New Way to Get to Europe for Cheap with British Airways!
There is an amazingly new efficient way to use miles and points to get to Europe. It might not be the best way to get there with maximum style and comfort but if you are trying to preserve points and/or you just want to enjoy Europe for a little while, this could still be a great use of your points.
British Airways fuel surcharges
British Airways fuel surcharges have always been some of the worst. For example, when using points to fly them on a premium cabin such as first class for business class, these fees could be well over $1,000 for a round-trip ticket.
There are some ways to lower these fees like routing through a city outside of London but for the most part you can anticipate to pay high surcharges when using points to book flights on British Airways.
However, that is now changing when it comes to many economy redemptions. It looks like that one way flights from the United States to the UK in economy (BA calls it “World Traveller”) on some routes are not being subject to those high surcharges anymore. Flights from JFK to LHR, for example, have fees under $100.
If you are not aware, British Airways uses a distance-based award chart that makes it very cheap to get to Europe from certain regions of the country, such as the East Coast. For example, during off-peak times you can get from New York (JFK) to London (LHR) for only 13,000 Avios (as shown above).
So now you have the opportunity to use a very small number of miles AND pay a moderate amount in fees to get over to the UK! Finally, this is more of a true sweet spot.
Get to London with low fees with BA now.
The deal is even sweeter right now (Amex bonus)
Right now there is the special offer where you get 40% more Avios when you transfer Amex Membership Rewards points through 10/1/19. This means that you’d only need 10,000 Membership Rewards to cover a one-way trip to Europe from the East Coast. That makes economy much more tempting.
If you were flying from the middle of the country like Houston , you’d need 16,250 Avios which would amount to only 12,000 Membership Rewards for the one-way journey. (Note: Not all routes from the US currently have the lower fees.)
If you’re like me and don’t care for economy, perhaps you could fly just one way in economy and then plan to shell out for some fees on the way back in business or first class? Or maybe look into booking premium cabins with Iberia or Aer Lingus which are known for lower fees. Either way, with this Amex bonus, this could be a real bargain for getting over to Europe.
Final word
If you’re okay with flying economy then there’s now a new great way to get to Europe with very reasonable fees. And if you have Amex Membership Rewards, you could get there with as little as 10,000 points and less than $100 in fees which is pretty fantastic.
Daniel Gillaspia is the Founder of UponArriving.com and creator of the credit card app, WalletFlo. He is a former attorney turned full-time travel expert covering destinations along with TSA, airline, and hotel policies. Since 2014, his content has been featured in major publications such as National Geographic, Smithsonian Magazine, Forbes, CNBC, US News, and Business Insider. Find his full bio here.
The British Airways Avios Award Chart Guide (Redemption Calculator) [2020]
British Airways is a well-known airline that offers some great redemption opportunities.
British Airways Avios is a partner of both American Express Membership Rewards and Chase Ultimate Rewards. They also have a co-branded credit card with Chase, making it pretty easy for people to earn Avios. But because the British Airways Avios chart is distance-based, some people are still not clear on how the redemptions work.
This article will explain how the British Airways Avios Award Chart works and how to best take advantage of it with sweet spots and help from the reward redemption calculator.
The BA award chart utilizes a distance-based redemption scheme.
This means that your mileage requirements are determined based on the length of miles flown for a single journey (i.e., a one-way journey). Compare this to traditional award charts that determine your mileage requirements based on the different regions you are traveling to.
This is simple enough to figure out but this chart also goes by both a peak and an off-peak calendar. Two thirds of the year is off-peak, so the majority of the prices will be cheaper throughout the year. When booking reward flights, you can choose all peak dates, all off-peak dates, or a mixture of the two.
If you book a partner award with Avios, you’ll be going by the off-peak rates (unless you’re booking Aer Lingus or Iberia flights).
However, if you’re booking partner awards with connections between two or more oneworld airlines, this partner chart will apply. This chart can result in significantly more expensive award prices at times, so I would generally try to avoid using Avios to book flights with two or more oneworld partners.
You can see this oneworld Avios partner chart below.
Avios Award Chart with two or more oneworld partners.
The British Airways Avios award chart
Below is the British Airways distance-based award chart.
The British Airways Avios Award Chart.
Reward flight calculator
British Airways also has a Reward Flight Calculator you can use to help figure out your mileage requirements.
Tip: Use WalletFlo for all your credit card needs. It’s free and will help you optimize your rewards and savings!
Calculating mileage requirements with the Avios chart
To find your mileage requirement, you’ll calculate the length of each each segment of a given flight and then find the corresponding zone for that distance. If a connecting segment puts you above a certain zone, then you will have to pay that price even though the straight-line distance between your origin and destination falls in a lower zone.
Here’s an example of how to determine the Avios needed by the Avios chart:
Determine if you have you are flying with two or more oneworld partners — if so use the partner BA award chart.
Determine if you are choosing off-peak or peak dates (remember, these can be mixed)
I’ll go with off-peak for this example.
Determine the distance of each segment of your journey. So if you were flying JFK-LHR-OSL, you would determine the mileage between JFK and LHR (3,452 miles) and then again for LHR and OSL (751 miles).
Determine the BA award chart zones of your segments and their corresponding Avios requirements
(3,452 miles = Zone 5 = 13,000 Avios) and
(751 miles = Zone 2 = 7,500 miles).
By adding up the Avios required for each zone, you would determine your total Avios needed (13,000 + 7,500 = 20,500) Avios.
This award structure allows you to string together multiple stop-overs for cheap, which is always something to think about doing with BA Avios.
To figure out the distance of each of your one-way journeys, use the Great Circle Mapper.
*You should note that British Airways explicitly removed the Boston to Dublin route from Zone 4 to Zone 5 even though that route is under 3,000 miles. Also, short-haul flight within North America under 651 miles will be counted in Zone 2 and will require 7,500 miles.
Best uses for the British Airways Avios award chart
Now that you know how to find the prices for different awards, let’s take a look at some good uses of BA Avios that really show the different ways to maximize the BA award chart.
1. East Coast to Europe
Economy
Off-peak: 26,000 Avios
Peak: 40,000 Avios
Business:
Off-peak: 100,000 Avios
Peak: 120,000 Avios
Even after the 2016 devaluation, the British Airways reward chart offer some decent rates to Europe. The above rate could get you a roundtrip to Dublin from the following cities:
New York City
Chicago
Hartford
Washington DC
Toronto
The fees on thee flights can be a bit high even when you use your Avios to book AA flights to Europe. Below is a roundtrip flight in economy using 55,000 Avios. Notice the Avios requirement is higher than 40,000 — that’s because these flights route from BOS-JFK-DUB. That small, quick connection through JFK tacks on 15,000 Avios. That’s something you definitely want to avoid.
The total fees for a roundtrip to Dublin with Avios on American Airlines comes out to $403. That’s pretty high considering the route below doesn’t even touch London (LHR) where fees usually spike.
It’s important to be aware that Iberia actually has better business class redemptions to Europe for many cities. These redemptions often require fewer points and less fees.
For example, look at the BA booking for a roundtrip from MIA to MAD flying in Iberia. The first image shows that BA would require 105,000 miles and over $1,000 in fees. Meanwhile, if you booked the same exact flight with Iberia, you would save $800!
When flying from the West Coast to Hawaii, Avios offers one of the best redemptions. 12,000 Avios for a one way is fantastic and only Singapore Airlines beats out Avios. As a point of comparison, programs like United, Delta, and American would require over 20,000 miles for a one way for the same route!
For this particular redemption, you’ll be flying with American Airlines or Alaska Airlines, which gives you access to a number of departing locations all along the West Coast and Alaska.
Availability for these routes can be very limited though so you’ll need to be very flexible. (Being able to book on short notice helps to take advantage of this route.) Fees are also negligible as shown by the below $5.60 fee for a one-way trip in economy.
