jwestbury

I've searched but cannot find any help, please excuse my lack of experience. I want to use some Avios points to fly on partner American Airlines from Atlanta to San Francisco ... cannot find anywhere on the British Airways flight how I can do this. Very frustrating to book using partner carriers.

Any idea how I can do this? Have been all over the site today and am completely exhausted. Your help is incredibly appreciated.

I get the feeling BA just doesn't want to make the option very user friendly.

Yoshi212

You're going to need to connect via one of the AA hubs or focus cities to do this which tends to be a lesser value for Avios as the two segments each come with a distanced based formula.

You log into your Executive Club account>Book a Reward Flight>do search.

MADPhil

You have to start by logging into BA. Then select Spending Avios and follow the links. There have to be SAAver awards available and you may find the search function on the AA web site easier to use. With luck you will then find the flights offered by BA.

guv1976

Note that ba.com sometimes has trouble displaying available AA award seats when connecting flights are involved. So if aa.com shows a connection involving SAAver seats and ba.com does not, a call to a BAEC Service Center -- with a request to waive the telephone-booking fee -- might be required.

jwestbury

Thanks so much for the speedy reply and assistance. It seems that they just don't make it easy. I constantly found availability on AA but BA said no availability
.
So frustrating.

golfmad

Just to make it a little more complicated, for that route you may be best fly with Alaska Airlines ATL-SEA-SFO but you can't book this online.

You can check availability online on AA.com by clicking on Redeem Miles and searching for your journey. If you want to select Alaska Airlines (AS) flights there's a Wiki in the thread linked below that will tell you all you need to know.

Booking Alaska Airlines with Avios

Good luck.

Yoshi212

What level is the availability you're seeing on AA? It needs to be the sAAver level for the BA award. If you're seeing sAAver awards on AA but not on BA give BA a call and then once they find it request a phone booking fee waiver as you weren't able to book this online.
You may be making this more complicatedin your mind than it needs to be.

tai4de2

If it were me I'd be looking for ATL-DFW-SFO -- more direct, and maybe easier to book in BA's site(?). DFW is a huge AA hub and there are many flights per day between it and each of ATL and SFO.

jwestbury

Thanks, I was looking at Businesses Saver on AA and good availability on days before and after. Nothing showed on BA for entire month.

i'm trying to be patient and will try the Alaska Air option, had not thought of that. I only have 100,000 miles but am wondering if it is even worth it. I got them 2 yrs ago in a very short promotional window to sign up for their CitiBank credit card. I go to LHR now and then but being hard headed, refuse to pay several hundred $$$ for fuel surcharge on a "free" ticket. Use DL instead with only $20 or so in fees. Time to cancel the card in next few months.

Flying Virgin Atlantic to LHR from here in ATL next year, may see how easy availability is to hop over to the Continent.

appreciate all the feedback.

corporate-wage-slave

Remember to check sector by sector, and that AS will need a telephone call. But also watch the expiry date on the Avios (if they are in a BAEC account). Domestic AA flights isn't quite the bargain it was on BAEC but particularly for a point to point sector they remain excellent value. Also if you are heading to Asia, the use on Cathay remains top notch, and across the Atlantic the fees on Aer Lingus and Air Berlin are more reasonable. Finally Avios can be transferred to Iberia's scheme, and after a few months of membership you can use them there. IB+ fees can be more moderate. Lots more on this via the Stickies and Dashboard.

beltway

Authoritative info in the wiki at http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/briti...es-awards.html.

marc_vila

i have booked a flight on AA US to Caribbean using avíos. I’m EXP, I am eligible to get a complimentary upgrade? Or I won’t qualify because the ticket is issued by BA?
thanks!

theboss7593

As everyone is aware for the past month or so you cannot book aa awards on avios online because of some IT error. Calling in has been fairly simple but time consuming. Today took a WHOPPING 1 hour 54 minutes to get a rep on the line.... They really need to get a fix going soon...

Sydneyjb

It took me 3 hours today, hold time and bad rep, to complete a simple AA booking. The agent even told me the glitch was fixed. NOT ! They even had to get a supervisor to wave the $25.00 phone fee. Bad customer service to say the least.

Tafflyer