Hello,

First of all I have about 60K AMEX miles which I need to get out of immediately. Looking for the best option to transfer to, potentially for travel to either:

--> South America
--> Australia/New Zeeland
--> Europe

(in this order).

I have read a number of threads that discuss different options and how to maximize the points however I don't see some of the offers being current (such as the BA 40% bonus which would make it a very beneficial use of points).

From my other travels I have some points in the following:

United Mileage Plus (about 20K points)
Delta (about 25K points)
Korean Air (about 15K points)
Emirates (about 15K points)

Can anybody advise on how I can look for the best option(s) considering my goals above?

Many thanks.

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The answer might depend on what city you will be departing from.

Sorry -- Boston is the home city.

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BA Avios can be useful when traveling from BOS to South America on AA/LA. You would connect at JFK, MIA, or DFW, and BA does not assess surcharges on AA/LA flights within the Americas. Note that if you have both AA and LA on the same award itinerary, BA will charge you the (usually) higher multi-partner redemption rate. You can avoid this by booking the AA flight(s) as a separate award from the LA flight(s). AA will protect you in the case of a missed connection when connecting between AA and LA, even on separate award tickets.

Award flights on EI from BOS to DUB/SNN are a bargain with Avios: only 12,500 Avios one way in Coach, with minuscule surcharges.

Thanks for the spoonfeeding -- I appreciate it. Looks like Avios is probably the best current option.

Separately, I realized that I have some Chase points as well -- I assume those can be transferred to Avios without any issues?

One other question -- I created an avios/executive club account on BA and I wanted to see typical Boston - Dublin flights for 12.5K miles on each leg; I put some presumptuous dates in May 2014 and all I got were flights for about $700 each way?

Also all these Boston - Dublin flights were connecting in London so I assume it'd be more expensive than a direct Boston - Dublin?

Is there a trick? Do I need to have points in my Avios account (currently it has 0 points since I just registered)?

Thank you once again.

Separately I tried going to:

https://www.britishairways.com/trave...s#CalculatePod

Basically the Avios calculator, and put in BOS-DUB and got:

Avios required Money Additional charges
24500
$ 0.00
$ 310.88 taxes, fees and carrier charges
20000
$ 65.00
$ 310.88 taxes, fees and carrier charges
16600
$ 105.00
$ 310.88 taxes, fees and carrier charges
13300
$ 145.00
$ 310.88 taxes, fees and carrier charges
10800
$ 175.00
$ 310.88 taxes, fees and carrier charges
8500
$ 200.00
$ 310.88 taxes, fees and carrier charges


And this is for each leg of the journey? So what am I missing since based on the above I need 24,500 points + $310 to fly each way. On BA's website the flight is $610 each way so I'm getting a very slight discount from the 1 cent per point value of AMEX? I.e. basically getting $300 for 24,500 points?

Or is this the actual calculation?

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The ba.com can only show and book award flights on BA and its oneworld partners. Both AS and EI are BA partners, but neither is a oneworld member. To check availability on EI and book an EI award flight with Avios, you need to call the BAEC Service Centre (and probably pay the $25 telephone-booking fee).

BA's redemption chart is distance-based: both the BOS-DUB and BOS-SNN nonstops on EI are just under 3,000 miles, so cost the same number of Avios as a BOS-LAX nonstop on AA.

Great -- thank you for the explanation.

Is there any website which would show the best options for going out of one particular city? For example you've mentioned AS as being able to use BA/Avios points but it's not clear right away what AS flies to for what number of points (unless you know ahead of time to look for this airline).

A website where there's an interactive map -- pick your starting point, and a number of starting AMEX points (say) and it would show you options to travel the globe with a combination of airlines or their affiliates and so on...

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AS is Alaska Airlines, which only flies within North America. I think they have only one or two daily flights out of BOS.

This will solve half of your query: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...ows-based.html

It will show what destinations you can reach with each airline or alliance, given a starting city.

BA is a distance based program, priced per segment. The farther the flight, the more points.

Here's a tip: Almost every airline forum on FT has a "Sticky" thread with general info on using that program's miles/points. For example: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/briti...vios-beta.html - explains what you can buy with an Avios point pretty clearly.

Obviously Avios are a no-brainer if you want to go to Ireland. For most of the rest of Europe, on United or US metal, you can use 43K ANA miles in coach or 63K in business for roundtrip or open jaw with no surcharges. But they do take 2-3 days to transfer from AMEX, and the ANA miles expire in 3 years.

Mileage chart http://www.ana.co.jp/wws/us/e/asw_co...ikeiair_1.html, check route distance at gcmap.com, ANA is priced for the total, not segment-by-segment.

Looks like Avios is probably the best current option.

Yes I just transferred these to Avios as the likelihood of going to Ireland and Britain is high for my wife and I -- on economy 60K points will be about what we need for a return trip from Boston...

Incorrect - you only need 50,000 Avios for a RT from Boston to Ireland (either SNN or DUB) for 2 (25k each). You might also consider flying into one and out of the other and taking the train or renting a car to get around Ireland. A good place to check Aer Lingus availability is on the United airlines website - the mileage amounts will be wrong, but if you just need to see if 2 seats are available, it's the easiest way to check. Then you can call BA and have them book the flights for you.