Aug 13, 2014, 4:37 pm
Last edit by: beltway
With US joining OneWorld in early 2014, British Airways' mileage currency (Avios) offer a potentially advantageous option for redeeming for award tickets, especially on shorter flights.
What are the relevant characteristics/rules for redeeming Avios?
What are the mileage bands in the Avios award chart?
The full chart for redemptions until April 28, 2015 can be found here. Starting April 28, 2015, a new chart will apply.
One enterprising blogger has created interactive maps showing potential destinations reachable on US in each of the mileage bands from DCA, PHL, CLT, and PHX.
What's an example of Avios being better than booking an award on US using Dividend Miles?
Credit: Much of this wiki is based on post #1 by SanDiego1K.
What are the relevant characteristics/rules for redeeming Avios?
- Avios is charged per individual flight segment. The cost for a single connecting itinerary AAA-BBB-CCC is the same as the cost of two separate tickets for travel AAA-BBB & BBB-CCC.
- Avios uses a distance-based chart. (See below.)
- First-class travel costs 3x as many Avios as coach. Unfortunately, this generally makes domestic F redemption unattractive with Avios. In general, US front-cabin seats are treated as first-class for purposes of Avios redemption.
- Effective April 28, 2015, first-class awards will cost 4x the coach award price.
- Business class travel costs 2x Avios. Some North American airlines consider the front cabin to be business for Mexico and Central America routes.
- Effective April 28, 2015, business-class awards for segments >2000 miles long will cost 3x the coach award price.
- You can redeem one-way awards with Avios.
- Avios is region-agnostic. (That is, a given distance costs the same regardless of whether it traverses one or more world regions.) Thus, Avios can provide great value when flying to Hawaii for those who fly coach and can do so in one segment.
- There is no ticketing fee for online booking. If you call instead of booking online, there is a $25 ticketing fee. (Some people have success in getting this fee waived when an itinerary cannot be booked online, making a phone call unavoidable.)
- There is no close-in ticketing fee.
- BA charges $55 to cancel or change a ticket. However, if you cancel online, your cost is capped at the amount of taxes/TSA fees paid; for domestic itineraries on US, this will normally be much less than $55. (This workaround does not apply to changing a ticket online, which will incur the full $55 fee.) You must cancel one day in advance to get the Avios redeposited.
- 1-650 mile flight: 4,500 Avios
- 651-1151 mile flight: 7,500 Avios
- 1152-2000 mile flight: 10,000 Avios
- 2001-3000 mile flight: 12,500 Avios
The full chart for redemptions until April 28, 2015 can be found here. Starting April 28, 2015, a new chart will apply.
One enterprising blogger has created interactive maps showing potential destinations reachable on US in each of the mileage bands from DCA, PHL, CLT, and PHX.
Consider the cost to fly from San Diego to Phoenix, a route under 400 miles. US charges 25K miles R/T, plus $38 (includes $25 ticketing fee), plus a $75 close-in fee for any booking within 14 days of departure. BA will charge 9,000 Avios R/T plus the TSA security fee.
If you live in a gateway city and can fly to Hawaii nonstop, investigate whether booking with Avios is more attractive. Example:
PHX-HNL is 2917 miles. A R/T with Avios is 25K miles (12,500 each way). A R/T with US is 40K miles.
What's the process for redeeming Avios?If you live in a gateway city and can fly to Hawaii nonstop, investigate whether booking with Avios is more attractive. Example:
PHX-HNL is 2917 miles. A R/T with Avios is 25K miles (12,500 each way). A R/T with US is 40K miles.
Go to the Avios award search page; log in; and enter your desired itinerary.
Great! That sounds easy! What's the catch?Unfortunately, there are several practical restrictions on redeeming Avios for domestic travel on US, especially when attempting to book online.
OK, I managed to make an award booking despite all these pitfalls. How do I get my US FF# into the reservation in order to enjoy my US elite benefits?- Most importantly, US "low/saver" awards must be available. (You can confirm award availability at the lowest level by searching on the US site directly or by using a third-party service such as Expert Flyer.)
- The BA search tool cannot generate partner itineraries that include more than one connection. (You can still book each segment as an individual ticket, although doing so will create problems if you wish to check luggage all the way through and/or if you miss a connection owing to flight delays.)
- Even where US has low-level award availability, the Avios search tool will often fail to display it. This is especially true on routes with numerous flights in a single day (such as the DCA-LGA, LGA-BOS & DCA-BOS shuttles), but occurs regularly on numerous routes. There is no workaround except calling BA reservations.
- Recommendation: Always search for one-way awards. The BA search tool is known to display no availability in either direction on round-trip searches when awards are in fact available in one direction but not the other.
- The BA search engine will accept metropolitan area pseudo-codes (WAS, LON, PAR, NYC, etc.) as well as individual airport codes. For better results, try both (e.g., DCA, BWI & IAD as well as WAS).
The American Airlines Twitter team (@AmericanAir) can modify a reservation to enter your US or AA FF#.
Several FTers also report success using the Finnair website ("Choose manage booking and put in your BA confirmation code"). However, this method allows the FF# on a given itinerary to be changed only once; it will not allow subsequent changes.
I want to change my seat but the BA site never gave me a US record locator. What's the solution?Several FTers also report success using the Finnair website ("Choose manage booking and put in your BA confirmation code"). However, this method allows the FF# on a given itinerary to be changed only once; it will not allow subsequent changes.
Look up your reservation on the US site using the BA record locator.
How can I accumulate Avios?- Fly British Airways.
- Credit OneWorld flights to British Airways.
- Open a Chase British Airways credit card, ideally with a generous sign up bonus.
