Get A 30% Bonus When You Transfer AMEX Points Into Avios!

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Josh Hallett [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
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Get A 30% Bonus When You Transfer AMEX Points Into Avios!

You can get a 30% bonus for point transfers from AMEX to BA Avios or Iberia Avios. You can also transfer BA Avios to Aer Lingus Avios, where you can save on fuel surcharges for Aer Lingus, or to Qatar Avios, where you can get expanded QSuites award space.

With this bonus 1,000 AMEX points transfers into 1,300 Avios. This promotion runs through 8/31.

This is only valid for US cardholders.

You can currently earn 75,000 Avios With theBritish Airways Visa Signature® Card

Here is the BA Avios award chart for partner airlines that I’ve put together (as BA still hasn’t published it) for flying on a single partner airline. Rates are for each segment flown. You can search the distance between 2 airports on GCMap.com. For example you can see why a round-trip flight from West Palm Beach to Chicago is cheaper than a flight from Fort Lauderdale to Chicago.

Here is how to receive AA card and elite benefits on Avios tickets.

ZoneFlight DistanceCoachBusinessFirst
1 (Flights that don't touch the USA)1-6506,00012,50024,000
1 (Flights to, from, or within the USA)1-6507,50015,00030,000
2651-1,1519,00016,50033,000
31,152-2,00011,00022,00044,000
42,001-3,00013,00038,75051,500
53,001-4,00020,75062,00082,500
64,001-5,50025,75077,250103,000
75,501-6,50031,00092,750123,750
86,501-7,00036,250108,250144,250
97,001+51,500154,500206,000

About British Airways Avios:

In 2011 BA launched the Avios program and it provides a great value for short-haul flights. Unfortunately their domestic OneWorld partner, American, has been stingy with award availability since they merged with USAirways, but there are still bargains to be had. You can also now book Alaska Airlines awards on BA.com.

  • There are no expedite or close-in fees for last minute award ticket bookings with BA Avios.
  • Earning or redeeming any amount of Avios extends your entire account validity for another 36 months.
  • You can cancel tickets and redeposit miles for the lesser of $55 or the taxes you paid.  That means you pay just $5.60 to cancel a one-way domestic itinerary (and you always should book domestic flights as one-ways).
  • British Airways only charges 10% extra miles for a lap child flying internationally, even when traveling on AA. AA and other domestic carriers charge a whopping 10% of the full fare, which can add up to be a small fortune.
  • BA.com does not display all available awards, so you’ll have to call BA sometimes to book an award.
  • I’ve booked dozens of short-haul tickets using Avios for travel on American.  A Cleveland-NYC ticket can cost $1,200 round-trip if you don’t stay for at least 3 days. That means you can get a value of 8 cents per mile.

Combine Avios:

You can combine Avios via this link via the BA site.  Avios from Iberia, Qatar, and Aer Lingus can be combined.

You can save Avios on some routes by with Iberia Avios. Iberia’s awards start at 11K Avios round-trip. However Iberia partner awards are not changeable or cancellable, so you’ll typically want to use British Airways Avios to book partner award travel.

You can also save on fuel surcharges by transferring Avios to Qatar.

Avoiding fuel surcharges:

  • There are no fuel surcharges for travel on American within the Western Hemisphere. Flights start at 7,500 Avios plus $5.60.
  • Alaska flights have no fuel surcharges systemwide.
  • Flights within Australia, Europe, Japan, and many other countries and regions have little to no fuel surcharges.
  • There are also no fuel surcharges for flying on Qantas within or from Australia.
  • Fuel surcharges on award-winning carrier Cathay Pacific are also very low or non-existent.
  • You can significantly cut the fuel surcharges when flying on Iberia by transferring your BA Avios into Iberia Avios
  • British Airways 5th Freedom Flights (flights that don’t depart from or arrive to the UK) have significantly lower fees. For example even though Singapore-Sydney is a longer flight than NYC-London the fees in first class on Singapore-Sydney are less than half of those from NYC-London.
  • As long as you have earned a single Avios within the past 12 months then fuel surcharges for intra-Europe and intra-Africa flights will be very low. You can transfer points from AMEX, Chase, or Marriott to activate that benefit.

