MileValue is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as CreditCards.com. This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. This site does not include all financial companies or all available financial offers. Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.
Note: Some of the offers mentioned below may have changed or are no longer be available. You can view current offers here.
This is the tenth post in a monthlong series that started here. Each post will take about two minutes to read and may include an action item that takes the reader another two minutes to complete. I am writing this for an audience of people who know nothing about frequent flyer miles, and my goal is that by the end, you know enough to fly for free anywhere you want to go.
Where We Are and Where We’re Going
We’re in the section on redeeming miles. Once you understand how to redeem miles, you’ll understand which miles are right to earn for your travel goals. This post will focus on British Airways Avios, which are useful for a number of awards especially now that one way awards are allowed and award space has improved in 2015.
Why Collect British Airways Avios?
British Airways Avios are very often the best miles to book short, direct, economy flights.
I like international First Class as much as the next guy, but sometimes I just want to fly from Los Angeles to Hawaii or Hong Kong to Tokyo or Chicago to Dallas.
British Airways Avios are completely different than the other major types of miles like United and American miles.
While most major airline miles are region-based, Avios are distance-based.
Different equals more valuable when it comes to miles because it opens up different types of high value awards.
- What airlines can you fly with British Airways miles?
- What are the routing rules for British Airways awards (stopovers, open jaws, free one ways)?
- What are the special features of the Avios program?
- How can you book a British Airways award?
Mileage Price
British Airways charges a price for each segment of your award. The number of Avios–BA’s silly name for its miles–is determined by only two things: the distance of the segment and the cabin of the segment.
British Airways increased the number of Avios needed for Business and First Class awards yesterday. Here is the new award chart:
If your award is more than one segment, figure out the price of each segment from the chart above and sum the prices of each flight.
The prices for the shortest flights in economy are unbeatable.
Partners
British Airways is a member of oneworld. That means you can use Avios on all these airlines:
- American Airlines
- US Airways
- airberlin
- British Airways
- Cathay Pacific (Hong Kong)
- Finnair
- Iberia (Spain)
- Japan Airlines
- LAN (Chile and Peru)
- Malaysia Airlines
- Qantas (Australia)
- Qatar Airways
- Royal Jordanian
- S7 Airlines (Russia)
- SriLankan Airlines
- TAM Airlines (Brazil)
British Airways also has two partners that are not a part of oneworld. You can also redeem miles to fly these airlines:
- Aer Lingus (Ireland)
- Alaska Airlines (Western US, Alaska, Hawaii, Mexico)
Routing Rules? What Routing Rules?
You pay a price for each flight depending on its cabin and distance.
Since you are paying for each flight, you can think of each flight as its own award. That means you can combine the individual flights however you want.
Stopovers & Open Jaws
You can stopover after every city on an Avios award if you’d like. You just pay for each segment based on distance and cabin regardless of the length of your stopover.
When each flight has its own price, you can have as many open jaws as you’d like.
Free One Ways
Free one ways are impossible on British Airways awards. There is no way to get a free segment. You pay for each segment based on distance and cabin.
Special Features of the Avios Program
Cash & Avios awards allow you to use fewer Avios by paying more cash for your award. Different awards offer different Cash & Avios prices.
Check out my full Cash & Avios analysis here because sometimes these awards are a phenomenal value.
Taxes, Fees, and Fuel Surcharges
Taxes
British Airways awards require you to pay the government taxes associated with the itinerary.
These start at $5.60 each direction for domestic awards and go up to $300 if you fly to a high tax country. Generally international awards have roundtrip taxes of $50 to $150.
Fees
Phone Fee: There is a fee of $25 per passenger to make a phone booking. Aer Lingus and Alaska Airlines flights have to be booked by phone, and I have had success getting phone agents to waive this fee when I have to book by phone.
Changes: There is a $55 date/time change fee per ticket.
Cancellation: There is a $55 cancellation fee per person to get your Avios redeposited. However, in my experience, if your award had taxes/fuel surcharges of less than $55, British Airways will just keep what you paid out of pocket and give you your miles back. That means that the cancellation fee is effectively $5.60 for a domestic one way award since $5.60 is the total out of pocket on those awards.
Full details on British Airways’ award fees can be found here.
Fuel Surcharges
British Airways collects massive fuel surcharges on almost all partners. Notable exceptions include American Airlines flights within the Western Hemisphere, Alaska Airlines flights, Aer Lingus flights, Niki flights, and airberlin flights.
For full details, check out When Does British Airways Add Fuel Surcharges to Avios Awards?
How to Book British Airways Awards
All partners except Aer Lingus and Alaska Airlines are bookable on ba.com. Here’s how to search ba.com.
Aer Lingus and Alaska Airlines can be booked by calling British Airways at 800-AIRWAYS. Alaska Airlines space can be searched on aa.com before calling. Aer Lingus space can be searched on Expert Flyer before calling.
