In what might be the latest sign that TAM is prepping for a switch over to oneworld, TAM announced via their Facebook page that they are moving in with AA (and LAN) at JFK Terminal 8. They’ll join American, American Eagle, Air Berlin, Finnair, Jet Airways, LAN, and Qatar who already run their operations from T8. In other exciting T8 news, British Airways flight 116 (B777) to London will depart from T8 from March 4- 30, while BA executes a redevelopment plan over at T7. American has announced several times over the past few years that they are “exploring co-locating British Airways at JFK Terminal 8 for easier passenger connections to oneworld partners”. However, I wouldn’t expect any move until 2015 at the earliest, which is when BA’s lease on T7 expires. AA would also need to get approval and complete the original build-out plans for T8 in order to accommodate BA.

In response to my post last week, Why the British Airways Card Offer Still Makes Sense,  I’ve received several emails asking for recommendations on uses of Avios points for long-haul flights, unfortunately there aren’t many of value!  Again, I’d take a look back at that post for short and medium haul options that present a much higher return on your points.  However, in this post we’ll take a look at a few of the long-haul options.

Given the outrageous surcharges on flights to Europe, redemptions from North America to South America are a great value with no fuel surcharges on any LAN or American operated flights.

JFK – EZE (Buenos Aires, Argentina) or GRU (Sao Paulo, Brazil) or GIG (Rio, Brazil) on American-> 25,000 each way in coach (2X in Business and 3X in first) and $23.70 in charges.

JFK – LIM (Lima, Peru) on LAN -> 20,000 each way in coach (2X in Business and 3X in first) and $45.70 in charges

JFK – SCL (Santiago, Chile) on LAN -> 25,000 each way in coach (2X in Business and 3X in first) and $23.70 in charges

Another decent value proposition are Cathay and JAL awards to Asia.  On these redemptions it’s important to keep in mind that  AA awards normally require fewer miles on these routes and BA charges surcharges on both carriers.

YVR – HKG (Hong Kong) on Cathay -> 30,000 each way in coach or 60,000 in Business and $186.39 in charges

These same one-way flights on the exact date were $5130 in Business and $2989 in Coach.  If purchasing round-trip the flights were $8297 in Business and $5960 in Coach.

YVR – NRT (Tokyo, Japan) on JAL -> 25,000 each way in coach or 50,000 in Business and $337.29 in charges 

These same one-way flights on the exact date are $4989 in Business and $1029 in Coach.  If purchasing round-trip the flights were $5067 in Business and $1649 in Coach. While neither the HKG or NRT option are the best use of your points, they do present a significant savings if you were to outright purchase a business class fare. As stated in the short-haul post, it’s also important to set a value for the BA Avios points you’ve received. One should keep in mind that essentially only a $95 annual fee was paid for the 100,000 Avios points.

Now, it seems that almost all of the emails I received want to know better ways to redeem their points to Europe for a summer holiday.  Take a look back in the short-haul post for the Aer Lingus redemption options, which are by far the best value for your Avios points when redeeming for Europe, thanks to One Mile at a Time for the info.  However, let’s see just how bad the BA redemptions are…

BOS – VCE (Venice, Italy) flying on BA or Iberia -> 55,000 each way in business + $439.48 or 27,500 each way in Coach and $290.67 in charges

These same ROUND-TRIP flights on the exact same mid summer dates are $3780 in Business and $1366 in Coach.  At the one way prices above, you’d be using your miles AND paying $878.96 in Business and $581.34 for Coach.  A savings of $2901.04 in Business but only $784.66 in Coach.  At these levels I’d definitely advise against coach, however business is not a horrible deal.  Yes, you are spending $878 for a ticket but the same ticket would cost almost $4000 on these dates.  For those of you really wanting to fly business to Europe this summer, it’s not a horrible value. Keep in mind the value proposition changes based on the city you are flying into.  Venice is one of the most popular tourist destinations.  Let’s take a look at Rome…

JFK  – FCO (Rome, Italy) flying on BA or Iberia-> 55,000 each way in business + $456.40 or 27,500 each way in Coach and $301.40 in charges

These same ROUND-TRIP flights on the exact same mid summer dates are $2841 in Business and $1359 in Coach.  At the one way prices above, you’d be using your miles AND paying $912.80 in Business and $602.80 for Coach.  A savings of $1928.20 in Business but only $756.20 in Coach.  At these levels I’d probably forgo both options, however similar to what I mentioned above, for those set on flying business to Europe this summer it isn’t horrible.  You will be paying $912.80 for a business class round-trip ticket to Europe during the prime tourist season.  Again, if you accumulated these points by signing up for the BA card, you’ve only spent $95 out of pocket.

To conclude, I’ll continue to use my Avios points for the short hops to the Caribbean and Hawaii as well as to South America (and potentially Asia).  However, when redeeming for business tickets on select routes, you can certainly make a European trip this summer work for you.

Does anyone have any other enticing long-haul options using Avios?

As many have already mentioned, Chase has finally brought back the 100,000 sign-up bonus offer for the British Airways Visa Signature Card.  Unfortunately, the spending requirements are significantly steeper than the previous 2011 offers and many feel that the switch from BA miles to Avios points (the new mileage currency at BA) has already watered down the value of each point earned.  However, there is still great value to be had with this offer, especially for short haul domestic travelers who would normally feel guilty redeeming their miles for such trips, international business travelers looking to take a weekend trip from their foreign based work location, international leisure travelers seeking to add another leg to their trip, and North American travelers looking to score a  getaway to the Caribbean or Hawaii.

