The United States is one of the most diverse, remarkable landscapes in the World, and sometimes I can get caught up in exploring other countries, when in reality, our country is plenty beautiful on its own.
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So for this Life, Tailored Credit Card Consult, we got a subscriber asking us for the cheapest way to from Seattle to Des Moines, IA.
If you want your own flight hacking question answered, fill out our FREE Dream Trip: Free Credit Card Consultation, and to learn more flight hacks, watch us on Youtube.
Points and Miles Request
Home Aiport * |
SEA
|
Do you have trip coming up? If not, what is your dream trip? Let us know how many people and where you want to visit. * |
Des Moines, Iowa
|
How do you want to fly there? |
Economy / Cheapest
|
How do you want to fly home? |
Economy / Cheapest
|
How are you traveling? |
Solo
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How many airline miles or points do you currently have? Please list them out * |
50,000 Venture
|
Which Credit Cards Do You Have? * |
- Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express
- Capital One® Venture® Rewards Credit Card
|
Our Recommendation

There are no direct flights from SEA to DMS so to find the best flights, we sorted by the shortest duration.
The two carriers we found were United and Delta, so now let’s look at how many miles it costs for each to find you the best value.
12k Miles on Delta

Delta’s lowest flight option is 12k miles with Economy.
First is 59,500 miles
The thing is, Delta is all over the board, with some Basic Flights clocking in at 19k miles.
12.5k Miles on United

United award chart shows us:
12.5k miles for Saver in Economy
50k miles for Business, Everyday Award
Depending on the flight you choose, United can be as cheap as 12.5k miles or as expensive as 29k miles. All based on the stopovers you make.
Our Recommendation: United via Aeroplan

Since you mentioned that you have 50k Venture Miles, it means you can’t transfer directly to United or Delta BUT you can transfer your miles to Aeroplan and redeem United flights.
Capitol One Venture miles transfer at a 2:1.5 ratio, so that means for a 12.5k mile flight, you will need to transfer 16,625 Capital One miles each way. Read more about the Capital One Venture Card Review.
✈️ Want More Points? View Our Top Sign Up Bonuses
If you want to get more miles that can transfer directly to United, we recommend Chase cards, specifically:
- 100,000 bonus points when you spend $15,000 within the first 3 months (enough for almost 4 round trip flights)
Right now we’re offering FREE Credit Card Consultations, so fill this out and let us know how we can help you plan your Dream Trip.