It’s been a long time since I used BA Avios on AA flights. But from what I remember, first you can only book AA Saver Award flights with partner airlines like BA. So you’re going to be constrained by that availability to start off with since AA has limited Saver Awards. Then, using BA Avios as payment means you need to play by BA’s cancelation policies and rules. If there was a problem with the AA flight I think you would need to contact BA to get things worked out, and this is what I found on BA’s website:
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Hmmm, ok. Something to delve into further. Honestly I’ve not had a problem booking through the Ultimate Rewards site, but we don’t fly that often. Took a trip to Ireland last fall that I booked through there and it worked out fine. I just add a lot of wiggle room at the airports to avoid close connections.
Yikes that all sounds complicated with the points transfers and such. Above my pay grade!!
FWIW, if anyone here is an active Delta flier, the amex branded card is very helpful, because when it helps boost the medallion status, that in turn helps with getting more miles (there was a miles multiplier during covid, and it was higher for higher medallion status members). As for hotels, we are pretty loyal to Marriott (though stayed in the IHG in SF recently). We rack up points by staying at the hotels (though we don’t have a hotel branded card) and will be staying at a fun Grand Bohemian next month (that was otherwise well over $500/nite) using points.
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Super easy. If you can post here, you can convert. Easy peasy.
We have a Delta AmEx too, but I don’t know its intricacies yet.
BTW, it may come across as though we have a bunch of cards and we do. The reasoning is two fold. We took advantage of signup bonuses. More importantly though, we rotate our cards so we never utilize much of our credit limit on any of them. We also pay off our balances twice a month. By doing both, we have maintained a credit score in the mid-800s.
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Because we need the MQM boosts afforded by the Delta Amex to maintain the platinum medallion status, we aren’t going to play musical cards at this point in our lives. DH thought about getting his own separate Delta Amex (he’s a cardholder on mine) to get some of the new customer perks, but decided against it. He has a friend who was in the travel business who used to change hotels every night or two when he was in one city for several nights in order to rack up the # of stays on each account (brand). Thats just too much for me.
Oh and separate issue, as a higher level medallion flier, I get a dedicated phone line with much shorter wait times when I call in. Thats been handy dandy.
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That’s the fun thing about rewards. There are so many approaches!
I don’t fly Delta enough to earn status through MQMs. It looks like we could hit Silver though just by using that card a little more.
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Thanks for the info. I have an upcoming flight that I booked through the Chase Rewards portal. I was able to get the flights to show in my Delta account, and it looks like I can make changes to my flights on the Delta site. Is that not the case?
The key with using BA and Avios for American Airlines flights is DIRECT. Sorry for the caps but that is the key way to use it. I have used Avios about a dozen times in the past year getting direct flights to Philadelphia which are crazy expensive on AA. 7.5K points for a direct flight which can be at least $300 cash from the midwest.
So I find the flight availability on the British Airways site (must have an avios account to do this), then transfer Chase points to BA. Points are instantaneous. I then go to select seats and it takes me to the AA website, I then add my AA number and then because I am platinum I can choose upgraded seats for free. And then its linked to my AA account.
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@shmom41, I really need to figure out how to use Avios to book AA flights. I have 1.7 MM Avios and don’t get enough chances to use them. Are you saying that the key is to book direct flights like BOS-ORD and not like BOS-ORD-YYC?
Have you also used BA Avios to book on Qatar or Iberia?
I have tons of points on many airlines and credit cards, so I have a lot left to redeem. But, I’ve also redeemed quite a bit. I have actually redeemed over 2 MM AAdvantage miles and many hotel rooms for various vacations. I just have not figured out how to use my BA miles.
Just want to clarify something in this discussion as it can lead to confusion when booking travel.
Flights can be DIRECT and not be Non-Stop. As long as a flight retains the same number - it is considered ‘Direct’ even if there is a stop or layover in a connecting city. So, you could book a ‘Direct’ flight from ORD - SFO and discover there is a stop over in Denver or Phoenix.
You should look first and foremost for non-stop flights because those do not have stops between the originating city and the destination city.
Yes, unlike US carriers, BA charge based on the distance for each leg, not based on the origin to destination. The only exception is for connections in the UK which are free in combination with a transatlantic flight.
But using Avios within the US has got harder now American and Alaska have moved to dynamic reward flight pricing, because BA only offer Avios tickets at the lowest reward level. Short hops (eg up and down the west coast) can be good value and available a few weeks out but coast to coast is very hard to find and holiday travel is unlikely to be available.
Also note that BA’s booking system is much more seamless with American than Alaska. In particular BA use a different PNR, they give you the American one on the BA site but you have to contact BA or Alaska separately to get the Alaska PNR reference that is needed to check in, select seats etc. And you can’t book a mixed AA/AS ticket with Avios, even though both are shown in the Avios search, you’ll need to book an AA outbound and AS return (or vice versa) as two separate tickets.
BA charge much higher fees on their own rewards tickets compared to partner tickets (and compared to any US carriers). But premium class tickets with partners are extremely hard to find, especially on partners with dynamic rewards pricing. It was OK in the pandemic but not any more. A sweet spot can be domestic first class on AA/AS if you can find availability.
