Everything You’ve Ever Wanted To Know About British Airways Avios: Tips, Tricks, And Advice You Need To Know To Maximize Your Avios

Thanks for this awesome post!
What do you mean by “from a non-household linked BA avios account you can book travel for anyone without restrictions”. When it’s linked there are restrictions?

@Deb:
Yes.
If you have a household you can only book travel for up to 5 people that are not part of your household account.
And you can only change that list of 5 people once every 6 months.

What airlines does the Avios annual earning effect the YQ on?

Amazing post, Dan, thanks! Can you make a destination chart for ATL or give advice on how to search out the info so I can do it myself? Unfortunately the list won’t be very long I’m sure. 🙁

Bookmarked. This is awesome.
One question though. You often talk about finding last minute fares using Avios, but in my experience, it’s really hard to find availability (I typically fly AA when using Avios) even a week or two before the date I’m trying to book. I actually recently tried booking a NYC-CHI flight for March 22nd and there apparently isn’t any availability.
When booking something last minute, do you typically have to use some of the “tricks” that you mentioned in this post or do you find that availability is rarely an issue, even last minute?

The bug that allows priority access & sometimes luggage, is that coach or only business?

When booking with Avios, is there any way to link my citi AA credit card to my reservation so that i get a free bah checked in and priority boarding?

Great article, thanks!

@Yitz:
Flights on BA within Europe or Africa.

@ShlockDoc:
Sure.

@Dovid:
In the entire months of March only 4 dates don’t have coach availability (as you can see from the AA.com calendar).

Do you really call that very hard?

And if you search daily until then there’s a 95% chance it will open up.

Sometimes it doesn’t open until the day before, but they almost always open.

@Username:
Coach.

@Shlomo:
Read this post again.

@Welder:
Thanks!

when booking with Avios on AA, is there anyway to upgrade to First (domestically)?

Thanks Dan, great post! I figured that when searching on BA.com for close date (3-4 days) for AA domestic flights, availability on coach is really rare, while seats on business/first is opening up, but on later dates (2-3 weeks) it’s just the opposite. Now my question is, since i prefer to fly business can i book first coach seats and then if business seats become available closer to my departure date, is there anyway i can upgrade to business with Avios?

@reb yid:
Ask at the gate. I’ve upgrade CLE-ORD with a $35 sticker upgrade.

@Aby:
Don’t search BA.com, search AA.com…

There’s no way to upgrade, but you can always just cancel and rebook.

Thanks, awesome.
Is it possible to transfer AA miles to Avios? Or what do I do with my 50000 AA miles if I am to planning travel soon and want to cancel my credit card?

@Vlad:
No.
Cancelling an AA credit card has no effect on your miles.

Great post, thank you Dan.
I think TLVDusseldorf is only10k, TLVBerlin is 15k.

@Shimino1:
TLV to Berlin, Dusseldorf, Munich, or Vienna is 10K with no fuel surcharges.

This was the best article I have ever read of yours! Perfectly clear and understandable Thank you so much.

Downside to booking connections as separate itineraries vs. online–you pay an extra security fee ($5.60) for each additional booking. That also means it costs more to cancel.

Dan,
Thanks for this terrific compilation.
Just to clarify: if one wants to use Avios for BOS-LHR on Aer Lingus, the steps would include:
1. Find flight schedule on AerLingus.com
2. Call BA to inquire about availability.

There’s no way to check Avios award availability on AerLingus other than PUTPAC BA, right?

Dan,
When I try booking flights from Philadelphia to Montreal, it doesn’t show any flights even though US Air has flights. Is there a way to check availabilty on US Air like you showed how to check for AA on AA.COM

thanks as always Dan I need to fly to Miami next week and aa was very expensive because I didn’t book 3 weeks in advance. I looked at aa to see what flt were available with mileage on aa and I called ba and had a few choices to fly with aa. I didn’t have the points available in avios. while I was talking to ba I quickly transferred points from my ink chase account. the agent proceeded to tell me their aren’t enough points. I was able to answer oh yes there are clear your screen and look again a miracle the points were there thanks once again as always

Great post! Just read: “AA.com will also display Alaska Air awards. BA.com can’t book those, but you can call AA to use your Avios for those flights.”

Don’t you mean “call BA to use your Avios for those flights.”?

how do we search aer lingus award availability?

@Thank you:
Not sure what that says about the rest of my articles but thanks 😉

@Oren:
Yup, that’s why I wrote to call to piece it together.
But then you’ll spend an hour on the phone and have to argue for the phone fee to be waived.