If you can’t seem to find the award you want for your dream trip, you can hire my Award Booking Service to search and book your British Airways awards, probably as part of a larger trip with other awards using other miles. We have the expertise to search every British Airways partner to maximize convenience and luxury while minimizing out-of-pocket cost.
Bottom Line
British Airways are unbeatable for:
- short
- direct
- economy flights
- on partners with no fuel surcharges
British Airways Avios complement the other big types of miles, which tend to be better for international premium cabins.
Any questions? What did I leave out?
Just getting started in the world of points and miles? The Chase Sapphire Preferred is the best card for you to start with.
With a bonus of 60,000 points after $4,000 spend in the first 3 months, 5x points on travel booked through the Chase Travel℠ and 3x points on restaurants, streaming services, and online groceries (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs), this card truly cannot be beat for getting started!
Editorial Disclaimer: The editorial content is not provided or commissioned by the credit card issuers. Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of the credit card issuers, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card issuers.
The comments section below is not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser’s responsibility to ensure all questions are answered.
[…] way. The standard for a Saver award within the continental United States is 12,500 miles one way (though Avios awards go for as little as 4,500 miles), so this is a 60% […]
[…] way. The standard for a Saver award within the continental United States is 12,500 miles one way (though Avios awards go for as little as 4,500 miles), so this is a 60% […]
[…] way. The standard for a Saver award within the continental United States is 12,500 miles one way (though Avios awards go for as little as 4,500 miles), so this is a 60% […]
[…] way. The standard for a Saver award within the continental United States is 12,500 miles one way (though Avios awards go for as little as 4,500 miles), so this is a 60% […]
[…] But if you have Avios and several other types of miles, so that you can use your Avios only on high value Avios awards, you can squeeze a lot more value out of them. I am assuming you are like me and have lots of types […]
[…] But if you have Avios and several other types of miles, so that you can use your Avios only on high value Avios awards, you can squeeze a lot more value out of them. I am assuming you are like me and have lots of types […]
[…] Connections beyond Ireland add to the price of an Avios award, since all flights add to the price of Avios awards. […]
[…] Connections beyond Ireland add to the price of an Avios award, since all flights add to the price of Avios awards. […]
[…] British Airways Avios, which are great for short, direct, economy awards within the Western Hemisphere and a few other plac… […]
[…] British Airways Avios, which are great for short, direct, economy awards within the Western Hemisphere and a few other plac… […]
[…] Avios are best for short, direct, economy flights within the Americas and a few other places. […]
[…] Avios are best for short, direct, economy flights within the Americas and a few other places. […]
[…] 500 miles or less will be bookable for 7,500 American Airlines miles next year. Of course you can book those same awards for 4,500 British Airways Avios now (going up to 7,500 Avios in February), so that isn’t even that great of a […]
[…] 500 miles or less will be bookable for 7,500 American Airlines miles next year. Of course you can book those same awards for 4,500 British Airways Avios now (going up to 7,500 Avios in February), so that isn’t even that great of a […]
[…] Avios awards flying American Airlines or Alaska Airlines start at 9,000 Avios roundtrip. Of course, starting next year, the cheapest domestic Avios awards will be 15,000 Avios roundtrip. […]
[…] Avios awards flying American Airlines or Alaska Airlines start at 9,000 Avios roundtrip. Of course, starting next year, the cheapest domestic Avios awards will be 15,000 Avios roundtrip. […]
[…] Do check out the whole German post; it is really good. And do set the address on your British Airways account to somewhere in the euro-area. This trick will help you use Avios much more efficiently. I love Avios for short, direct, economy flights. Read more about Avios and the best Avios uses here. […]
[…] Do check out the whole German post; it is really good. And do set the address on your British Airways account to somewhere in the euro-area. This trick will help you use Avios much more efficiently. I love Avios for short, direct, economy flights. Read more about Avios and the best Avios uses here. […]
[…] practice, Berlin to Madrid would be a poor-value American Airlines awards, so you’d want to book it with Avios or […]
[…] practice, Berlin to Madrid would be a poor-value American Airlines awards, so you’d want to book it with Avios or […]
[…] For direct flights, though, you are probably better off using British Airways Avios to book the same Alaska award space. […]
[…] For direct flights, though, you are probably better off using British Airways Avios to book the same Alaska award space. […]
[…] not get this card unless you will use Avios for high value awards. Make sure you read the Basics of Avios full before […]
[…] not get this card unless you will use Avios for high value awards. Make sure you read the Basics of Avios full before […]
[…] Avios are distance-based miles. In the British Airways Avios program, you don’t pay a single price for an award, you pay a single price for each flight on the award. The price of each flight is based only on its distance and the cabin you fly. Add up the price of each flight to get the price of your award. […]
