neuromancer

The problem is not only living at the outstation. The problem are also 100000s points and 241s given for free to anybody, who signs up for a credit card.
I'm living at (500km to) an outstation, and it wasn't difficult to get seats to/from LHR almost anytime I want (+-2 days). The difficulty is earning enough points, as only flying does the trick. So it balances out at the end ;-)

dylanks

Well, for me, living near PHX, it's the only nonstop option to Europe, and I reach status much faster than with AA/US because I fly in paid business or first. Also, the lounge benefit is more useful than upgrades. But I agree for a casual flyer earning miles off of their credit cards, it may not be a good choice of programs. But I wouldn't call that person a frequent flyer...

LifeontheBeach

Others my have mentioned it: could be worth one's while by booking two one way tickets out and in. Or maybe try other Oneworld airlines; their redemption 'fees and taxes' are lower than BA anyway.

peck

It makes perfect sense when you don't bother reading the small print and are gullible enough to believe a few thousand $ spend (which you would have spent anyway) entitles you to an equivalent amount of free airline ticket anywhere, at any time in first

Chuckles

The OP lives in San Diego. BA flies to San Diego. OP wants to fly to Europe. Makes perfect sense to me.

highpeaklad

How are you searching? Don't use the availability map as it doesn't work. Try doing dummy bookings for 2 people then try scrolling forwards/backwards to see if availability turns up.
Have you tried awardnexus ? Free using your flyertalk handle.

siankaan1

Avios are great for US domestic on AA (which includes Mexico and the Caribbean), especially since I live in the middle of the US so the mileage based awards are great, and also for hopping to LON from around Europe. I try to keep 100K or so around for these reasons.

BA.com, however, is 2nd rate. But much better than trying to call them.

h15t0r1an

Probably stating the obvious jschutz but just in case... to find award seats online, first log into ba dot com, then click on Executive Club tab near the top, then on the My Executive Club option. Log in to the Executive Club. Then look for Book a Flight with Avios or Money, on the left hand side of the page about half way down. Use the pulldown to select "Pay with Avios" and not "Pay with money" and not "Pay with money and avios". Then enter the flights you are looking for and click the red Find Flights button. This will ensure you are only searching amongst the available award seats. Doing it this way the only seats that will be shown to you will be available award seats.

To get the hang of this I would suggest you start with an unpopular date like early November, and a route with a lot of planes flying it like JFK LON, to see how it looks. Then search for the start and end point that you might really want then dates you might really want. I'd suggest looking just for the transatlantic flights first, then coming back and looking for the flights from San Diego or wherever you are leaving from, to the international gateway.

When you find seats you want you will be able to book them right then and there on the website. Alternatively call BA quickly with the details of the flights and they will do the booking, there might be a small charge for this.

BA taxes (=co-pay) are mostly a lot higher than American. If you choose London then the 'taxes' that will be added are huge. So after you've checked out the total cost on the website, you might experiment with different places that are not in the UK. This should reduce the taxes a lot but they will still be pretty high. Alternatively as many posters have said, you might find it a lot easier and still quite cost-effective to use your Avios for flights operated by American.

Judy795

Yup, I agree with most everyone. We earn our Avios mostly on the CC. We have used the Companion pass successfully ever since it came out. Living in the DC area, it was easier to book flights, we haven't found much since moving to Fl, although Orlando and Miami might work. So now, we get cheap flight to DC, visit the grandkids, and catch Europe flight at BWI or IAD, usually always CW. We also book the first day the return flight date opens up, and we are flexible with the dates.