@questioning:
@zow:
You can search Aer Lingus availability on United.com, but it’s not an exact match to what BA sees.

@DZ The Telzer:
You search for USAir flights on AA.com just like you would search for AA flights or any other partner airlines that are shown on AA.com as I wrote in the post.

@savta:
Don’t see why you had to call BA, but have fun.

@Jm:
Of course, thanks.

I don’t have an aadvantage credit card but my mother does. Can I link her aadvantage number to my ba account to get free luggage? Also does the free luggage work for us airways flights as well? Thanks Dan

Man that was an awesome read

@Dan:
Dan, thanks. Will look at United.com. The (very nice) BA CSR said I could search and see Aer Lingus availability on the BA.com site. I looked and didn’t see…I think she was wrong.

Great post Dan! I would love to see you make a post on all infant charges/points needed and when to book the infant vs not across all airlines that you know. I think that would be an incredibly valuable tool.

I just booked AA lga to yyz using Avios. Beware, If you book Round-Trip it’s $55 in taxes. But if you book 2 one-way tickets the taxes are $49 each way

Dan. If I book a flight on alaska using avios, does it make sense to use my AA ff# on the reservation. I have the AA card that gives 1 free bag but I understand thats only for AA operated flights. Is that correct?

IF I fly with Avios on US Airways, can I get a free bag with an AA executive credit card?

I’ve read dozens of columns on using Avios, but this is the clearest, most comprehensive of all. Thanks for this column, and for all the others which have taught me so much and saved me so much money. I always believe that what goes around, comes around, so you’re in for some very good fortune!

@Berele:
No.
And you need a USAir card for free bags on USAir.

@abraham:
Glad you enjoyed 🙂

@zow:
Most definitely.

@Adam:
BA and Air Canada have very infant friendly policies.
http://www.dansdeals.com/archives/20391

@bach:
False.
NYC-Toronto is $5.60 one-way.
The return is $49 one-way due to Canada taxes.
Same price whether booked as a one-way or round-trip.

@Somy:
The AA card offers no benefit on Alaska.

@yanky:
No, you need a USAir card.

@susan:
Thanks 😀

Terrific article. In the past, you’ve written several comprehensive articles about Avios. It would be helpful if you would indicate which of those articles are still pertinent, and which ones are obviated by this one. Thanks loads!

Why don’t you include transferring to the avios programme which allows you to fly on many other European airlines, and reportedly has better availability?

I applied for this credit card about a month ago, but i was declined.

recon said my “credit history is great but quite young, and you have to many new credit cards, so we want to wait to see how you handle them” I recently got chase sapphire and freedom, and us airways, but i have a Capital one for 7 years and a credit score of about 760.

What can I say next time I call recon to get a different decision?

Just opened a ba credit card and wanted to know when the avios get added to my account. Thanks

@AJ:
Thanks.
This article pretty much supersedes most older Avios articles.

@high end hobo:
Yes, you can transfer BA Avios into Iberia Avios or Avios.com.

I mentioned the Iberia angle for lower fuel surcharges, but generally speaking those programs are pretty obscure for my US based audience.
Avios.com gives you access to airlines that most Americans will never need, namely Air Malta, Aurigny, Flybe, and Monarch.

@Learning:
That you are going to be flying on BA and need the card for the benefits it offers for that.

@RK:
Points post a few days after the statement closes. Once you spend the $2K the Avios will post on the following statement (unless you finished the $2K spend within a week of the statement close in which case it will post on the following statement)

I’ve mentioned this before, but you’ve again failed to note the single biggest limitation on using Avios points in the USA. It is, of course, flight availability. It is extremely poor. On US (where I have more experience than with AA), it seems to be about 5% of flights. Mind you, this isn’t lower than what US/AA makes available at the “low” category to its own members, but it a huge impediment to booking award travel. I search for new inventory all the time, and I do book awards, but it is with extreme flexibility. If, say, there’s a certain date or weekend you need to be someplace, the odds that you’ll get there on AA/US with obvious are small. So, bottomline, great deal, but useful only occasionally.

@iahphx:
USAirways has always had poor coach saver availability.

I’ve always had excellent success with domestic awards on American. Even when it’s available when I search I’ll often be able to grab it by checking several times per day.

Just because USAir was added to the Avios program last year doesn’t mean that Avios aren’t useful. It just means that USAir is stingy with their own saver award space and hopefully that will change once they’re integrated into AAdvantage in Q2.