Note: if you used Iberia Avios for this redemption you could get it as low as 62,500 Avios roundtrip (but you can’t book one ways on American with Iberia.
3) North America to South America
Economy: 40,000+
The British Airways Avios chart can offer you some of the best redemption rates for getting to South America. You’ll usually be flying on Latam or American Airlines.
Take a look at economy rates for getting to two popular South American destinations, Lima and Santiago Chile from Texas and New York.
40,000 Avios -DFW/JFK to LIM
50,000 Avios – DFW/JFK to SCL
The distances between these destinations stays in Zones 5 and 6 of the Avios award chart so the rates are pretty reasonable. But the real sweet spot is getting to destinations in the southern part of South America, such as Santiago.
25,000 miles from DFW/JFK to SCL for a one-way in economy is among the best redemptions available for this route and a great sweet spot. And as shown by the MIA to LIM flight below, the fees can be very low when heading to South America with Avios.
Fees are very reasonable — only $20 for a one way business class flight from MIA to LIM using Avios on Latam.
4) North America to Mexico or the Caribbean
Economy: 15,000+
Business: 30,000+
Using British Airways Avios to get to Mexico and some Caribbean destinations can be a great way to use them. As you can tell from a couple of the examples I’ve posted, the deals can be great even if you are flying from the Northeast or Midwest. The fees are pretty reasonable too (remember, many Caribbean destinations impose mandatory fees on flights).
Here are some roundtrip prices:
Getting to Mexico
15,000 Avios – DFW to CUN (Cancun)
20,000 Avios – JFK/ORD to CUN
The DFW to CUN for 7,500 Avios one-way is extremely cheap. United would require 10,000 more miles for a one-way and American would require 2X the miles.
Getting to the Caribbean (Jamaica)
20,000 Avios – ORD to MBJ (Jamaica)
25,000 Avios – LAX to MBJ
$80 in fees + 15,000 Avios for a roundtrip to Mexico.
When flying from hubs in the southern part of the country, the redemptions for business class are an absolute steal to Mexico and the Caribbean, assuming you can find direct shots. Even when you’re departing from northern states, the redemption rates are still very competitive.
Here are some roundtrip prices:
30,000 Avios – DFW to CUN (Cancun)
60,000 Avios – JFK/ORD to CUN
To show you how good this sweet spot is for the BA award chart, United would require 60,000 miles for a roundtrip business class redemption from DFW to CUN which is 30,000 more than Avios (and twice the price)!
5) Short-haul economy flights in North America
Economy: 15,000+
The recent devaluation to short-haul flight redemptions with Avios was a pretty big hit to the program but there’s still some pretty good redemptions to be had. The devaluation basically did away with the first zone and made it so that the cheapest short-haul flight in economy would require 7,500 Avios, and business and first class were changed to Zone 2’s requirements as well.
Even with that devaluation, it’s still a good deal to use Avios for flights 2,000 miles and under in the U.S. because you can save 5,000 to 10,000 miles.
Here are some roundtrip prices:
15,000 Avios for routes up to 1,150 miles (e.g., MIA – JFK)
20,000 Avios 1,151 miles to 2,000 miles (e.g., SFO – IAH)
25,000 Avios 2,001 miles to 3,000 miles (e.g., LAX – JFK)
Other domestic carriers like Delta, United, and American would require several thousand more miles to book these short-haul flights.
The key with these is that you usually need to live by an American Airlines hub in order to take advantage of these redemptions. Otherwise, you’ll have to add connecting flights and those connections will cost you more Avios.
Booking American Airlines flights with BA miles is still a good deal with fees only at $5.60.
6) Intra-continental flights in South America
Avios can also be used efficiently to book intra-continental flights in South America. I’ve recently used Avios to book some pretty otherwise expensive flights between Lima and Santiago. The particular flight I booked costed $2,000 for a one-way business class ticket. I used 20,000 Avios for a 10 cent per point redemption, a great value that you usually find on higher-end first class suites.
But even the economy redemptions can be great because they are so much cheaper than other options. The below redemption is cheaper than what any other program would offer for this route. And it’s also a great redemption since a one-way economy could cost you $500+.
Economy one-way from LIM to SCL with Avios. Only $30 in fees.
These kind of redemptions can be had in other continents, too. I’d always do some research on One World partners in Africa, Australia, and Asia in order to seek out valuable Avios redemptions.
7) Creative Routings
Sometimes it’s cheaper to book multiple segments with BA Avios than it is do book a straight shot.
One common example is that it requires 50,000 Avios to get from LAX to Sydney, Australia. However, if you broke this up so that you fly from LAX -> Hawaii -> Sydney, the total Avios required would be 37,500 Avios due to quirks in the award chart.
Always be on the lookout for sweet spots like this.
Final word
Avios are actually a very valuable currency, especially if you’re located near an AA hub. The British Airways Avios Award Chart has several sweet spots that you can utilize to save a ton in miles and points and also allows you to get away with low fees. Generally, long-haul premium awards are not going to offer much value but as shown above short-haul and medium-haul flights can be some of the most valuable award redemptions.
Daniel Gillaspia is the Founder of UponArriving.com and creator of the credit card app, WalletFlo. He is a former attorney turned full-time travel expert covering destinations along with TSA, airline, and hotel policies. Since 2014, his content has been featured in major publications such as National Geographic, Smithsonian Magazine, Forbes, CNBC, US News, and Business Insider. Find his full bio here.
Amex Offering 40% Transfer Bonus to Avios
Offers contained within this article maybe expired.
Special Offer: Get 40% more Avios when you transfer Membership Rewards points through 9/17/17.
You have all the way until mid-September to take advantage of the offer so there’s plenty of time to earn a couple of sign-up bonuses and then transfer them over to British Airways or Iberia.
These promotions come about once a year and while some promo bonuses have been higher, 40% is still solid.
For your convenience, I’ve included some of the best uses of Avios below.
Just remember to play around with the math to figure out the new transfer requirements. Some of these requirements become quite lucrative. For example, 50,000 Membership Rewards to Iberia becomes 70,000 Avios, which is enough for a roundtrip business class ticket from cities, such as Chicago, New York, and Boston. 50,000 roundtrip in J is a an exceptional deal!
How to figure out your exact mileage requirements?
To figure out your exact mileage requirement for this promotion simply enter the standard total milage requirement and divide it by 1.4. So using the example above it would normally require 68,000 Avios for a roundtrip to Madrid from Chicago. 68,000/1.4 = 48,571.
What can I use Avios for?
Avios are excellent for short-haul flights around the US/Mexico/Caribbean, flights from the West Coast to Hawaii, certain routes to Europe, and other intra-continent flights around the world in places like South America and Australia.
Here are some specific examples of great value that you can get from Avios.
1) Flights to Europe
A. Flights with Aer Lingus
A long-loved sweet spot was using Avios to fly Boston to Dublin on Aer Lingus but that sweetspot was bumped from Zone 4 to Zone 5 on the British Airways chart so that the mileage requirements increased. Even with the new requirements, it’s still a good deal, especially if you can book the trip during off-peak times.
The roundtrip redemptions from Boston to Dublin now look like this:
Economy
Off-peak: 26,000 Avios
Peak: 40,000 Avios
Business:
Off-peak: 100,000 Avios
Peak: 120,000 Avios
Also, as a result of the new chart with Aer Lingus, more sweet spots opened up from different cities. You can now fly from NYC/Chicago/Hartford/DC/Toronto to Dublin for the following rates:
Economy
Off-peak : 26,000
Peak: 40,000
Business:
Off-peak: 100,000
Peak: 120,000
Fees can be around $170 total for a roundtrip so they aren’t that bad, considering how cheap these redemption rates.
B. Flights with Iberia
If you want to fly in business class to Europe from certain cities like New York and Chicago, then you probably want to consider transferring your Membership Rewards directly to Iberia Avios. It is possible to transfer your Avios from British Airways to Iberia, but there are technical steps involved with that so I would just transfer your points directly to Iberia if you were planning on flying with them.
