Need advice...Us Airways points compared to BA Avios

[hargel411]

Hi Everyone...We are a family of 5...Every year we usually have 2 vacations...One in the fall in Florida...the other in the spring in Israel.  I have tons of chase cc for the avios.  The other I have is US airways Barclays card...they have the 2 $99 companion tickets.  The goal is to fly local with the us airways and international with the avios.  Am I on the right track.  Can you guys advice me?  Thanks in advance

[Moishebatchy]

Hi Everyone...We are a family of 5...Every year we usually have 2 vacations...One in the fall in Florida...the other in the spring in Israel.  I have tons of chase cc for the avios.  The other I have is US airways Barclays card...they have the 2 $99 companion tickets.  The goal is to fly local with the us airways and international with the avios.  Am I on the right track.  Can you guys advice me?  Thanks in advance

Nope, you've got it backward. Use the Avios to fly to Florida on AA, and the US Airways miles (or better yet, transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards to United, as they are much better miles) to fly to Israel.

[AJK]

Companion tix are only valid for domestic travel.

[Yeki89]

Nope, you've got it backward. Use the Avios to fly to Florida on AA, and the US Airways miles (or better yet, transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards to United, as they are much better miles) to fly to Israel.

+1

[hargel411]

Doesn't Air Berlin fly for 60k and sometimes 40k to Israel...and they take Avios...Us Airways at 80 k and united too.  The companion tix is domestic that's why I thought about local.

[hargel411]

Sorry...I am new to this...What does +1 mean

[judahk88]

Sorry...I am new to this...What does +1 mean

+1

[Moishebatchy]

+1 means גם אני מצטרף להנ״ל.

[hargel411]

+1

In addition...no fuel charges for Air Berlin...so why not Avios...United at 80k...Air Berlin is 60k.  I am confused

[Moishebatchy]

Doesn't Air Berlin fly for 60k and sometimes 40k to Israel...and they take Avios...Us Airways at 80 k and united too.  The companion tix is domestic that's why I thought about local.

You're right about Air Berlin - but that's just one airline, and not the greatest one, at that. If they don't have availability on the dates you want, you're SOL. They also often have VERY odd connection times. With US or UA miles, on the other hand, you can book United, US Airways, Swiss, Lufthansa, Austrian, etc. - you're much more likely to find availability, and on better airlines.

As for domestic, US Airways charges 25K for a round-trip; with Avios, it's only 15K per ticket (from NY). That means every person, every trip that you book with Avios instead of US, you'll be saving 10K - that's 50K. And that adds up much quicker than the silly companion certificates.

As an added bonus, if you plan your trip last-minute, BA does not charge a "close-in" or "expedite" fee.

[hargel411]

You're right about Air Berlin - but that's just one airline, and not the greatest one, at that. If they don't have availability on the dates you want, you're SOL. They also often have VERY odd connection times. With US or UA miles, on the other hand, you can book United, US Airways, Swiss, Lufthansa, Austrian, etc. - you're much more likely to find availability, and on better airlines.

As for domestic, US Airways charges 25K for a round-trip; with Avios, it's only 15K per ticket (from NY). That means every person, every trip that you book with Avios instead of US, you'll be saving 10K - that's 50K. And that adds up much quicker than the silly companion certificates.

As an added bonus, if you plan your trip last-minute, BA does not charge a "close-in" or "expedite" fee.

Right but by your theory the savings with Air Berlin is at least 20k per person...which is double than 10k....and we are talking right now two family trips..... 5 tickets each....one to Florida and one to Israel...and we are flexible...Based on 5 tickets thats a 50k savings...because with Air Berlin is a 20k savings...

[Moishebatchy]

Right but by your theory the savings with Air Berlin is at least 20k per person...which is double than 10k....and we are talking right now two family trips..... 5 tickets each....one to Florida and one to Israel...and we are flexible...Based on 5 tickets thats a 50k savings...because with Air Berlin is a 20k savings...

Good luck finding availability on Air Berlin. Especially five seats on the same flight.

Sometimes it's just worth paying the premium.

[hargel411]

Ok...so I go with United.....Can I somehow transfer the US airways miles to United...so I can use the chase points

[Moishebatchy]

Ok...so I go with United.....Can I somehow transfer the US airways miles to United...so I can use the chase points

US Airways miles can be used to book the same flights as United miles, just with worse rules. My advice is to use up what you have from US, and from now on, spend on a Chase card that gives Ultimate Rewards. Like this, you'll have the flexibility to transfer to United or BA, whatever you need at the time.