The Short Haul Guilty Redeemers

One of the most common pieces of advice I give to friends, family, and JuicyMiles.com clients is to never waste their miles on short haul domestic trips.  I  even chastise those who request assistance booking a New York to Florida trip, instead supplying them with a cost / benefit analysis of their proposed mileage redemption compared to the cost of a purchased itinerary. Except for rare last minute travel, the value proposition in redeeming for short haul trips is normally appalling.  In full disclosure, I only redeem my personal miles for business or first class international travel, usually on airlines I normally wouldn’t have the opportunity to travel on.  I also redeem my miles for family vacations every holiday season to the Caribbean.  While this may appear to be a contradiction, 35,000 AAdvantage miles to the Caribbean is a great value when taking into account roundtrip flight prices during winter break.  With the Avios distance based redemptions, short-haul travelers no longer need to feel guilty when redeeming points for domestic itineraries. I took a look at some of the redemptions I’ve recently assisted with and compared them to standard program costs:

New York – Miami

Cost using American AAdvantage MileSAAver Award -> 25,000 roundtrip

Cost when booked with BA Avios -> 15,000 roundtrip

Dallas – Cancun, Mexico

Cost using American AAdvantage MileSAAver Award -> 35,000 roundtrip

Cost when booked with BA Avios -> 15,000 roundtrip

New York – Toronto

Cost using American AAdvantage MileSAAver Award -> 25,000 roundtrip

Cost when booked with BA Avios -> 9,000 roundtrip

Avios required can be calculated on BA’s website using their calculator.  Remember that while the distance-based system makes short-haul trips  more reasonable, it has increased the points required on several medium and long-haul routes.  More on ways around this in a later post…

Weekend Trips and Add-Ons for International Travelers

Business Travelers

Another great use of Avios is for last minute travel when working abroad.  Let’s say you are working in London and want to explore another location in Europe for the weekend.  You may have no idea if you can take that weekend trip until late Thursday night and by that time even the discount airlines like Ryanair and EasyJet have outrageous prices.  The same goes for travelers in other OneWorld cities who need to book last minute travel when low fares have all but disappeared.   I’ve been able to book several short hop trips from work locations to destinations all over Europe using the distance based awards we discussed above.  Some recent bookings include:

London, UK – Nice, France

Cost when booked with BA Avios -> 4,500 – 9,000 roundtrip (depending on how much tax you want to pay).

Helsinki, Finland – Moscow, Russia

Cost when booked with BA Avios -> 9,000 roundtrip

Madrid, Spain – Marrakech, Morocco

Cost when booked with BA Avios -> 15,000 roundtrip

Leisure Travelers

Leisure travelers can use the same approach if they decide last minute that they want to tack on an additional trip to their itinerary.  Consider:

Quito, Ecuador – Lima, Peru

Cost when booked with BA Avios -> 15,000 roundtrip

Sydney, Australia – Melbourne, Australia

Cost when booked with BA Avios -> 9,000 roundtrip

*For both business and leisure travelers, it’s important to review the prices for both the full service and low cost discount carriers on the route prior to utilizing these short-hop awards*

Hawaii & The Caribbean

For those of you on the West Coast, Avios offers some great redemption options to Hawaii:

Los Angeles – Kahului/Maui, Kona, or Honolulu

Cost using AAdvantage MileSAAver Award -> 45,000 (peak) and 35,000 (off peak)

Cost when booked with BA Avios -> 25,000 roundtrip

New York – St. Thomas, Antigua, St. Kitts, San Juan, or Turks & Caicos

Cost using AAdvantage MileSAAver Award -> 35,000 (peak) and 25,000 (off peak)

Cost when booked with BA Avios -> 20,000 roundtrip

I’ll soon be posting about some decent long-haul opportunities that still exist using Avios for business and first class travel.  In the meantime, check out Lucky’s blog post on a great deal using BA partner, Aer Lingus, to get to Europe from North America for 25,000 points in coach or 50,000 points in business.

NYC Dining Credits – MY FAVORITE NON MILEAGE PERK OF THE CARD!

If you are in the NYC area there is another great reason to get the card, the MICHELIN $100 back dining offer.  Essentially, you can use the card at any NYC MICHELIN star-rated restaurant through July 31^st and receive a $50 credit after you dine once and another $50 statement credit upon your second use as long as your bill is $50 or more.  I took advantage of this offer in 2011 and now again in 2012.  The offer itself completely offsets the $95 annual fee for the card.  You can also book your tables online at opentable.com to earn those points as well.  Check out the offer here.

The Card Specifics

• The offer is initially good through June 7, 2012.  You’ll receive:
  • 50,000 bonus Avios after your first use of the card.
  • 25,000 bonus Avios after you make $10,000 in purchases within the first year of account opening.
  • An additional 25,000 bonus Avios after you make an additional $10,000 in purchases also within the first year of account opening.
  • Bonuses are noted for first time applicants only.
• You can apply directly here, all referrals are very much appreciated.
• The card includes smart chip technology and no foreign transaction fees (something I’ve taken full advantage of).
• You earn 2.5 Avios for every $1 spent on British Airways purchases, and 1.25 Avios for every $1 spent on all other purchases.
• The card comes with Visa Signature benefits including extended warranty coverage and purchase protection.
• The annual fee is not waived and is $95