2014-01-31

(Today’s post is from Alec, who does award booking at Get Your Getaway.)

It’s finally happening. United is gutting their MileagePlus award chart effective February 1, 2014. Award flight prices are going to be increasing nearly across the board. The hardest hit will be those luxurious premium seats on United’s Star Alliance partners.

This devaluation hurts because MileagePlus has long been my favorite program with its reasonable redemption rates and Star Alliance network. Despite the frustrating changes United has made since the Continental merger, I continued flying United because of MileagePlus. Additionally, I almost always used my Chase Ultimate Rewards with United. Things have to change now.

If you’ve been hoarding United miles, you’re slightly stuck. If you’ve been earning Chase Ultimate Rewards from your Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, Ink Bold® Business Card, or Ink Plus® Business Card to transfer to United though, you have options. (Of course you can also earn Avios through the co-branded British Airways Visa Signature® Card or any Membership Reward earning card)

For many Ultimate Rewards collectors, United was the no brainer airline transfer partner. This is no longer the case. British Airways Avios is officially a contender.

In this post, I’ll briefly explain how Avios work, and what are some good uses for them.

British Airways uses a distance based award chart. Unlike United or American, where an award flight from San Diego to Portland costs the same as an award flight from San Diego to Boston, BA charges you based on actual miles flown.

See the chart below:



There are 2 ways to figure out how many Avios you’ll need for a trip.

The first is using the British Airways Avios calculator.

The second is using the Great Circle Mapper to calculate the distance between 2 city pairs. Then refer to the chart above. I find British Airways’ website unruly so I usually opt for Great Circle Mapper.

When calculating flight distance, each segment of your itinerary must be calculated individually. That means you must account for connections.

For example, Atlanta to Berlin on a direct flight is 4,721 miles. Normally, an award flight of 4,721 miles costs 25,000 Avios in Economy, but because there are no direct OneWorld flights between Atlanta and Berlin, you’d need to calculate your itinerary with connections.



In this case, you could fly 594 miles on American Airlines from Atlanta to Miami. This would cost 4,500 Avios. Flying 4,974 miles on Air Berlin from Miami to Berlin would be 25,000 Avios. In total, Atlanta to Miami to Berlin is 29,500 Avios.

When Avios Are A Better Deal

Avios are especially great for short-haul flights. For example, Dallas to New Orleans is only 4,500 Avios because the distance is less than 650 miles. Redeeming this flight with United or American would be 10,000 or 12,500 miles respectively.

Now that United has devalued their miles, many longer routes with Avios have become attractive as well, but they pose a problem most United flyers will be shocked by: fuel surcharges!

For redemptions on some OneWorld partners, British Airways collects fuel surcharges that can range between$200-$350 per direction! Unless you’re willing to pay this, you should focus your Avios usage on the following airlines which do not incur fuel surcharges:

Aer Lingus

Air Berlin

Alaska Airlines

American Airlines flights within the Caribbean, Central America, North America, and South America

British Airways flights within Europe

LAN

Qantas within Australia

S7

Additionally, to get the most out of Avios, you also should take advantage of where you live. The closer you live to your desired destination the better. For long-haul trips like West Coast to Europe or East Coast to Asia, you’re better off transferring your Ultimate Rewards to United because of United’s generous stopover rules.

Finally, all Avios redemptions from North America to Asia will incur fuel surcharges. This means you can only really justifying burning Avios to Asia if you fly Business or First Class. You’ll still be spending a few hundred dollars on fuel surcharges, but that might be worth it to you to try an amazing First Class product like Cathay Pacific.

Let’s break down some specific examples of when Avios are a winner.

West Coasters

West Coasters should use Avios to get to Hawaii or Mexico while flying Alaska Airlines or American Airlines.



Seattle to Honolulu

Flight Distance: 2,677 miles

Avios Cost: 12,500 Economy, 25,000 Business, 37,500 First

United Cost: 22,500 Economy, 40,000 Business, 50,000 First

As you can see, transferring your Ultimate Rewards to British Airways instead of United is a no brainer here. A Business Class seat with Avios costs nearly the same as a United Economy Class seat!