Mind you, USAir first class saver award space is very good, and eagle eyed readers of comments on this site know exactly how to take advantage of that.

With avios you can book on Malaysia….. wonder how many dandealers are booking those…

thanks for the article, its always annoying when you make a new post and i already know everything on it. (i remember when avios first came out and we were figuring them out based on LAN and Iberia).

the avios programe has proved very useful if someone is planning a eurotrip, the short haul value is just too good to beat.

other things maybe worth mentioning is if your flying in or out of anywhere in the UK, you can get a free stopover in London for however long you desire. e.g. Edinburgh to Prague with a stop in London for only 4.5K!

lastly any idea when my USair card will earn me free bags on domestic AA flights bought with avios? (through finair obviously)

if you spend 30K in a few months do you get the companion pass then? Or they wait until the end of the calendar year?

its also worth noting about the iberia program, the X-fers are glitchy, sometimes you need to use avios as an intermediary.
once they’re iberian, you can book royal air morocco, gol, avanica, taca. However IB recently devalued and has quirky YQ with partners, in addition to unfriendly reps (remember the great panic in the blogosphere, and led to machlokes between you and VFTW. as usual you were right baruch hashem)

Any tricks to getting onto that Qantas trans-con without actually flying all the way to Australia?

@Dan:

Yes, it is not uncommon to see many first class award seats available on a US flight, when there is zero coach availability (I guess US figures they’re going to sell the coach seats, but just upgrade folks to fill up first class). But I’m mystified about a strategy to take advantage of this, as US FC is normally 3x on Avios and therefore pretty useless. Can you provide a hint as to what you’re talking about?

Thanks Dan. I called and im still declined ):
I guess ill try again in another month.

@high end hobo:
Sometime in Q2.

@eli:
You get it then.

@high end hobo:
Indeed.

@joetraveler:
Book a one-way and get sick after you land in LAX?
Not recommended 😀

@iahphx:
If I did I’d wind up in bloggers killing deals thread.
Or it would be highlighted with big yellow arrows and circles in a 65 part series 😉

@joetraveler
thats called cabotage, and although protected by the 8th freedom of flying, is effectively banned by the FAA. no workarounds

@Danfan:
1. No.
2. Are you using AA.com as I wrote? I see plenty.
3. Officially you can get the bonus 24 months after you last got it. Nothing to di with time from closing.
4. No need to do it 7 days in advance. Companions automatically will get the bag benefit.
5. Companion pass is only for BA flights.

@Dan:Glad this supersedes all. So I don’t have to memorize your 22 points anymore! 😉

@Dan:

Hinting at a trick but then providing no way to find it? That’s not very sportsman like, is it?

What is the best mileage system to go from nyc to cdg in business?

Hi,
When I am trying to add my AAdvantage on Finnair it is not allowing, it is grayed out. Any advice?

I just read your post about household accounts. Its much easier now that you also have an option of adding “family and friends” (I think up to 6)and they can also fly from your household account. I have a household acct for more then 2 yrs and its great cuz the kids don’t have to many avios and i keep using them through the household acct

@Dan:
Muchas gracias!
2. You are suggesting to search on AA and then book over the phone with British because it won’t show up on their own site?
4. But just bringing the AA cc to the check-in counter will not be enough. What’s the definition of a companion, anyone who rolls up to check in counter with you even though they booked with different avios account and cc?

New question (sorry for being so inquisitive): Can you use avios to fly from NY or the Midwest to France or is there a better mileage program for that?

dan,
did they stop the direct flight from LGA to Your home town Cleveland ?

Looking to fly LA-NYC on Jan 28th or 29th in Business… Cant seem to find any availability on BA or AA’s website 🙁 Any ideas?

What is or where can I find out more about a $35 sticker upgrade you mention?

My sister is flying on british airways and virgin atlantic is there anyway to credit those miles in to my account (with her permission of course)?

@iahphx:
I’m not a spoonfeeder/deal killer, sorry!
Hunt through comments on my BA posts from the past couple months and ye shall find…

@mendel:
United or maybe Delta.

@yitz:
Did you try changing it on AA.com?
You can also try on RJ.com

@Fweiss:
It’s up to 5 others (1 per person in your household I believe).

For my money if your kid has 4,500 Avios just book a flight with that. And if he has less than that then forget about it or transfer some points in from AMEX.

