Are there any good value awards with Alitalia MilleMiglia?
Alitalia MilleMiglia turns out to be overlooked generally, even though it is a 1:1 American Express Membership Rewards transfer partner and usually one of the better SkyTeam airlines frequent flyer programs, with helpful staff and good service.
However, the award chart has some pretty steep prices and fuel surcharges are high. There is also the not so small risk that Alitalia will crash and burn as a company (like Air Berlin did in 2017).
Here is the current MilleMiglia award chart (it keeps changing quickly).
It's confusing that the rates are different by partner and fare (flex or saver).
Let's assume that you have earned a sizable balance of miles in the program (or in American Express Membership Rewards). What are some great values?
How to book?
Alitalia has a decent online search engine and has a number of partners (including Etihad, Jet Airways and Air Serbia plus many SkyTeam partners). The trouble is that there is so much Javascript that your browser (almost) crashes when you enter the departure airport and you will have to wait a minute to recover. You may also call and specify your route to the well-trained agents. Keep in mind that awards can only be changed - but are non-refundable once booked. Generally, mixed itinerary flights are not allowed. 1) Use MilleMiglia miles on Delta for a domestic transcon or to Hawaii. The MilleMiglia award chart calls for 20,000 miles one-way between anywhere in the US/Hawaii or northern South America in economy or 40,000 miles in business. This sounds like great value but it is Delta we are dealing with, which is never that easy. Alitalia does not really give access to any transcon space in business and it will always show up with a co-payment of 3,000 EUR (!) Also, I have yet to find an award that puts me in a lie-flat Delta seat inside the US. Here is an example of Los Angeles to New York in Delta First Class/One.