Los Angeles to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

Flight Distance: 911 miles

Avios Cost: 7,500 Economy, 15,000 Business, 22,500 First

United Cost: 17,500 Economy, 30,000 Business, 40,000 First

Using Avios on this quick hop will save you 20,000 Ultimate Rewards roundtrip in Economy. Plus, you could get a roundtrip in Business for the same amount of Ultimate Rewards as a one-way Business trip with United.

East Coasters

East Coasters should use Avios to get to Europe while flying Aer Lingus or Air Berlin.

New York to Dusseldorf, Germany

Flight Distance: 3,749 miles

Avios Cost: 20,000 Economy, 40,000 Business, 60,000 First

United Cost: 30,000 Economy, 57,500 Business(70,000 on UA Partners), 80,000 First(110,000 on UA Partners)

A roundtrip like this is only 40,000 Avios versus 60,000 United miles in Economy. Sure, Dusseldorf isn’t that interesting a city, but saving 20,000 Ultimate Rewards leaves you enough leftover Avios to take up to 4 intra-Europe flights and still have used less Ultimate Rewards than a simple round trip with United. The savings get even bigger if you fly Business or First Class.

Southerners

Southerners should use Avios to get to Central America, South America, or the Caribbean. They can fly any airline.

Miami to Lima, Peru

Flight Distance: 2,608 miles

Avios Cost: 12,500 Economy, 25,000 Business, 37,500 First

United Cost: 20,000 Economy, 35,000 Business, 45,000 First

You’ll save 15,000 Ultimate Rewards here by using them for a roundtrip Economy flight with Avios. Flying Business Class with Avios is also a great value when you see United’s Economy is only 5,000 less than Avios Business.

Dallas to San Jose, Costa Rica

Flight Distance: 1,776 miles

Avios Cost: 10,000 Economy, 20,000 Business, 30,000 First

United Cost: 17,500 Economy, 30,000 Business, 40,000 First

Here’s a nice cheap itinerary where you can save 15,000 Ultimate Rewards on a roundtrip Economy flight. The Chase Sapphire Preferred sign up bonus alone would be enough to fly 2 people roundtrip to Costa Rica.

Midwesterners

Midwesterners have it good or bad depending on how you look at it. They don’t have the geographic advantages of West Coasters, East Coasters, and Southerners, but they also don’t have the inherent disadvantages. Plus, Chicago is a fantastic hub for getting to many destinations. Ideally though, Midwesterners should fly to Europe on Aer Lingus or Air Berlin. They can also use American Airlines to get to the Caribbean, but not to Europe.

Chicago to Dublin, Ireland

Flight Distance: 3,673 miles

Avios Cost: 20,000 Economy, 40,000 Business, 60,000 First

United Cost: 30,000 Economy, 57,500 Business(70,000 on UA Partners), 80,000 First(110,000 on UA Partners)

This itinerary comfortably fits under the limit of Zone 5 which is the same zone East Coasters can use to get to Europe. Avios is a great bargain here even if you’re not interested in visiting Ireland. For example, this is a great way to get to London without incurring British Airways fuel surcharges on the trans-Atlantic flight. Instead, fly Aer Lingus to Dublin, and then connect to London on either Aer Lingus or British Airways at a cost of just 4,500 Avios in Economy.

Chicago to Montego Bay, Jamaica

Flight Distance: 1,721 miles

Avios Cost: 10,000 Economy, 20,000 Business, 30,000 First

United Cost: 17,500 Economy, 30,000 Business, 40,000 First

The itinerary here is a 15,000 to 20,000 Ultimate Rewards savings on a roundtrip flight compared to United. Why not use those savings to bring an extra friend along for the ride?

What If You Don’t Live In an International Hub?

As you certainly noticed from my examples, all the American airports I picked are large international hubs with direct flights to their destinations. This is because British Airways Avios are set up to benefit those who can fly direct.

If you can’t fly direct to your destination, you need to do a deeper analysis to decide whether British Airways or United is the right transfer partner for you. In some cases, it might even make sense to overpay to travel with United miles because you’ll have more connection, stopover, and open jaw options.

Need Help?

Finding and booking award flights can be a time-consuming and frustrating process. If you’d like to hire a professional to do it for you. click here to learn about the Award Booking Concierge.

 

(Disclaimer: Noobtraveler receives a referral credit for the cards mentioned in this post, and if you make an award booking through the site listed. I’m very grateful for your support!)

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