Stretch Your British Airways Avios Further With These 5 Awesome Redemptions

Best Uses of British Airways Avios

British Airways Avios are an award currency known primarily for their sweet-spot pricing. At least, that is what got me interested in the program initially. Having a distance-based award chart means that there will be solid winner and solid losers when it comes to awards. Knowing how to best navigate the award pricing will lead you to all the best uses of British Airways Avios.

British Airways prices their awards by segment. This means that the nonstop option will pretty much always be the better choice in terms of number of Avios. Awards with connections are priced as the sum of the segments.

Earning British Airways Avios

The most ideal feature of British Airways Avios is how ridiculously easy they are to earn. Between card offers of 100,000 Avios, to multiple transferable currency partners, to massive 40% transfer bonuses, it’s easy to earn quite a few. Given the high prices for long-haul business class, this might seem necessary. But this is generally not one of the best uses of British Airways Avios.

Some Of These Offers May Have Ended Or Changed

Here are several cards that will earn you either Avios directly or points that are transferable to Avios:

• American Express Gold Card – Earn 35,000 Membership Rewards after spending $4,000 within 3 months.  The card earns an amazing 4X on U.S. Supermarkets up to $25,000 per year. It also earns 4X at restaurants. Learn More
• American Express Green Card – Newly refreshed card with 3X earning on travel and restaurants.  It is possible to get a higher offer via referral and some are targeted for a 45,000 point offer.
• British Airways Visa Signature Card – This card often has a 100,000 Avios welcome offer, which I value at around $1,200. The $20,000 spend requirement is high, though. But you’ll potentially have enough for multiple vacations. Learn More
• Chase Sapphire Preferred – Earn 60,000 Ultimate Rewards points after spending $4,000 within the first 3 months of card membership. The $95 annual fee is NOT waived. It earns 2x on travel and dining and you can transfer points to partners such as British Airways at a 1 to 1 rate. Learn More
• Ink Business Preferred – Earn 80,000 Ultimate Rewards points after spending $5,000 within the first 3 months of card membership. It comes with a $95 annual fee and the points transfer to British Airways at a 1 to 1 rate. Learn More

Why I Like British Airways Avios

British Airways Avios may not be the most ideal currency for us, living in far northern California. Being located at an American Airlines hub would make them far more valuable. However, British Airways Avios can be used on Alaska Airlines, which means I can still use them for short hops up and down the coast.

The value you get per Avios is the main turnoff. I find that many times economy flights are netting me just 1.0-1.3 cents per Avios, which isn’t all that hot. However, if you factor in the 40% transfer bonus (assuming you only transfer during these times), you’re looking at 1.4 to 1.8 cents per Membership Rewards point, which isn’t half bad for economy flights.

Even though I find them less valuable than other currencies, at least in terms of cents per mile, you can still get great value out of Avios. Here are the five best uses of British Airways Avios.

Hawaii from the West Coast

If there is one sweet spot Avios are known for, it is for getting to Hawaii from the West Coast. With both American Airlines and Alaska Airlines as partners, you have a good number of route options to Hawaii. The key here is that you need a nonstop flight under 3,000 miles, which means that anything from Phoenix westward will qualify.

American has fewer routes, so I like to focus on Alaska. They offer plenty of flights, no matter which island you’re hoping to visit. Here is a map of most of the route you can fly.

British Airways increased their pricing very modestly earlier in 2019. I’d expected things to be worse, but the increase of 500 Avios to 13,000 Avios for a one-way award doesn’t change the math much on the value of these awards.

I will say that flights to Hawaii have been pretty competitive from the west coast, with round-trip fares dropping under $300 on many occasions. Still, Avios are a solid option if you cannot find a great cash deal.

Nonstop Short-Haul on American or Alaska

The other great use for domestic flights is for nonstop travel on American and Alaska under 1,150 miles. British Airways doesn’t price any awards within, incoming to, or departing from the United States within their Zone 1 awards (under 650 miles). Everything touching the U.S. prices at Zone 2 (under 1,150 miles), costing 9,000 Avios one-way.

The 1,150-mile limit is enough to fly you from Seattle to San Diego, Portland to Phoenix, O’Hare to Orlando. It covers many of the routes offered by American and Alaska.

The key is finding those that tend to have a higher cash price. For competitive hops, such as Los Angeles to San Francisco, there is no way I’d use Avios unless it’s during the holiday rush (when you’d have a hard time scoring award space). But for hops such as Chicago to Charleston, WV going for ~$300 round-trip, Avios are a solid value.

The resource is very out of date (with many routes missing), but I really like the Avios Map Calculator. It let’s you visualize the destinations available (ignore the prices…7,500 is now 9,000) based on your starting airport.

