Chicago O'Hare is one of America's best airports for international award travel. As a co-hub for United and American, ORD has deep award inventory on Star Alliance and oneworld carriers. Direct transatlantic flights on United, American, Air France, Lufthansa, British Airways, and more.
| Program | ORD Awards | From (pts) |
|---|---|---|
| alaska | 668 | 22,500 |
| aeroplan | 625 | 27,400 |
| united | 581 | 32,700 |
| qantas | 419 | 29,000 |
| flyingblue | 292 | 18,750 |
| velocity | 276 | 23,500 |
| lufthansa | 242 | 88 |
| virginatlantic | 223 | 12,000 |
| american | 203 | 21,000 |
| qatar | 194 | 20,750 |
O'Hare (ORD) is uniquely positioned as a co-hub for both United and American — two of the largest US carriers with very different alliance partnerships. United's hub status gives ORD travelers access to the entire Star Alliance network: Lufthansa, SWISS, ANA, Air Canada, Singapore, Turkish, and more. American's hub brings the oneworld alliance: British Airways, Iberia, Finnair, Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines, and Qatar. Having strong award inventory from two separate alliance networks at a single airport dramatically expands the options available to Chicago-area travelers.
For European business class, ORD offers some of the best fixed-chart options in the country. Aeroplan books Lufthansa ORD→FRA/MUC at 55,000 miles with zero fuel surcharges — saving 25,000 miles over United's 80,000-mile chart rate for the same flight. Flying Blue Promo Awards hit ORD→CDG (Air France direct) regularly at 37,500 business class miles. Alaska Mileage Plan can be used via connections to book Finnair business class at 45,000 miles. The practical result is that Chicago travelers can often achieve transatlantic business class awards for 37,000–55,000 miles — significantly less than the 80,000-mile legacy chart rates suggest.
For Asia, ORD's United hub gives direct access to ANA Japan routes. United Polaris business class to Tokyo can be booked at Saver levels (80,000 RT) through Chase transfers. Japan Airlines access is available via American AAdvantage at 60,000 miles business class one-way. The ORD→Tokyo market has multiple daily departures with two different programs at different rates — compare both before booking.