Like I did with the United/Star Alliance post, I’m going to make an important distinction for people that are new to redeeming rewards. If you have miles with one Oneworld airline member, you can redeem those points for an award ticket on almost any Oneworld Alliance carrier, subject to availability. That means your British Airways Avios can get you reward tickets on American, Iberia, Royal Jordanian, Japan Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Qantas or other members of the Oneworld Alliance. Your British Airways Avios can get you from Los Angeles to Hong Kong on Cathay Pacific, for example.
You can also book awards on these same partners using American Airlines miles, but those miles are very difficult to obtain compared to British Airways miles, which are called Avios. Avios are actually some of the easiest miles to obtain in the loyalty program world because they partner with both American Express AND Chase Ultimate Rewards. That means if you have a card that can transfer points with Amex (like the Premier Rewards Gold, Platinum, etc.) or Chase (Sapphire Preferred, Ink Bold/Plus), you can transfer those points at a 1:1 ratio into Avios. Even better, American Express frequently runs transfer bonuses that allow you to get even more Avios. The current bonus is 30%, so every 1000 Amex points you transfer will earn 1,300 Avios. It’s been as high as 50% in the past. You can also earn up to 100K Avios with the current credit card offer (but it requires a lot of spending). No, not an affiliate link.
Avios work differently than other types of miles because they use what’s called a distance-based award chart. That means the number of points required depends on how many miles you need to fly. This is is different from programs like American and United airlines that essentially charge a flat rate by region, and it can work to your benefit (or detriment) if you know how. I’ll provide a bunch of examples below.
First things first, the Avios award chart:
The Avios award chart is different from others because it is distance-based. You can use this to your advantage! Ignore the last column until you get to the advanced topics below.
I’ll go through a bunch of examples below, but I first need to make a VERY important point. While the above chart presents a lot of advantages for short-haul flights, there are also massive taxes on certain flights. Knowing which flights will help you decide whether you should look at other point/mileage programs to get to your destination.
EXAMPLES (read the captions)
Note that all examples shown are one-way, so double the miles and taxes to get the round trip cost.
A Los Angeles to San Francisco flight is considered super short-haul, and is just 4,500 points plus $2.50 in Economy. This same route on United would cost 10K points. This is HUGE value!
A one-way flight from Los Angeles to Chicago in Economy on American Airlines costs only 10k miles and $2.50 with Avios. You save 2,500 miles each way vs booking with United, American, US Airways, or Delta (each charge 12,500 miles, and some don’t allow one-ways at all). Good deal!
Flying in Economy from Los Angeles to London seems pretty good at just 25,000 miles, but the taxes are over $250! For a round trip you’re paying over $500 PLUS 50,000 miles. This is a TERRIBLE deal since you can simply book a cash ticket for around $900. Save your points!
A flight from Los Angeles to Hong Kong on Cathay Pacifc’s famed Business Class will cost you 70,000 Avios plus $150. That’s a pretty good deal for a great flight.
This flight from Los Angeles to Sydney is a great example of a terrible redemption. You’d pay 100,000 Avios plus $800 for a round trip ticket, but if you bought the ticket it would cost $1,300. Your 100,000 points are worth A LOT more than the extra $500 you’d pay!
A flight from Tokyo to Seoul in Economy on Japan Airlines costs a reasonable 7,500 Avios plus $60 in taxes. This is usually a pretty good deal, but always check how much it would cost to make sure you’re getting good value for your points.
Let me try to put these examples into words. The Avios program charges hefty taxes and fees for award tickets with certain airlines and on certain routes. If you’re flying from North America to England or Europe in Economy, you’re paying at least $500 round trip on top of the points it takes. Paying cash for the same fare would only be around $1,100, so it’s rarely worth it to redeem to Europe on British Airways itself. These taxes and fees can actually go up to $1,400 or more if you book a First Class award since they charge extra for premium award tickets. It’s true that $1,400 in taxes is a lot of money for an award ticket but you’re still saving a ton vs buying the ticket outright since they cost between $4,000 and $8,000 a pop, so it may be worth it for you.