- Move Chase Ultimate Reward points (CSP, Ink Plus, Ink Bold) to your BA account.
- Move AMEX Membership Rewards points to your BA account, preferably during the 2-3 times a year when a bonus is offered.
- Move SPG points to your BA account. 20K SPG points yields 25K BA Avios, and bonuses have been offered once a year.
- Form a household account (see BA forum for discussion) so that miles can be pooled.
US Airways Award Bookings Using BA Avios, as low as 4,500 Avios one way
Jan 29, 2015, 5:48 pm
#301
Moderator: American AAdvantage
Join Date: May 2000
Location: NorCal - SMF area
Programs: AA LT Plat; HH LT Diamond, Maître-plongeur des Muccis
Posts: 62,948
For us lowly lot, who book short haul One World flights ( AA, US, MH etc.) economy class flights using BA Avios, no change at all post 28 April 2015. As a matter of fact, even for BA. Most of the noise in the BA forum, a lot of it legit, is about higher redemption rates for business and first class award bookings on BA and partners ( economy class award bookings on BA are same levels as before, or even lower for off peak travel), and lower earnings rates, no free domestic add-ons for awards, demotion of silver status etc.
It's good to hear Economy awards won't be affected by these changes. Thanks!
Jan 30, 2015, 12:05 pm
#303
Join Date: May 2009
Location: CA
Programs: AA/BA, HH/SPG
Posts: 12
Just so I can avoid waiting on the phone an hour for nothing, can I currently book a USAir flight over the phone using Avios points now that the BA website doesn't work? Or do I need to wait until 2/1 to hopefully book online?
Lots of references to booking flights on the phone over the last two pages, but no mention of when these flights were made.
Lots of references to booking flights on the phone over the last two pages, but no mention of when these flights were made.
Jan 31, 2015, 2:51 pm
#304
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: DCA
Posts: 77
Did one over the phone last weekend when they weren't showing up on the BA website, paid the regular $9.60 tax, and no $25 phone booking fee.
Jan 31, 2015, 2:52 pm
#305
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Northeast Kansas | Colorado Native
Programs: Amex Gold/Plat, UA *G, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott LT Gold, NEXUS, TSA Disparager Unobtanium
Posts: 21,603
Jan 31, 2015, 3:38 pm
#306
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: DCA
Posts: 77
She did not even mention it, probably because I had already said that the flights were not available online.
Jan 31, 2015, 4:08 pm
#307
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: On strike
Posts: 8,135
Starting tomorrow, we need to make a group effort to check periodically for restored ability to redeem on US. (US-heavy routes such as DCA-CLT & DCA-PHL are good test cases.) For the moment, BA's website reports rather implausibly that BA's partners don't fly these routes. 
Jan 31, 2015, 4:15 pm
#308
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: DCA
Posts: 77
Have a couple DCA-LGA trips to book...the sooner the better
Feb 1, 2015, 7:13 am
#309
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Programs: Hyatt Globalist, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Lifetime Titanium
Posts: 413
Starting tomorrow, we need to make a group effort to check periodically for restored ability to redeem on US. (US-heavy routes such as DCA-CLT & DCA-PHL are good test cases.) For the moment, BA's website reports rather implausibly that BA's partners don't fly these routes.
I was searching PIT-CLT and PIT-PHL where there are plenty of available seats and routes on the US web site.
Feb 1, 2015, 7:21 am
#310
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: On strike
Posts: 8,135
Yes, and same result for WAS-LGA this morning. I think I'll update the wiki to say "no redemptions on US metal until further notice."
Feb 1, 2015, 8:24 pm
#311
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Location: NYC
Programs: AA 2MM, Bonvoy LTT, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 14,638
Feb 2, 2015, 5:23 pm
#312
Join Date: Jun 2011
Posts: 26
Lesson learned: Always call a different country's BAEC service center. The US call center is a joke.
Feb 2, 2015, 5:47 pm
#313
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Location: NYC
Programs: AA 2MM, Bonvoy LTT, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 14,638
Just to follow up. I was trying to get through to BAEC by phone for days last week to try to book a CLT-FLL award on US Air. Greeted by a busy tone every. Single. Time. Fed up, this morning I dialed the UK service center via Google Voice. There was no wait; I was immediately helped and the flight was booked by a very kind agent. The service fee was waived, without my asking.
Lesson learned: Always call a different country's BAEC service center. The US call center is a joke.
Lesson learned: Always call a different country's BAEC service center. The US call center is a joke.
Feb 2, 2015, 6:46 pm
#314
Join Date: Jun 2011
Posts: 26
This does not reflect my experience calling the US call center, getting a busy tone for days on end, and then getting straight through to a UK agent. I knew the US call center closed. God knows where the calls are routed now. In my experience, they were routed to a busy tone. When I reached an agent by pressing a different choice (change a booking vs make a booking), they forwarded my call to the "correct number": I promptly heard "The number you have reached is not in service." What a sh*tshow.
Feb 2, 2015, 9:07 pm
#315
Join Date: May 2009
Location: CA
Programs: AA/BA, HH/SPG
Posts: 12
Recently, with the US number, I rarely wait on hold as it's either busy or directly connects me. I also tend to just call the UK line as soon as they open, and it's usually less than a 5 minute wait.
To whomever asked above, yes, as of when I booked over the weekend, you could still book US airways awards over the phone albeit with a higher fee ($9.60 instead of $5.60) after asking for the telephone fee to be waived.
To whomever asked above, yes, as of when I booked over the weekend, you could still book US airways awards over the phone albeit with a higher fee ($9.60 instead of $5.60) after asking for the telephone fee to be waived.