Tag Archives: British Airways

6,000 British Airways Avios + $163 for Phily to Paris

BA Avios

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…

ITA Prices Calendar PHL-CDG

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.

AA Award Calendar PHL-CDG

Continue reading →

British Airways Avios Cash and Points Dilemma

BA Avios

British Airways Avios Cash and Points Dilemma

Good morning from a rainy Hamburg AIrBnB apartment room.  I just wanted to let everyone know that I haven’t forgotten about the blog, I’ve just been busy travelling/sleeping over the last few days.

Anyway, you may have noticed some new headers above this post.  I have been working diligently on my Shopkick posts and several American Express Serve posts.  I will get those all finished and send out a post when they are completed.

Now back to our normal un-scheduled travel-related post…

I was recently helping a friend book a flight with British Airways Avios, one of my favorite frequent flyer programs.  For those new to British Airways Avios, there are several advantages to using Avios over other frequent flyer programs like American Airlines.  British Airways does not charge close-in award booking fees, whereas American Airlines charges $75 for awards if booked within the last 21 days of travel.  Also, British Airways’s award chart is distanced based, whereas short flights cost less Avios and long flights cost more Avios.  There are no off-peak/peak awards, there are no region-to-region awards, there are no round trip pricing.  Every segment you fly costs a certain number of Avios based on the distance flown.

Avios-Award-Chart

Continue reading →

Planning your Cabo San Lucas Trip (from Orange County)

Southwest Share The Spirit Logo

Planning your Cabo San Lucas Trip (from Orange County)

If you haven’t already, please read New Southwest Airlines Routes (Orange County to Cabo).

Anyways, since flights are relatively cheap from Orange County (SNA), I convinced my brother to go with me for a short weekend getaway.  Since Southwest points will be devalued started April 1, I strongly recommend burning your stockpile before then.  Southwest has free change and cancellation fees, so there is no excusing to hold onto your Southwest points now.  With that said, flights from SNA to Cabo San Lucas (SJD) are only 11,400 points round trip plus $85 in taxes/fees starting August 10.

SWA Cabo

For those without massive stockpiles of Southwest points, round trip flights can be had for $315.  Much cheaper than $400+ flights on US Airways connecting in Phoenix.  Continue reading →

Use American Airlines and US Airways Miles for a Trip to the Grand Canyon

Grand Canyon National Park

Use American Airlines and US Airways Miles for a Trip to the Grand Canyon

Last weekend, I booked my flight from Orange County, CA (SNA) to Flagstaff, AZ (FLG) to visit the Grand Canyon.  That was before the American Airlines and US Airways frequent flyer programs “merged.”

There is an airport literally 5 miles from the Grand Canyon National Park aptly named the Grand Canyon National Park (GCN) airport.  Unfortunately no major airlines fly into that airport. The next closest airport is Grand Canyon Pulliam Airport (FLG) in Flagstaff, AZ. The distance from Flagstaff to the Grand Canyon National Park is approximately 85 miles, so you will probably need to rent a car to get to the Grand Canyon (which is what I am doing).

FLG-Grand Canyon Driving

Luckily for us, US Airways flies from Phoenix to Flagstaff a few times a day. Now that you can use American Airline miles on US Airways operated flights, you can use American Airline miles to get to Flagstaff.  Continue reading →

What’s on my Mind? Bluebird and Walmart, Credit Card Sign Up / Spending Bonuses, Mercedes Benz Key Rings, Panda Express, Panera Bread, AMEX Statement Credits, BA Avios, and the Grand Canyon

2014 New Years

What’s on my Mind? Bluebird and Walmart, Credit Card Sign Up / Spending Bonuses, Mercedes Benz Key Rings, Panda Express, Panera Bread, AMEX Statement Credits, BA Avios, and the Grand Canyon

Instead of posting several small blog posts, I decided to post everything here in 1 giant post.

1 – Which gift cards work at Walmart to reload a Bluebird Card?

Thank you to everyone who commented on my last post and shared their recent successes and failures of loading gift cards to Bluebird.  I compiled the results below. From looking at the list, it looks like every Visa gift card that you guys tried worked, so I am going to switch from buying $200 MasterCard gift cards issued by US Bank to buying $200 Visa gift cards issued by Metabank (Gift Card Mall).

WM BB Successes

I went to Walmart today (January 6) and loaded 2 $200 and a $500 Visa gift card successfully.
20140106-075543.jpg

Continue reading →