Booking domestic flights on American or Alaska Airlines, however, can be extremely valuable. Short-haul flights for just 4,500 Avios is one of the very best award redemptions you can get. If you live on the west coast, flying to Hawaii in Economy costs just 12,500 Avios each way, whereas you’d be paying at least 25K each way with other programs. Intra-Europe and intra-Asia flights can also be very valuable.
In general, the airlines that charge heavy taxes are British Airways, Qantas, JAL, Finnair, Royal Jordanian, and Iberia. The cheaper options are on American (except to London), LAN, and Cathay Pacific, Air Berlin, and Aer Lingus. JAL can also be good value within Asia.
IMPORTANT NOTES
- Business Class costs twice the points of Economy, and First Class (on three-cabin flights) is three times the Economy points.
- Find direct flights. You’ll pay for each segment separately if you have a connection . For example, LAX-ORD-JFK would cost 10,000 points for the LAX-ORD segment, and 7,500 for the ORD-JFK segment. That’s a total of 17,500 miles, when a direct flight would cost only 12,500 miles.
- Shorter flights are almost always a great deal, even intra-Europe sometimes. Always check!
- British Airways does not charge last-minute redemption fees. American and United charge $75 if an award is booked within 21 days.
- You’ll have to call in and talk to unfriendly reps to book complicated itineraries.
- You can also search on AmericanAirlines.com for Milesaaver award availability – it should theoretically be the same as British Airways offers.
- Robert Burns of Awardbookingservice.com reminds me that on two-class, domestic American Airlines flights, first class is always three times the price of Economy.
HOW TO SEARCH FOR FLIGHTS
Now that we know how the price chart works, let’s learn how to search for availability.
- Go to BritishAirways.com and log in to your account.
- Click on “Spending Avios” on the left menu.
- Click on “Book flights with Avios” on the left menu.
- Enter your flight information and click “Get flights.”
- Your results will display. You can search +/- 3 days by clicking the tabs at the top.
- After you find a flight, click “Continue” at the bottom.
- You’ll be taken to a confirmation page (like in all my examples above) where you can review the number of miles and taxes to be paid. If you agree, you can continue on to booking your flight.
Enter your search parameters on this page. I clicked the “one way only” box in this example.
The search results page will display all the available options and will automatically include partners. You can select other dates using the tabs at the top. After you find your flight, click “Continue” and you’re almost done.
TRANSFERRING POINTS
If you have most of your points in transferable accounts like Amex and Chase, you’ll need to transfer them to British Airways before booking your flight. I recommend searching for and finding the flights you want before transferring your points. Once you’ve found your flights, here’s how to transfer them into Avios (both should transfer instantly).
AMEX
- Log in to American Express and Click on “Rewards” at the top.
- At the bottom left, click on “Points Summary.”
- Click on “Use Points” and then “…more Travel.”
- Click Transfer Points.
- Select British Airways and link your account if it isn’t already.
- Transfer as many points as you need to.
CHASE
- Log in to your Chase account.
- Click “Go to Ultimate Rewards” on the right side, then again on the pop-up screen.
- Click on “Point Transfer” at the top.
- Select British Airways.
- Enter how many points you plan to transfer along with your account information.
- NOTE: ONLY TRANSFER TO YOURSELF OR SPOUSE WITH THE SAME LAST NAME. THEY WILL SHUT DOWN YOUR ACCOUNT IF YOU TRANSFER TO OTHERS.
Congratulations!
You now know the basics of booking Avios award flights. If you need more information or feel like you want more advanced topics, you can click to the articles below.
- From The Points Guy: Using Avios to Upgrade Paid Tickets.
- From The Points Guy: Top 10 Most Valuable Ways to Redeem British Airways Avios.
- From Amol at Hack My Trip: Why Avios is My Favorite Secondary Program.
Beginners Guide to Redeeming Points
Part 1: United Airlines (and Star Alliance)
Part 2: British Airways Avios (and Oneworld Alliance)
Part 3: Delta Airlines
Part 4: Starwood Preferred Guest
Part 5: Hilton Honors
Part 6: Hyatt Gold Passport
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Great guide. Only question I have is if i’m trying to piece together two or three segments and I want them on one itinerary, do I call BA? I don’t think it’s possible to do it online…
That’s correct, you will have to call in. The website defaults to getting you from your origin to your destination in the shortest time possible, so to add additional/specific flights you’ll have to call. Be patient will call reps as they’re not the most pleasant people!
