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The aa.com website cannot be used to book award travel on about half of AA's airline partners -- including 9W (which flies LHR-DEL nonstop), and EY, GF, and QR (each of which offers connecting service between LHR and DEL). If you can find award space on any of these carriers (and you don't have to use the same one for the outbound as for the return), then you can avoid the hefty surcharges that AA assesses for award travel on BA.

The only way to avoid the UK APD is to depart from another country. 9W offers AMS-DEL nonstop service. You could fly back from DEL into LHR as the UK APD is only collected on UK departures.

Whether making a connection or departing from another country is worth the cost savings is something only you can decide.