@Danfan:
2. AA.com makes it easier to find valid dates. 98% of the time is AA.com shows a nonstop MileSAAver flight then BA.com can book it.
2% of the time you’ll need to call BA.

4. It has nothing to do with showing the CC. It’s all about the AAdvantage number.
A companion is someone on your reservation only.

@cool d:

http://www.dansdeals.com/archives/57125

@Stuck:
Fly with a connection or keep checking.

Or use United miles, they have business nonstop on the 28th.

@username:
Just ask at the gate next time about an upgrade…

@tov:
No.

I have a household account already. Is it possible to get rid of it and go back to individual?

Two more tips:
– BA considers an infant to be priced as such judging by the beginning of your trip, even though a 2 year old must legally be granted a regular seat. This means if you have a 4 or ten flight itinerary but you board the first flight before your child turns two, all subsequent legs are “free” even though your child is already two. I say this from personal experience.
– BA allows minors to have Avios accounts only as members of a family account. Set it up and let them earn for their flights – You can then dissolve the family account and the miles will be deposited into the primary member’s account.

Since American Airlines and us airways merged can I use my us airways card to get free luggage on an American flight? (Booked with avios btw thx :))

Is there any way to use avios to europe without paying heavy fuel surcharges (I.E. flying through london) or many stop-overs?

Looking for the best options in business class from NYC area to Amsterdam. I have avios, ur, mr, united, and usairways.

@YK:
Yes.

@Name (Required):
Good tips.

@Us airways card:
Not until Q2.

@boruch:
Yes, read the post.

You mention that since connecting flights is hard to find on BA, you should try to search first for those flights
not on BA, and then book it on BA as 2 seperate tickets for same amount of miles, since it goes anyway per segment. I’ve found on AA.com a connecting flight LGA-DFW-PSP for 12.5k SAAver miles (regular amount for NY-CA) and when trying to book it as 2 seperate flights on BA it’s 10k for first flight and 7.5k for second. Where is my mistake???..

@Aby:
You’re misreading what I wrote.

Every segment costs more Avios, as the award chart in this post shows.

However it’s the same amount of Avios to book LGA-DFW-PSP on one itinerary as it will be to book LGA-DFW and DFW-PSP on 2 separate itineraries.

So how come AA.com shoes 12.5k for that total trip while when booking seperate on BA.com it totals 17.5k?

@Aby:
That’s like asking why something in Mexico cost 300 pesos when in Miami the same thing costs $50.

The 2 currencies have nothing to do with one another. Each has their own rules and rates for every route. AA charges the same for connecting flights as nonstop flight, BA charges more for connecting flights except in a few exceptions.

MIA-CUN in coach is 4.5K BA or 17.5K AA.
JFK-HKG in first is 105K BA or 67.5K AA.
Etc.

Thanks for this post. I’ve been waiting months for this.

I see. so flying connect will always be more miles then flying direct, not like when purchasing tickets with money it may be even cheaper. correct?

@Aby:
In general yes.
There are exceptions, some of which are listed in this post.

Last but not least…
Whats the no show policy or missed flight for an AA flight booked with avios, will they let you go standby on the next flight?

Also can you take a standby for an earlier flight if its still available for the same amount of avios?

Im trying to book ewr to mco on AA and the only available option for saver awards is EWR->DFW->MCO
How can I book this on BA? Will I be charged the standard 7500 miles each way that is from ewr to mco or be charged for EWR to DFW and then DFW to MCO?

Thanks Dan, you are great, could you just explain me how to transfer my miles from my Amex Green card to avios?

Just a general fyi: I flew with wife and infant jfk-yyz (with avios)not booking infant a seat,checked a bag and rep said I have to pay 10% full fare for infant claiming yyz is international (which it is, but aa considers it domestic in this respect).. I had to argue (respectfully of course) for a solid 15 min, before the rep went into a back office for 15 min to sort it out… thankfully she added infant for return flight at the same time..

Can i transfer points from my Chase freedom to a sapphire card of a relative besides my spouse?

What i love about this the most is how you extol avios like they’re the salt of the earth, yet you’ve never been on a BA flight, and neither have you been to the UK 😉
just goes to show the daedalian (pun intended) nature of this hobby

Thanks for the great post Dan!
As someone living in Israel, do you recommend investing in collecting Avios? Or is it more worth it to go for United miles/Chase points to convert to United miles?
Thanks!

