Transfer AMEX MR Points To British Airways And Get A 40% Bonus! Fly Round-Trip Domestic For 18,000 Points Or To Hawaii For Just 25,000 Points!

Whats the best way to get to China in the last week of Feb.
preferably leaving Mon-Tues returning Thurs maximizing my time day time hours there.

Any ideas?

how long do ba miles last for—do they expire if i wanna park some miles there for a future (1-2years) flight to hawaii?
also, is there a master thread for a step by step on how to book a flight like this, through oneworld and aa- with ba points?
lil confusing first timer–thanks

@z:
They actually have a generous expiration policy:
http://www.britishairways.com/travel/ecmilesexpire/public/en_us

I’d be more worried about them implementing fuel surcharges on domestic AA redemptions in the future.

Chaim: where in china do you want to go? Kong hong? I am looking to go but beiking may be good. Afaik they are both mice places to see, you can also buy a kinomo for purim

don’t forget they also allow unlimited stopover as long as it’s on the most direct route to your final destination… so you could really see quite a few states on your way to wherever

how many ba miles to fly from ny to toronto? thanks

@Blub:

i need to go to shanghai for a few days cant stay over the weekend and dont have time for much touring.

I was under the immpression that BA will put you on a diff carrier if you want to go to israel with them?

@chaim: Check out BA for award tickets to China. I know that you could get a ticket in couch for 25k miles and 50k in business with cathay pacific.

Another great redemption with BA miles is non-stop Cathay flight between JFK and Vancouver (YVR).

Ca I use BA miles to fly AA to the UK?

>So 18,000 AMEX points would transfer into 25,200 BA miles >which is enough for an AA round-trip domestic ticket!

Can someone provide how to check award points needed to reach destinations? How did Dan get the totals + tax of using BA miles for AA?

Is this the best Amex MR to BA bonus offer you guys have seen? I’m thinking of using this for travel next year to Hawaii

@arye:
Do they really offer unlimited stopovers?

@yosef:
25,000

@Rivka:
BA charges surcharges for all carriers except AA and LAN. For travel on AA they also now appear to charge a surcharge for flights across the Atlantic or Pacific.

@Avi:
Looks to me like 50K in coach, 100K in business, 150K in first, and that’s not counting fuel surcharges.

@Freddie:
Indeed!

@Yossi:
Yes, but you will be hit with tax and fuel surcharges.

@Bringer:
Award chart for travel on one partner:
http://www.britishairways.com/travel/partnertable/public/en_us

Award chart for travel on multiple partners:
http://www.britishairways.com/travel/multicarrier/public/en_us

Award chart for travel on BA and a partner:
http://www.britishairways.com/travel/bapartnerplus/public/en_us

Plus you can search for AA flights on BA.com by logging in to a BA mileage account, search for flights, and then click the button to include partner flights when it can’t find a possible BA flight for your route, like to Hawaii.

does BA charge a fee for booking the flight too close to departure date? (like continental does – $75)

@ari:
“If you redeem for domestic tickets on Oneworld Alliance partner AA, then its pretty good as they won’t charge a fuel surcharge for that and BA does not charge an award expedite fee.”

i didnt know thats what ‘award expedite fee’ means:)

Very interested at getting to Hawaii. I can’t seem to book a sample flight on BA’s website to see check award availability. How did Dan get these totals (including tax/fee details) Also is it possible to depart from my local AA airports (RDU) using the same amount of miles?

Thank you for de-mystifying this info. I’ve been waiting on hold with BA for the longest…

@Hawaii traveler:
Just login to a BA mileage account search for flight from RDU to HNL.
It will say no BA flights, at which point you should select “include partners.”

Then just pick the AA flights you want (you may have to click “search 7 days later”) and then it will tell you the miles and tax required.

can someone confirm this for me: booking an AA flight (domestic) with AA miles will cost more than booking same flight using BA miles

AA miles will vary in how many miles it will cost you (ie minimum for each way would be 12.5k miles, but depending on when you book and for more popular dates, can cost as much as 50k miles *each* way)

as opposed to booking same AA flight with BA miles, you are never going to pay more than the 25k miles for the domestic roundtrip….am I missing something here?

@adamSmiles:
BA only has access to AA award inventory at the sAAver (12.5k in the case of a domestic ticket) level.
Generally speaking partners only have access to the lowest level of award inventory…which is the only level I would pretty much even consider redeeming for (and is one of the many reasons why I hate Delta miles so much because they never have the lowest level avaialble)

You’re absolutely right..I found flights avail w/ 1 stop for from RDU 35000 ba miles (25000 MR points)

Dan, you are the man! Does BA allow stop overs?

their is a way around fee on CO if you switch points from amex into a onepass platinum member acct they wont charge the fees

i tried looking for tix but no dates available.. has anyone had any luck for summer dates from ny???

@arye: Where did you read that they allow unlimited stopovers. I could make a lot of those between New York and Maui 🙂

So when I transfer my miles to BA and want to travel on AA in the US where do I book the ticket so I won’t have to pay fuel charges? because AA on last minute tickets are very expensive to redeem a mileage ticket?

dear Dan thanks a lot for your tip about getting more miles with your continental credit card. It took me 20 minutes to follow your intructions and 2 days later i received and e-mail that 25000 mileage points will be forth coming agin thanks a lot

I have the AMEX plat card and signed up with AA for the Admirals club lounge access. If I transfer to BA with this deal and use BA’s miles to fly on AA metal, do you think I’ll be able to access Admirals Club lounge on these flights too? If so, sweet!