The great sweet spots with Iberia are for trips between 3,001 to 4,000 miles.
This is a tremendous sweet spot for using Iberia Avios to book business class, especially if your trip falls within the off-peak calendar. 68,000 Avios for a roundtrip in business class to Europe beats some of the best redemption rates like Korean Air, Asiana, and ANA and the fees are reasonable so don’t overlook this option! The 100,000 (round trip) redemption rate from British Airways and Aer Lingus during off-peak times isn’t bad either, so long as you can avoid or minimize fees.
Here’s a comparison of the rates with British Airways/Aer Lingus.
British Airways/Aer Lingus
Off-peak: 50,000
Peak: 60,000
Iberia
Off-peak: 34,000
Peak: 50,000
These rates are good with Iberia for the following routes:
Boston to Madrid
New York to Madrid
Chicago to Madrid
Chicago technically is more than 4,000 miles but Iberia lumps it in with the other routes and I’m 100% okay with that.
When flying from the West Coast to Hawaii, Avios offers one of the best redemptions. For this particular redemption, you’ll be flying with American Airlines or Alaska Airlines, which gives you access to a number of departing locations all along the West Coast and Alaska.
A. Avios economy redemptions
25,000 Avios – West Coast to Hawaii
B. Avios business class redemptions
Getting from the West Coast to Hawaii in business class with Avios is still somewhat of a sweet spot compared to other major airlines, although you can do better by going with airlines like Korean Air, ANA, Singapore, etc.
75,000 Avios – West Coast to Hawaii
Note: if you used Iberia Avios for this redemption you could get it as low as 62,500 Avios roundtrip (but you can’t book one ways on American with Iberia).
3) North America to South America
Avios can offer you some of the best redemption rates for getting to South America. You’ll usually be flying on LAN, TAM, or American Airlines.
A. Avios economy redemptions
Take a look at economy rates for getting to two popular South American destinations, Lima and Santiago Chile from Texas and New York. The distances between these destinations stays in Zones 5 and 6 for Avios so the rates are pretty reasonable but the sweet spot is getting to destinations in the southern part of South America, such as Santiago.
40,000 Avios -DFW/JFK to LIM
50,000 Avios – DFW/JFK to SCL
B. Avios business class redemptions
For the most part, the business class redemptions to South American from North America are not great and a lot of them are very terrible but I’ve included them for your reference and the sake of completeness. Here’s a look at some of the redemptions and how they stack up against the competition.
75,000 Avios – MIA to LIM
120,000 Avios -DFW to LIM
150,000 Avios – DFW to SCL
4) North America to Mexico or the Caribbean
Using Avios to get to Mexico and various Caribbean destinations can be a great way to redeem. As you can tell from a couple of the examples I’ve posted, the deals can be great even if you are flying from the Northeast or Midwest.
A. Avios economy redemptions
Getting to Mexico
15,000 Avios – DFW to CUN (Cancun)
20,000 Avios – JFK/ORD to CUN
Avios business class redemptions
When flying from hubs in the southern part of the country, the redemptions for business class are an absolute steal to Mexico and the Caribbean, assuming you can find direct shots. Even when you’re departing from northern states, the redemption rates are still very competitive.
Getting to Mexico
30,000 Avios – DFW to CUN (Cancun)
60,000 Avios – JFK/ORD to CUN
5) Short haul economy flights in North America
The recent devaluation to short-haul flight redemptions with Avios was a pretty big hit to the program but there’s still some pretty good redemptions to be had. The devaluation basically did away with the first zone and made it so that the cheapest short-haul flight in economy would require 7,500 Avios, and business and first class were changed to Zone 2’s requirements as well.
Even with that devaluation, it’s still a good deal to use Avios for flights 2,000 miles and under in the U.S. because you can save 5,000 to 10,000 miles.
Getting around the United States
15,000 Avios for routes up to 1,150 miles (e.g., MIA – JFK)
20,000 Avios 1,151 miles to 2,000 miles (e.g., SFO – IAH)
25,000 Avios 2,001 miles to 3,000 miles (e.g., LAX – JFK)
6) Intra-continental flights
Avios can also be used effeciently to book intra-continental flights. I’ve recently used Avios to book some pretty otherwise expensive flights between Lima and Santiago. The particular flight I booked costed $2,000 for a one-way business class ticket. I used 20,000 Avios for a 10 cent per point redemption, a great value that you usually find on higher-end first class suites.
These kind of redemptions can be had in other continents, too. I’d always do some research on One World partners in Africa, Australia, and Asia in order to seek out valuable Avios redemptions.
Daniel Gillaspia is the Founder of UponArriving.com and creator of the credit card app, WalletFlo. He is a former attorney turned full-time travel expert covering destinations along with TSA, airline, and hotel policies. Since 2014, his content has been featured in major publications such as National Geographic, Smithsonian Magazine, Forbes, CNBC, US News, and Business Insider. Find his full bio here.
Avios Now a 1:1 Transfer Partner of Amex Membership Rewards
Offers contained within this article maybe expired.
Back in the fall of 2015, American Express lowered the transfer ratio of Membership Rewards to British Airways and Iberia from 1:1 to 10:8. This move hurt American Express Membership Rewards because Chase Ultimate Rewards remained a 1:1 transfer partner with British Airways. Now, American Express has re-introduced British Airways and Iberia as a 1:1 transfer partner once again. This is great news, especially since British Airways offers promotional transfer rates about every year.
Avios refresher
Avios is a rewards program that partners with different airlines, such as British Airways, Iberia Plus, and Aer Lingus. The programs for the airlines are separate but related, meaning that they have their own routing rules, award charts, and calendars but also allow you to transfer points between them.
Each of these airlines has their own distance-based award chart which can be seen below.
British Airways
Aer Lingus
Iberia
What can I use Avios for?
Avios are excellent for short-haul flights around the US/Mexico/Caribbean, flights from the West Coast to Hawaii, certain routes to Europe, and other intra-continent flights around the world in places like South America and Australia.
Here are some specific examples of great value that you can get from Avios.
1) Flights to Europe
A. Flights with Aer Lingus
A long-loved sweet spot was using Avios to fly Boston to Dublin on Aer Lingus but that sweetspot was bumped from Zone 4 to Zone 5 on the British Airways chart so that the mileage requirements increased. Even with the new requirements, it’s still a good deal, especially if you can book the trip during off-peak times.
The roundtrip redemptions from Boston to Dublin now look like this:
Economy
Off-peak: 26,000 Avios
Peak: 40,000 Avios
Business:
Off-peak: 100,000 Avios
Peak: 120,000 Avios
Also, as a result of the new chart with Aer Lingus, more sweet spots opened up from different cities. You can now fly from NYC/Chicago/Hartford/DC/Toronto to Dublin for the following rates:
Economy
Off-peak : 26,000
Peak: 40,000
Business:
Off-peak: 100,000
Peak: 120,000
Fees can be around $170 total for a roundtrip so they aren’t that bad, considering how cheap these redemption rates.
B. Flights with Iberia
If you want to fly in business class to Europe from certain cities like New York and Chicago, then you probably want to consider transferring your Membership Rewards directly to Iberia Avios. It is possible to transfer your Avios from British Airways to Iberia, but there are technical steps involved with that so I would just transfer your points directly to Iberia if you were planning on flying with them.
The great sweet spots with Iberia are for trips between 3,001 to 4,000 miles.
This is a tremendous sweet spot for using Iberia Avios to book business class, especially if your trip falls within the off-peak calendar. 68,000 Avios for a roundtrip in business class to Europe beats some of the best redemption rates like Korean Air, Asiana, and ANA and the fees are reasonable so don’t overlook this option! The 100,000 (round trip) redemption rate from British Airways and Aer Lingus during off-peak times isn’t bad either, so long as you can avoid or minimize fees.
