Originally Posted by
Zeromus-X
Well that makes things pretty easy then. Definitely no MileSAAver fares showing (May 26-30).
Even still; outside of this example, is there a general guide for these? Like, “Check BA if flying domestic US less than 1,500 miles”, “Check Qantas if you want a free layover”, “Check United for flat rate business class transcon”, etc? (None of those are likely true, just using examples.)
Well, you can certainly pull up BA's redemption table for travel on AA, recognizing that BA charges extra for each flight flown (i.e., connections are
not free). There are some distance bands where a BA redemption on an AA nonstop will cost less than an AA MileSAAver redemption on the same flight. The problem these days is that AA sometimes offers "Web Special" awards that cost substantially
less than a MileSAAver award. Here's an example of trans-continental travel on AA for just 6,000 AA miles in Economy:
By contrast, redeeming BA Avios for a "Reward Flight Saver" nonstop between the U.K. and the rest of Europe can offer far better value than redeeming AA miles for the same flight.
Each frequent-flyer "currency" has its own pluses and minuses, so it's probably best just to ask here whenever you are contemplating a particular redemption. (There are award-booking services which will, for a fee, try to maximize the value you get from your miles on a particular trip.)