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.