Best Ways to Book Short Domestic Flights With Points and Miles (2025)

Booking short-haul domestic flights sounds simple on paper, but as any seasoned traveler knows, these can often be the most expensive. Unless you’re flying between two business- and leisure-heavy destinations — think New York to Boston — you may find that many short-haul domestic flights are costly.

This is mainly due to limited frequencies and competition on these routes. For example, Dallas (DFW) to Gulfport (GPT) often costs over $250 one-way, even when you book in advance. American Airlines is the only airline that flies this route — and with just three daily frequencies on commuter jets — prices go up quickly during events.

But you don’t have to pay big-ticket prices for a short flight. Armed with points and miles, you can book these tickets for almost nothing out of pocket. So, let’s look at the best ways to use airline miles and credit card points to book short domestic flights.

Alaksa Airlines Mileage Plan

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan revamped its award charts in March 2024, implementing a standard distance-based award chart for all its partner airlines. Awards within the Americas now start at just 4,500 miles for flights under 700 miles, including flights operated by its Oneworld partner American Airlines.

Here’s a look at Alaska’s award chart for flights within the Americas:

These are excellent rates for short flights, especially in the under 700-mile and 701 to 1,400-mile bands. Popular routes like Chicago (ORD) to Newark (EWR) and Philadelphia (PHL) to Boston (BOS) fall into this band, and paying just 4,500 miles is a steal when compared to cash rates on high-demand dates.

You can transfer Bilt Rewards points to Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan at a 1:1 transfer ratio, and transfers usually process instantly. You can also earn Alaska miles with its personal and business credit cards or transfer points from Marriott Bonvoy.

Air Canada Aeroplan

Air Canada Aeroplan recently introduced dynamic pricing to award tickets operated by select partners, including United Airlines. Nowadays, flights under 500 miles start at 6,000 points, and flights between 501 and 1,500 miles start at 10,000 points. Unfortunately, finding United flights at the “starting at” prices is increasingly challenging.

You can transfer American Express Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Capital One, and Marriott Bonvoy points to Air Canada Aeroplan. You can also earn Aeroplan points outright with The Aeroplan^® Card.

Avianca LifeMiles

Avianca LifeMiles has devalued over the years, but it’s still one of the best ways to book United Airlines tickets with transferable points. Flights within and between the continental U.S., Mexico, Canada and the Caribbean range between 6,500 and 18,000 LifeMiles in economy and 15,000 and 30,000 LifeMiles in business class.

There’s no published award chart, but based on our tests, you can expect most flights under 600 miles to cost 10,000 LifeMiles. These prices decrease if you have a LifeMiles+ World subscription, which provides a 10% discount on Star Alliance flights.

LifeMiles are among the easiest points to earn. You can transfer American Express Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Capital One, and Citi ThankYou points to LifeMiles. Marriott Bonvoy points also transfer in at a 3:1 transfer ratio.

Delta SkyMiles

Delta SkyMiles doesn’t have a standard award chart, but it often prices short-haul tickets at low prices on low-demand dates. This is especially true on flights with multiple daily frequencies, like Boston (BOS) to New York (LGA/JFK) and Seattle (SEA) to Portland (PDX).

For example, this flight from Boston to New York costs just 8,100 SkyMiles, but can be booked for 6,800 SkyMiles if you have a Delta credit card. This is thanks to its TakeOff 15 benefit that gives select cardmembers a 15% discount on all Delta-opertated award flights.

American Express Membership Rewards and Marriott Bonvoy points transfer to Delta SkyMiles. You can also earn them with Delta’s suite of cobranded American Express cards, which include other benefits like checked bags and priority boarding.

The British Airways Club

British Airways used to be the best way to book short-haul American Airlines and Alaksa Airlines flights — but with numerous devaluations over the years, this is no longer the case. That said, you can still find reasonable redemption rates on flights under 650 miles, which cost 12,000 Avios in economy.

You can transfer American Express Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Capital One, and Marriott Bonvoy points to The British Airways Club.

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club has a distance-based award chart for Delta Air Lines flights. The shortest flights cost just 7,500 Virgin points in economy, which can be a good deal if Delta SkyMiles flights are more expensive when you want to fly.

Here’s a look at Virgin Atlantic’s Delta award chart:

It’s easy to earn Virgin points. You can transfer points to Virgin Atlantic from:

Bottom line

Booking short-haul flights with points and miles can give you huge savings, especially when you travel during peak seasons like holidays, spring break, and the summer. Consider the options we covered above the next time you need to book a quick trip around the country.

FAQs – How to Book Short Domestic Flights With Points and Miles