This year-old FT thread provides some good visuals of the redemption anomalies from various OWhubs:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/british-airways-executive-club/1527161-selecting-redemption-destinations-edges-pricing-bands.html

Dan, great article, read it thru and thru.
To attach aa account and receive free bags:
I go to finair and when I get to details the option is in gray
And doesn’t let me click it? Ideas?
I made a flight to Cancun with avios from jfk.
Ty

Thank you so much! I’m a beginner who has lots of Simchas in Israel. I just booked an Awards ticket with AMEX Delta and needed 80,000 miles. It is a pleasure to see that I now have enough Avios, about half the amount, for my next flight! 😊

I have a BA household account. They only let you change the people every six months, but you can just click edit on one of your existing names and change it to someone else. I just tried this yesterday and it worked.

FYI- I checked my Avios last nite since I am going on a trip next week. My acct was hacked and someone used 54,000 miles to book a 4 nite stay at the Crown Plaza in Moscow. Luckily I caught it and busted them. Just letting everyone out there beware and check your miles frequently!!!

Dan, you said don’t book a lap child if you are going to Canada (for American and Us Airways), but what if the flight available is on TAM. Should I book the lap child or just wait until I get to the airport?

TY

@Danfan:
I’ve been able to go standby earlier.

@hey dan:
Each leg is charged separately with BA.

@David:
Online or call the number on the back of your card.

@am:
You can call AA next time.

@meir:
Not officially.

@yanky Bennish:
I most certainly have been to the UK before. Spent a shabbos and went to a wedding on London.

But point taken.

@Mo:
United will be easier.

@st1575:
good thread.
There’s also one on DDF.

@yoni:
Try AA.com and RJ.com and let us know if either of those work.

@Daniel:
Indeed.

@Greg:
Personally for 4,500 I’d rather have a seat and bring along a carseat for the baby…

That being said, TAM doesn’t yet fly YYZ-JFK, they may not even have a policy formed yet.

To be safe, spend the 10% of the miles for the infant.

Dan —

You’re awesome.

Have a great day!

@iahphx:
Did you find it? Because i searched and couldn’t find…

Dan,
I look at your site all the time and have gotten some great deals over the years thanks to you. I am trying so hard to understand how to make these rewards points work for me. I have about 200,000 us airways rewards and don’t want to waste them. Is there a way to transfer them to avois and use them on some short haul flights? Like Phl-mco for example? I also have about 50,000 Starwood points… What would you do with these?

Dan,
Can I have equal amounts of Avios and AA miles. How do I combine the two together? Can I?

Hi dan!
if I just started with credit cards, does it hurt my credit score more when i apply for new ones now than later on?

Hi Dan any BA avios direct flights post for San Diego imminent?

also these posts are great; for the next great post how about a tutorial booking a trailing free one way domestic flight after booking an award round trip purchase I don’t think one has been done yet?

dan, can i use someone else’s aa advantage account to get first bag free? say he adds me as an AU….?

Is it possible to do?

Do the bonus points expire if not used after a certain time
If the Ba account is active?

Thanks for combining your Avios posts. Now it’s all neat easy to use!

Hi Dan,
Can you post what to do when you absolutely have to travel direct to London (have to leave sat. night and be there sunday for simcha) is there any way to avoid the taxes and fees or at least pay less?

Hi Dan,
booking from jfk-hkg is not better with AA miles then BA Miles??

I booked domestic and international segments separately and now baggage allowance comes into question. AA claims I’d have to pay for the baggage for domestic portion $25(1st bag)/$35(2nd). Is there any way to “join” domestic segment to international one so bags would fly free?

“Alas if you book a ticket for yourself on BA.com from your own Avios account then AA.com will not let you enter your AAdvantage number.

The simple way out if you remember, is during the booking process, delete your avios number (if you check the box saying the account holder is flying, it will put it in, but you can go straight away and remove it!) then when you bring it up on AA, you’ll have no FF# inserted so you can add your AA#.

Also, you should mention you can use checkmytrip.com to retrieve your AA or US (or any other operating carrier’s) record locator (most oneworld airlines use amadeus record locators so it will be the same as BA’s)

@david: I just tried to edit my FF# on a BA ticket on an AA flight in the US, using Finnair’s website, it didn’t work! the drop down menu was greyed out and I couldn’t edit the numbers (I already changed it on AA to my AA FF# but Finnair showed it as my BA#)

Never mind. I switched browsers, and it worked.

great post and CRAP I JUST booked an EWR-MIA round trip for myself and lap infant and was charged 10% more for him… the trip hasn’t started yet. Anyway I can get the 10% back?