Here’s a comparison of the rates with British Airways/Aer Lingus.
British Airways/Aer Lingus
Off-peak: 50,000
Peak: 60,000
Iberia
Off-peak: 34,000
Peak: 50,000
These rates are good with Iberia for the following routes:
Boston to Madrid
New York to Madrid
Chicago to Madrid
Chicago technically is more than 4,000 miles but Iberia lumps it in with the other routes and I’m 100% okay with that.
When flying from the West Coast to Hawaii, Avios offers one of the best redemptions. For this particular redemption, you’ll be flying with American Airlines or Alaska Airlines, which gives you access to a number of departing locations all along the West Coast and Alaska.
A. Avios economy redemptions
25,000 Avios – West Coast to Hawaii
B. Avios business class redemptions
Getting from the West Coast to Hawaii in business class with Avios is still somewhat of a sweet spot compared to other major airlines, although you can do better by going with airlines like Korean Air, ANA, Singapore, etc.
75,000 Avios – West Coast to Hawaii
Note: if you used Iberia Avios for this redemption you could get it as low as 62,500 Avios roundtrip (but you can’t book one ways on American with Iberia).
3) North America to South America
Avios can offer you some of the best redemption rates for getting to South America. You’ll usually be flying on LAN, TAM, or American Airlines.
A. Avios economy redemptions
Take a look at economy rates for getting to two popular South American destinations, Lima and Santiago Chile from Texas and New York. The distances between these destinations stays in Zones 5 and 6 for Avios so the rates are pretty reasonable but the sweet spot is getting to destinations in the southern part of South America, such as Santiago.
40,000 Avios -DFW/JFK to LIM
50,000 Avios – DFW/JFK to SCL
B. Avios business class redemptions
For the most part, the business class redemptions to South American from North America are not great and a lot of them are very terrible but I’ve included them for your reference and the sake of completeness. Here’s a look at some of the redemptions and how they stack up against the competition.
75,000 Avios – MIA to LIM
120,000 Avios -DFW to LIM
150,000 Avios – DFW to SCL
4) North America to Mexico or the Caribbean
Using Avios to get to Mexico and various Caribbean destinations can be a great way to redeem. As you can tell from a couple of the examples I’ve posted, the deals can be great even if you are flying from the Northeast or Midwest.
A. Avios economy redemptions
Getting to Mexico
15,000 Avios – DFW to CUN (Cancun)
20,000 Avios – JFK/ORD to CUN
Avios business class redemptions
When flying from hubs in the southern part of the country, the redemptions for business class are an absolute steal to Mexico and the Caribbean, assuming you can find direct shots. Even when you’re departing from northern states, the redemption rates are still very competitive.
Getting to Mexico
30,000 Avios – DFW to CUN (Cancun)
60,000 Avios – JFK/ORD to CUN
5) Short haul economy flights in North America
The recent devaluation to short-haul flight redemptions with Avios was a pretty big hit to the program but there’s still some pretty good redemptions to be had. The devaluation basically did away with the first zone and made it so that the cheapest short-haul flight in economy would require 7,500 Avios, and business and first class were changed to Zone 2’s requirements as well.
Even with that devaluation, it’s still a good deal to use Avios for flights 2,000 miles and under in the U.S. because you can save 5,000 to 10,000 miles.
Getting around the United States
15,000 Avios for routes up to 1,150 miles (e.g., MIA – JFK)
20,000 Avios 1,151 miles to 2,000 miles (e.g., SFO – IAH)
25,000 Avios 2,001 miles to 3,000 miles (e.g., LAX – JFK)
6) Intra-continental flights
Avios can also be used effeciently to book intra-continental flights. I’ve recently used Avios to book some pretty otherwise expensive flights between Lima and Santiago. The particular flight I booked costed $2,000 for a one-way business class ticket. I used 20,000 Avios for a 10 cent per point redemption, a great value that you usually find on higher-end first class suites.
These kind of redemptions can be had in other continents, too. I’d always do some research on One World partners in Africa, Australia, and Asia in order to seek out valuable Avios redemptions.
Final word
I consider Avios to be a valuable currency because there are many ways to earn them and there are several sweet spots that you can take advantage of if you know how to look for them. Now that Membership Rewards is once again a 1:1 transfer partner with British Airways and Iberia, Avios is now an even stronger program in my eyes.
Daniel Gillaspia is the Founder of UponArriving.com and creator of the credit card app, WalletFlo. He is a former attorney turned full-time travel expert covering destinations along with TSA, airline, and hotel policies. Since 2014, his content has been featured in major publications such as National Geographic, Smithsonian Magazine, Forbes, CNBC, US News, and Business Insider. Find his full bio here.
Should You Get Refunded Right Now on the Match.Com Avios Deal?
Yesterday, I wrote about the amazing Avios deal where you could earn 150 Avios per dollar spent on Match.com by going through the British Airways shopping portal. This was a phenomenal deal many people were jumping on and it eventually died last night — no doubt due to the thousands of people likely taking advantage of it.
Some of us, such as myself, jumped on the higher offer and spent around $580 to earn over 80,000 Avios. However, the issue sprang up today with tons of reports where the British Airways portal showed only 30,584 Avios pending. (Others displayed various other amounts but nobody that I’m aware of received credit for the full amount that would be due for $560 purchase.)
The issue?
The portal is not tracking the “add-on” features that were selected in addition to the basic subscription. These were for random features like “private mode” and other things that I honestly didn’t even pay attention to. So if you only purchased a basic subscription this is still a great deal and you likely don’t have anything to worry about but if you went with the add-ons, it looks like you may not get your additional Avios.
It’s still way too early to know definitively how British Airways will deal with these purchases. It’s not too uncommon for purchases made through a shopping portal to register in different segments. However, I have got the gut feeling that this is all the Avios that British Airways is going to be giving up without a fight.
So why did I get a refund?
The main reason I requested a full refund is that I don’t have any real need for additional Avios. Not now or in the near future. I was simply jumping on the deal to stockpile them for some time in the future, but I don’t have any plans to use them. (I already have enough Avios for my needs.)
Even though I’ve had success sending in legal demand letters as an attorney representing myself and/or Brad to fight for my points in situations like the CitiGold 50,000 AA promotions, I didn’t feel the urge to follow through in this case because I simply didn’t need them.
Also, when looking at the purchase breakdown, it shows the add-ons as being entirely separate from the “Subscription Details.” I can already tell that this would be a point of contention were I to choose to dispute this thing.
Sure, I could make my own argument up about how all of those features fall under the “subscription” category and how this isn’t listed in the terms and conditions, but I just wasn’t feeling it this go round.
Maybe it also had something to do with the fact this is a dating site and I’m in a committed relationship, too. I’d actually be representing my S/O since the account is in his name and something about representing him in this situation just didn’t feel that great.
But in any event, I changed my mind on fighting this deal and decided to just drop it and move on.
Should you cancel?
If you’re going to cancel then I suggest you do it NOW.
Call up 1-800-92-MATCH to initiate the refund. You can also do this via chat but when I went searching for the chat section it brought up a chat option for “matches” and I just didn’t feel like messing around with it.
Make sure you are requesting a full refund and not merely a cancellation. There may be limitations on refunds based on your state, but I think most people will have success getting a refund if they call today, given the short time period.
Wait it out and fight it?
You can always choose to ride it out and see what happens. Some people are already contacting British Airways customer service vie email and social media to inquire about the Avios and see what can be done.
If at some point you’re interested in fighting for the Avios and need some assistance, let me know. I’m definitely not interested in racking up legal fees here, but I’m very interested in learning how British Airways will handle a legal dispute for future reference.
