British Airways Avios

The Highlights

The greatest value when using Avios for rewards travel is the ability to transfer them to one of their many partners

• American Airlines is only a transfer partner of Citi, but you can use Avios to book an AA flight, even a domestic one in the US through a partner that uses Avios
• By tapping into their extensive transfer partner network, you can avoid BA’s hefty surcharges, which is the program’s biggest pain point
• Using Avios for short haul flights, anywhere in the world BA or a partner flies, offers tremendous value with its distance based award chart
• The British Airways Club partners with Amex, Bilt, Capital One, Chase, and Wells Fargo, adding to the value of the program

What to Know About This Point System

We used to shy away from British Airways because of the enormous surcharges they hit you with while flying through London. But, if used right, British Airways Club can be your best friend. Collecting Avios is easy, especially considering the occasional 100,000 sign-up bonus through the British Airways Visa -- and the fact that Chase’s Ultimate Rewards and American Express Rewards can be transferred at a 1:1 ratio.

British Airways uses a distance-based award chart, meaning the best value can come from non-stop, short trips. They also partner with Aer Lingus, American Airlines and Alaska Airlines. So consider using Avios to get you to the west coast and then Alaska Airlines to get you to the shores of Hawaii. Another good value is booking your Aer Lingus flight with your Avios for a route to Ireland. Or, because Avios are distance-based, you can do multi-city trips within Europe or Asia, making sure you're hopping through Oneworld hub airports, avoiding London and their surcharges.

For example, because British Airways is distance-based you can take advantage of booking flights between 500 and 1150 miles for, 9,000 Avios and that means anywhere in the world, so if you wanted to hop around Asia or Europe, this works out to be much more efficient than even using one of their partners. If you are staying in the states, be sure to look into using Avios to book AA business class flights where you can score an amazing deal on one of their wide-body planes. Earn Avios with the Chase British Airways card that occasionally has big welcome bonuses or transfer Ultimate Rewards or Amex rewards, who also occasionally runs promotions, to your Avios account. Using Avios can be quite diverting if you know what you're doing, avoid big surcharges and get creative and you can really cash in on these little jewels.

Bottom Line: The most treasured part about Avios is the fact that you can transfer them. Using Avios to book non-stop, short flights is a good idea. But if you're looking to travel overseas, and that includes Hawaii, or if you land somewhere international and want to country hop, it’s a good idea to look into their transfer programs. You’ll be pleasantly surprised by the seats you can get with the same exact amount of Avios transferred to one of their more surcharge-friendly partners.

How to Redeem

The best way to redeem British Avios is for flights. Using them directly on British Airways metal often isn’t ideal because of the high surcharges. Booking partner award flights through the British Airways website is usually the best way to avoid these fees.

Here is how to search for award flights and what to look for to maximize your value:

• Search for award flights: Log in and select “Book a flight with Avios,” then enter your route and dates. Partner options will appear in the results.
• Avoid high surcharges: Flights on partners such as American Airlines or Alaska Airlines usually carry much lower fees than British-operated flights.
• Access strong partner value: As part of the oneworld Alliance — plus additional non-alliance partners — British offers many valuable sweet spots.
• Distance-based pricing: British no longer publishes award charts, but most partner redemptions still follow roughly distance-based pricing.
• Know the exceptions: American and Alaska do not follow British’s distance chart, even though they often offer some of the best sweet spots.
• Price per segment: All award flights are priced individually by segment, so nonstop flights are almost always the best value.
• Short haul redemptions: These used to be great sweet spots for British but have devalued several times over the past couple years. You can find domestic flights for lower on other airlines.

Avios Part Payment on Flights and Holidays

You can use Avios for part of your payment when booking flights, flight+hotel packages, or flight+car packages. The option appears on the price page for any eligible itinerary.

• Part payment is available on British Airways flights, on American Airlines flights between the UK and North America, and on British Airways codeshares with selected partners.
• Available options depend on your travel class, destination, whether the trip is one-way or round trip, and the number of travelers.
• You will still collect Avios and Tier Points when using Avios for part of your payment.

Hotel Stays, Car Rentals, and Other

You can use Avios for a variety of non-flight redemptions, but these options usually offer far less value than using Avios for flights.

• Book hotels, car rentals, and experiences through the British Airways portal, which is powered by Expedia.
• Redeem Avios for High Life Shop or Café products.
• Use Avios to purchase wine through The Wine Flyer.

These redemptions tend to offer poor value compared to flights, so we only recommend them if you need to use Avios before they expire or have a small orphaned balance.

Visit British Airways Avios