Along with Bali, Fiji, Mauritius, and French Polynesia, Seychelles is paradise on Earth and a destination many of us want to visit. Flying to these exotic and tropical islands can sometimes be really expensive on a cash/revenue ticket – thankfully, there are many ways to fly to these places on miles & points. Seychelles also has a few points hotels and therefore you trip to the paradise island could potentially cost you close to nothing (at least for the flights and hotels).
As always the general strategy of collecting miles/points applies here – make sure you’re collecting points mainly with transferable bank points programs so that when you go to book your ticket to the Seychelles you have plenty of options. The Seychelles’ national airline, Air Seychelles, unfortunately does not currently partner with any major airlines frequent flyer-wise so there’s no way to redeem miles for Air Seychelles flights. The airline used to have a partnership with Etihad Airways but that is no longer the case.
fly to the Seychelles using miles & points
Flying with Star Alliance to the Seychelles
Two Star Alliance member airlines currently operate flights to the Seychelles and therefore you are able to redeem any Star Alliance miles/points for these flights. In order to figure out which program will provide you with the best redemption, you must take into account your starting region – then you can figure out how many miles/points are required from your origin to the Seychelles.
The best way to check for award availability on Star Alliance is using Air Canada Aeroplan or United Airlines MileagePlus – note that you should search each segment separately and start with the flight to the Seychelles first in order to be presented with the best results.
- Edelweiss Air: Zurich
- Ethiopian Airlines: Addis Ababa
- Turkish Airlines: Istanbul
Note that Edelweiss Air is a leisure airline of SWISS International Air Lines and not a full Star Alliance member airline and therefore it may not be possible to redeem all Star Alliance miles for travel on Edelweiss Air. You can redeem Lufthansa Group Miles & More miles and United Airlines MileagePlus miles for travel on Edelweiss Air.
Flying with oneworld to the Seychelles
Two airlines from the oneworld alliance currently operate flights to the Seychelles:
- Qatar Airways: Doha
- SriLankan Airlines: Colombo
As usual, you are able to redeem any oneworld miles/points for these flights. As is the case with Star Alliance, you must first check how many points your desired redemption would cost based on your starting region. The best miles you could use to fly to the Seychelles would be American Airlines AAdvantage, British Airways Executive Club, and Cathay Pacific Asia Miles.
Note that AAdvantage does not make you pay fuel surcharges while other programs might, so if you are originating in North America or Europe and want to fly to the Seychelles your best choice is probably going to be to redeem AA miles – you can have up to 4 segments on a one-way ticket so you could fly something like Los Angeles – New York – Doha – Seychelles, for example, on a combination of American/Alaska Airlines and Qatar Airways.
Flying with SkyTeam to the Seychelles
Currently, only one SkyTeam airline serves the gorgeous island of the Seychelles:
- Kenya Airways: Nairobi
You can fly Kenya Airways using any SkyTeam miles, though you are probably going to get the best value redeeming either Air France/KLM Flying Blue miles or Delta Air Lines SkyMiles for travel on Kenya Airways. Note that Kenya Airways does not show up on Delta.com which means that you first have to find award space and then call Delta to book. Flying Blue is Kenya Airways’ frequent flyer program so there may be more availability to Flying Blue members and Delta could potentially not see that award space so it is best to verify with other SkyTeam airlines before calling Delta to book.
fly to the Seychelles using miles & points
Flying with other airlines to the Seychelles
A number of non-alliance airlines also operate flights to the Seychelles. The best ways to redeem miles/points for these flights is to check which airlines these carriers partner with and then check each award chart respectively.
- Air Mauritius: Mauritius
-redeem Air Canada Aeroplan miles or Air France/KLM Flying Blue miles - Condor: Frankfurt
-redeem Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles (must connect onward to/from Frankfurt to/from North America) - El Al: Tel Aviv
-check which airlines El Al partners with and then check various award redemption opportunities depending on where you are originating - Emirates: Dubai
-redeem Emirates Skywards miles for Emirates flights - Etihad Airways: Abu Dhabi
-redeem Air Canada Aeroplan, Asiana Airlines Asiana Club, or Etihad Airways Etihad Guest miles
Each of these non-alliance airlines have various partnerships with other airlines so the best redemption for you may not necessarily be through any of the airlines/frequent flyer programs mentioned above. Be sure to research the partners and awards available to you.
As mentioned before the national carrier of the Seychelles, Air Seychelles, does operate a few flights to various regions around the world and while you can’t directly redeem miles/points for these flights, you could potentially redeem transferable bank points via their travel portal towards a cash ticket on Air Seychelles at a rate of 1 point = $0.01 – $0.015 depending on which bank and credit card you have. Air Seychelles operates flights to Johannesburg, Mauritius, Mumbai, Tel Aviv, Male, and Warsaw – along with a few other seasonal and charter flights.
All in All
There is definitely a way to fly to the beautiful Seychelles using miles and points as demonstrated above on the various airlines. Keep in mind that flight schedules frequently change – especially to exotic destinations like this one, so be sure to regularly check which airlines operate flights. The best way to check is via Google Flights or the airport’s Wikipedia page.
The best ways to redeem your miles and points is for aspirational and exotic destinations where you can fly to paradise on an award ticket for little-to-none and that is definitely possible to the Seychelles – which is truly a destination that should be on everyone’s list. With the right airline miles and hotel points, your trip to the Seychelles could be relatively inexpensive.