Thanks, that’s what I figured, but just wanted to confirm
It’s important that readers know that they can use their Avios points on One World partner airlines. If you’re flying AerLingus or Iberia, taxes are much less than flying BA metal. YMMV.
Very good point!
The two times I have called BA customer service was to book tickets from Seattle to Honolulu. The BA CSR’s were very pleasant and helpful and sounded to be American’s (no accent). One actually stated she was in Florida and wanted to know what the weather was like in Seattle.
25K Avios for SEA-HNL is tremendous value and why I love Avios.
The west coast-Hawaii tickets are some of the best! And yes customer service can vary widely, but glad you have had pleasant experiences.
Excellent post and a good reminder to every whiner out there who has sworn off BA for good after they changed the program. Bad for them, good for us – more availability.
One correction. Chase will shut you down if you transfer from one UR program to another, but they probably won’t shut down your account if you transfer your UR points to an authorized user’s FF program. Last name doesn’t matter. At least, they didn’t shut me down when I transfer my cousin’s points to my Mileage Plus. Now think how easy it is to make someone [you trust] an authorized user. YMMV, of course, just like about everything else in life.
That’s a good point!
WOW just what I was searching for. Came here
by searching for comic
What would be best way to get from Honolulu to either Australia or New Zealand with avios
Any help much appreciated
HNL-SYD is flown by Qantas (QF 4), which can be booked using Avios (as can other Qantas flights if you’re going to another city). I just checked and there’s a flight 1/30/13 to SYD if you want to see an example. One way in Economy is only 25K Avios but taxes are a hefty $300. Hope that helps.
Thanks for taking the time to respond
I appreciate the effort
I have been trying to redeem BA Avios for 3 business class flights from YVR to London this summer since early January. Availability is nil from YVR, SEA and SFO. I called in mid January and the agent said the flights hadn’t been released yet but to keep trying as they would be “soon”. Any ideas when they usually do release?
I don’t know when the seats would get released, but summer award flights are always the hardest to get. This is one of those instances where an ExpertFlyer subscription would really come in handy so you don’t have to keep checking.
I would think that space for these seats would be released as you get closer to the date of travel, but you’ll still be hard pressed to get 3 business class seats on the same flight (unless booking very close to the flight date).
I know that doesn’t answer your question, but perhaps Lucky from One Mile at a Time can help. Check out his “Ask Lucky” page, where he usually responds very quickly: http://boardingarea.com/blogs/onemileatatime/ask-lucky/
I am planning a trip in october Vancouver, Canada to New Delhi, India. What advice can u give when using Avios points?
It can be done, but you’ll probably need to pay lots in taxes. You can go YVR-HKG-DEL in economy on Cathay Pacific for 42.5K Avios one-way, but you’d pay about $320 in taxes also. For a round trip flight that could become prohibitively pricey.
You could also go YVR-LHR-DEL for 50K Avios plus $600 one-way, so that’s not really a good option.
You have limited options out of YVR and Avios aren’t always the best for long-distance international flights.
I try to search for a one way flight from KIX – INC on October 1st but I receive the following message:
•British Airways and its partners do not fly this route. Please consider alternative destinations or call your Executive Club Service Centre.
I am very new to this. So any insights on this are greatly appreciated. Thanks!
This is a route that isn’t flown by any airline in the oneworld alliance, so you can’t book it with points. You can only book award flights on routes that are operated by airlines in the alliance!
Hi,
I would like to book an Iberia flight from London to Ibiza using avios but can’t find how I can do this. Does the BA reward flight search bring up flights for all partner airlines? Or do you have do go somewhere else?
Many thanks for your help.
You should be able to see award availability, assuming seats are available. Try doing each segment separately. You can also see Lucky’s post on reducing fuel surcharges here: http://boardingarea.com/blogs/onemileatatime/2012/06/14/redeeming-british-airways-avios-points-for-travel-on-iberia-without-fuel-surcharges/