Off-Peak British Airways Premium Economy from U.S. East

Premium economy awards can be tough to come by. Few programs have especially attractive pricing. British Airways isn’t always the best option, either, but there are a few sweet spots you can find, and I think they are worthy of a mention among the best uses of British Airways Avios.

One of the few perks of using Avios on British Airways itself is the off-peak pricing. Avios used on other IAG airlines Aer Lingus and Iberia likewise offer off-peak dates, although the calendars differ.

For British Airways routes of 4,000 miles or fewer, you’re looking at just 26,000 Avios for a one-way premium economy ticket. Departure points include Chicago, New York, Washington Dulles, Boston, and Toronto, all flying to London.

For a ticket that runs ~$1,200 round-trip, paying 26,000 Avios and $253 one-way is a fine deal. This is really just 19,000 Membership Rewards, assuming you catch a 40% transfer bonus.

The real magic here is if you have the British Airways Visa Signature Card, as it now offers a rebate on the enormous fees paid on British Airways tickets (up to 3 tickets per year). For a one-way to London, you’re now looking at just $153 in fees. Not bad at all.

Off-Peak Flights to Ireland on Aer Lingus

Another overlooked British Airways partner is Aer Lingus. The sister airline is also IAG-owned. However, Aer Lingus awards still don’t show on the British Airways website, making them a bit hard to search for. You can use the United website, but the award inventory doesn’t always match up.

The key here is to travel to Ireland during off-peak times, as the prices are substantially less. For airports in the U.S. east (flights less than 4,000 miles), you’re looking at just 13,000 Avios per person each way. For flights to the U.S. west, you’re looking at 16,250 Avios per person each way. But the big question is…what are the fees like?

At first glance, not good. I used the avios.com website to find the space, and the fees aren’t pretty. Paying just 16,250 Avios one-way is fine, but $137? Nope.

However, I’ve read that fees using British Airway as Avios on Aer Lingus should be substantially less. I placed a couple calls to British Airways to price out awards on Aer Lingus. The good news: fees for Aer Lingus tickets booked through British Airways are lower than what is shown at the avios.com website. Here are a a couple sample routes:

• San Francisco to Dublin – 16,250 Avios and ~$35
• Chicago to Dublin – 13,000 Avios and ~$35

I realize now that I didn’t price a return option from Dublin, but based on the fees I see at united.com, I’m going to guess that they are still less than $100, maybe about $70. In any case, they are much better than what British Airways charges.

We don’t see quite as many fare sales to Dublin and especially nonstop on Aer Lingus (at least based on what I’ve seen from the West Coast), so this makes Avios an excellent option for visiting Ireland.

Flights to the Caribbean and Central America on American Airlines

If the value of domestic nonstop flights aren’t enough to turn your head for just 9,000 Avios one-way, then flights to the Caribbean may be something to consider. Flights 1,150 miles and under still cost 9,000 Avios, while flights between 1,151 and 2,000 miles cost 11,000 Avios.

Here are some sample routes that you can fly for 9,000 Avios:

• Miami to San Juan
• Miami to Aruba
• Charlotte to Nassau
• Miami to Guatemala City

Here are some sample routes you can fly for 11,000 Avios:

• Dallas to Montego Bay
• Philadelphia to Aruba
• Charlotte to Sint Maarten
• New York JFK to Cancun
• Miami to Quito (yes, South America!)

In general, Avios are going to be a better deal than American’s own awards, although their web specials are worth considering, as I’ve found a few excellent deals to Caribbean airports as well. The one thing that will hit you are high departure taxes from many Caribbean airports.

Other Best Uses of British Airways Avios

Given the transfer bonus opportunity, there are other routes where Avios aren’t all that bad of an option. I just try not to add to my stash when there is anything except a 40% bonus.

Avios are also useful for short-haul flights on British Airways within Europe (especially at off-peak pricing), but I find that the taxes and fees often, although less, still make these fairly poor value. I was pricing out tickets from Belfast to London, and for 4 off-peak tickets one way, I was looking at 16,000 Avios and $111 in fees. The same tickets could be purchased for $208 ($52 x 4). Getting 0.6 cent per Avios is garbage.

I’ve also been interested in flying Air Italy, and there aren’t many ways to do this besides Avios. However, prices are high and surcharges are high.

There are also a couple situations where using them for long-haul may not be all that bad an option. The fees are usually high enough that this is a no-go for me, but there are a handful of routes where you can find much lower fuel surcharges (e.g. ex-Hong Kong, ex-Brazil).

Conclusion

British Airways Avios are a currency with a good number of sweet spots, but also plenty of “sour” spots. The distance-based award chart is awesome when it works in your favor, but killer for many trips. Long-haul premium cabin awards become inflated very quickly. And Britain’s flag carrier tacks on egregious fuel surcharges to boot.

But not all is bad, and any of these best uses of British Airways Avios make for a fine award redemption.

Disclosure: Miles to Memories has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Miles to Memories and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers.

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