flytoski

Hi All,

I have 160,000 Avios ready to be used. Now that they're going to be devalued on April 28, I would love to get a trip on the books. My 2015 travel goal is South America, particularly Buenos Aires & Patagonia if possible, but I'm not partial to anything other than getting maximize value out of my points.

I would really appreciate any recommendations on great places where Avios will get a lot of value. I'm hoping to do about 2 weeks over Thanksgiving, and need to start and end my journey in NYC.

Thank you!

SpammersAreScum

Seems straightforward enough. AA has non-stop overnight flights JFK-EZE / EZE-JFK. Right now, aa.com shows MileSaaver Award seats are available on those flights during the days you want. The distance is 5282 miles each way, so you would need 50,000 Avios for the round trip in Econ. Double that for Business Class (and it's apparently triple on the new chart!).

From there, LAN and TAM would get you to Patagonia, Iguazu Falls, Chile, Brazil, etc.

Greenpen

I really think you are looking at this the wrong way around - even for a FlyerTalker! South America is a whole continent so try and narrow down what you want to see and do first. Two weeks may seem a long time but if you travel round you won't get to many places.

You will need to use the major gateways like Buenos Aires, Santiago or Rio/San Paulo to get there but then LAN/TAM can be booked if you want to travel further and can find the availability.

I expect Thanksgiving is a major American festival so redemptions from NY will go quickly, or will they if everyone goes home to Mom and Pop?

guv1976

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry: BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.1030 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/417)

(Deleted.)

guv1976

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry: BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.1030 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/417)

If you plan to travel in Economy Class, you need not worry about the upcoming devaluation: it will only affect premium-cabin travel on flights that exceed 2,000 miles.

flytoski

Hey! Thanks. I am slowly learning, but still a novice for sure. I'm a novice because I thought you could only check for AA flights using Avios on the British Airways site, where I haven't had luck finding availability. How does one book using AA? Can I find availability on AA's website and then call BA reservations line?

HIDDY

Just be careful when checking on the AA site that any MileSaaver availability shown is direct and not via MIA/DFW. It'll cost more with a connection.

I've rarely found availability when I've looked at that route although I always search for two seats in J.

Ldnn1

While this is usually true, it's not always the case, as sometimes the bands can work in your favour. See Prospero's excellent guide here which shows e.g. JFK-MIA-LIM costs the same as JFK-LIM. This can be useful if availability is scarce on the non-stops.

This won't usually work in J because the domestics price in F (so are more expensive). However if OP doesn't mind flying the domestic in Y and then connecting onto international J, it may open up some more options.

HIDDY

Yes but he's not going to LIM.

MIA-LIM/GYE-EZE as two separate redemptions also works out cheaper than MIA-EZE direct.

Schultzois

If you might consider Brazil to be a part of the trip, then there are considerably more nonstops between AA and JJ into GRU and GIG as compared to only one daily nonstop on AA into EZE. From both of these airports its usually not hard to get Avios redemptions onward to EZE (or AEP) using JJ, LA or QR.

If Patagonia is the main concern, then the LA flight to SCL and then connection to PUQ positions you quickly and easily to explore the Chilean side of Patagonia.

Just some thoughts - what you end up doing is likely to depend on what routes you can find availability on. In addition to looking for individual segments on BA.com (often it doesn't come up with connection options when partners are involved), you can look on AA.com (for AA flights only, I think) or on the LAN site for their availability (which usually doesn't show up on BA.com).

I'm not sure how reliably to find JJ availability, but I've often had it show up (at least for individual segments) when looking on BA.com

SpammersAreScum

You're supposed to be able to use Avios on any flight that has Milesaaver availability on AA. So confirm that on AA.com then redeem using BA; if you find you can't get the flights on BA.com, you'd have to call BA.

Other responders have pointed out that you have to be careful about routing because you have to redeem Avios per leg. That's why I specifically noted availability on the JFK-EZE non-stops, as flying (say) JFK-MIA-EZE would require more Avios. Keep that in mind as you plan, and be aware -- as others have noted -- that the award availability could go away...