[Ends Today!] Get A 40% Bonus When You Transfer AMEX Points Into Avios!

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Update: This offer ends today!

Originally posted on 4/1:

-Get A 40% Bonus When You Transfer AMEX Points Into BA Avios

-Get A 40% Bonus When You Transfer AMEX Points Into Aer Lingus Avios

With this bonus 1,000 AMEX points transfers into 1,400 Avios. This promotion runs through 5/15.

This is only valid for US cardholders.

• Previous MR->Avios bonus offers:
  • 11/27/11=30%
  • 03/15/12=50%
  • 08/28/12=40%
  • 12/03/12=30%
  • 04/22/13=35%
  • 10/15/13=20%
  • 12/15/14=40%
  • 12/02/15=25% (Effective 0% bonus due to decreased transfer ratio)
  • 08/10/16=50% (Effective 20% bonus due to decreased transfer ratio)
  • 11/15/16=50% (Effective 20% bonus due to decreased transfer ratio)
  • 7/17/17=40%
  • 9/15/18=40%
  • 8/1/19=40%
  • 4/1/22=40%

You can currently earn 100,000 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.

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, these flights can only be booked over the phone.
• 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 Chase 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:

• AMEX Blue Business Plus
• AMEX Platinum Business
• AMEX Gold Business Card
• American Express® Gold Card
• AMEX Green Consumer Card
• The Platinum Card® from American Express
• AMEX Everyday Preferred Consumer Card
• AMEX Everyday Consumer Card

Will you transfer points to Avios with this bonus?

HT: yosefsv, via DDF