Circle Trip Booking Methods, Ranked by Actual Value

SPF-SPF, ALL-ALL, LGA-LGA aren't recognized fare categories. They don't trigger special pricing in any GDS or airline booking engine. What they describe — an itinerary that departs and returns to the same city with stops in between — is called a circle trip, and the math on when circle trips beat separate one-ways is genuinely interesting.

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Comparison Table: Circle Trip Booking Methods at a Glance

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Ranking Methodology

These methods are ranked by a composite of three dimensions, each weighted to reflect what actually matters when booking a circle trip:

• Point or cash savings vs. separate one-ways (50%): The core question. We calculated the delta between the circle-trip method and the cheapest equivalent set of separate one-way tickets, using real route examples pulled from MileIntel's miles calculator across 90 days of search data.
• Booking ease (30%): How many steps, phone calls, or workarounds does the method require? A method that saves 10,000 miles but requires three agent calls scores lower than one that saves 8,000 miles online in four clicks.
• Program stability (20%): How likely is this rule to survive the next 12 months? Methods anchored in structural award chart features (Excursionist Perk, Aeroplan Stopover) score higher than promotional or dynamically priced fares.

Scores are on a 1–10 scale per dimension. The Excursionist Perk scores 9/10 on savings, 8/10 on ease, and 9/10 on stability — the highest composite in this analysis. Alliance circle fares score 7/10 on savings but 4/10 on ease (phone-only booking for most carriers) and 6/10 on stability (alliance rules change without notice).

To stress-test these rankings, we cross-referenced transfer partner availability using MileIntel's transfer partner graph, which tracks live transfer ratios and processing times across 30+ bank-to-airline partnerships. The Excursionist Perk's UR-to-MileagePlus transfer path has shown zero ratio degradation over the past 18 months in that dataset — a meaningful stability signal.

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Key Takeaways

• The Excursionist Perk is a clear winner for award travelers on specific international routes. It effectively gives you a free one-way flight within a single region on a multi-city trip. The math on a NYC–London–Rome–NYC itinerary makes this concrete below.
• Alliance circle fares (cash) can save money on long-haul multi-stop itineraries, but the savings shrink on domestic routes where low-cost carriers have flattened one-way pricing.
• LGA-based international circle trips don't work cleanly. LGA is domestic-only for most scheduled international service. You reposition to JFK or EWR, which adds cost and complexity that can erase circle-trip savings on shorter hauls.
• "SPF-SPF" and "ALL-ALL" are not searchable fare codes. No airline or GDS recognizes them. Searching this way in any booking engine returns either an error or a standard round-trip result.
• Open-jaw awards from Aeroplan are underused. Priced as two one-way tickets, you can fly into one city and out of another — structurally a circle trip when combined with surface travel.

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Why "SPF-SPF" and "ALL-ALL" Searches Return Nothing Useful

SPF is not a valid IATA airport code. ALL is assigned to Albion Airport in the Falkland Islands, not a fare category. When deal aggregators or forum posts reference "ALL-ALL" fares, they typically mean "any origin to any destination" — a search parameter that flight engines already handle natively when you type a city name instead of a specific airport code (searching "NYC" instead of "JFK" already queries JFK, EWR, and LGA simultaneously).

The confusion matters because travelers who search for these codes are almost always trying to find circle trip fares or open-jaw itineraries. Those are real products with real pricing logic. The search method is just wrong.

A circle trip, defined precisely: an itinerary with at least three flight segments that departs and returns to the same city, with stops in at least two other cities. Pricing is typically constructed as a series of linked one-way fares, though alliance circle fare products and loyalty program rules can change that math significantly.

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What Is the Difference Between a Circle Trip, Open-Jaw, and Multi-City?

These three terms get conflated constantly. They price differently.

Round-trip: A–B–A. Same origin and destination. Airlines may price this as a single unit, often at a discount versus two one-ways.Open-jaw: A–B / C–A. You fly into one city and out of another. Aeroplan prices open-jaw awards as two separate one-way tickets. American AAdvantage also prices each leg separately.Circle trip: A–B–C–A. Three or more segments, returning to origin. Priced as linked one-ways under standard fare construction, or as a special alliance circle fare product.Multi-city: The booking engine term for any itinerary with more than two segments that doesn't follow a simple round-trip pattern. This is the tab you want in Google Flights, united.com, or any airline site when building a circle trip.

The stopover definition matters for award routing rules. Domestically, a stopover is a connection exceeding four hours. Internationally, it's a connection exceeding 24 hours. Programs like Air Canada Aeroplan allow you to add a stopover to an award ticket for a fixed number of points.

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Deal 1: The United Excursionist Perk — The Clearest Circle Trip Value in Any Loyalty Program

Cost: Standard round-trip award rate + 0 extra miles for one free one-way leg within a single, different region. Value: The "free" leg on a NYC–London–Rome–NYC itinerary would typically cost 8,000+ miles. The perk saves those miles entirely. Window: Evergreen. No devaluation announced as of the MileagePlus program page (last verified June 2025). Check United MileagePlus for current rules.The product: United's Excursionist Perk lets you add one free one-way flight to a multi-city award, provided your trip starts and ends in the same region (e.g., North America), and the free leg is entirely within a different single region (e.g., Europe). In practice: book NYC–London (outbound) and Rome–NYC (return), then add London–Rome as the free Excursionist leg.Worked example with full point costs:

Route: EWR–LHR–FCO–EWR in economy on United or a Star Alliance partner.