Daniel Gillaspia is the Founder of UponArriving.com and creator of the credit card app, WalletFlo. He is a former attorney turned full-time travel expert covering destinations along with TSA, airline, and hotel policies. Since 2014, his content has been featured in major publications such as National Geographic, Smithsonian Magazine, Forbes, CNBC, US News, and Business Insider. Find his full bio here.
The Best Way to Use Avios for Business Class to Europe (And a Secret Sweet Spot)
Avios offers several ways to get around the globe for cheap when utilizing distance-based award charts. There are different types of Avios: British Airways Avios, Iberia Avios, Aer Lingus Avios, and you can transfer Avios between the programs. When it comes to business class redemptions, these three programs are definitely not created equally. By knowing how to utilize the right program, you can end up saving yourself thousands of Avios and hundreds of dollars in fees avoided. Here’s a look at how to use Avios to book business class to Europe and even a secret sweet spot you might be able to take advantage of!
The award charts
Each Avios program has its own award chart. They are simple to use. Simply use a tool like the Great Circle Mapper to find how long your trip distance will be one way and then find the “Zone” that the distance falls into. For your convenience, I’ve input the mileage zones and redemption requirements for economy and business class for each program below.
British Airways
Aer Lingus
Iberia
Aside from some small differences with the Aer Lingus chart, the zone requirements are all the same between the charts. British Airways does have zones beyond the other award charts, however, presumably because they offer flights much longer than both Aer Lingus and Iberia.
In terms of the mileage requirements, you’ll notice that Aer Lingus and British Airways have the same exact Avios requirements. However, Iberia has different requirements. Interestingly, Iberia’s requirements for the first three zones in business class are worse than than British Airways and Aer Lingus, but after that they actually offer better redemptions. (I’ll flesh out those sweet spots later.)
Note: if you want to book a an itinerary purely with OneWorld partners, you’ll be charged the off-peak rate.
Off-peak calendars
In addition, each award chart has its own calendar for off-peak dates. The off-peak dates are somewhat similar for each program but there are many slight differences between the calendars so you’ll always need to check closely to make sure that you’re looking at the calendar for the right airlines.
So where are the sweet spots? And what’s the secret?
One of the most well-known sweet spots was using Avios to fly Aer Lingus from Boston to Dublin to get to Europe. However, with the recent addition to Aer Lingus to the Avios family, this sweet spot was removed and effectively “re-distanced” so that it fell in the zone above. In fact, the award chart on Aer Lingus specifically states: (Please note the exceptions of Shannon/Dublin to Boston which are based on Zone 5).
But that was just one sweet spot that fell. There are still plenty of ways to get great value from Avios in business class by utilizing Iberia Airways. Take a second look at their award chart below. This time, I’ve marked the sweet spot range in business class. Note that both the off-peak and peak rates are much better than the rates from British Airways or Aer Lingus.
Not only are the redemption rates much cheaper, but the fees are way less than what British Airways would force you to pay when flying through Europe.
Note: You can also avoid higher fees by using British Airways to book flights on partners like Air Berlin (the cheapest), Finnair, and American Airlines. However, availability on American in business class to Europe is very hard to come by and the partner rates (which are all off-peak rates) are still not as cheap as what Iberia offers in business class, so I’m focusing on Iberia here.
2,001 to 3,000 miles
British Airways/Aer Lingus
Off-peak: 31,250
Peak: 37,500
Iberia
Off-peak: 21,250
Peak: 31,250
No routes from Europe to North America fall within this distance (that can be utilized, at least) but the rates aren’t bad so for trips with distances close to 3,000 miles it might be worth exploring using Iberia Avios.
3,001 to 4,000 miles
This is a tremendous sweet spot for using Iberia Avios to book business class, especially if your trip falls within the off-peak calendar. 68,000 Avios for a roundtrip in business class to Europe beats some of the best redemption rates like Korean Air and ANA and the fees are reasonable so don’t overlook this option!
The 100,000 (round trip) redemption rate from British Airways and Aer Lingus during off-peak times isn’t bad either, so long as you can avoid or minimize fees.
British Airways/Aer Lingus
Off-peak: 50,000
Peak: 60,000
Iberia
Off-peak: 34,000
Peak: 50,000
Iberia Routes:
Boston to Madrid
New York to Madrid
Unfortunately, the Ibera website is glitching very badly right now so I couldn’t search for fees for these routes but they should all be very reasonable and likely close to $200 roundtrip.
Secret sweet spot?
Interestingly, when I searched Chicago to Madrid on Great Circle Mapper I found that the route is 4,202 miles. However, when I searched for that route in Iberia’s website, it showed me that the roundtrip cost in Avios would be 68,000 which is what a round trip in zone 5 would cost. I’m not sure why it came up like that but it’s definitely a steal with only 68,000 Avios needed and $220 in fees!
Chicago to Madrid
Secret sweetspot from Chicago to Europe
Now compare what you would pay with Avios and fees if you flew to Europe with British Airways in business class. It would take 100,000 Avios and over $1,100 in fees! And that’s off-peak. No thanks. So if you’re considering British Airways Avios to get to Europe, I strongly recommend looking into booking with partners like Air Berlin.
For a route like Boston to Dublin on Aer Lingus in business class, you’d also be shelling out 100,000 Avios for an off-peak award but the fees would be a lot more reasonable at around $260. Not quite as cheap as Iberia but still not nearly as insane as the British Airways fees.
Keep in mind that when booking partner American Airlines with Iberia you are limited to roundtrips only. However, unlike British Airways, Iberia does not factor in connecting flights into the total distance traveled for your trips, so there are both advantages and disadvantages for using Iberia to book American flights.
4,001 to 5,500 miles
British Airways/Aer Lingus
Off-peak: 62,500
Peak: 75,000
Iberia
Off-peak: 42,500
Peak: 62,000
Iberia Routes:
Miami to Madrid
Unfortunately, the above “glitch” or exception does not also work for Miami as the rates are where they should be at 85,000 Avios. Still, that’s not a bad redemption at all and the fees are again pretty reasonable.
5,501 to 6,500 miles
British Airways/Aer Lingus
Off-peak: 75,000
Peak: 90,000
Iberia
Off-peak: 51,000
Peak: 75,000
Iberia Routes:
Los Angeles to Madrid
Flying to Europe for only 102,000 Avios from the West Coast isn’t bad either.
Transfer to Iberia
The biggest issue with using Iberia Avios is that you must have an account opened for at least 90 days in order to transfer points from your British Airways account which is how a lot of people accumulate Iberia miles. Your account also needs to be active. I suggest reading up on this post from the Frequent Miler to find out different ways to get your Avios into your Iberia account.
Final Word
When it comes to getting to Europe in business class with Avios, Iberia is a great option. Depending on where you are flying from and where exactly in Europe you’re trying to go, Iberia can end up being one of the best sweet spots out of any airline in the world to get there in business class.
Daniel Gillaspia is the Founder of UponArriving.com and creator of the credit card app, WalletFlo. He is a former attorney turned full-time travel expert covering destinations along with TSA, airline, and hotel policies. Since 2014, his content has been featured in major publications such as National Geographic, Smithsonian Magazine, Forbes, CNBC, US News, and Business Insider. Find his full bio here.
British Airways Avios Waves Goodbye to Aer Lingus Sweet Spot?
It looks like one of the top sweet spots for getting to Europe has apparently undergone some “re-distancing” for lack of a better word. Aer Lingus just launched its new Aer Lingus AerClub program which is partnered with Avios, but with this addition to the Avios family, came the “re-distancing” of the Boston to Dublin route. I’ll take a look at what this means for Aer Lingus awards to Europe with British Airways Avios but first, a refresher on Avios.
Avios refresher
Avios is a rewards program that partners with different airlines and transportation companies. For example, there are programs to use Avios on British Airways, Iberia Plus, Eurostar, etc. The programs for the airlines are separate but related, meaning that they have their own routing rules, award charts, and calendars but also allow you to transfer points between them. I recently heard news/rumors that different Avios programs (British Airways Avios, Iberia Plus Avios) would be consolidated into one program but I’m not sure about when and if that might happen.
