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The tropical island of Guam is not a place many think about visiting in the Pacific region. The island is thirty miles long and twelve miles long at its max. The island is an overseas territory of the United States. You don’t need a passport to travel there so long as you don’t transfer in a different country.
There aren’t any direct flights from the continental US to Guam. You’ll need to make at least one connection. But there are some five-star airlines that fly there.
Ways to book:
ANA Mileage Club
Air Canada Aeroplan
Avianca LifeMiles
United Airlines MileagePlus
How to Earn these Points and Miles
Best Use of Points and Miles to Guam
ANA Mileage Club
While All Nippon Airways (ANA) is known for their incredible first class set, their award redemptions are usually competitive.
| Economy | Business | First |
|---|
| 60,000 | 95,000 | 180,000 |
Round Trip Redemptions using ANA Mileage ClubTheoretically, you should be able to fly Asiana Airlines via Seoul-ICN, but all my searches only turned up United operated flights.
One downside of ANA is you can’t book one-way flights. This is especially disappointing if you plan on visiting another country before or after Guam. You can get around this restriction by booking a multi-city though.
Air Canada Aeroplan
Air Canada recently revamped their loyalty program. That included changing the award chart and there are still some incredible sweet spots.
Air Canada uses a distance-based award chart. The amount of points is determined by the total distance between all the segments. Air Canada has a different award chart for their own operated flights or partner flights.
| Economy | Premium Economy | Business | First |
|---|
| Air Canada Operated | 50,000 to 90,000 | 70,000 to 160,000 | 85,000 to 200,000 | 130,000 to 300,000 |
| Partner Operated | 60,000 | N/A | 85,000 | 130,000 |
One-Way Redemptions using Air Canada AeroplanRelated: Best Uses of Aeroplan Points
Avianca LifeMiles
Avianca uses a zone-based award chart. Regardless of total distance, you can expect to pay the same amount. Guam is in the North Asia zone.
| Economy | Business | First |
|---|
| 35,000 | 75,000 | 90,000 |
One-Way Redemptions using Avianca LifeMilesI really would only recommend this option if you are sure you will take the trip. Avianca isn’t known for their customer service.
United Airlines MileagePlus
Saving the most interesting for last. United has two ways to get to Guam. The first is connecting through Tokyo.
The second option is through Honolulu. Depending on the day of the week, you can get a direct flight from Honolulu to Guam. But I think the more interesting option is the United Island Hopper.
This option makes up to five stops on Majuro and Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands and Kosrae, Pohnpei and Chuuk in the Federated States of Micronesia. Each of these stops are less than an hour. You can typically get off the plan and grab a snack or get a stamp in your passport. The exception is Kwajalein since it’s an active military base. You need permission from the US Government to deplane.
| Economy | Business |
|---|
| 35,000 | 70,000 |
One-Way Redemptions using United MileagePlus
Check out five airports on the way to Guam
Related: Best Use of Points and Miles to Olso, Norway
How to Earn These Points and Miles
Aside from Star Alliance flights and crediting to ANA, there is only one flexible currency to transfer points to ANA. That flexible currency would be American Express. Luckily there are several Amex cards with incredible bonuses. One of these is The Platinum Card from American Express.
You can transfer three different flexible currencies to Air Canada. Capital One and American Express are long standing options. But more recently Chase Ultimate Rewards points can be transferred to Aeroplan. The best cards to rack up these points are American Express Gold, Capital One Venture X and Chase Sapphire Preferred.
Your Membership Rewards points and Captial One miles can also be transferred to Avianca LifeMiles. In addition, you can transfer from Citi. The best Citi card available for new applicants is the Citi Premier.
Like ANA, United only partners with one major flexible points currency. Luckily for beginners, that bank is Chase. Any Ultimate Rewards earning cards, like the Chase Freedom Flex, can help earn points for United flights. You will need a premium UR earning card like the CSP to transfer your points to United. Chase also issues a handful of cobranded United cards.
Best Use of Points and Miles to Guam Bottom Line
Noticeably absent from this list are SkyTeam airlines. That’s due to their dynamic pricing and unpublished award chart. That doesn’t mean you should completely exclude searches through Air France/KLM Flying Blue. Their SkyTeam partner Korean Air flies to Guam.
It’s also possible to use American Airlines miles. While AA doesn’t fly there, Japan Airlines does. While researching for this article, I wasn’t able to confirm that US-Japan-Guam could be purchased on one ticket. Phone agents couldn’t confirm it could be one ticket. Independently checking from the website turned up errors. I checked the entire calendar from five different cities. You might need to book separate tickets and explore Japan.
This is a Star Alliance heavy route. For most people, you’ll probably want to focus on Star Alliance as award space tends to be easily found.
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These opinions in this article are the author’s not those of a bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.