Combine Avios:

You can combine Avios via this link via the BA site. Sometimes that link doesn’t work so you can also try this link on the Iberia site to combine points. Avios from all 3 airlines can be combined.

You can save Avios on some routes by with Iberia Avios. Iberia’s awards start at 11K Avios round-trip. However Iberia partner awards are not changeable or cancellable, so you’ll typically want to use British Airways Avios to book partner award travel.

Sample uses (Don’t forget you’ll also get a 30% bonus for transferring points from AMEX into Avios!) :

  • 6,000 Avios is enough for a one-way short-haul ticket from Iguazu Falls-Sao Paulo, Johannesburg-Victoria Falls, Hong Kong to Taiwan, and Melbourne to Sydney.
  • 7,500 Avios is enough for a one-way short-haul ticket between New York and places like Boston, Cleveland, Detroit, Montreal, Pittsburgh, or Toronto, or between Miami and the Bahamas or Cancun or Palm Springs to San Francisco.
  • 9,000 Avios is enough for a one-way short-haul ticket between New York and places like Bermuda, Chicago, Miami, or Orlando, or between Denver to Seattle or LA and Cabo on OneWorld partners Alaska or American.
  • 11,000 Avios is enough for a one-way flight between Chicago and LA, Detroit to Seattle, Hong Kong to Singapore, or JFK to Cancun.
  • 13,000 Avios is enough for a one-way flight between the west coast and any of the Hawaiian islands, Seattle to Kauai, Seattle to Cancun, Chicago to Anchorage, or JFK to Los Angeles.
  • 20,750 Avios is enough for a one-way flight between Dallas and Hawaii or New York and London (though you’ll be hit with fuel surcharges for crossing the Atlantic on most airlines).
  • 25,750 Avios is enough for a one-way flight between New York and Brazil or Argentina.
  • 36,250 Avios is enough for a one-way flight between the US and Hong Kong in coach. Note that Hong Kong is an exception route and routes like JFK-Hong Kong are charged as a zone 8 award even if it should be a zone 9 award.

AMEX cards with transferable Membership Rewards points to Avios include:

Will you transfer points to Avios with this bonus?

HT: Eluzer K

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19 Comments On "Get A 30% Bonus When You Transfer AMEX Points Into Avios!"

All opinions expressed below are user generated and the opinions aren’t provided, reviewed or endorsed by any advertiser or DansDeals.

Ari

Anyway to transfer it to american airlines miles?

Moshiach770

No

Gaby

What airline can you use AVIOS to book Chicago to LA? It didn’t let me on British Air

Moshiach770

You use BA avios to book AA flight. Many times there is OW partner availability but if the flight is in the afternoon many times it won’t show up on BA because their system is garbage and they never fixed it. In this case you can call to book and won’t be charged phone booking fee.

Chaim

Thanks for these informative posts.
“For example you can see why a round-trip flight from West Palm Beach to Chicago is cheaper than a flight from Fort Lauderdale to Chicago.”

Got confused there a second. I
Think the word ” roundtrip”needs to be removed”

Yek use

Transferring from Amex will extend expiration to 36 months ? TIA

Mm

Can I transfer my Amex point to the ba account of my authorized user (on my Amex card)?
Tia

AYC

Would I get the sign up bonus for the Chase BA card you posted if I got the bonus five years ago?

UR

Use for NYC tlv
W low tax ?

Mark

I have 1.6 million Amex points. I can get 1.2 cent per point. Is there better use of my points if I am not a frequent flyer

Yehuda

I have 190,000 Amex points and I’d like to book 2 roundtrip flights to Israel from NY next month. Is that doable/recommended? Thanks!

menachem

any chance a better offer 40% coming in the near future?

Sam

How are you booking Avios? I used to use it all the time to book AA flights but haven’t seen any availability in years.

Danfan

BA is changing the way you earn Avios on flights, it will depend on how much you paid for your ticket or any add ons

Amylakeblue

I just redeemed avios miles for one-way ORD-LGA ticket. Called BA customer service about cancellation fees and they said it would cost $80 to cancel not $5.60 as mentioned in this article.

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