Many thanks for this,
Prospero!
Originally Posted by
Jenzo
Those in red do not fall outside of the band? However they are one of the worse places to redeem, i.e GOT is still in band 2 (not in the next band) and CPH is nearby and in band 1 therefore better use of avios
The destinations in red are
just outside a band -- if they were a few miles nearer to the origin they'd cost far fewer Avios to reach. That doesn't always mean they're a poor use of Avios: to decide that you'd need to compare cash fares. It does mean that sometimes there are Avios to be saved by routing carefully. Connecting LHR-DFW-XXX may require fewer Avios than LHR-ORD-XXX, for example. See
Raffles's article, referenced in the OP, for much much more.