Best Airlines by Travel Segments

I will keep this short and sweet :)

If you are in the US, right now the best airfares are with Southwest Airlines and JetBlue. Not only these two airlines offer superior service compared to legacy ones, they are way better when it comes to performance, incentives, rewards flights and connectivity to major points.

If you are near smaller airports, check out Frontier, Spirit or similar regional airlines.

Legacy airlines: I stick with United given their redemption options and the fact that they have hubs at major cities. They run specials fairly often and seem to be better compared to the other airlines. If you have American Airlines miles, likely they would not be used well if you go thru the aa.com website. However, the trick is to accumulate British Airways Avios. That can be easily done using the Chase British Airways card. Since British Airways and American Airlines are partners, in the US, you can use Avios for travel in American Airlines. The real fun and an open industry secret is to use the Avios for short leg flights in American Airlines.

Often times, I have found 4500 points - 10,000 points as the baseline for many short-haul flights. Booking is fairly easy in either of the sites. And with BA, you pay less fees while with AA, you would end up paying $80 if you book within 21 days of travel. I would also check out other state specific airlines such as Alaska Air or Hawaiian Airlines among others.

Last but not the least, avoid Delta. The miles usually come from Amex (same as Jetblue) but the redemption options, for lack of a better word, sucks. You simply will be spending way too much money to get back a decent flight. Better option would be pay money upfront with a cheaper flight alternative.

International travel: I stick mostly with United/Continental and country specific airlines such as Lufthansa, Jet Airways, Singapore Airlines, British Airways, Virgin Atlantic or Thai Airways. Most of these airlines are connected thru Star Alliance or other mega partnership. They are roughly same and I do not recommend redeeming full-scale on long haul flights. Though, generally the airlines mentioned here have decent programs. With the coming merger of US Air and American Airlines, it would likely add more travel options internationally but do compare apples to apples when making decision between domestic vs international redemption.

Space Travel: There are no miles here but it would be nice if they offer some. That would net you some decent miles. So far only Virgin is the travel option. Speaking of which, I hear Virgin America as a good option while travelling domestically in US. There are few other companies who may want to carry you to outer space for a few coin.