[…] Avios are distance-based miles. In the British Airways Avios program, you don’t pay a single price for an award, you pay a single price for each flight on the award. The price of each flight is based only on its distance and the cabin you fly. Add up the price of each flight to get the price of your award. […]
[…] the better deals for your dream award. Usually, but not always, that is British Airways Avios. See Basics of British Airways Avios to learn […]
[…] the better deals for your dream award. Usually, but not always, that is British Airways Avios. See Basics of British Airways Avios to learn […]
[…] Bogota could be replaced by any nearby city with direct LAN flights from the Caribbean or Mexico, though the miles price will probably go up if you choose a different city since this part of the award is flown with distance-based Avios […]
[…] Bogota could be replaced by any nearby city with direct LAN flights from the Caribbean or Mexico, though the miles price will probably go up if you choose a different city since this part of the award is flown with distance-based Avios […]
[…] British Airways for awards starting at 4,500 miles one way with no fuel surcharges […]
[…] flights with British Airways Avios start at 4,500 miles one way, and Boston to Ireland or the west coast to Hawaii is only 12,500 miles one […]
[…] flights with British Airways Avios start at 4,500 miles one way, and Boston to Ireland or the west coast to Hawaii is only 12,500 miles one […]
[…] Avios are ideal for short, direct, economy flights, especially between regions on award charts. Today I’m going to show you some examples of how you can combine the use of Avios with region-based miles to use less miles overall and see more places at the same time. […]
[…] Avios are ideal for short, direct, economy flights, especially between regions on award charts. I just wrote a post a couple days ago about how you can combine Avios redemptions with your preferred region-based miles to spend less miles overall and see more places all at the same time. So just because this post is about all the nasty fuel surcharges British Airways collects, don’t get too down on them as Avios help compliment a diversified mile collection that. […]
[…] Airways Avios, which are great for short, direct, economy awards within the Western Hemisphere and a few other plac…, as well as crossing regions since they are distance-based […]
[…] British Airways for short, direct economy awards starting at 4,500 miles one way with no fuel surcharges […]
[…] bed in the sky or to get to Hawaii or South America. ANA has some very cheap awards. Avios are the best for shorthaul, economy redemptions. Others have uses […]
[…] The Promo Award prices are only good flying to the cities specifically listed here. If you don’t live in one of the cities listed but want to take advantage of Flying Blue Promo awards and live pretty close to one, you could use British Airways Avios for the short economy flight to get there. […]
[…] The 37 total airline transfer partners (27 unique) are way too many to analyze in this post, but generally most people would prefer Chase’s because of United, which offers a very strong program for redemptions worldwide in economy and Business Class. The other strongest Chase partners are Korean and British Airways. […]
[…] Avios is a distance-based award program. The number you need for an award is based only on the distance and cabin of each award segment. Contrast that with region-based miles like United; the number of United miles needed for an award is based on the cabin and regions of origin/departure of the entire trip. […]
[…] British Airways Avios are perfect for short, direct, economy flights on British Airways partners that do not levy fuel surcharges like these partners. For instance, the west coast to Hawaii on American Airlines or Alaska Airlines flights for 12,500 Avios or only 4,500 Avios between Cuzco and Lima, Peru are two of the sweet spots. Read more about how to maximize Avios in the Basics of British Airways Avios. […]
[…] bed in the sky or to get to Hawaii or South America. ANA has some very cheap awards. Avios are the best for shorthaul, economy redemptions. Others have uses […]
[…] For direct flights, though, you are probably better off using British Airways Avios to book the same Alaska award space. […]
[…] The Promo Award prices are only good flying to the cities specifically listed here. If you don’t live in one of the cities listed but want to take advantage of Flying Blue Promo awards and live pretty close to one, you could use British Airways Avios for a short economy flight on American Airlines to get there. […]
[…] The Promo Award prices are only good flying to or from the cities specifically listed here. If you don’t live in one of the cities listed but want to take advantage of Flying Blue Promo awards and live pretty close to one, you could use British Airways Avios for a short economy flight on American Airlines to get there. […]
[…] The Promo Award prices are only good flying to or from the cities specifically listed here. If you don’t live in one of the cities listed but want to take advantage of Flying Blue Promo awards and live pretty close to one, you could use British Airways Avios for a short economy flight on American Airlines to get there. […]
[…] flights with British Airways Avios start at 4,500 miles one way, and Boston to Ireland or thewest coast to Hawaii is only 12,500 miles one […]
[…] The Promo Award prices are only good flying to or from the cities specifically listed here. If you don’t live in one of the cities listed but want to take advantage of Flying Blue Promo awards and live pretty close to one, you could use British Airways Avios for a short economy flight on American Airlines to get there. […]