Booking American Airlines flights using British Airways Avios
Why we fly American
We fly on American Airlines a lot, despite it routinely being in the middle of the pack when it comes to customer service ratings, on-time performance, etc. Here’s a few reasons why:
I have Executive Platinum status from a combination of flying and earning miles through spend on the Citi AA Business card and the American Airlines shopping portal. Flying on American means we’re earning more miles than we would on other carriers, as Executive Platinum members earn 6 miles per dollar more on flights than general members. We LOVE earning American miles, because as of now, they have kept their partner award chart in tact and you can fly two of our favorite business classes: Qatar and Cathay Pacific business class for a reasonable amount of miles. Also, we receive other benefits, such as 3 free bags, lounge access and the chance at first class upgrades on flights within the U.S., Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean.
Since our home airport (Indianapolis) is a mid-size airport without any airlines calling it a hub, we’re not captive to any airline, and can be “free agents”. However, the airline with the most non-stop destinations from Indy is American Airlines at 13 destinations. So, our highest likelihood for a non-stop flight is with American.
In addition, American has the most destinations of any U.S. airline at 361 destinations (269 domestic, 92 international, as of March 2023), meaning it is usually easier to assemble an itinerary with them, compared to other airlines, if we’re headed to more of an “off the beaten path” destination.
Sweet Spot
For the average traveler, who is not flying at least 1-2 times a month, being an airline “free agent” is likely the best path to take. You don’t need to chase airline elite status to only use the benefits a few times a year. Instead, follow where the best deal takes you (whether in cash or miles!) We have found that American flights are rarely the best deal when it comes to cash prices, but often win out when it comes to booking with miles.
Let’s use a random trip as an example: Grand Rapids to Charlotte on June 28, 2023. When you search that itinerary on Google Flights, the top United itinerary is over $100 cheaper ($193 vs. $296):
However, there are two main disadvantages to the United itinerary vs. the American itinerary in my mind (assuming you don’t have elite status with either airline): the American itinerary is non-stop and in Main Cabin, meaning free seat selection and free changes. So, next I want to see if there’s an award flight that can get me onto that American non-stop at a good value compared to the cash price! You could easily head over to www.aa.com and search for award availability there, but I want to compare with all award programs for cross-comparison, so I’ll head over to Point.me, which is a subscription award availability search aggregator (which has made our award searching so much easier!)
Here are the top results that populated:
So, if you’re new to points and miles, there’s a lot to take in here, but let’s focus on just a few things:
The cheaper cash flight (United) is almost 3x the cost in miles as the more expensive cash flight (American).
Sometimes Delta has a flash sale on domestic flights and you can find flights for as low as 5-7.5k points one-way. Not in this case!
The Southwest flight is at a decent miles rate, but it’s still more than the American flight and it has a stop.
Here’s the big thing. When I click the drop-down under the American flight (where it states “+ 19 add’l options”), here’s what I see:
This is telling me that it’s 2,500 miles LESS to book the non-stop American flight through the British Airways Executive Club program than it would be to book directly with American miles (and the same amount in taxes/fees)! To book the flight, you would need to follow this process (Note: Chase is not your only option to transfer, you can transfer from AMEX, Bilt, Capital One and Marriott as well!):
Booking American flights with British Airways Avios points is not just a sweet spot because you can sometimes book American flights for less miles than it would have cost you with American, but because British Airways Avios points are WAY easier to earn than American miles, since they are a transfer partner of most of the major transferrable currencies, including: AMEX, Bilt, Capital One, Chase, and Marriott, while American is only transfer partners with Bilt.
Disclaimer: The reason British Airways has access to American flights is because they are in the OneWorld airline alliance together. However, British Airways only has access to flights that American opens up for them, so you will not see award availability on British Airways for every flight that you see on American!
The major lessons learned today:
Prioritize earning transferrable currencies (like AMEX Membership Rewards or Bilt points) so you can follow the best award deals when you find them.
Use airline alliances to your advantage. Sometimes partners have award pricing that is more optimal than the actual airline you will be flying!
