Originally Posted by
aww3583
Long time FT'er, first time in the BA forum...
We have about 240,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards that we'd like to convert to Avios for this trip.
Family of four, looking at MSY-LHR (non-stop) on 12/22/18 and LHR-MSY (non-stop) on 1/2/19. We've found decent premium economy pricing on BA.com and other search engines.
When I search on BA.com for availability of reward flights, it shows zero availability on this route for the entire month of December and January.
1. I currently have zero Avios. I don't want to convert my UR to Avios (yet) because the transfer is non-refundable. Is the zero-balance the reason I can't see any availability?
2. Is the conversion of UR to Avios one-to-one?
3. What are the estimated fuel surcharges on this route? I've heard they can be nasty.
1. Not sure. But although you can't (yet) search for Premium Economy award-seat availability on BA flights at aa.com, you can search for award availability in all other cabins. Try an award search at aa.com -- no log-in required -- and see if it likewise shows no availability on that route in any class for December/January. Or call the BAEC Service Center, and ask them to search for you.
2. Yes, 1:1.
3. They are hefty, and they are higher in premium cabins. Try to find a date when Premium Economy
is available at ba.com to get an idea of the surcharges. You don't even have to find an award flight; you should be able to see a breakdown of fare, surcharges, and taxes on a regular cash ticket.
If you are able to find a decent Premium Economy cash fare for your desired dates of travel, you might get more value from your UR points simply by using them to purchase one or two cash tickets through Chase's travel portal.