• EWR–LHR (Segment 1): 30,000 miles (United Saver economy, transatlantic)
• LHR–FCO (Segment 2, Excursionist leg): 0 miles (free under the perk; taxes only, typically $25–$60)
• FCO–EWR (Segment 3): 30,000 miles (United Saver economy, transatlantic)
• Total: 60,000 miles + ~$120–$180 in taxes

Without the Excursionist Perk, booking EWR–LHR and FCO–EWR as a standard round-trip plus a separate LHR–FCO one-way would cost approximately 60,000 + 8,000 = 68,000 miles. The perk saves 8,000 miles, worth roughly $96–$120 at a conservative 1.2–1.5 cents per mile. At MileIntel's current miles calculator valuation of 1.35 cents per MileagePlus mile, that's $108 in saved value on a single booking.

How to book this week (numbered steps you can execute today):

1. Go to united.com and select the multi-city search tab.
2. Enter Segment 1: EWR/JFK → LHR (London), Segment 2: LHR → FCO (Rome), and Segment 3: FCO → EWR/JFK.
3. The system automatically identifies London–Rome as the Excursionist leg and prices it at 0 miles, as it is within the 'Europe' region and the overall trip starts and ends in 'North America'. You pay taxes only on that segment (typically $25–$60).
4. Before transferring points, verify saver award availability on all three segments. Availability on intra-Europe partner space (Lufthansa, SWISS, Austrian) can be thin in June–August; aim for shoulder-season dates or search 6–9 months out.
5. Once availability is confirmed, log into Chase Ultimate Rewards and initiate a transfer to MileagePlus at 1:1. Transfers are typically instant. Confirm current transfer partner status at MileIntel's transfer partner graph before initiating — never transfer speculatively.
6. Return to united.com within the same session and complete the award booking. If the session has timed out, re-confirm availability before transferring additional points.

If you don't have Chase UR: MileagePlus miles can also be earned via the United Explorer Card or purchased directly (rarely worth it at retail). Alternatively, model the same itinerary on Aeroplan using MileIntel's Aeroplan vs. MileagePlus comparison — Aeroplan sometimes prices the same Star Alliance routing cheaper, though without an equivalent free-leg perk.Availability honest-take: Partner space (Lufthansa, SWISS, etc.) on the intra-Europe segment is generally good, but may be thin for popular routes in peak season. Expect to search across a flexible window.Why this deal exists: United's Excursionist Perk was designed to compete with alliance circle fare products. It's a structural feature of the MileagePlus award chart, not a promotion, which means it doesn't expire on a set date.

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Deal 2: Aeroplan Stopover on Award Flights (for 5,000 Points)

Cost: Standard award cost + 5,000 extra points for a stopover (over 24 hours, up to 45 days) in a connecting city. Cash equivalent: A standalone Toronto–Vienna round-trip in business class runs approximately $3,800–$4,400. Adding a multi-day Zurich stopover as a separate ticket would add $150–$300 in cash. Value: Adding a destination for only 5,000 points is one of the best values in award travel.The product: The Aeroplan program allows you to add a stopover of up to 45 days to any one-way or round-trip award ticket for a flat fee of 5,000 points. This allows you to visit a second destination for a minimal extra cost. For example, on a Toronto to Vienna award, you could add a 5-day stopover in Zurich for 5,000 extra points. Stopovers are not permitted within the US or Canada.Worked example with full point costs:

Route: YYZ–ZRH (stopover, 5 days)–VIE–YYZ in business class on Swiss/Austrian (Star Alliance partners).

• Base award cost YYZ–VIE–YYZ (business, transatlantic): approximately 85,000 Aeroplan points
• Stopover surcharge (ZRH, 5 days): 5,000 points
• Total: 90,000 Aeroplan points + taxes/fees (~$250–$400 CAD)

Booking YYZ–ZRH and ZRH–VIE–YYZ as separate one-way awards would cost approximately 45,000 + 50,000 = 95,000 points at minimum, and likely more depending on availability. The stopover rule saves 5,000+ points and consolidates into a single ticket. At a conservative 1.5 cents per Aeroplan point, the 5,000-point surcharge costs $75 to add an entire city to your itinerary — versus $150–$300 for a separate positioning flight.

For context on whether your Aeroplan balance is sufficient before booking, use MileIntel's miles calculator to model the full itinerary cost. If your points are close to expiring, check activity requirements at MileIntel's expiration checker before initiating a transfer.

How to book this week (numbered steps you can execute today):

1. Go to aircanada.com and select the "Multi-city/Stopover" search option and check "Book with Aeroplan points".
2. Enter your origin (e.g., YYZ), stopover city (e.g., ZRH), and final destination (e.g., VIE), then set your return to YYZ.
3. On the results page, confirm the stopover indicator appears on the ZRH segment. The total price shown should include the 5,000-point stopover surcharge as a line item.
4. Before confirming, cross-check the per-point cost against MileIntel's miles calculator. At 90,000 points for a business-class transatlantic itinerary with a stopover, you're typically getting 1.8–2.2 cents per point in value — well above the 1:1 transfer cost.
5. To fund the booking, transfer points from Chase Ultimate Rewards or American Express Membership Rewards at a 1:1 ratio. Check current transfer processing times at MileIntel's transfer partner graph — Amex-to-Aeroplan transfers occasionally take 2–5 business days during high-volume periods. Chase transfers are typically instant.
6. Complete the booking on aircanada.com within the same session after confirming the transfer has posted to your Aeroplan account.

If you don't have enough Aeroplan points: Both Chase UR and Amex MR transfer to Aeroplan at 1:1 with no minimum. If you're 5,000–10,000 points short, a single Chase Sapphire Preferred referral bonus or an Amex Gold dining credit cycle can close the gap without a new card application. Do not purchase Aeroplan points at retail (typically 1.5–1.7 cents each) to fund a booking valued at 1.8–2.2 cents per point — the margin is too thin.Why this deal exists: The 5,000-point stopover is a key feature of the redesigned Aeroplan program, intended to provide flexibility and value to members booking complex international itineraries.