However, this is not the only little “secret” of British Airways Avios that makes them a pretty solid tool to have in your miles and points arsenal, even if your travels will never take you on a British Airways flight. You can read about some of my favorite uses for Avios in this previous post, but for now I want to focus on some of the unique qualities of these miles that make them quite handy.

• No close-in booking fees
• No online cancellation fee – just lose the taxes that you paid for the flight which is often $5 – $10 for domestic flights.
• Just a $40 change fee – which is much lower than many other airlines (of course, you could potentially just cancel and rebook for even less)
• Free checked bag, priority access in the airport, and priority boarding on American Airlines (this is not a published benefit anywhere I know, but my family was still getting this “perk” as of last week, though some in the comments report they have not been getting free bags, so YMMV)