BA's fees are particularly high when departing the US. I suppose we should be grateful as the ease of making miles in US on credit cards means redemptions would be hard to come by without the cash element being in place. A constant complaint on US airlines is lack of reward space. BA has some excellent avíos sweet spots in RFS in Europe and some routes where the fees are lower or zero. HK and Brazil as mentioned above.

Some airlines offer miles only redemptions but many of these are dynamic pricing now. I looked at using some Aeromexico miles and in the dates I wanted it was 160k each way in J from Mexico to London. I'd have to spend a lot more than the BA fees to earn that many miles to get it for "free".

Each system will work for some but not for others. BA's system is not good for US market, but better for others.

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