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Three Vacations on
Two Awards: Free
Oneways
Scott Grimmer
MileValue.com

Zero Miles: Party, err.. Tennis, in
Vegas

Zero Miles: Anywhere in South
America. In Business.

What is a Free Oneway?
● The addition to an award of a oneway trip to or
from your home airport, separated in time from
the main award, that does not increase the miles
price of the award.

● The addition to an award of a oneway trip to or from your
home airport, separated in time from the main award, that does not increase
the miles price of the award.

● LAX-DFW-TPA was an addition to my main
award, returning home to Los Angeles from
Melbourne.

●
The addition to an award of a oneway trip to or from your home
airport that does not increase the miles price of the award.

● LAX-DFW-TPA is a oneway trip. I'll return
home with a oneway cash ticket or award.

●
The addition to an award of a oneway trip to or from your
home airport, separated in time from the main award, that does not
increase the miles price of the award.

● LAX is my home airport. A oneway from my
home airport is half my next trip.

● The addition to an award of a oneway trip to or from your home airport,
separated in time from the main award, that does not
increase the miles price of the award.

● The main award—MEL-LAX—is January 23.
The free oneway is February 7.

● The addition to an award of a oneway trip to or from your home airport,
that does not increase
separated in time from the main award,
the miles price of the award.
● American, like all the legacy carriers, has a
region based chart.
● North America is the destination region
whether I end in LAX or TPA.
● The award is 62,500 miles in biz either way.

Key Concept 1: Stopover at Home
Airport

● Free oneways rely on a stopover at your home
airport.
● One trip...stop at home until the next trip (days,
weeks, months)...next trip

Airport
● If you live in Vegas, you can fly LAS-HNL-
SYD on Hawaiian Airlines on an AA award.

Airport
● My brother lives in Honolulu, so the same
flights create a free oneway from Vegas before
his main award to Australia.

Key Concept 2: Stopover + Open Jaw =
Free Oneway

● If an airline offers a stopover and an open jaw,
you can combine them into a free oneway.
● Take the stopover at your home airport.
● The open jaw naturally arises from the
mismatch of your origin and your free oneway
destination.

Key Concept 2: Stopover + Open Jaw =
Free Oneway

● Chicago to Frankfurt (destination)
● Frankfurt to Chicago (stopover at home)
● Chicago to San Francisco (free oneway)
● The award starts in Chicago and ends in San
Francisco—that's an open jaw.

Key Concept 3: There is no such thing
as a free oneway ;)

● We see free oneways; airlines don't.
● Your free oneway is part of your outbound or
your return.
● This matters for boring things like MPM and
fun things like whether you can fly first class or
are stuck in business.

Key Concept 4: Different Airlines,
Different Rules

● There are a few universal free oneway rules,
but most are airline specific.
● Each airline has its own award rules, and
awards with free oneways have to follow all the
general rules.

Uniform Rules
● All normal award rules apply
● All award travel complete within one year of
booking.
● Before/To or After/From (Key Concept 3)
● Same cabin as the rest of its direction (Key
Concept 3)
● Oneway, so look into United/American/Avios
awards for the other way
● Partners are fine
● http://milevalue.com/introduction-to-free-oneways/

Free Oneways on American Airlines
Awards

● To/From Hawaii, Mexico, Caribbean, Canada,
Alaska, Bermuda, Bahamas, continental USA
● The only free oneways on oneways
● Great for folks at airports with international
oneworld flights
● Great and terrible routing rules
● Incredibly easy to book online or by phone

Awards
Where You Can Go with the Free Oneway

● Your free oneway can go anywhere within
AA's definition of North America.
● To/From Hawaii, Mexico, Caribbean, Canada,
Alaska, Bermuda, Bahamas, continental USA

Awards

Awards
Free Oneway on a Oneway Award

● The only oneway awards onto which you can
add free oneways are American Airlines
oneway awards.
● US and Delta price all awards as roundtrips
● United doesn't allow stopovers on oneway
awards
● Two free oneways per AA roundtrip!

