Award Travel Glossary: 46 Terms Explained

A flight booked with loyalty points or miles instead of a cash fare. You still pay taxes, fees and any carrier charges in money. In the UK and Australia the same thing is called a reward flight.

The seats an airline has released for booking with points on a given flight, also called award space. A flight can have seats for sale in cash and no award availability at all.

The loyalty program that takes your points and issues the ticket. It can differ from the airline that flies the plane, and it sets the points price, the cash charges and the change rules.

The airline that actually flies the aircraft. It controls the seat map, the cabin and the service on board, whichever program issued the ticket.

An award on one airline booked with another airline's points. The booking program's prices and rules apply, and the operating airline decides how many seats it releases to partners.

A group of airlines that sell and honor each other's tickets. The three global alliances are Star Alliance, oneworld and SkyTeam. Members' flights can usually be booked with one another's points, subject to each program's rules.

A flight sold under one airline's flight number but flown by another. For an award, what counts is the operating airline and the booking program. A codeshare number alone does not mean the seat can be booked with points.

The currencies of loyalty programs. Airlines call them miles, points or Avios; the words are used interchangeably and say nothing about distance flown.

The points currency shared by several airline programs, among them British Airways Club, Qatar Airways Privilege Club and Finnair Plus. Each program sets its own Avios prices and cash charges, so the same flight can cost different amounts in each.

Bank or card points that can be converted into several airline and hotel programs. AwardTool tracks six U.S. currencies: American Express Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Capital One Miles, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi ThankYou Points and Wells Fargo Rewards.

An airline or hotel program that a bank's points can be converted into. Transfers are generally one-way and cannot be reversed, so confirm the award first.

How many airline miles you get for your bank points. At 1:1, each bank point becomes one mile. Ratios differ by bank and by program.

A limited-time offer from a bank that adds extra miles when you convert points to a particular program. A bonus lowers the bank points an award needs, but only if the award is available.

A table a loyalty program publishes that sets the points price of an award by region or distance and by cabin. Not every program publishes one, and a chart price applies only when award seats are available.

Award pricing with no fixed chart: the points price moves with the date, the route and demand. Virgin Atlantic, for example, says its points prices vary by route, cabin, date and demand.

The lowest-priced award level a program sells on a flight, usually with a limited number of seats. Names vary: Virgin Atlantic labels its lowest-priced reward seats Saver, and KrisFlyer sells Saver and Advantage awards.

An informal name for an award that costs clearly fewer points than similar trips usually do. Sweet spots depend on finding award seats, and programs change their prices.

The cash part of an award: government taxes, airport charges and any charges the airline or program adds. AwardTool shows this amount next to the points on every result, because two awards with the same points can differ by hundreds of dollars.

A charge the airline itself sets and adds to a ticket, separate from government taxes. Some programs pass it on to award tickets and others do not, which is why the cash part of an award differs so much between programs.

An example from AwardTool's data of November 8, 2026: New York to London in business class was seen at 80,000 miles + $5.60 with United MileagePlus and at 94,000 Virgin Points + $702.70 with Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, both nonstop.

The everyday name for a carrier-imposed surcharge. Despite the name, it is a charge the airline sets, not a tax set by a government.

A way to measure one booking: the cash price, less the award taxes and fees, divided by the points, times 100. It describes that booking only. AwardTool does not publish a value for any currency; the calculator works from the numbers you enter.

How far ahead a program lets you book an award, also called the release date. It differs by program: about 355 days for British Airways Club, 337 for United MileagePlus and 331 for Virgin Atlantic Flying Club.

A fee that some programs have charged for booking an award shortly before departure. Close-in also describes award seats that airlines release in the last days before a flight.

An award for a single direction of travel. Most programs price each direction on its own, so a round trip is two one-way awards. AwardTool shows prices one way, per passenger.

The part of the aircraft a ticket is for: economy, premium economy, business or first. Award prices and availability are set separately for each cabin.

An itinerary whose flights are in different cabins, for example business class on a short first flight and economy on the long one. It is usually sold at the higher cabin's price, so check the cabin of each flight. AwardTool flags mixed-cabin results.

A nonstop flight goes from origin to destination without landing. A direct flight keeps one flight number but may stop on the way. A connection means changing planes.

A connection between two flights, usually a few hours. On international itineraries, a stop of less than 24 hours normally counts as a layover, not a stopover.

A planned stay in a connecting city on the way to your destination, typically more than 24 hours on an international trip. Some programs allow a stopover on one award for few or no extra points; many do not.

A round trip with a gap: you fly into one city and return from another, or return to a different city from the one you left. With one-way awards you can build an open jaw yourself.

A separate flight you buy to reach the airport where your award starts. It adds cost and risk, because the two tickets are not connected if the first one is late.

A program's limits on how an award can be built: which connections are allowed, how many flights, and whether stopovers or open jaws are permitted. They explain why a search shows some connections and not others.

A letter code airlines use to sort the seats in a cabin into groups with different prices and rules. Award seats come from their own classes, which is why a cabin can be on sale for cash with no award seats.

Connecting flights that an airline sells only as a set. A seat can be available on the connection and not on one of its flights alone, or the other way round, so search the whole journey you intend to fly.

An award seat that appears in a search but cannot be booked. It happens when a program or a tool shows out-of-date or mismatched data. Confirm the seat with the booking program before you transfer points.

A search that asks the loyalty programs for their results at the moment you search. AwardTool's Real-Time Search and Mega Search are live searches.

Award results stored from earlier searches. They let you scan many dates and routes quickly, and each shows when it was last seen. AwardTool's Panorama, Explore and route calendars use cached availability.

A saved search that notifies you when award seats matching your route, dates, cabin and points limit appear. AwardTool includes 3 alerts on a free account and 100 with Pro.

A request for an award seat that is not available yet. Some programs let you join one. The seat is yours only if the airline confirms it, so it is not a booking.

A short reservation of an award before you pay the points. Some programs offer holds, which gives a bank transfer time to arrive. Many programs do not.

What a program charges to change the date or flight of an award. Rules differ by program and sometimes by how close to departure you are.

What a program charges to cancel an award and return the points to your account. Amounts and deadlines differ by program: British Airways Club, for example, requires cancellation more than 24 hours before the first flight.

The rule that removes points from an inactive account. It differs by program: Qantas Points expire after 18 months without activity, Avios in British Airways Club after 36 months, and Virgin Atlantic says Virgin Points do not expire.

A membership tier earned by flying or spending with an airline. It brings travel benefits, and in some programs extra award availability: British Airways Club Gold, for example, includes additional Reward Flight availability.

A benefit, usually from a credit card or status, that lets a second person travel on the same award for fewer points or none. Cash charges normally still apply, and each voucher has its own rules.

Points used to move a paid ticket into a higher cabin. It is a different product from an award ticket, with its own availability and rules.