Originally Posted by
tedster11
Actually I totally missed the "sticky" (first time I ever heard of this
) I have about 140K Avion points and so far have not chosen a destination. I found this forum and am hoping to get some advice from more experienced people. I assume that I can change these 140K Avion into 210K Avios with BA and then maybe use them for AA. as well. I will enroll in AA and study the Sticky.
I'm interested in your predicament because mine, a year ago, was the same. I have some advice.
Keep the points in Avion until you have a travel plan and you've done your research. They expire aggressively in airline programs and once converted, you can't unconvert. They never expire in RBC and the bonuses are offered twice annually. Convert during the bonus time just before you'll book the trip, which should be 6-9 months before travel.
BA is good if you do short single-segment trips (Toronto-New York, Montreal-Washington). In fact, for this type of travel they are unparalleled. But for long-haul trip-of-a-lifetime redemptions AAdvantage is better.
Suppose you want to go to Bangkok December 2014. Convert now to AA (you'll need an AAdvantage account). Start looking for seats this January. For Economy (Y) or Business (J) to Asia from Montreal, use Qatar Airways YUL-DOH-BKK. For 2 people in Qatar's Business Class it'll cost you 220,000 AAdvantage miles. It is SOOOO worth it, especially on this carrier. From Toronto I'd use Cathay Pacific YYZ-HKG-BKK. If you want a more complex Asia trip, set aside an afternoon for Flyertalk and look into Oneworld Explorer awards. You can do 2 people in economy Montreal-Doha-Bangkok-Saigon-Hanoi-Singapore-Hong Kong-Tokyo-San Francisco-Montreal and have miles left over.
You have more options than you want and the decision is more difficult than you'd like.
But if you want to see Bangkok or Buenos Aires, Santiago, Sao Paolo, Rio de Janeiro, Bogota, Montevideo and Cartajena... it's worth it!
Don't blow the miles by redeeming them with the bank!