@aaron:
You book on BA.com. There are no expedite fees like the $50-$100 fee AA charges to non-elites.

@Bringer:
Yes, you will have lounge access!

I am trying to search an award ticket from Boston to Shanghai, China. I like to fly AA since it only costs 50K miles according to chart. But only BA ticket shows up, and ‘include partner’ button is not available. Do you know how to search AA tickets in this case?

is there a chance that I will get the bonus more than once form the same amex account before mar 31st?

You definately get the transfer bonus more than once. The miles with the bonus posted withing 10 minutes. I booked JFK-HKG for 150K on Cathay First, roundtrip, for October, 2011. Transsferred 100K Amex to BA (I had a few K BA miles already). The flight roundtrip is selling for $26K on Expedia. 50K from Amex came from my 2nd Platinum card, which is now cancelled. Thanx for your advice, Dan.

@big fan Yes it has been reported to work multiple times on FT however, the Terms of the offer say 1 time only…I guess YMMV but so far you can do it more than once.

@Karen I just tried my home airport to Shanghai using BA search and I saw plenty of availability on the first off peak date I came up with (flights connect through O’Hare). Cost was 50000 BA miles and taxes $41. Worse case, you can call BA to have them tell you the flights they can see, and then plug those dates into their search tool. Just tell them you want to book a flight using BA miles on partner AA.

just made a biz. class ticket from nyc-lax for 18k amex mr. = 25k BA.

Hi Dan, thanks for all your great work. i have a amex with 27,000 miles on it and want to close the account. How do i trasfer the miles?? Thanks Ben

@Dan: Dan, I was refering to a one way!

What about flights to Bora Bora French Polynesia? I am having a hrad time trying to find a flight with points.

It doesn’t appear to be possible to search ba.com for flights that include a stopover. I checked with aa.com and it shows availability but when i try to check on ba.com it says none. Do you have to call them in order to book a flight that includes a stopover?

I need a one night stay near Ft. Lauderdale Airport 2/13/11.
I have points/mileage with Starwood, Contl One pass, Delta Skymiles and AA.
Do you have any suggestions.
Thanks

@Bringer, Thanks for response. When I searched tickets from Boston->Shanghai, there is always BA flights available (that can stop over in London). So partner AA flights do not show up at all. I guess that I have to call BA to see whether there are tickets available.

@Devorah
I called and asked BA earlier as I had a similar question. They told me I would be able to configure the stopovers on the website once miles are transferred to the BA site (mine are still in AMEX account). In the mean time I would suggest calling BA and having them look at stopover options for you. They gladly did this on the phone (while I had the website up in front of me) although I don’t believe they will hold the ticket.

It also seems you can’t search a RT ticket that has different cabins in the itinerary. I was told I had to book over the phone to configure my trip (arrived first class, return economy)

If anyone knows a way around this please feel free to chime in!

@Bringer:
you can book each way separately. BA allows 1-way redemptions

what about to south africa ?

once per ba? or once per amex?

What is the biggest amount that you can transfer from Amex into BA in one shot?
and how much are the transfer fees?

@yankee I don’t think there is a max. I transferred over 100K today and still had the option to transfer more. I redeemed tickets to Hawaii for this summer

Dan, was curious I have to go to a co-worker’s destination wedding in Turks and Caicos at the end of the year. I have on hold AA 35,000 miles a ticket (miles which I have thanks to you) for my wife and myself – which I am told is a very good deal since these tickets can cost $700 a peice. I was reading this post and I have 50,000 Amex miles as well. Does it pay for me to transfer them to BA for 70,000 miles (40 % bonus)and fly to Turks and Caicos? I dont even have a BA account and I have no idea what the redemption miles is needed to fly there? Thanks for your help

Hello. I want to do this, but when I follow the “linky” above and go to the AMEX site, BA isn’t an option? Help? Thanks.

@Matt:
It’s the 7th airline in the list of airline options.

Dan,

I just got my 50k amex points from the platinum card and want to transfer them to a mileage program. I have 55k miles in continental but none with AA/BA.

Is it worth transferring to BA with this 40% promo or is continental better? I know you generally say continental is best but due to the merger with united i’m wondering if that’s bound to change as united’s service and award availability generally stink in my experience.

Also, you said they charge a fuel surcharge for flights to Europe. Typically how much is that from, say, LAX to LHR (London)?

Thanks!

even though i’ve tried to do this several times, it doesnt work for all AMEX cards. i have a (free) business platinum card, as well as a blue AMEX which is also free. it only works for AMEX cards which charge you an annual rate. too bad!

delta one goes till may 31, not march 31

@coolfaye:
Just get the real Platinum Charge Card and you’ll be able to transfer all of your points into miles:
http://www.dansdeals.com/archives/12735

@bob:
The 30% bonus ends 03/31, but you are correct that the 50% bonus for first-time ever Delta transfers ends 05/31.

I am planning a trip by transferring points. I am using AA/oneworld points can I ask them to use a certain airline that they are partners with or do I have to use American or a partner they select?

BA Has a great cancellation policy for BA Awards. If you cancel online up to a day before your flight there is zero penalty and zero reinstatement fee.

I tried this today.

FYI- if you are booking a BA award you should book it as 2 one ways. Otherwise once you start one leg of your flight you cant make changes to the return portion of your flight.

do I need a BA card or membership card to get these points?

this offer is back with 50% bonus.