Originally Posted by
Scotttyd
Maybe this is a newbie question - but I am confused on what the difference is? I can find partner awards on BA.com (for example RDU to LHR then on to somewhere lese) but when I type in RDU on avios.com it only gives three US desintations as option to even search (JFK, BOS, and PHL). I thought avios.com was BA's booking site for award tickets? I know the IAG group uses avios and you can move the avios between them, but now I guess I am confused which site searches what?
Avios.com used to be a standalone program separate from BAEC and not associated with an airline (for a while, it even had the "IATA code" CJ despite this).
The taxes and fees for a redemption were often different between BAEC and avios.com.
Then avios.com stopped being a standalone program, but the website became the platform for EI and VY's FFPs.
Now QR and AY have joined and they kept their own websites rather than using avios.com's platform. They also have slightly different redemption rates and taxes/fees to BA and IB.
For US to Europe flights I think I would search on BA.com as well as Aer Lingus and Finnair, you will then get a hang of what the rates are like and the options on offer