For purposes of AerLingus, you can use Avios.com to search for award availability. The preferred method for many has been to use United’s website to find AerLingus flights and then call in to book but now you can also search for availability and book on Avios.com and it’s reported that you can see even more availability online than when you call in (but beware of higher fees).
As an aside, right now there’s a promotion that should allow you to receive 250 complimentary Avios if you create an AerClub account before January 7th. In order to do that, I suggest you first create an Avios.com account and then link it to your AerClub account. To create an Avios account you’ll need some form of UK address (some just use a UK hotel) and you need to sign up at their UK website. So just keep that in mind.
But back to British Airways….
British Airways Partner Awards
Just like other airlines, you can book partner airlines with British Airways. If you didn’t know, when you use British Airways to book partner awards, you’re forced to use the “peak” redemption rates, which are of course higher than the “off-peak” awards. However, now that Aer Lingus is a part of the Avios family it’s treated like Iberia, and you can utilize off-peak award redemption rates.
Here is the British Airways awards chart (which is the much the same as the new Aer Lingus chart).
In the past, I wrote about the sweet spots to Europe which included using British Airways Avios to book the following roundtrip economy routes on Aer Lingus:
25,000 Avios – Boston to Dublin
40,000 Avios – NYC/Chicago/Toronto to Dublin
50,000 Avios – LA/San Francisco to Dublin
The route from Boston to Dublin is approximately 2,987 miles, which put it just under the 3,000 mile range of the next bracket for British Airways and allowed for that awesome sweet spot redemption of 25,000 round trip.
So now, with the new off-peak awards available, you’d think there’s an even sweeter spot with the Boston to Dublin route because it should be priced at 20,000.
But nope!
The new redemption rates
Now, Aer Lingus and British Airways have bumped the zone that the route from BOS to DUB formerly was in to zone 5.
The award chart on Aer Lingus specifically states:
(Please note the exceptions of Shannon/Dublin to Boston which are based on Zone 5)
So with that new zone in mind, the redemptions from Boston to Dublin now look like this:
Economy
Off-peak: 26,000 Avios
Peak: 40,000 Avios
Business:
Off-peak: 100,000 Avios
Peak: 120,000 Avios
So you can still get the redemption at only 1,000 more total Avios (26,000 round trip), but you’ll just have to book on the off-peak dates. The following months are considered peak dates:
Jan 1-4
Apr 7-23
Jun 17-Sep 10
Dec 16-31
That still leaves you a good portion of January, and all of February, March, May, October, and November to book so it’s not completely bleak by any means. One bummer is that the fees are apparently higher, although not that high (especially compared to what you would pay if you booked through London to get to Europe with British Airways).
Keep in mind that Aer Lingus, British Airways, and Iberia all have different calendars for their off-peak days. You can search those calendars (by year) here. The calendar of the airline you are flying on will determine the rate. For example, when I use British Airways Avios to book Iberia, the redemption rate is determined by Iberia’s calendar.
So this re-distancing thing isn’t too terrible but what about the other routes to Dublin? Do they benefit? Absolutely!
New sweet spots
With the new off-peak awards in place, there are a few new sweet spots to get to Europe.
1) NYC/Chicago/Hartford/DC/Toronto to Dublin
Old rates:
Economy: 40,000
Business: 120,000
New rates:
Economy
Off-peak : 26,000
Peak: 40,000
Business:
Off-peak: 100,000
Peak: 120,000
26,000 Avios round trip to Europe!
With the new rates you don’t have to position yourself in Boston to take advantage of the lower rate at 26,000 Avios from New York or places like Toronto and even Chicago. And that 100,000 award in business class is also one of the best redemption rates to get to Europe in business class — it beats out all of the rates from major US airlines and competes with some of the best available redemptions (fees may be around $250).
I called in with British Airways to inquire about using British Airways Avios for the flight above and was told that the fees would come out to $169 total, which is cheaper than the $237 USD that Avios.com showed. So fees are still a little bit of an issue but not nearly as bad as they would be if you routed through London with British Airways. In the latter case, you’d be paying about $650! (Fees appear to be cheaper going out to Dublin than coming back.)
Also worth noting, on the phone they offered me the pay with cash plus Avios option which would have been a super sweet deal. I could have reduced my redemption requirement by 5,200 Avios by paying $15 ($184 total). Yes, $15! That’s like paying .28 cents per point. I’m not sure how long that promo was going on for but the representative confirmed again and again that it wasn’t a mistake.
2) West Coast (and Orlando) to Dublin
For folks trying to get from SFO, LA, or Orlando to Dublin, things get sweeter with the with off-peak awards, too.
Old rates:
Economy: 50,000
Business: 150,000
New rates:
Economy
Off-peak : 32,500 Avios
Peak: 50,000 Avios
Business:
Off-peak: 125,000 Avios
Peak: 150,000 Avios
The 32,500 rate in economy to get all the way to Europe from the West Coast roundtrip is a great redemption and 125,000 in business class is respectable. Fees from the SFO were a little higher. Unfortunately, again I wasn’t able to price out the fees for business class so I’m not sure how high those fees might get.
Final word
After recent devaluations to the British Airways program, I assumed this was yet another knee to the stomach when I first heard about it. However, while the changes do make it tougher to claim some awards, they open up some fantastic sweet spot redemptions from the West Coast and other places around the country if you catch them at the right time. I’m not sure what will inevitably become of the Avios program when and if everything merges but right now I’m not totally against these changes in the award chart.
Daniel Gillaspia is the Founder of UponArriving.com and creator of the credit card app, WalletFlo. He is a former attorney turned full-time travel expert covering destinations along with TSA, airline, and hotel policies. Since 2014, his content has been featured in major publications such as National Geographic, Smithsonian Magazine, Forbes, CNBC, US News, and Business Insider. Find his full bio here.
Best Ways to Use British Airways Avios: The Sweet Spots
There are several sweet spots for British Airways Avios. Almost all of them require booking with One World partner airlines but once you get the hang of booking with alliance partners, you’ll find the process quite easy and the rewards very valuable. These are some of the best ways to use British Airways Avios and if you haven’t read my Guide to Booking British Airways Avios, you might want to check it out first.
1) North America to Europe
Avios can be one of the best ways to get to Europe. The real sweet spots are when you fly British Airways partners, because the fuel surcharges are so high going to Europe. The only caveat is that the sweet spots are reserved mostly for those departing from the East Coast.
The sweet spots begin to dissipate as you look at business class, however.
Aer Lingus
75,000 Avios – Boston to Dublin
120,000 Avios – NYC/Chicago/Toronto to Dublin
Air Berlin
120,000 Avios – NYC to Berlin
120,000 Avios – NYC/Boston to Düsseldorf
150,000 Avios – Chicago/Miami to Berlin
150,000 Avios – Ft. Meyers/Miami to Düsseldorf
Compare these rates to other airlines:
Aeroplan: 110,000 miles
American Airlines: 115,000
ANA: 88,000
Delta: 125,000
Korean Air: 80,000
United: 115,000 miles (140,000 miles if booked with alliance partner)
As you can see, the only true sweet spot would be going from Boston to Dublin for 75,000 Avios round trip. Outside of that, you’re spending far more miles than what just about every other program requires and you’re still restricted geographically.
2) North America to Hawaii
When flying from the West Coast to Hawaii, Avios offers one of the best redemptions. For this particular redemption, you’ll be flying with American Airlines or Alaskan Airlines, which gives you access to a number of departing locations all along the West Coast and Alaska.
A. Avios economy redemptions
25,000 Avios – West Coast to Hawaii
Compare these rates to other airlines:
Aeroplan: 45,000
American Airlines: 45,000
ANA: 40,000
Delta: 45,000
Korean Air: 25,000
United: 45,000
Singapore Airlines: 35,000
Korean Air allows for a stopover so I’d have to give the edge to them for possibly the best Hawaii redemption. However, the good thing about going with Avios is that you book one-ways, they are easier to accumulate, and you don’t have to jump through the hoops that Korean Air requires you to jump through.
