January 17, 2011

Some best uses of British Airway miles

Many people have mentioned one of the best mileage redemption of using BA miles is with  BOGO redemption certificate, which you can redeem miles required for one person, but fly 2. However, you need to have BA US or UK credit card and spending certain amount in order to get this certificate and pay high fuel surcharges and fees(more than $ 1000 per ticket(if stopover in UK to EU beyond). I know, 2 first class for $1000*2 is a great deal, but I think there are some other good ways to use BA miles too

British airways have 4 different kinds of redemption, BA only, BA+1 partner, 1 partner only and oneworld distance award.  what I will talk about is 1 partner only award.

BA awards allow UNLIMITED en route stopovers,  when I say unlimited, it’s truly unlimited, although the T&C mentioned most direct routing applies, well, the actual outcome depends on your luck with booking agent on the phone.

All award lists below are one way amount,  R/T just double, First class on 3 cabin X3

1 Using on Lan for North America to South America or within South America or South America domestic， North to South America one way Economy is 20000 , business is 40000, within South America one way is 12500, business is 25000, South America domestic economy is 10000, business 20000.

2 From Europe to USA/Europe to Hawaii or Central America/USA domestic, if you want to tour USA using BA miles on AA. From EU zone 1 to USA Economy one way 25000, Business one way 50000.  include Hawaii or Central America? Same amount. Just want USA domestic+Canada? Economy one way is 12500, business is 25000. welcome to America!

3 India domestic. Kingfisher Airways will join Oneworld soon, they have the best India domestic network, never been to India, no problem, Economy one way is 10000, business is 20000

4 Russia domestic, please check here

5 Japan domestic, Japan Airline. You can travel all the way from Sapporo to Naba. One way economy 7500, Business 15000.

6 Australia domestic on Qantas. Same thing, enjoy your tour in Australia, Economy one way 15000, Business 30000.

7 North America to Far East on CX, AA or JAL, 25K in Y, 50K in business one way. touring America to China/Japan or touring Japan from US or JFK-YYZ-HKG-xxx in Far East on CX

When planing your trip, try to plan with one direction, I am not saying you can’t get it done in one award with backtracking(there are people have done with serious backtracking), but it will be a lot easier to convince a agent to issue the ticket. Also, since award can be booked in one way, you can stop diff cities on your way back.

Please note: all above redemption collects fuel surcharge with exception of LAN, but I think the actul pay off are much more better than YQ, even in Economy class.

reader a1l613 reporst, BA doesn’t charge YQ for s7 redemption

Also, it’s still unclear whether BA charges  YQ on AA or not. I know they don’t charge them before, but now AA charges BA, BA should also charge AA. online redemption still showing no YQ, unclear about phone booking

Posted by Troy under American Airlines, Award redemption, British Airways, Oneworld, Other Airline Reward Programs | 18 Comments to Read

  1. Nabeel Jafferali said,

    You didn’t mention North America to Far East, 25K one-way in Y. That’ potentially CX YYZ-HKG-KUL one-way for 25K in Y.

  2. Troy said,

    @ Nabeel, haha, I forgot, I actually mentioned in my Chinese blog because I thought American people don’t need tour America. :P

  3. al613 said,

    I don’t think they collect YQ on S7. Also, they don’t collect YQ on AA within US or to Asia.

  4. Rick said,

    I believe BOGO certificates are only good on BA metal.

  5. Karen said,

    Hi Troy,

    What route will you recommend if I like to fly from Boston to Beijing and stopover in Hong Kong on either way in or out? Also is it possible to stop in Hawaii?

    Thanks!

  6. Troy said,

    @ a1l613, thanks for infor on S7, but for AA YQ, it’s still unclear, I know they don’t charge them before, but now AA charges BA, so BA should also charge AA, but it seems like online booking still no fuel, but phone booking maybe yes.

  7. Troy said,

    @Karen, using British airways miles? yes, if you buy a ticket from BOS to New york, then redeem on Cathay to HKG, connect with Dragon air or CX to Beijing. 50K miles for business one, 25K for economy.

    For Hawaii using BA miles? no way in single award, must be 2 separate awards

  8. Euan said,

    Yes the buy one get one free (or 2-4-1) vouchers must be on BA metal.

    One other good use of BA miles is to book a Premium Economy ticket then use miles to upgrade. USA/Canada to UK is only 12,500 miles each way.

  9. Gary said,

    A simple US-London roundtrip will usually run about $725 in total taxes and fuel surcharges, not $1000 and certainly not $1000 in fuel surcharges.

    If it’s US-Europe and not stopping in London taxes/fees drop to about $575 because you don’t pay the premium cabin departure tax (luxury tax / UK APD).

    Stop in London on North America – South Africa then sure the out of pocket total, with fuel surcharges and UK APD and taxes will exceed $1000.

    US-South America is a great value, as is North America-Asia on Cathay, taxes/fees are quite reasonable when redeeming on Cathay (usually a couple hundred $$ apiece).

  10. Damaxer said,

    If BA really does charge Fuel Surcharges on CX redemption, they are significantly lower than any other airline. YYZ/JFK-HKG is approx $90 and the reverse isn’t much more

  11. Karen said,

    Thanks! Troy.

  12. Damaxer said,

    Also, dont forget that when booking BOS-PEK, you will need to book BOS-JFK/YYZ/LAX/SFO/ORD separately if you want to still get if for 50k/75k as only one airline is allowed (CX)

  13. Mark said,

    I have a 2-4-1 certificate and would love to use it NA (SFO)with “unlimited stopover” to FAR East. If BOGO requires BA only metal then this does not seem to make sense despite the main post. What an I missing?

  14. Karen said,

    Thanks for that info, Damaxer.

  15. S7 airlines join Oneworld and available for award redemption using AA miles, but - TMtravelworld said,

    [...] Easter Island from Chile as part of south Pacific award, but remember few days ago I talked about British Airways miles?I think they will not separate Russian for award redemption, just like Easter Island is part of [...]

  16. British Airways Credit Card 100K signup bonus is back(Apr 6th afternoon) - TMtravelworld said,

    [...] you don’t know where to burn these miles, I wrote “Some best uses of British Airway miles” few months ago, hopefully can give you some better idea [...]

  17. sayeah said,

    CX and KA are counted as 1 partner or 2?

  18. Troy said,

    @sayeah, should be counted as 1

    19. Add A Comment

home top