of your best bets when it comes to getting from Los Angeles to Asia, with distance- and zone-based award charts for both its own and partner-operated award flights.

For ANA-operated award flights from North America (Zone 6) to Asia 1 (Zone 3), the following rates apply:

ANA’s Asia 1 region includes flights to Beijing, Chengdu, Dalian, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Hong Kong, Qingdao, Shanghai, Shenyang, Shenzhen, Taipei, Manila, Wuhan and Xiamen.

Keep in mind that these are round trip award fares, meaning you could fly from Los Angeles to any destination in Asia 1 for just 45,000 miles in economy during low season or 105,000 miles in business class.

Here are a few examples of where ANA’s Mileage Club rates could take you in Asia 1.

You could fly from Los Angeles to Manila (MNL) in economy for just 55,000 miles round trip during regular season, with a connection in Tokyo Narita.

Alternatively, you could fly business class to Tokyo Narita with ANA and then onward to Taipei (TPE) with Air Japan, for just 112,000 miles round trip during the regular season.

These are highly competitive rates for getting from Los Angeles to China, Japan and the Philippines.

For ANA-operated award flights from North America (Zone 6) to Asia 2 (Zone 4), the following rates apply:

ANA’s Asia 2 region includes flights to Bangkok, Chennai, Delhi, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Mumbai, Phnom Penh, Singapore and Yangon.

You could fly business class with ANA from Los Angeles to Tokyo and then to Kuala Lumpur (KUL) for just 132,000 miles round trip during the regular season.

You could also fly to New Delhi (DEL) from Los Angeles in business class with ANA, for 132,000 miles during the regular season, with a stopover in Tokyo.

Alternatively, you could fly business class with ANA to Tokyo and then onward with Air Japan to Ho Chi Minh City (SGN), for 132,000 miles during regular season.

There are an endless number of opportunities when booking award flights through ANA, due to its extensive partner network and competitive award rates.

For partner-operated award flights from North America (Zone 6) to Asia 1 (Zone 3), ANA applies the following rates:

For example, you could fly economy class with Asiana Airlines from Los Angeles to Seoul (ICN), onward to Manila, and then back with a stop in Taipei for 60,000 miles.

Lastly, for partner-operated award flights from North America (Zone 6) to Asia 2 (Zone 4), ANA applies the following rates:

With these rates, you could fly economy with Singapore Airlines to Kuala Lumpur, with a connection in Singapore (SIN), for 80,000 miles.

As lucrative as ANA Mileage Club is, it’s not your only option when flying from Los Angeles on points to Asia. You can also take advantage of Air Canada Aeroplan to book competitive award flights on Star Alliance partners to Asia.

Aeroplan uses a distance- and zone-based partner award chart, whereby most of Asia falls into Aeroplan’s “Pacific” zone. Keep in mind that if you want to fly to India from Los Angeles using Aeroplan, you’ll need to check award rates for North America to the “Atlantic” zone—not Pacific.

The following award chart applies to Aeroplan partner-operated award flights from North America to the Pacific:

For example, you could fly economy for 50,000 miles each way from Los Angeles to Seoul nonstop with Asiana Airlines.

Alternatively, you could fly from Los Angeles to Jakarta in economy with Eva Air for 60,000 miles per way.

You could also fly with Singapore Airlines to Brunei (BWN) in economy for 60,000 miles each way.

Aeroplan opens up a wealth of partner award flights from Los Angeles to Asia that you can book at competitive rates. You can also add stopovers to Aeroplan award bookings for just 5,000 miles extra, enabling you to see another city on your way to or from Asia.

SkyTeam Carriers

While SkyTeam has a number of Asia-based partners, such as China Airlines, Xiamen Airlines, China Eastern and Garuda Indonesian Airways, SkyTeam doesn’t offer as much in the way of flights to Asia from Los Angeles.

Likewise, coming across award availability can be challenging, especially when booking these award fares through partner airlines.

LAX to Europe

While Los Angeles may have fewer nonstop routes to European cities than the East Coast hubs, it still remains a great starting point for accessing Europe. So whether you’re after Italian cuisine, German Christmas markets, Parisian streets or Spanish tapas, you’ve got a number of airlines and frequent flyer programs you can leverage to get there.

Oneworld Carriers

American Airlines AAdvantage offers lucrative award rates on partner Oneworld alliance flights to Europe.

It uses the following distance-based award chart for flights from Los Angeles (Contiguous 48 U.S. states and Canada) to Europe:

The main cabin off-peak season runs from Jan. 10 to March 14. and Nov. 1 to Dec. 14.

You can fly from Los Angeles to a number of European cities on a range of Oneworld carriers, such as Finnair, British Airways and Iberia.

For instance, you could fly from Los Angeles to London (LHR) with American Airlines and then onward to Helsinki (HEL) with Finnair, for just 30,000 miles in economy each way.

You could also take advantage of American Airlines’ codeshare agreement with Air Tahiti to fly to Paris for just 22,500 miles in economy off-peak or 40,000 miles in premium economy each way. Air Tahiti has taxes and fees of only $5.60 each way, making it an ultra-cheap way to travel to Europe.

