FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - Which Frequent Flyer Program to Join? Help Is Here!
Old Dec 8, 2017 | 8:02 pm
  #1454  
sdsearch
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Originally Posted by notsosmart
(I will annoyingly ask the same question about AA vs. BA later on)
Well, you realize in essence you just asked it now? So I'll answer that:

BA Avios points are a great value for nonstop flights in economy class (but only usable if you can find saver availability). They become a poor value, compared to AA miles, for longhaul international business flights (you typically need about 50% more Avios points than AA miles for the same flight, though it varies again depending on how many legs there are to the flight, because AA charges by zones while BA charges by distance per flight leg, added up.

I find very few nonstop flights in economy class that actually have saver availability (from my home base in SoCal), and most of my nonstop flights in economy class are not too expensive to just pay for with cash. So I find very little use for Avios points. (But someone living in another area where there might be more nonstop saver availability might find them more useful.)

And all my longhaul international flight redemptions are in business class, so Avios is useless for that (since a big devaluation a couple years ago). Avios charges 3x the economy miles for business class, while AA only charges about 2x or a somewhat more, but way less than 3x.
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