Whether you’re craving gelato and espresso or hoping to catch a glimpse of the Pope, Italy is a great destination to visit with your points and miles. Here are our favorite mileage programs to use for a trip to Italy.

View of Positano - famous old Italian resort, Italy

Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer

How to Book with Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Miles

One-way Star Alliance flights to Europe booked with Singapore Airlines miles cost:

  • 30,500 miles in economy
  • 81,000 in business class
  • 121,000 in first class

Singapore’s partner United Airlines operates nonstop flights from Newark, New Jersey (EWR), to Milan (MXP), Rome (FCO) and Venice (VCE). The airline also flies to Rome from Chicago (ORD) and Washington, D.C. (IAD).

You also can use Singapore miles to book flights with connections on other Star Alliance airlines, such as Air Canada, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Lufthansa, Swiss International Air Lines and TAP Air Portugal. However, you may have to pay fuel surcharges when booking flights on other partner airlines.

To book a flight using Singapore Airlines miles, go to Singapore Airline’s website and check the “Redeem Flights” button, then enter your cities, travel dates, class of service and number of passengers.

How to Book with Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Miles

If flights are available for the date you selected, you’ll see a table with flight details and mileage costs. If you don’t see any results, make sure to select the “Star Alliance” tab.

How to Book with Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Miles

Clicking on the button under the number of miles required will show you the total cost in miles and cash for that flight.

How to Earn Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Miles

One of the great things about the Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer program is that you can transfer points from all four major transferable points programs: American Express Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi ThankYou Points and Capital One.

However, be careful. Singapore miles expire 36 months after they post to your account, regardless of what account activity you’ve had since they were earned. So make sure you’re ready to spend those miles before you transfer them.

Cards to Help You Earn More KrisFlyer Miles

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is one of our favorite cards for earning Singapore Airlines miles. It comes with a great welcome bonus, and you’ll earn a number of points on its various travel and dining related spending categories. Ultimate Rewards can be transferred to Singapore KrisFlyer instantly at a 1:1 ratio.

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan

How to Book With Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan Miles

Using Alaska Airlines miles to book your flights to Italy gives you quite a few options. You can book nonstop flights from the U.S. to Italy with American Airlines or connecting flights with a host of others.

Currently, the mileage cost of a ticket with Alaska Airlines depends on which airline you fly. Although Alaska updated its award chart recently to not reflect this, in practice this is still holding true.

Each airline partner has its own award rates, as follows (all prices for one-way flights):

AirlineEconomyPremium EconomyBusiness ClassFirst Class
Aer LingusStarting at 30,000 miles
N/AStarting at 60,000 milesN/A
American AirlinesStarting at 22,500 milesN/A57,500 miles85,000 miles
British Airways32,500 miles42,500 miles60,000 miles70,000 miles
CondorStarting at 25,000 milesN/A45,000 miles55,000 miles
Finnair30,000 milesN/A70,000 milesN/A
Iberia35,000 milesComing soon75,000 milesN/A
Icelandair30,000 to 35,000 milesN/A50,000 to 55,000 milesN/A

These redemption rates also include a domestic Alaska Airlines flight to get from your home to the international departure city. If you’re using American Airlines to get across the ocean, you also can include domestic American flights as part of your itinerary.

British Airways and Icelandair both add fuel surcharges to their flights, starting at $150 and going much higher (especially on British Airways). Flights on American Airlines should have about $19 in taxes and fees each way. However, you can also add a stopover in your connecting city (London with British Airways and Reykjavik, Iceland, with Icelandair) for no additional charge.

To book a ticket with Alaska Airlines miles, go to the Alaska Airlines’ website, check the “Use Miles” box and enter your cities and dates.

How to Book With Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan Miles

You’ll get an easy-to-navigate grid that shows you flights and pricing for different levels of service, as well as a preview of pricing for nearby dates.

How to Book With Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan Miles

Watch out for mixed cabin itineraries, denoted with a light blue person sitting in a dark blue seat. These itineraries include flights in a lower class of service even though you’re paying the full price for a higher class.

Related: Travel Traps: Economy Flights at Business Class Award Rates

How to Earn Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan Miles

If you’re looking to earn Alaska Airlines miles, you have two options. First, you can transfer points from Marriott Bonvoy at a 3:1 ratio. Second, you can earn miles directly with a co-branded Alaska Airlines credit card from Bank of America.

Cards to Help You Earn More Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan Miles

Your best bet is probably the Alaska Airlines Visa Signature Card from Bank of America, which earns 2X miles per dollar on Alaska Airlines purchases and 1X miles everywhere else.

Another option is to spend on the Marriott Bonvoy cards issued by Chase and American Express. Each card is good for different situations, so make sure you consider your options. No matter which card you use, you’ll be able to transfer your Marriott Bonvoy points to Alaska Airlines. Keep in mind that the Bonvoy points transfer at a 3:1 ratio to airlines.