@DAN
RJ.COM works.
The ticket was made with my avios and my wife has the aa-city card. question: Do I take off my avios account and leave only her aa account? Or leave mine and add hers hers? I don’t know if it’s a good idea to take mine off altogether and get in trouble with them (cancel tickets for “playing around”)?

Hi Dan, I completed to book a ticket from JFK to TLV through DUS on air berlin using avios points, I booked it as 2 separate bookings, do I have to link the 2 bookings as one ticket to TLV from JFK, I don’t want to have to recheck my luggage at DUS, if yes is it done with british airways, air berlin or at the airport in JFK?

Can I transfer BA points back to a avios account?

Looks like Finnair does not allow you to change your mileage account anymore 🙁

Hello
Very well written. I would like to know how long takes to get back BA points in my account after cancelling a booking?

Thanks a lot

Instead of a $5.60 fee each way for a flight within the US, I am seeing a $80.60 fee each way on AA.com. Is this a recent change or am I doing something wrong?

@Lea:
Try RJ.com

@sol:
Immediate.

@barry:
When you go to BA.com it will be $5.60

Hi – I am trying to book pbi to lga and I see it on aa for 25k from pbi to clt and then clt to lga.

When I go on to ba as you described nothing with connections so I looked at them separately but then they want 13,500 avios for each segment.

what do you mean by ‘As BA charges a flat rate for each flight segment you’ll pay the same amount of Avios whether you book 2 flights on 1 ticket or on 2 tickets.

Thank you for the incredibly thorough posting. (I am new to the Avios world — so, this information is awesome.)

At your suggestion, since I can’t find the flight I want on the BA site — I searched through AA Awards (where I did find an available flight). But, when I have called (3x) — the agents each have said they can’t help me with booking through AA.

Have you really had luck with the BA agents? I am going to try calling Singapore this evening…

Other than these suggestions — anything else I should try?

Why is it impossible to find avoid flights from NYC to Israel even with a stopover in Germany? Does it open up?

@ Dan: I have BA visa through chase. At the time this was published, how many Avios points are earned per dollar spent? I was pretty sure I read 1.5 per dollar, I am being told it’s actually 1.25. TIA!

Dan,
I know you always advise booking only one-way tickets, however it appears that if one were to book a round-trip between two normally 7500-avios destinations like PHL-ORD, if you book different carriers for each way BA charges double avios (30K for the RT instead of 15K). I don’t recall seeing this information printed anywhere…

If I set up a household account but don’t want to be tied by the restrictions how can I simply ‘cancel’ the household account

dan.

the finnair option is not working for a long time

@yanky:
Still works for me. If it doesn’t work for you then use the RJ option.

booking lhr-nyc one way with miles in off peak its 13000plus 352 gives you 2 free luggaege

its not working for nyc-lhr one way or round trip eather way

i just tried to search on ba.com from nyc to tlv i got a few connecting flight but their was a few hundred dollars tax , how can i avoid not paying it ?

@yanky:
@yanky:
Statement? Question?

@dov:
I wrote how in the post.

I get it how Avios are awesome and I have used them myself.

But why do all the points sellers offer so little for them? Whenever I price them, the going rate seems to be one cent per point, if you’re lucky.

Why are they so undervalued??

@Joe:
Pretty simple. Brokers make $$$$$ by selling business and first class tickets. They might buy 120,000 miles from you for $2,000 and use them to sell a first class ticket to someone for $8,000 that would have otherwise paid $30,000 for it.

Avios are primarily useful on domestic flights in coach for 4.5K or 7.5K miles. They might be able to flip that 4.5K award for $150, meaning that it won’t be worth their time to pay you more then $50 for the miles. There’s also less competition as many brokers don’t want to mess around with small margin transactions.

However if you travel there’s no reason to value them by what a broker would pay. It’s also against the rules of the programs to sell miles and can get your accounts closed eventually. I giggle every time I get on a flight that would have cost me $600 for just 4.5K Avios, that’s more than enough value for me.

Will the recent switch in ownership of Aer Lingus change the partnerships mentioned? I’m specifically looking to take advantage of the BOS to DUB route for my extended family.

@elle:
Hopefully it will just mean that we will be able to book Aer Lingus flights online.

STATMENT ITS A FACT CHECK IT OUT ONE WAY LHR-NYC IN ECONOMY 2 FREE BAGS . MY GARNTMOTHER WENT TWICE ON THIS AND SHE GOT BOTH TIMES 2 FREE BAGS

ITS SAYS ON THE ETICKET……..

