How MileSmith works

MileSmith does not estimate award prices. Every miles price you see was checked on the airline's or programme's own website (emirates.com, etihad.com, ba.com, flyingblue.com and others) for a specific travel date. That date is shown on each result, for example "Price seen for travel on 10 Feb 2027".

Award prices and seat availability change. Some programmes, like Etihad Guest and Flying Blue, change prices by date and demand, so the price on your date may be different. If we haven't checked a route or cabin yet, MileSmith says so instead of guessing.

Value per mile shows how much cash each mile saves you:

(cash fare − award taxes) ÷ miles needed

The cash fare is the cheapest fare we found for that cabin, on that route, on the same date, whichever airline sold it. That is what you would realistically pay otherwise, so options on the same route compare fairly.

Different cards earn different currencies, so MileSmith turns everything into dirhams to compare fairly. We use deliberately conservative values:

A good business class redemption can make miles worth far more than this. We'd rather undersell your points than oversell them. Cards whose value we haven't confirmed are marked "value unknown".

For each flight, MileSmith works out every way your cards can reach that airline programme, using transfer rates checked on the bank's or programme's own site or app. It includes two-step routes, for example moving points to Marriott Bonvoy first and then on to an airline. Marriott adds 5,000 bonus miles for every 60,000 points transferred to most airlines, and MileSmith counts that.

Options are ranked with cards you can afford first, then by the lowest AED value of points used. If none are affordable, the one you're closest to comes first.

If you connect your own Seats.aero Pro account, MileSmith shows which nearby dates had award seats in Seats.aero's latest data. That data is collected regularly but isn't live to the minute, and for some airlines it doesn't show how many seats are left. Always confirm the seat on the airline's site before transferring points. MileSmith never stores Seats.aero data, and you can disconnect at any time.

NOOR answers questions using only MileSmith's checked prices and your wallet. The points figures it quotes are calculated by MileSmith's code, not by the AI. Like any AI, it can still word things imperfectly, so treat it as a helpful guide and check the details before you transfer.

Points transfers usually can't be reversed and can take from a few minutes to several days. Always find and confirm the award seat on the airline's site first. MileSmith is information to help you decide, not financial advice, and it isn't affiliated with any bank, airline or Seats.aero.