British Airway Executive Avios

The Highlights

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, Executive 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

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