6,000 British Airways Avios + $163 for Phily to Paris
Hey guys, I am flying home from Copenhagen today, so this is just a quick post before my flight leaves. I was eating breakfast this morning and my friend said he needed a flight from Philadelphia to Paris in August. I told him I would help him look for the perfect flight. One way prices were going for around $650-$700 (he is going there for research, so he didn’t want to book a round trip ticket since he didn’t know when he would return). I told him he could probably do better by using miles…
On ITA Matrix, I saw a few nonstop flights from PHL to CDG on American/US Airways, so I went to the American Airlines website and searched for nonstop flights. I found 3 dates in August that would work for him and clicked on the August 25 date.
Clicking on that date showed a good flight from PHL to CDG on US Airways. The cost with American Airlines miles was 30,000 + $2.50 taxes/fees (US Airways flight). My friend had American Airlines miles (he got the Citi AA Executive Credit Card last month), but I told him he might be able to do better with British Airways Avios.
I found the same flight on British Airways’s website and it showed that there was only 1 seat left in economy. Plus the flight was showing up as only 20,000 Avios plus $20. I told him he had to book this flight now, or it would surely be gone soon.
Side note: if you see a good deal with miles, jump on it. Most airlines let you cancel awards within 24 hours for free and some only charge a small amount for cancelling or changing awards. If you cancel an award ticket with British Airways, you will only lose the taxes/fees paid. If you want to change an award flight, they will only charge you $40.
On the next screen, I saw 6 different pricing options available, ranging from 20,000 Avios to 6,000 Avios. You can interpret their pricing options in 2 ways: “I am buying 14,000 Avios for $160” or “I can save $160 by using 14,000 more Avios.” Of course you may have guessed (or looked at the title), but I told my friend to go with the 6,000 Avios option, since it is a great deal. He essentially bought 14,000 Avios for $160 , bought Avios for 1.14 cents per mile.
I crunched the numbers and he got a great deal on his flight. Learn how to use this chart in this post.
Avios | Dollars | $200 | $300 | $400 | $500 |
20,000 | $2.50 | 0.99 | 1.49 | 1.99 | 2.49 |
16,000 | $57.50 | 0.89 | 1.52 | 2.14 | 2.77 |
13,000 | $92.50 | 0.83 | 1.60 | 2.37 | 3.13 |
10,000 | $122.50 | 0.78 | 1.78 | 2.78 | 3.78 |
8,000 | $147.50 | 0.66 | 1.91 | 3.16 | 4.41 |
6,000 | $162.50 | 0.63 | 2.29 | 3.96 | 5.63 |
He booked the flight right away and was glad to get such a great deal (and to have such a great friend). I was curious what his flight is currently selling for and was amazed that it is going for over $2,500 (granted, he would never pay that much, but still, that’s pricey).
If you have any questions, please leave a comment below.
Doesn’t BA assess a fuel surcharge for Avios redemptions?
On all award there will be fees and taxes, sometimes as low as $2.50. Not all redemptions have fuel surcharges. Flights on american carriers do not and some other airlines have small fuel surcharges.
It seems like Avios points are great for traveling to europe!!
Yes, especially from the east coast. I’ve used BA Avios for travel on British Airways and Air Berlin intra-Europe. Good deals!
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