American Airlines AAdvantage

How to Book With American Airlines AAdvantage Miles

Regardless of whether you’re traveling on an American Airlines flight or one of its partner airlines, one-way flights from the contiguous United States to Europe cost:

  • 22,500 to 30,000 miles in economy (depending on the season)
  • 40,000 miles in premium economy
  • 57,500 miles in business class
  • 85,000 miles in first class

American operates flights year-round to Milan from New York (JFK) and Miami (MIA) and to Rome from Philadelphia (PHL). The airline also offers seasonal flights to Rome from Charlotte, North Carolina (CLT); Chicago (ORD); Dallas (DFW); and New York (JFK); and to Venice from Chicago and Philadelphia.

If you don’t live in one of those cities, you can include a domestic flight from your home airport to the international departure city for the same number of miles.

To find award tickets on American Airlines, go to American Airlines’ website, enter your cities and dates, and check the “Redeem Miles” box.

How to Book With American Airlines AAdvantage Miles

Business class on American’s Airbus A330-300.

The search results will come with a calendar view that allows you to select economy, business, premium economy or first class.

The search results will come with a calendar view that allows you to select economy, business, premium economy or first class.

How to Book With American Airlines AAdvantage Miles

American Airlines used to make it easier to see the lowest pricing by designating itineraries as “MileSAAver” and “AAnytime” awards, with the Mile SAAver being the lower-priced itineraries and AAnytime being higher-priced. Now, the best way to see if you’re getting the best price is to view the calendar and look for the lowest available prices you can find.

You can also use AAdvantage miles for connecting flights on American’s partner airlines British Airways and Iberia, but expect to pay fuel surcharges on those airlines.

How to Book With American Airlines AAdvantage Miles

How to Earn American Airlines AAdvantage Miles

You can transfer points from the Marriott Bonvoy program to American Airlines at a ratio of 3 Marriott Points to 1 American mile, with a 5,000-mile bonus for every 60,000 Marriott points transferred. You can also earn miles with American Airlines credit cards issued by Citibank and Barclays.

Cards to Help You Earn More AAdvantage Miles

We love the AAdvantage® Aviator® Red World Elite Mastercard®. However, the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select World Elite Mastercard offers more bang for your buck on everyday spending: 2X miles per dollar spent with American Airlines, at restaurants and gas stations, and 1X mile on other purchases.

British Airways or Iberia Avios

British Airways and Iberia both use Avios as their rewards currency. You can redeem Avios to book nonstop flights from the U.S. to Italy on American Airlines or connecting flights with other Oneworld partners.

While both programs offer distance-based award charts, the pricing is slightly different for each program. Unfortunately, neither airline publishes an award chat anymore, so you’ll have to go to the respective websites and log in to run a search.

How to Book with British Airways Avios or Iberia Avios

To book a flight with British Airways Avios, go to British Airways’ website and log in to your British Airways Executive Club account, then enter your cities and dates on the “Book with Avios” tab.

How to Book with British Airways Avios or Iberia Avios

This will give you a list of available flights, starting with nonstop options. You can use the date tabs at the top to check other nearby dates if you don’t see the flight you’re looking for.

How to Book with British Airways Avios or Iberia Avios

Clicking on the white box for your desired class of service will show you the pricing for that flight.

How to Book with British Airways Avios or Iberia Avios

How to Earn British Airways Avios or Iberia Avios Miles

You can transfer points from American Express Membership Rewards and Chase Ultimate Rewards to British Airways or Iberia 1:1. Marriott Bonvoy points transfer at a 3:1 ratio. Capital One miles transfer 1:1 but only to British Airways.

Chase also offers the British Airways Visa Signature® Card, the Iberia Visa Signature® Card and the Aer Lingus Visa Signature® Card, all of which earn Avios. British Airways, Iberia and Aer Lingus have separate mileage programs, but you can transfer points freely among the three once you’ve had each account open for at least 90 days.

Cards to Help You Earn More Avios

As always, we suggest you prioritize transferable points first. If you’re newer to points, Chase Ultimate Rewards points should be your focus. Once you’re set with Ultimate Rewards-earning cards, you also can look into one of Chase’s co-branded cards with British Airways, Iberia or Aer Lingus.

If you’re over 5/24, Membership Rewards points should be your go-to choice for earning Avios, and Amex offers several cards with great bonus categories and welcome bonuses.

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles

How to Book with Cathay Pacific Asia Miles

While you won’t be able to fly Cathay Pacific from the U.S. to Europe, you can redeem Asia Miles to fly on Cathay’s Oneworld partners like American Airlines. Cathay has a distance-based award chart, but prices vary slightly depending on if you’re flying one partner or multiple partners.