AGAIN ONLY ONE WAY AND ALSO ONLY IF STARTS LHR

@dan sorry to break it to you, but with the IAG takeover of aer lingus corp, I’m afraid YQ is inevitable.
Also why do you to go to finair when you can get your AA booking reference by clicking on choose a seat, and enter AAdvantage number there to get your status benefits.

I don’t see any direct flights from LGA – PBI? A I missing something? Thanks in advance for any help.

Hi Dan,
I’m trying to book a flight to Spain and Italy. Seems like one way flights are more expensive than round trip to just one destination. Any advice on booking a reasonable flight to Spain from JFK then from Rome to JFK. I have about 75k avios . Thanks in advance

Thank you for this great post and all your terrific advice always.

Recently I was trying to book a rewards room at the Intercontinental London but there was no availability for weeks . Following your advice/encouragement I ‘nudniked’ their site several times a day for weeks, I got a room. Thanx for that too.

Btw the London master thread on DDF listed the Bevis Marks restaurant under kosher supervision of the London Beth Din. Checked LBD web site and it’s not listed. This was also confirmed by email from LBD. The restaurant remains under another kosher supervision.

can you tranfer avious from one account to another?

@Dan: before I go looking for that US First Class hint – does it even exist anymore now post Award integration?

Thanks for e/t! Just got my BA card and wondering…
1) Any way to get an AAdvantage number w/o having an AA credit card?
2)How can you get the BA phone fee waived? How much is it anyways?
Any response would be greatly appreciated. Thnx

ba.com doesn’t let you put a PreCheck number into your reservation (I assume because they’re not a US-based airline) and so, although I have precheck, I end up having to add it later at the airport or over the phone. A real pain in the butt. Does anyone know if there’s a way to do this seamlessly via ba.com?

Does transfering ba avios to Iberia avios ever help you if you want to go to israel peak season-summer?

@Anonymous Says:
when you try to select or change seats it sends you to aa’s site. there you can enter your known traveler/passport etc. info.

These miles are beyond useless….can never get a domestic flight to use them on and the fees to travel to Europe are insane.

@high end hobo:
Perhaps.

You go to Finnair to change your mileage number to AA. You can’t do that if you book a BA ticket out of your account.

@Jason Smith:
It’s a seasonal route.

@Danielle:
Check via Air Berlin or Aer Lingus.

@eli:
Why do you need to?

@Fanofdan:
It’s dead.
When you booked USAir flights in first over the phone it was pricing them out as coach.

@Newbie:
1. Yes.
2. Ask for it if it’s not bookable online.

@rachel:
It may. Search on Iberia.com for awards.

@Bob:
Then you’re clueless. I’ve used hundreds of thousands without issue and there are workarounds for the fees as I wrote in the post.

Hi, I simply want to book two roundtrip tickets jfk-London for my brother and his wife In September-October time. I have 52k avios and 50k a advantage miles. Can I please get advice on what are my best options for this booking?

Are there any direct flights from NYC to Brussels using avios surcharge free? I seem to be getting lots of connections via London but nothing direct.

I spoke to two different BA agents and they both told me that they don’t partner with Niki. ????

Are BA Avios good for international short flight like tlv-vie?

Can someone please hp I still don’t understand if I find a flight under economy milesaaver that mean I have FORSURE find it with BA? Bc I am trying and I cannot find those flights available on BA .

Hello Dan,

THANK YOU! for this article.
Just booked my trip from SFO to BWI. 17K + 10$, the cheapest option I could get for a flight within 3 days.

Dan, my wife and I were hit with $25-per-ticket cancellation fees for cancelling our trip booked with Avios within 24 hours of purchase. You should probably make clear above that cancellations even within 24 hours incur penalties.

@Sam gucci:
Use the AA miles to fly on AA and the BA Avios to fly on Aer Lingus via Ireland.

@Brooke:
You would have to connect in Ireland or Germany to avoid surcharges.

@Anonymous:
So they’re clueless, what else is new?
It’s bookable online.

@Chatzkal:
Yes.

@Nathan:
If it’s nonstop, yes.

@PM:
Enjoy!

@AdamC:
Were you flying to/from the US?

@Dan,
I log into my avios account often, and my search option never looks like the picture you posted, I always have to click on executive club, choose spending avios, and then conduct my search, am I doing something wrong?