B. Avios business class redemptions
Getting from the West Coast to Hawaii in business class with Avios is still somewhat of a sweet spot compared to other major airlines, although you can do better by going with airlines like Korean Air, ANA, Singapore, etc.
75,000 Avios – West Coast to Hawaii
Note: if you used Iberia Avios for this redemption you could get it as low as 62,500 Avios roundtrip (but you can’t book one ways on American with Iberia).
Compare these rates to other airlines:
Aeroplan: 80,000
American Airlines: 80,000
ANA: 68,000
Delta: 110,000
Korean Air: 45,000
United: 80,000
Singapore Airlines: 60,000
3) North America to South America
Avios can offer you some of the best redemption rates for getting to South America. You’ll usually be flying on LAN, TAM, or American Airlines.
A. Avios economy redemptions
Take a look at economy rates for getting to two popular South American destinations, Lima and Santiago Chile from Texas and New York. The distances between these destinations stays in Zones 5 and 6 for Avios so the rates are pretty reasonable but the sweet spot is getting to destinations in the southern part of South America, such as Santiago.
40,000 Avios -DFW/JFK to LIM
50,000 Avios – DFW/JFK to SCL
Compare these rates to other airlines:
Getting to Lima
Aeroplan: 60,000
American Airlines: 35,000
ANA: 55,000
Delta: 60,000
Flying Blue: 35,000
United: 40,000
Getting to SCL
Aeroplan: 60,000
American Airlines: 60,000
ANA: 55,000
Delta: 60,000
Flying Blue: 50,000
Korean Air: 50,000
United: 60,000
If you’re wanting to get to Lima, the Avios redemption rate is competitive but you might want to consider other options to save up to 5,000 miles. However, if you’re heading straight to Santiago, Chile, Avios can get you there with one of the best rates at 50,000.
Note: As discussed later on, you should always consider booking long international trips (like those to South America) with multiple segments to maximize the value of your redemptions. More on that below.
B. Avios business class redemptions
For the most part, the business class redemptions to South American from North America are not great and a lot of them are very terrible but I’ve included them for your reference and the sake of completeness. Here’s a look at some of the redemptions and how they stack up against the competition.
75,000 Avios – MIA to LIM
120,000 Avios -DFW to LIM
150,000 Avios – DFW to SCL
Compare these rates to other airlines:
Getting to Lima
Aeroplan: 75,000
American Airlines: 60,000
ANA: 88,000
Delta: 150,000
Flying Blue: 87,500
Korean Air: 110,000
United: 70,000
Getting to SCL
Aeroplan: 110,000
American Airlines: 115,000
ANA: 88,000
Delta: 150,000
Flying Blue: 125,000
Korean Air: 110,000
United: 110,000
Based on these comparisons, I’d recommend going with another program if you want to fly business class to South America from North America.
4) North America to Mexico or the Caribbean
Using Avios to get to Mexico and various Caribbean destinations can be a great way to redeem. As you can tell from a couple of the examples I’ve posted, the deals can be great even if you are flying from the Northeast or Midwest.
A. Avios economy redemptions
Getting to Mexico
15,000 Avios – DFW to CUN (Cancun)
20,000 Avios – JFK/ORD to CUN
Compare these rates to other airlines:
Aeroplan: 40,000
American Airlines: 30,000
ANA: 30,000
Delta: 35,000
Flying Blue: 25,000 miles
Korean Air: 25,000 miles
United: 35,000
Getting to the Caribbean (Jamaica)
20,000 Avios – ORD to MBJ (Jamaica)
25,000 Avios – LAX to MBJ
Compare these rates to other airlines:
Aeroplan: 40,000
American Airlines: 25,000
ANA: 55,000
Delta: 35,000
Flying Blue: 30,000
Korean Air: 35,000
United: 35,000
It kind of surprised me that Avios was one of the best ways to get to Mexico and the Caribbean, from places like New York and Chicago but the numbers don’t lie!
B. Avios business class redemptions
When flying from hubs in the southern part of the country, the redemptions for business class are an absolute steal to Mexico and the Caribbean, assuming you can find direct shots. Even when you’re departing from northern states, the redemption rates are still very competitive.
Getting to Mexico
30,000 Avios – DFW to CUN (Cancun)
60,000 Avios – JFK/ORD to CUN
Compare these rates to other airlines:
Aeroplan: 60,000
American Airlines: 50,000
ANA: 55,000
Delta: 57,500
Flying Blue: 62,500
Korean Air: 45,000
United: 60,000
Getting to the Caribbean (Jamaica)
40,000 Avios – DFW to MBJ (Jamaica)
60,000 Avios – ORD to MBJ
Compare these rates to other airlines:
Aeroplan: 60,000
American Airlines: 50,000
ANA: 80,000
Delta: 57,500
Flying Blue: 60,000
Korean Air: 75,000
United: 60,000
5) Short haul economy flights in North America
The recent devaluation to short-haul flight redemptions with Avios was a pretty big hit to the program but there’s still some pretty good redemptions to be had. The devaluation basically did away with the first zone and made it so that the cheapest short-haul flight in economy would require 7,500 Avios, and business and first class were changed to Zone 2’s requirements as well.
Even with that devaluation, it’s still a good deal to use Avios for flights 2,000 miles and under in the U.S. because you can save 5,000 to 10,000 miles.
Getting around the United States
15,000 Avios for routes up to 1,150 miles (e.g., MIA – JFK)
20,000 Avios 1,151 miles to 2,000 miles (e.g., SFO – IAH)
25,000 Avios 2,001 miles to 3,000 miles (e.g., LAX – JFK)
Compare these rates for getting around the U.S. to other airlines:
Aeroplan: 15,000 (very short-haul flights) to 25,000
American Airlines: 25,000
ANA: 30,000
Delta: 25,000
Flying Blue: 25,000
Korean Air: 25,000
United: 25,000
6) Intra-continental flights in South America
Avios can also be used effeciently to book intra-continental flights in South America. I’ve recently used Avios to book some pretty otherwise expensive flights between Lima and Santiago. The particular flight I booked costed $2,000 for a one-way business class ticket. I used 20,000 Avios for a 10 cent per point redemption, a great value that you usually find on higher-end first class suites.
These kind of redemptions can be had in other continents, too. I’d always do some research on One World partners in Africa, Australia, and Asia in order to seek out valuable Avios redemptions.
7) Creative Routings
The final “sweet spot” is something I first discovered via Travel Is Free but if you’ve studied Avios, you’ll likely be aware of it.
Basically, sometimes it’s cheaper to book multiple legs with Avios than it is do book a straight shot. An example from Travel Is Free shows that it requires 50,000 Avios to get from LAX to Sydney, Australia. However, if you broke this up so that you fly from LAX -> Hawaii -> Sydney, the total Avios required would be 37,500 Avios due to quirks in the award chart.
These quirks can be taken advantage of with different routes all over the world and it’s something to be aware of any time you’re looking to book a long flight. I recommend using this tool from the Wandering Aremean to see possible routing options (although note that it’s limited to a single connection).
Final Word
These are some of my top sweet spots for Avios and I think they show that despite recent devaluations, Avios can still be extremely valuable and offer some of the best redemptions available.
Daniel Gillaspia is the Founder of UponArriving.com and creator of the credit card app, WalletFlo. He is a former attorney turned full-time travel expert covering destinations along with TSA, airline, and hotel policies. Since 2014, his content has been featured in major publications such as National Geographic, Smithsonian Magazine, Forbes, CNBC, US News, and Business Insider. Find his full bio here.