If you’re flying just one airline, you’ll add 5,000 miles to the cost on the Asia Miles Standard Award chart.

How to Book with Cathay Pacific Asia Miles

If you’re flying multiple partners, you’ll use the Asia Miles Multi-Carrier Award chart, which is also distance-based.

How to Book with Cathay Pacific Asia Miles

The Asia Miles website is pretty robust for booking most award flights. However, if you want to book an American Airlines flight, you’ll need to search for the award space on American Airlines’ website (or another partner’s like British Airways) and then call Cathay Pacific at 1-866-892-2598 to confirm that the space is available and complete the booking.

How to Book with Cathay Pacific Asia Miles

If you’re booking a British Airways flight, you will be able to book through Cathay’s online search tool—but beware of the high fuel surcharges with British Airways.

How to Book with Cathay Pacific Asia Miles

How to Earn Cathay Pacific Asia Miles

Earning Cathay Pacific Miles is relatively easy as they’re partners with American Express Membership Rewards and Marriott Bonvoy points. You can transfer points at a 1:1 ratio from American Express Membership Rewards and at a 3:1 ratio from Marriott Bonvoy (with a 5,000-mile bonus for every 60,000 Bonvoy points transferred).

Transfers from American Express should be instant while transfers from Marriott can take up to 24 hours.

Cathay Pacific also offers a credit card issued by Synchrony bank that can help you earn Asia Miles.

Cards to Help You Earn More Cathay Pacific Asia Miles

As always, we suggest you prioritize transferable points first. If you’re newer to points, American Express Membership Rewards points should be your go-to choice for earning Asia Miles as Amex offers several cards with great bonus categories and welcome bonuses. Plus flexible points currencies will give you more options.

If you’ve exhausted your transferable point options, the Asia Miles credit card is worth a look.

Etihad Guest

How to Book with Etihad Guest

Etihad doesn’t fly directly from the U.S. to Italy, but there are a number of options for redeeming Etihad miles for your Italian vacation. You can use Etihad miles to book flights on American Airlines, Brussels Airlines and Royal Air Maroc.

The price you pay will depend on which airline you fly. The rates below are based on round-trip bookings.

AirlineEconomyBusiness ClassFirst Class
American Airlines40,000 to 60,000 miles100,000 miles125,000 miles
Brussels AirlinesStarting at 64,000 milesStarting at 106,000 milesN/A
Royal Air Maroc44,000 miles88,000 milesN/A

It’s not possible to book Etihad’s partner flights online, so you’ll have to call 1-877-690-0767 to book your flight.

How to Earn Etihad Guest Miles

Etihad partners with American Express Membership Rewards, Capital One, Citi ThankYou Points and Marriott Bonvoy points, so it’s relatively easy to get your hands on these miles. Amex, Capital One and Citi all transfer at 1:1 ratios while Marriott points transfer at a 3:1 ratio. Amex transfers are instant while Capital One transfers take around 36 hours; Marriott transfers take around five days; and Citi transfers take around six days.

Cards to Help You Earn More Etihad Guest Miles

American Express and Capital One offer some of the best welcome bonuses that can help you earn Etihad Guest miles. That said, if you’re not over 5/24, it may make sense to consider picking up some Chase cards first.

Emirates Skywards

How to Book with Emirates Skywards

Emirates offers one of the most intriguing nonstop flights from the U.S. from Italy. It’s from New York (JFK) to Milan and is what is called a fifth freedom flight—one that doesn’t touch the airline’s home country of the United Arab Emirates. The best deals on this flight are bookable at the following rates:

  • Economy: from 45,000 miles round trip
  • Business: from 108,000 miles round trip

It’s possible to book first class awards and one-way awards, but you’ll pay more miles to do so.

How to Book with Emirates Skywards

To book online, simply type where you’re flying from, to, and your dates of travel. By selecting flexible dates, you’ll be presented with a table that helps you find the lowest redemption rates.

How to Book with Emirates Skywards

How to Earn Emirates Skywards Miles

Chase Ultimate Rewards, American Express Membership Rewards, Citi ThankYou Points, Capital One Miles and Marriott Bonvoy points all transfer to Emirates. Bonvoy points transfer at a 3:1 ratio but all other points transfer at a 1:1 ratio.

Cards to Help You Earn More Emirates Skywards Miles

If you’re under 5/24, your best bet is to focus on Chase Ultimate Rewards-earning cards first. From there, look at other transferable point currencies, depending on which cards are offering the highest bonuses.

Final Thoughts

There are lots of options for redeeming points and miles to fly to Italy, and the best one for you will depend on how flexible your plans are and how many miles you have and are willing to spend. But no matter where you keep your miles, there’s a way to fulfill your Italian travel dreams.