Awards
North American International Gateway City
● Stopovers are only permitted on AA awards at
the North American International Gateway City
● Last airport in North America when leaving
North America
● First airport in North America when entering
North America
● You must live at a North American
International Gateway City to get a free
oneway

Awards
● North American International Gateway City

Awards

Awards
● List of NA Int'l Gateways
● If you don't live at one, get there with Avios,
and get cheap oneways a la
Almost Free Oneways from Almost Anywhere

Awards
Routing Rules
● MPM + 25% (Key Concept 3)
● Overwater carrier must publish fare (Key
Concept 3)
● Cannot transit third region unless explicitly
allowed
● Five Cardinal Rules of AA Awards
● How to use ExpertFlyer.com

Awards
Booking Online

● http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDGdWMl6Fqw&

Awards
Booking by Phone
● American, Alaska, Hawaiian, airberlin, Finnair,
British Airways, Qantas are bookable online
● If you want to book anything else, you have to
call 800-882-8880 and pay $25 per ticket to
book with an agent

Free Oneways on United Awards
● Great for everyone—including people at regional
airports!
● Free oneways to/from continental US, Canada, and
Alaska
● Cheap oneways to/from Hawaii, South America, and
others
● One free stopover per roundtrip international award
● Unique to United: One free stopover per Hawaii
award
● You must route in a way that pleases the united.com
computer. Exact routing rules are completely
unknown. See I Don’t Know United’s Award Rules.

United's Free Oneway Region
● Completely free oneways are available within
the domestic US, Canada, and Alaska
● Other free oneways may be available like
to/from Hawaii on a first class award to Europe

● Figuring Out How Much a Oneway Costs
● Figure out how much it costs to fly each way
(Key Concept 3) at the Interactive Award Chart
● The premium over a roundtrip from your home
airport is the cost of the oneway
United Interactive Award Chart

● United Routing Rules
● No MPM restrictions (Key Concept 4)
● No restrictions on which continents you can
route through (Key Concept 4)
● No stopovers on oneways
● One stopover and two open jaws per roundtrip.
We need 1 + 1 for free oneway.

● Unique to United: Awards to Hawaii get a free
stopover and 2 free open jaws (Key Concept 2)

● No one knows the exact routing rules
● We do know they are generous
● Asia via Europe, Australia via Asia
● Good luck arguing
● Stopover can be anywhere

● Error screens
● Multi-city dearth of options
● Never pay a phone fee

Booking Online
● http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aj4k4AF5x4&fea

Free Oneways on Delta Awards
● Free oneways to/from continental US, Alaska,
and Canada
● Free stopover and free open jaw on all awards
—domestic too!
● One free oneway per roundtrip (Key Concept
2)
● Main award must be true roundtrip (no open
jaw)
● Great for domestic travelers at Delta hubs

Three Vacations on Two Awards: Free Oneways

Domestic Routing Rules
● Must route the way paid tickets route
● That means you basically have to take
stopovers at hubs

International Routing Rules
● MPM

Booking Online

● http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aM0mObdoXDc&

Free Oneways on US Airways Awards
● US Airways international awards get one
stopover OR one open jaw.
● Free oneways are impossible... (Key Concept
2)

● ...unless you are a mad scientist.
● Free oneways require a stopover at your home
airport (Key Concept 1)
● But we can get around a free oneway needing
one stopover plus one open jaw (Key Concept
2)
● Dummy legs

● Honolulu to Chicago (Stopover) ← Free oneway
● Frankfurt to Chicago (destination)
● That has a stopover and an open jaw, so it's illegal.

● Honolulu to Chicago (Stopover) ← Free oneway
● Frankfurt to Chicago (destination)
● ...within 24 hours...
● Chicago to Honolulu (unflown dummy legs)
● One stopover, zero open jaws

Routing Rules*
● Eight Segments*
● Stopover only at Star Alliance*
● MPM*

*Denotes a rule not consistently enforced

How US Airways Awards are Priced
● “Frankfurt... that's in... Germany... Europe...
business... 100,000”
● Feel free to help out in case the agent forgets
Auckland is in New Jersey or Singapore is in
China

Dummy Legs
● Must be last, so free oneway must be before
main award
● Must be within 24 hours
● Must avoid checking bags through—use
customs, next day flights

How to Book
● Search United.com segment-by-segment
● Call 800-622-1015

World's Best Award Chart


How to Book One

● http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=FJvhLNcqVZ0&feature=plcp

Three Vacations, Two Awards
● Three vacations within one year
● Line up free oneways
● 100k US + 80k United + taxes = 3 continents,
25 hrs in flying beds

Further Reading
● Introduction to Free Oneways
● Master Thread: Free Oneways on American Airlines Awards
● Master Thread: Free Oneways on United Awards
● Master Thread: Free Oneways on US Airways Awards
● Master Thread: Free Oneways on Delta Awards
● Comparison of Free Oneway Possibilities on Legacy Carriers
● Three Vacations on Two Awards
● Free Circle Trips on Awards
● Almost Free Oneways on American Airlines Awards

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Three Vacations on Two Awards: Free Oneways

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