BA Avios target amount: advice sought by relative newbie on achieving it
 

Firstly, many thanks indeed for reading this -- I do appreciate it.

Cutting to the chase, would anyone possibly be able to give me advice on the following? Basically, I am trying to reach a set target amount of BA Avios in quite short order -- ideally, within the next 3-4 weeks. The target amount is 250,000 Avios -- basically, 2 x tickets for my partner and I, each costing 125k Avios per ticket.

The story so far...

• 143,000 Avios is my current balance.
• I could possibly come by another 27,000 in the next 3 weeks.
• This still leaves me 80,000 Avios shy of my target and the reward seats for the dates I had in mind are fast evaporating (that might sound all too familiar! :)).

I just wondered if there were any ways/tricks/wheezes to come by 80,000 Avios in a very short time frame, free or paid-for (at least, at a price which wouldn't be breaking the bank)? I suspect not beyond credit card sign-up bonuses? Unless hotel points purchases then converted into Avios might be a viable route?

Being a relative newbie to Avios/Airmiles collecting, as I say -- I have been doing this for less than year all told, you see -- then, because I have read about a few mild horror stories with regard to BA "household" accounts, then I have yet to enter into a household account with my partner (who I live with). However, whilst she doesn't have quite the same amount as Avios as I do, she has just earned 19,000 on her new BAPP card and she also has about 10,000 Amex Membership points left. Unlike myself (who has already used up my full quota of paid-for BA Avios points), she has yet to purchase any Avios herself, so that route would still be open to her.

Should anyone have any suggestions/advice about the most cost-effective route to accumulating another 80,000 Avios in quite short order, I would be most appreciative -- all replies would be gratefully received!

Many thanks once again for reading.

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

What route? Avios are not the only currency that can be used for oneworld redemptions. And they are often not the cheapest. ;)

Maybe you could also tell us what you plan to use these Avios for. Accumulating 80,000 Avios within four weeks is pretty much impossible. Credit card spend/bonuses/approvals almost certainly won't post that quickly, even if you are approved. The reason for asking what you want to use them for (and when) is that the availability you are seeing now may disappear overnight, or in a week. I'd be very skeptical about waiting four weeks and expecting the seats to still be there.

Buy some? Well there is an annual cap but should get you some.

https://www.avios.com/gb/en_gb/my-ac...-or-gift-avios

If transferring MR do it ASAP before the transfer ratio gets worse

As this is a topic specifically related to British Airways, we'll go ahead and move this over to the British Airways forum for further discussion.

jackal
Moderator, Information Desk

I note you say that your partner has a BAPP. I'm assuming that you've already considered attacking the problem from an alternative angle and obtaining and then using the 2-4-1 (so you'd already have sufficient Avios for you both) and this won't work for you for whatever reason (e.g. can't hit the required spend in time, your flights will not all be operated by BA, it isn't a trip starting in the UK etc.)?

+1. You may well be better off buying AA miles, either for the whole redemption or one-way.

See here for info on the current AA buy miles offer and their credit card sign-up bonus:

http://www.headforpoints.com/2015/07...-circle-offer/

Why do you say that. Are there rumours that this could be in the pipeline?

It's more than rumors for US AMEX card holders.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...l#post25108079

Thanks so much to all -- I really do appreciate it and it's all very enlightening for someone like me.

I was trying to book 2 x one-way redemptions from Australia to London. I appreciate that I'm cutting it fine timewise (we're trying to go in mid-Jan 2016, hence the need to try to have enough Avios to redeem asap, but, quite probably, I have left it far too late).

Thank you all, though, for the above replies. It's quite a community here, I'm discovering, and I genuinely appreciate all your help/comments! So thank you.

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

For a one-way from Australia to Europe in Business Class, AA charges 60,000 miles per person; First Class costs 80,000 miles. Rate is the same even if connections are needed in Asia, and even if you mix carriers (like QF and CX).

Avoid BA and IB metal, and you'll pay no surcharges on an AAdvantage award.

When AA runs a sale, you should be able to pick up miles for about 2.1 U.S. cents apiece. But AA will only sell miles to those whose AAdvantage accounts have been open for at least 30 days. So you and your partner should visit aa.com and open your free AAdvantage accounts immediately, if you think there is any likelihood of your wanting to buy AA miles in the future.

Many thanks for this, Guv1976.

Please pardon my excruciating ignorance here :confused: (sorry! It's just that I have not tried to redeem via AA before, although I do have an AA FF account already:- are you saying, Guv1976, that it would actually be possible for me to use my accrued BA Avios via/on the AA website in order to book reward seats (assuming that there is reward seat availability, that is)? i.e. that I could log on to the AA website and somehow use my BA Avios to book seats on AA or even CX/QF?

Again, sorry for being utterly dense here!

Thank you again!

No, he is saying that you should buy 60,000 AA miles per person and redeem them for a one way Business Class seat.

As there are no fuel surcharges on AA miles redemptions, the net cost won't be as bad as you think (as your Avios redemption on the same flights will incur big fuel surcharges) and of course you retain the Avios for alternative use.

Availability Aust London mid Jan 2016 will be a major issue. Is a peak time.
Look at MEL/SYD/BNE to LHR/LGW/MAN/EDI and not just SYD-LHR
OW airlines Aust-UK are BA QF QR CX JL MH (via there home airports)

125,000 avios is enough for a direct off-peak SYD-LHR flight in business.

There is currently no availability on BA during January 2016 for this, so you've already missed the boat (unless you hope for additional seats released last minute or cancellations).

So, your other option is either to book connecting flights through HKG/SIN/KUL/DXB for example which will require a significant amount more avios to travel business under the new award pricing.

You will still be paying £400+ per person in fuel surcharges, taxes, fees, etc.

Your other options are buying AA miles for one/both tickets as already stated.