This is off topic. But why are flights in and out of PHL so expensive now? I have a kid there and used to be able to get there without paying an arm and a leg. Kid wants to attend some family events and can not find anything affordable.
IMO and IME the very best thing to do is chuck all the cards that focus explicitly on travel rewards and get a Bank of America Premium Rewards Visa if you can afford to park $100k with BofA (or Merrill Lynch), and note this can be any type of account…IRA, 529, checking, savings, securities, whatever. And it can be combined from any number of accounts. The parked assets get you bonuses to their rewards such that…
You get 3.5 cents back per $ spent on travel/dining (and they code very liberally on what counts as travel…things like apartment maintenance and all sorts of crazy things, plus all the obvious stuff). And you get 2.625 cents back per $ spent on everything else. On a blended basis I tend to get back >3% every month.
Could I do somewhat better on a value basis if I used different cards for different types of purchases and transferred points here and there and jumped through different hoops? Maybe? I’ve done that and IME it’s not worth the time and hassle even if I come out slightly ahead, nominally speaking. And even then IME I wind up doing things e.g. picking an airline or itinerary that’s suboptimal and which I would not otherwise do just to get some incremental “benefit.”
My $.02 but I understand that it is not possible for everyone.
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We have been playing credit card games for years. We like hotel’s credit cards the most since when we travel we don’t spend much time at the hotel and just need clean room, preferably free parking and WiFi. Marriott and IHG brand works for us so we open those credit cards every two years for both of us. That normally gives us about 10 free nights per year from each brand. I also open SW credit cards every two years (language from Chase how often you can get bonuses) for us and DD since that’s the airline DD uses all the time to travel home. In between those credit card games we use Chase freedom unlimited and citi double points. We normally don’t keep credit cards with annual fees past first year.
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Do you open a card and then cancel after 2 years and then open new one? Some cards only let a person take advantage of signup bonuses once. And some of the bonuses they offer don’t kick in until the second year (eg companion ticket). Does the opening/ closing affect one’s credit score?
We open card and cancel after one year but not before they post one year bonus of free night. You can cancel card within 30 days after they post second year fees to get full refund . It depends on a language of particular card but normally hotel cards don’t have one in a life time language. They normally have language about qualifying for bonuses again in 24 or 48 months so i keep spreadsheets with dates to know when to apply again.
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If I desired the most simplified approach to rewards then yes, I’d agree with you on the BoA Premium Rewards card (I have it too and only put enough spend on it to utilize the $100 airline travel credit). Since I find maximizing rewards on my daily spend an appealing challenge, I tend to apply for new cards when the signup bonus is at its historical high, and cancel cards with annual fees if I can’t break even on them. IME the BoA card can’t come close to achieving what I can with my current approach. But it is my backup plan for when I’ve had enough dealing with the logistics of juggling multiple cards.
I find the Chase Business Ink Cash + Sapphire Preferred card combo hard to beat for the best earning, straightforward, and flexible strategy. Still pretty simple, and it gets 5xUR at office supply stores (see my prior post) to direct toward daily spend. That’s because I value being able to transfer to Hyatt, SWA, and UA in that order because of where I live (SWA/UA hub). That probably wouldn’t work for others who have different goals, e.g. @jym626 who uses Delta’s platinum status to great effect.
Everyone can make it as simple or complex as they choose and that’s a beautiful thing.
Thanks. I am in awe of those of you who can juggle all the deals. I do the discover quarterly 5% back as well as the delta card but that’s about it. Oh and the Costco visa. Hate it when I see that AA or UA have better fares, but we are a delta hub so I take the bad with the good
I haven’t really looked at the BofA card. I think there was (or is) something similar available from UBS but never really paid attention as my interests are related to a) how I travel; and b) how busy I often am (need to have my EA deal with a lot of travel logistics including points).
I highly value lounge access when I am traveling not on business (typically get access when traveling on business unless using JetBlue). Amex Plat and Chase Sapphire Reserve are good for this. (I don’t usually fly Delta but, if I did, the Delta Amex card might be better). How does the BofA card do on lounge access?
I valued the free breakfasts for Diamonds at Hilton, but that has changed and is no longer so valuable (Just stayed at the Conrad in NY and the benefit is now $25 per person for up to two persons and breakfast there costs more than $25 per person). Are other hotel card deals better?
I value airline status at times – I think the JetBlue card is a good deal for that as $50K in spend gets you the ability to cancel without change fees.
Generally, I’m finding that airlines are ignoring status. In the old days, this would lead to upgrades or things more important. During the Iceland Volcano, I was stuck in London. People trying to get back to the US were working on these incredibly circuitous routes to get home. Train to Dover, boat to Calais, donkey ride to X, train from X to Barcelona, flight from Barcelona, etc. During this period, BA would just call my travel agent and tell him to tell me to sit still. One afternoon, they called and said to get to the airport the next morning early. They put me on the first flight home – and oddly business and especially first were relatively empty. Everyone else was still on the donkey ride, I guess. But, I felt well-treated.
The Chase Sapphire Reserve is the best for car rentals and Costco (and a few others) is best for extended warranties.