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The island nation of The Maldives is a bucket list destination for many points and miles enthusiasts. The nation is a sought-after for its luxury resorts. Some more family friendly than other. I’ll cover where to stay in a future article.

The country is located southeast of Sri Lanka in the Indian Ocean. Male is the main airport. To get to resorts on other islands, you’ll need to take a seaplane or speedboat. These can be pricy and there is nearly no way to avoid them.

Getting to The Maldives will require a minimum of one-stop from the United States. It can easily take over 24 hours to get to Male. For long flights like this, you might prefer business or first-class flight and a nice lounge to relax on a layover. Regardless, roundtrip airfare can be pricy.

Before booking an award flight, let’s check out these best uses of points and miles to The Maldives.

Ways to book:
Air Canada Aeroplan
Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
American Airlines AAdvantage
All Nippon Airways Mileage Club
Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
Emirates Skywards
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
How to Earn these Points and Miles

Best Use of Points and Miles to The Maldives

Air Canada Aeroplan

Star Alliance member Air Canada is a fan favorite for tons of favorable redemptions. The airline has a solid business class product. Economy is okay. AC doesn’t fly to The Maldives. You’ll get to experience some great airlines like ANA, Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines, Thai and Turkish to get you to your final destination. Etihad Airways isn’t a part of Star Alliance, but you can book flights on Etihad using Aeroplan miles.

Air Canada uses a distance-based award chart. Final price of your redemption will depend on the total distance flown including any connecting flights. Here’s what you can expect.

If you are looking for economy flights, I’d recommend some other redemptions on this list before Air Canada.

You can easily earn Aeroplan miles. They transfer from American Express, Chase and Capital One.

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan

Alaska Airlines redemptions are pretty unique. The US based airline recently joined oneworld. Prior to that, Alaska partnered with different international airlines. As such, Alaska miles can be redeemed on airlines in each major airline alliance.

Alaska has a different award chart for each airline.

British Airways wouldn’t be the option I’d choose using Alaska miles. But I’m including it here as an option.

Cathay Pacific is a great option using Alaska miles. To book, you’ll need to find space on aa.com. Once you find dates that work for you, call Alaska to book.

Korean Air is a SkyTeam airline. It used to be a Chase transfer partner, but is now no longer. Economy redemptions on Korean is crazy high. The business redemption is a bit high, but one of the only ways to book Korean Business Class.      

Korean Air departs the United States from a couple of airports.  

Qatar Airways redemptions through Alaska are dynamically priced. If you can’t find the totals below, you are better off using AA miles.

American Airlines AAdvantage

One of my favorite award programs is American Airlines. Even though they recently implemented dynamic award pricing, there are still some incredible sweet spots both domestically and internationally.

While AA has an extensive route map, they don’t fly to The Maldives. You’ll be leveraging this partner award on some excellent airlines. Regardless of the airline, you can find these award amounts.

Etihad departs from these US cities.

Etihad has incredible seats throughout their cabins. Most people talk about Etihad first.

You can catch Qatar Airways flights from here.

Qsuites is Qatar Airways business class product. It’s one of my favorite business class products available departing from the United States.

British Airways flights are available.

British Airways has a solid business class and first class. I’d prefer this over American Airlines. But if you have the other options available choose that over British. You’ll need to connect through London-Heathrow. Here’s what you can expect on a 777 or a 787.

Cathay Pacific departs from the US from a few select cities.

Cathay Pacific is known for their first-class product. From a large lie flat seat to a caviar course, you won’t be disappointed in your choice. I’ve flown their economy product from Singapore to Cathay Pacific. It was packed, but the seat was comfortable.

A couple of considerations. Try to avoid British Airways and flying through the UK. You’ll pay in excess of $700 in taxes and fuel surcharges. Focus on the other partner redemptions for the hard product and service.

All Nippon Airways Mileage Club

ANA is on my mind. It has a unicorn redemption for sure. That unicorn is their first class. Once Japan open up, I’ll be on the lookout for this award. But ANA doesn’t fly to The Maldives so you’ll need to rely on their Star Alliance partners like Turkish and Singapore to get you there.

ANA flies to many different airports in the United States.

ANA miles can be gained my transferring from American Express.

Related: Best Use of Points and Miles to Bali, Indonesia

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles

Cathay Pacific is an amazing airline. It has one of the top first class products. That is if the airline survives COVID-19 restrictions. I had redeemed points on one of these seats before COVID shutdowns. I’m looking forward to flying with them again hopefully.

Cathay Pacific uses a distance-based award chart. But totals will differ depending on the number of different airlines on one ticket.

If you have two oneworld airlines, this is the amount of points needed.

Emirates Skywards

Ahh Emirates. One of the most luxurious first and business class products available on points and miles. First class passenger can enjoy a shower onboard. Yes, a shower on an airplane. This is in addition to a spacious seat and excellent food. Business class and first-class passengers can enjoy and onboard lounge with tables and bartender. Economy and premium economy isn’t too shabby either.

Emirates flies from these US cities.

First class flights can easily be over $10,000. Points and miles to the rescue.

Emirates miles are easy to earn. You can transfer from American Express, Chase, Citi and Capital One.

Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer

Next up is another Star Alliance member. Singapore Airlines Another bucket list redemption for many people. If you don’t care about first and business class seats, you’ll be happy with Singapore’s economy and premium economy seats.

Points required depends on where in the United States you depart from.

While you can fly on airlines like Austrian, Lufthansa and Turkish. Why do that when you can Singapore?

You can transfer from all four flexible points currencies including American Express, Chase, Citi and Capital One.

How to Earn These Points and Miles

Since Air Canada Aeroplan is a transfer partner of American Express, Chase and Capital One. Its pretty easy to earn miles for their redemptions. Cards earning flexible points like Membership Rewards, Ultimate Rewards and Venture miles will be helpful. These are cards like The Platinum Card® from American Express, Chase Sapphire Preferred and Capital One Venture. Aeroplan has also partnered with Chase for one cobranded personal card.

Alaska miles are some of the most difficult to get on this like. They do partner with Bank of America for a personal and business credit card.

There are several ways to earn American Airlines miles. They partner with Citi and Barclay for several personal and business credit cards. Take care not to open these up in different names as AA is known for shutting down accounts.

Since ANA miles can be transferred from American Express, any MR earning card with get you towards a redemption. A card like the American Express Gold Card is perfect for racking up points. Its also one of my favorite credit cards.

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles can be earned from three major flexible currencies. This means cards like the Citi Premier, American Express Green Card and new Capital One Venture X will help you achieve a free flight to The Maldives.

The five star airline Emirates partners with American Express, Chase, Citi and Capital One. That all four major transferrable currencies. One of my other favorite UR earning cards is the Chase Sapphire Reserve.

Best Use of Points and Miles to The Maldives Bottom Line

Flights, hotels and food in the Maldives are expensive. Luckily, it doesn’t have to be. Remember the flights on this list will only take you to the main airport MLE. You’ll still need to take an seaplane to your resort.

There are tons of other ways to redeem points and miles. But you’ll spending more miles. Economy flyers should also check any travel portals they have access to. When flights are cheap, you might be spending less miles than quoted in this list.

Have you been to The Maldives? Let us know your flight experience in the comments!

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.