Points & Miles Glossary
31 plain-English definitions for every loyalty program term you'll encounter.
Airline Alliance
A partnership group of airlines that share routes, lounges, and allow cross-program award redemptions. The three major alliances are Star Alliance, oneworld, and SkyTeam.
Award Seat
A seat on a flight available for redemption using loyalty program miles or points rather than cash. Also called an 'award ticket' or 'redemption seat.'
Award Chart
A fixed table published by a loyalty program showing how many miles are required for a given route or zone. Many programs have moved to dynamic pricing, removing fixed award charts.
Booking Window
The number of days in advance that award space opens for redemption. Most programs open 330–365 days before departure.
Cabin Class
The section of the aircraft - typically Economy, Premium Economy, Business (or First), or First Class. Award rates vary significantly by cabin.
Cents Per Point (CPP)
A metric to evaluate the value of a redemption. Calculated as: (cash price of ticket ÷ miles required) × 100. A 2¢ CPP is generally considered good value.
Close-In Booking Fee
A surcharge some programs charge when booking an award ticket within a certain number of days before departure (e.g., within 21 days). Many programs have eliminated this fee.
Codeshare
An arrangement where one airline sells seats on another airline's flight under its own flight number. Codeshare flights may or may not earn miles or be bookable as partner awards.
Dead Miles
Miles earned or spent on a positioning or connection flight that adds no meaningful travel benefit, just reaching a hub airport.
Dynamic Pricing
An award pricing model where the number of miles required fluctuates based on demand, timing, and cash price - rather than a fixed award chart. Delta SkyMiles is a notable example.
Fuel Surcharge (YQ/YR)
A carrier-imposed fee charged on top of award ticket taxes. British Airways and Lufthansa are notorious for high YQ surcharges. Many programs (e.g., LifeMiles, Miles&Smiles) do not pass these on.
Hidden City Ticketing
Booking a flight with a layover at your actual destination and not boarding the final leg. Against most airlines' terms of service and not recommended.
Instant Transfer
When bank points transfer to a loyalty program immediately (or within minutes). Chase to Hyatt and Amex to Delta are examples of near-instant transfers.
Loyalty Program
A program run by an airline, hotel chain, or bank that rewards customers with points or miles for spending, which can be redeemed for flights, hotel stays, and more.
Mixed-Cabin Award
An award booking where different legs are in different cabin classes - for example, business class on the long-haul leg and economy on the connection.
Open Jaw
An itinerary where you fly into one city and depart from a different city, with a surface segment in between (e.g., fly into Paris, depart from Rome).
Partner Award
An award redemption where you use one loyalty program's miles to book a flight on a different (partner) airline. For example, using United miles on ANA.
Points Transfer
Moving points from a bank credit card program (like Chase Ultimate Rewards) into an airline or hotel loyalty program. Transfers are generally one-way and irreversible.
Positioning Flight
A flight you take purely to reach a departure city for a better or cheaper award routing - not your final destination.
Redeposit Fee
A fee charged by a loyalty program to cancel an award booking and return the miles to your account. Fees range from free (Alaska) to $150 (American AAdvantage).
Redemption
Using accumulated miles or points to pay for a flight, hotel stay, or other travel product.
Routing Rule
The allowed number of stopovers, connections, and direction of travel permitted on an award itinerary under a program's rules. Lenient routing rules (e.g., United) can unlock significant value.
Saver Award
The lowest award tier at a fixed price on a traditional award chart. Saver space is limited and books quickly - contrasted with 'Anytime' or dynamic-priced awards.
Stopover
A layover of 24 hours or more at a connecting city. Some programs allow free or paid stopovers, letting you visit an extra city on one award itinerary.
Sweet Spot
A specific award redemption that delivers outsized value relative to its mile cost - often due to fixed pricing, partner access, or program rules that competitors can't match.
Transfer Bonus
A promotional offer where transferring points from a bank program to a loyalty program yields extra miles - for example, transferring 10,000 Amex points and receiving 12,500 Flying Blue miles (+25% bonus).
Transfer Partner
An airline or hotel loyalty program that a bank credit card program (like Chase, Amex, or Capital One) can send points to.
Transfer Ratio
The rate at which bank points convert to loyalty miles. Most are 1:1, but some differ - for example, Amex to JetBlue is 1:0.8 (you get fewer miles).
Waitlist
A queue for an award seat that is not currently available. Some programs allow waitlisting in hope that space opens closer to departure.
YQ Surcharge
See Fuel Surcharge. YQ is the IATA carrier-imposed surcharge code. Avoiding high YQ fees is a key consideration when choosing which program to book through.
Zone-Based Pricing
An award pricing structure where the globe is divided into geographic zones and flights are priced by origin/destination zone pair - rather than by distance or dynamically.