I got a British Air Visa Signature card in Jan. ’14 and canceled it March ’15. Can I apply for a new card now and get the 50,000 avios bonus, or do they really enforce the 2 year rule?

Anyone know how I can get an AAdvantage number?

Which points are better for short international flights, BA or United?

@Dan
I have looked for american airlines availability using avios points and in recent weeks no matter what domestic route/dates I search nothing appears. Any insight to what happened?!!!

@Dan yes, it was a one-way flight from TLV to JFK via LHR.

First of all thanks dan for all ur hard work put in to this ….If I would book a flight from jfk to toronto would I need to book return flight also when I book the flight going or will there be openings when I look in two weeks or there is the same price no matter when I book it !! Also I looked and saw not 1 flight on economy or first class going to toronto looking at a. Month radius ,and not always is the. Aa flight availible on ba and they give a hard time with the phone fee and only have the 9k flight bussiness how can I tell them to waive the fee for me !?

Also is it better to covert into ba avios from my freedom and or gold amex or platim..or is it better to get cash if not such a frequent flyer , and what’s a good rate for each point freedom and amex gold and platim.. Thanks dan

Is it true that a low mileage aa award is not necessarily bookable with avios anymore?

I have been trying to book an aa ticket to south america- aa.com shows 20 days with low mileage availability yet ba says there is no availability. The ba agent claims that as of 2 weeks ago everything has changed and a low mileage aa ticket found on aa.com means nothing in regards to avios availability. Anyone heard this before?

I am beginning to think all my remaining avios are indeed worthless. I have literally checked for availability to 6 different cities, every day for the next 6 months or so and I have not found even a single seat.

I have a offer from my cc to convert my points for a 50% avionics bonus. Should I do it? It seems that the avios rewards is in question if it will continue as it’s been difficult to book flights

Are you still looking for deals for LGA – PBI?

Hey Dan,

I just booked a flight via BA.com from JFK – TLV via DUS on Air Berlin.
I guess I got lucky also because the flight came up after searching JFK – TLV on BA.com and I didn’t have to search single legs. I did however see the flight come up first on AA.com.
I paid 30K Avios and 29$ CAN!!
I have two questions:
1) How is Air Berlin, do they offer screens? do they have good customer service?
2) I have a 1h35m stopover in DUS. Is that enough time?
TIA

Also, do they offer kosher food?
and how much does a second checked bag cost?
Thanks

Can you use BA miles to upgrade an already paid and booked Air Berlin flight?

In the past when I booked my infant a seat on aa via ba avios for a domestic flight they blocked the middle seat for the baby and charged me 10% of the miles, but didn’t actually give her a seat, so if the plane was full I would not have had a seat for the baby.
If I want to be certain the infant has an assigned seat can I do it online (I don’t see how) or must I phone in the reservation?

@Anonymous:
No reason to pay 10% on domestic flights.
If you don’t want a seat don’t add until you get to the airport.
If you want a seat just make the date of birth at least 2 years old, nobody will care.

This post has saved me too much time and money to enumerate, thank you so much for compiling.

Dan,

Really informative and a pleasure to read.

Have over 150k avios. Son is going to Israel (from New Jersey) and wife and I would like to visit last week of November preferably in first or bussiness as we have a free companion ticket. There doesn’t seem to be availability on Aa.com.

1) is this a possible way of using a companion ticket?
2) assuming it makes sense to fly BA first or bussiness and use a companion ticket, should I just keep on checking in?

Going to maui with avios on october 11 but cant find anything available with avios for the way back on oct 14. Dan do you have any advice? Also booked waldorf astoria for 37k chase points per night for deluxe ocean room. Looks like a nice hotel but didnt see anything about it in any of your trip notes is the Andaz worth a little more points and if yes which room gives me full ocean view? Were just 2 people and i saved $20 a day with chabads code with enterprise for a convertible. Thanks so much!!

@Dan: if you cancel the card do you keep the miles?

Dan both me and my wife earned 50K Avios each through the recent Chase Avios card offer. We each opened up separate CCs and have separate Avios accounts. I need to get for her another 25K miles. Can I make our account a household account and that would combine the miles to 100K?

Hey dan,
Can I transfer American Express to BA and is it worth it? and what is the ratio compared to aa and delta?
(do you have an article that can answer this questions by any chance?)

Anyway to see which flights are AA Award miles and and which not? The new layout doesn’t show any difference.

Is anyone able to find AA flights any more?

This is great! Can it be updated to advise how to know if BA will have availability now that AA dropped its saver award charts?