After I posted my Unified Award Chart a little while back showing how many miles it takes on US airlines to every region around the world, I received a few requests to do the same for flights to Israel, since Israeli flights have their own quirks.
Below is the table for how many miles it takes for an award ticket to Israel. A few things to note:
- The best option is to fly over using Flying Blue miles on Delta metal, as Flying Blue considers Israel to be part of Europe (whatever). It’s only 25,000 miles in coach for the one-way ticket, and you can transfer 20,000 Starwood points to get those miles. I wouldn’t use that for the return because they’ll tack on a ridiculous amount of fuel surcharges. The other drawback is that Delta’s availability isn’t great (understatement).
- If you go the Flying Blue route, you’ll need a flight home and the best bet there is to use Avios miles on Air Berlin, as it’s only 30,000 Avios points for the return flight. Avios doesn’t charge fuel surcharges on Air Berlin, so if you don’t have Flying Blue miles (or Starwood; or Membership Rewards points, which also transfer to Flying Blue) this is the best option.
- If you’re doing a longer trip to that region from New York, the actual best choice is to use LAN kilometers to fly to Amman, Jordan, on Royal Jordanian. LAN only charges the equivalent of 35,000 miles roundtrip in coach for the nonstop flight to Amman (100,000 in business class). You can transfer Starwood points to LAN, meaning it’s only 30,000 Starwood points for a roundtrip ticket to Jordan. That’s a great deal. To check availability I would call American Airlines, since LAN’s call center can be hit-or-miss (I’m being generous). You could add on a leg from Amman to Tel Aviv for 6,000 miles roundtrip (12,000 LAN Kilometers).
| Airline | Miles for Roundtrip Coach Ticket | Miles for Roundtrip Business Class Ticket | Other Airlines You Can Redeem On | Can You Book One-Way Award Ticket? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alaska Airlines | 80,000 (Air France, KLM, Delta) | 120,000 (Air France, KLM, Delta) | (American, British Airways BUT they require more miles) | Yes |
| American Airlines | 90,000 | 135,000 | Air Berlin (Berlin, Cologne, Dusseldorf, Munich), British Airways (London), El Al, Iberia (Madrid) (Air Berlin does not have surcharges, though you're better off using Avios miles to redeem on AB) | Yes |
| British Airways Avios | 60,000 (on Air Berlin - no surcharges) | 120,000 (on Air Berlin - no surcharges) | Other partners require more miles. | Yes |
| Delta Air Lines | 80,000 | 120,000 | Aeroflot (Moscow), Air France (Paris, Marseille, Nice), Alitalia (Rome), KLM (Amsterdam). Czech (Prague) | No |
| Flying Blue (Air France/KLM) | 50,000 (they consider Israel to be part of Europe). Your best bet is to book a one-way TO Israel on Delta metal -- no fuel surcharges. | 100,000 miles (again, you can book TO Israel for 50,000 miles on Delta metal with no surcharge) | Alitalia (Rome), Czech (Prague), Aeroflot (Moscow) | Yes |
| Hawaiian Airlines | 80,000 (on Delta) | 160,000 (on Delta) | Only Delta | No |
| LAN | 124,000 KMs (62,000 miles) on Oneworld partners. Consider flying on Royal Jordanian from New York to Amman - it's only 70,000 KMs (35,000 miles or 30,000 Starwood points) round trip with no surcharges. | 308,000 KMs (154,000 miles) on Oneworld partners. (100,000 to Amman on Royal Jordanian from New York) | All Oneworld airlines (and they don't charge surcharges on BA) | No |
| United Airlines | 80,000 | 120,000 | Star Alliance Airlines: Aegean (Athens); Austrian (Vienna); Brussels Airlines (Brussels); LOT Polish (Warsaw); SAS (Copenhagen); SWISS (Zurich); Turkish (Istanbul) | Yes |
| US Airways | 80,000 | 120,000 | Star Alliance Airlines | No |
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