Guide to Booking British Airways Avios
British Airways has a frequent flyer program called the Executive Club that offers some solid redemptions across the board, both with its own metal and with partner airlines. There are a lot of different and unique features to the Executive Club and quite frankly the system is a bit complicated at times. However, I’m going to provide some of the basics about this program to help you get a good grasp of its rules and policies.
Avios
Avios is the award currency for British Airways, Iberia and a few other partners. This article will focus on earning British Airways Avios via the Executive Club program and will provide an introduction overview of the program.
Oneworld Alliance
British Airways is part of the Oneworld Alliance. If you’re unfamiliar with airline alliances, they allow you to use miles of one airline’s program to book flights on a partner airline’s program. For example, this means that you can use British Airways Avios to book flights on Oneworld partners like American Airlines, Air Berlin, etc.
One reason why I love British Airways Avios so much is that you can rack them up in a lot of different ways and it’s really easy to get your Avios account into the triple digits with just two cards.
Here are the different transfer partners and ways to accumulate Avios:
American Express Membership Rewards (10:8) (transfer bonuses offered)
Chase Ultimate Rewards (1:1)
Chase British Airways Visa
Starwood Preferred Guests (1:1)
British Airways Distance-Based Award Chart
The big difference between British Airways and other frequent flyer programs is that British Airways operates on a distance-based award chart. This means that the mileage is determined based on the distance between your point of departure and your destination, as opposed to being determined by the regions you are traveling to and from.
In addition to the zones, British Airways redemptions also depend on whether or not you book them as “Off-Peak” or “Peak.” This applies to Iberia as well but not to the other Oneworld partners — if you want to book an award with any partner other than Iberia, it will cost you the peak award price.
Take a look at the chart I created below to how it works. All rates are based on one-way award flights.
British Airways Distance-Based Award Chart
You need to follow a couple of steps to figure out the milage requirements for your trip.
First, you find out how many miles your flight is (I use Great Circle Mapper) and then you find which zone that flight falls into based on the distance of the trip. For example, a 2,500 mile flight would fall into “Zone 3.” You then look at the British Airways calendar for off-peak or peak days to see which rate you would redeem for.
Alternatively, you can use the British Airways flight calculator. The flight calculator doesn’t always show you all available routes with all partners, however, and sometimes a message pops up that it’s “not available in your region.” Thus, often, I’m left with the only option of entering in a specific route into the British Airways search engine, which means that searching for exact mileage requirements can be time-consuming.
Recent North America devaluation
Devaluations hit British Airways last year and they changed the redemption rate for short-haul flights in North America. This made a lot of frequent flyers upset, because one of the best ways to redeem Avios (or miles of any kind) was to book domestic American Airlines flights in North America with Avios. The devaluation basically did away with the first zone and made it so that the cheapest short-haul flight in economy would require 7,500 miles, and business and first class were changed to Zone 2’s requirements as well.
So if you’re planning on booking North American short-haul flights with British Airways Avios, then go by what you see in the requirements for Zone 2 and not Zone 1.
Reward Flight Saver
On certain flights British Airways offers “Reward Flight Saver” (“RFS”) awards which are awards where you pay Avios plus a low flat fee instead of the taxes, fees and carrier charges. They are offered on short-haul flights of 2,000 miles or fewer but you must fly on British Airways on both legs in order for the fare to qualify.
They are currently only offered for British Airways flights in Europe and Comair flights in South Africa. I recently booked one in South Africa without even realizing I had found one, but it was a nice way to save a few bucks on fees.
Avios & Money
Avios and Money allows you to redeem flights by using your points topped off with cash. It’s an option available with most flights, including partner airlines. You’ll simply find your award flight and then when it’s time to purchase it, you’ll select the option to pay with points plus cash. You should see something similar to the image below.
This is usually a good option if you’re in a situation where you’re just short on Avios and the math works out where it’s cheaper or the same to redeem with Avios and Money than it is to purchase Avios outright, which will be rare for small quantities of Avios.
For example, when you purchase a small number of Avios (1,000), you may have to pay as much as 5 cents per Avios (unless you happen to catch a promo). With the example above, you ‘d be paying 1.5 cents per point for the Avios with the first Avios and Money option. Thus, it would be wayyy cheaper to go with the Avios and Money option.
You’ll always have to do the math when booking these to see if: 1) there’s a better deal to just purchase the Avios (not likely) and 2) the rate at which your purchasing Avios is a good deal for you.
It should be noted that you can’t make modifications to awards booked with Avios and Money.
Part Payment
Another way to redeem Avios is often to use their part pay. This is similar to Avios and Money, except you’re paying primarily cash and topping off with British Airways Avios in exchange for a savings. Savings typically range from £10 to £200 per person, though they can be higher depending on the fare. However, Part Payment is only available on British Airways andAmerican Airlines direct flights to and from the UK and North America.
This option allows you to earn elite qualifying miles since it is a paid fare and it’s a good way to get rid of Avios you have just sitting around collecting dust. However, I’m not sure I’d want to take advantage of this.
Part Payment offers differ depending on the route
If you used 7,500 Avios for Part Payment, you’d get an equivalent of a £50 ($72) discount, which comes out to .96 cents per point. That’s not terrible to some people, but instead of eating up 7,500 Avios to save $72, you could use those 7,500 Avios toward one leg of a more expensive short-haul flight.
Upgrading Using Avios
When you book an award with British Airways, you have the option to Upgrade Using Avios. This means you purchase a fare with cash and then upgrade the class using Avios. The catch to this is that only certain class fares in economy can be upgraded, meaning that you have to purchase the more expensive fares in order to upgrade.
One of the big knocks against British Airways is the massive fees and surcharges that you have to pay when you fly with them. These can be especially bad when you go through London or on long-haul flights. The good news is that when you book Oneworld and other partner awards you can often avoid these hefty surcharges.
Stopover and open jaw rules
Since British Airways operates on a distance-based chart, you are free to book stopovers as you like because the stopovers will just be factored into the overall distance of the trip. Utilizing stopovers on British Airways is a great way to maximize the value of Avios on long-haul flights and I discuss more of that in my sweet spots article. British Airways also allows one-way awards so you can always open jaw however you would like.
Cancellations
British Airways has different policies for cancelling bookings depending on where you were schedule to depart from. To make changes you will have to pay $55 for date/time changes and or to have Avios redeposited into your account, plus a $25 service fee if you cancel over the phone. The $55 fee is not bad compared to many other major airlines.
Put reservations on hold
British Airways does not allow you to put reservations on hold.
Household accounts and Family and Friends List
British Airways is pretty flexible when it comes to booking award flights for other people. There are two ways to book Avios flight for others.
A) Household accounts
British Airways allows you to create what is called “household accounts” where you can share Avios among one another. They allow you to add up to six individuals, even kids, who live in the same household. To create a household account, you only one “head of household” to be an Avios member. When any Avios are spent, British Airways will deduct a proportional amount from each Member’s balance in the Household Account.
Here are a couple of additional rules to remember:
Members of a Household Account cannot redeem their Avios for anyone outside of the Household Account
Changes to the registered Household Account address can only be made once every six months
Executive Club Members must be 18 years or older before they can spend their Avios
B) Family and Friends List
In addition to creating a household account, you can create a family and friends list. This allows Household Account members to redeem for up to five nominated individuals who do not live at the same address. In other words, you can use your Avios on your friends. The major difference between the household account and this is that the points are not pooled together.
There’s also the Travel Companion List but that is just a streamlined way of storing travel information for other who will travel with you when you are purchasing tickets and it doesn’t affect award booking.
Daniel Gillaspia is the Founder of UponArriving.com and creator of the credit card app, WalletFlo. He is a former attorney turned full-time travel expert covering destinations along with TSA, airline, and hotel policies. Since 2014, his content has been featured in major publications such as National Geographic, Smithsonian Magazine, Forbes, CNBC, US News, and Business Insider. Find his full bio here.
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