Taking an award flight with British Airways is another option, as you’ll have a connection in London Heathrow that opens up the rest of Europe to you. However, you need to be careful of taxes, fees and fuel surcharges on British Airways award tickets, as they can significantly erode the value of your points redemption.

For instance, a flight from Los Angeles to Madrid with a stopover in London—operated by British Airways on the first leg and Iberia on the second—costs only 30,000 miles in economy each way but is $242.40 in taxes and fees.

While you can often find premium cabin award availability with British Airways, you’ll need to think twice about the taxes and fees tacked onto the fare. For example, a first-class flight from Los Angeles to Paris (CDG) with a connection in London costs only 85,000 miles each way but levies a whopping $753.20 in taxes and fees.

Star Alliance Carriers

ANA Mileage Club’s zone- and distance-based partner award chart is another solid way of redeeming your miles for lucrative award fares.

While ANA doesn’t operate flights from North America to Europe, it has a range of Star Alliance partners that do.

Here’s ANA’s partner award chart for flights between North America (Zone 6) and Europe (Zone 7):

Generally speaking, it’s most cost effective to fly economy from Los Angeles to Europe due to the often exorbitant carrier-imposed surcharges. Star Alliance airlines such as Swiss and Lufthansa have some of the highest surcharges on flights between Los Angeles and Europe, while United Airlines, Turkish Airlines and LOT Polish Airlines have lower surcharges.

For instance, a nonstop economy flight from Los Angeles to Frankfurt (FRA) with Lufthansa will cost you 55,000 miles round trip plus $612.11 in surcharges.

In contrast, a nonstop economy flight from Los Angeles to Warsaw (WAW) with LOT Polish Airlines will cost you just 55,000 miles plus $211.51 in surcharges.

While both are great value in terms of round trip mileage requirements, the carrier-imposed surcharges vary widely from one airline to the next.

You could also fly economy to Paris via Zurich (ZRH) with Swiss and fly back via Chicago (ORD) with United for just 55,000 miles plus $414.31 in surcharges.

From Los Angeles, you can also fly directly to Istanbul with Turkish Airlines for just 55,000 miles in economy round trip and $243.41 in surcharges.

You can also fly with United to destinations across Europe, including London, for competitive rates and lower surcharges. In some cases, a domestic connection in the U.S. might be required to position you for your flight to Europe.

You could fly to London in economy for 55,000 miles and $253.81 in surcharges with United round trip.

You could also fly business with United to London for 100,000 miles plus $391.71 in surcharges.

Booking directly with United is another option. If you can score Saver Award rates with United, you can save a lot of miles on your way to Europe. One of the other main benefits of United is that it doesn’t pass on carrier-imposed surcharges on its partner award fares. That means you can score award fares on Lufthansa and other Star Alliance flights while saving hundreds of dollars.

For instance, you could fly economy with Lufthansa for just 44,000 miles each way plus only $5.60 in taxes and fees. While the mileage requirement is higher than booking through ANA, the carrier-imposed surcharges are far less.

If you can find it, premium cabin award availability can be even more valuable.

Flying with United itself can also provide value, such as scoring an economy Saver Award fare to Frankfurt for just 40,000 miles or a business-class fare for 80,000 miles each way, plus $5.60 in taxes and fees.

SkyTeam Carriers

You can get great value for your miles by booking SkyTeam flights to Europe through Virgin Atlantic Flying Club.

Virgin uses a distance-based award chart to price its partner award fares. For Air France and KLM flights, economy fares are priced at 15,000 points off-peak and 25,000 points in peak season each way between Western North America (Zone 7) and Western and Central Europe (Zone 1). Likewise, you could score business class award fares with Air France and KLM for 77,500 points each way off-peak and 87,500 points during peak travel dates.

You can also score competitive zone-based award rates on Delta flights when you book through Virgin. In both cases, booking through Virgin enables you to avoid the dynamic pricing models of both Delta and Air France-KLM.

For instance, you could fly nonstop from Los Angeles to Paris in economy with Air France for 25,000 points each way or with Delta for 30,000 points each way.

Alternatively, you could fly to Dublin (DUB) in economy with Air France or KLM for just 25,000 points each way.

You can even find Saver Award fares on Virgin Atlantic flights, such as 15,000 points each way in economy from Los Angeles to London.

Considering that Virgin is a transfer partner of all major credit card issuers, booking flights to Europe using Virgin’s award charts can be a highly lucrative and easy option when it comes time to book.

Final Thoughts

If you’re based on the West Coast near LAX, you’re in luck—you just happen to be on the doorstep of a number of international routes that can take you all across Asia, Oceania and Europe, at extremely affordable rates. By knowing which airline to book through and which partner airline to fly with, you can maximize the value of your miles and reduce your out-of-pocket costs.

To learn how to maximize the number of points you earn and how best to redeem them, sign up for our free 10xTravel course today.