Author Topic: BA.com Award Search Help Master Thread (Read 177602 times)

chucksterace · « **Reply #480 on:** July 09, 2013, 01:51:41 PM »

Quote from: Freddie on July 09, 2013, 01:44:26 PM

I just got my Chase BA card two months ago and I already have 55,000 miles. I am excited to start spending them on those awesome short haul values I've been hearing about.

But now I see that the availability is lousy. None of the days I want have any flights available. I checked several days before and after as well. Nothing.

Is this typical of Avios? Is it just my city maybe that has poor availability? The price is great. 9,000 miles for a flight that would cost me 200-400 dollars. But the availability is AWFUL.

Can someone explain?

What are the cities you're looking at? And personally I don't think its worth using 9,000 miles for a $200 $250 dollar flight. The miles are useful when you want to go away last minute and the ticket would be $800 but then use the Avios

Freddie · « **Reply #481 on:** July 09, 2013, 02:15:10 PM »

Thanks, Chuck.
I live in Pittsburgh. I want to use my Avios for frequent PIT-NYC runs. Since Jet Blue pulled their NYC-PIT flight, RT tickets can be 300-400 easily. I would be thrilled to spend 9,000 miles for that instead. Also PIT to Toronto can easily cost over 1,000 dollars even though it's a 6 hour drive. It's so close I am betting that Avios would be a great value for that trip. My problem is that I am getting about 5% availability on my searches.

smiley face · « **Reply #482 on:** July 09, 2013, 02:16:46 PM »

How much would it be from nyc to niagra?
and how long does t take to transfer from spg?

Cbs · « **Reply #483 on:** July 09, 2013, 02:24:53 PM »

Quote from: chucksterace on July 09, 2013, 01:51:41 PM

What are the cities you're looking at? And personally I don't think its worth using 9,000 miles for a $200 $250 dollar flight. The miles are useful when you want to go away last minute and the ticket would be $800 but then use the Avios

i disagree. i say its still worth it. BA points only value around a cent a mile or so.

Quote from: smiley face on July 09, 2013, 02:16:46 PM

How much would it be from nyc to niagra?
and how long does t take to transfer from spg?

i didnt check, cuz ill leave that up to you but my guess is 4500 each way to somewhere near niagra.
and why would u move SPG into BA? - if you have amex then transfer those, save ur spg for hotels.

Freddie · « **Reply #484 on:** July 09, 2013, 02:38:51 PM »

Okay, I just spent a few minutes playing around on BA's website. Seems like I just live in a lousy city for Avios miles.

Between major hubs, there is decent availability, but in and out of Pittsburgh will only work for about 1 out of 20 dates.

I spent some a few more minutes playing around with BA's site and I figured out the mystery. Maybe it was obvious to some, but I will spell it out anyway. IF, and I stress IF, your city has lots of AA flights, then Avios will work well for you with its awesome short haul values. However, if you live in a city like PIT that has lots of Delta and USAirways but very, very little AA, then Avios kinda stinks for you. The more AA action you have in your city, the more likely your Avios are to work for you. So for instance, I can't get more than a 5% availability out of PIT even to major hubs like Chicago, NY, and Toronto. But if I want to go from PIT to DFW, then 95% of the dates are available. Why? Because DFW is AA's most regular flight out of PIT. So it ALL depends on how much AA flies the route that you want. If there are only one or two AA flights a day for your route, chances are you will NOT be able to use Avios.

This is what I was able to figure out over the past 20 minutes of playing around. I'd love to either hear some confirmation or (even better) to be proven wrong.

Dan · « **Reply #485 on:** July 09, 2013, 02:40:50 PM »

Your first mistake is playing with the BA website. You should be playing with the AA website.

AA has a very small presence in PIT, you are correct.
CLE isn't an AA hub but has more flights and therefore much better award availability.

Shreknit · « **Reply #486 on:** July 09, 2013, 02:41:35 PM »

Quote from: Freddie on July 09, 2013, 02:38:51 PM

Okay, I just spent a few minutes playing around on BA's website. Seems like I just live in a lousy city for Avios miles.

Between major hubs, there is decent availability, but in and out of Pittsburgh will only work for about 1 out of 20 dates.

I spent some a few more minutes playing around with BA's site and I figured out the mystery. Maybe it was obvious to some, but I will spell it out anyway. IF, and I stress IF, your city has lots of AA flights, then Avios will work well for you with its awesome short haul values. However, if you live in a city like PIT that has lots of Delta and USAirways but very, very little AA, then Avios kinda stinks for you. The more AA action you have in your city, the more likely your Avios are to work for you. So for instance, I can't get more than a 5% availability out of PIT even to major hubs like Chicago, NY, and Toronto. But if I want to go from PIT to DFW, then 95% of the dates are available. Why? Because DFW is AA's most regular flight out of PIT. So it ALL depends on how much AA flies the route that you want. If there are only one or two AA flights a day for your route, chances are you will NOT be able to use Avios.

This is what I was able to figure out over the past 20 minutes of playing around. I'd love to either hear some confirmation or (even better) to be proven wrong.

It's definitely based on AA availability. However if you don't see it on there site you can always PUTPAC.

Freddie · « **Reply #487 on:** July 09, 2013, 02:46:48 PM »

Dan, b'chvodo u'b'atzmo!
So this is very important information. Who knew that if you are using Avios you should use AA's website and not BA's website?
Is this common knowledge? Have you posted on this before? Also, since I have never used AA's website, are there special instructions for how to use Avios miles on AA's website? Also, I have some AA miles as well. Can I / should I combine them> If so, which way? Avios to AA or AA to Avios? Thanks.

Marco Polo · « **Reply #488 on:** July 09, 2013, 02:50:00 PM »

Quote from: Freddie on July 09, 2013, 02:46:48 PM

Dan, b'chvodo u'b'atzmo!
So this is very important information. Who knew that if you are using Avios you should use AA's website and not BA's website?
Is this common knowledge? Have you posted on this before? Also, since I have never used AA's website, are there special instructions for how to use Avios miles on AA's website? Also, I have some AA miles as well. Can I / should I combine them> If so, which way? Avios to AA or AA to Avios? Thanks.

Read the thread, its all in there.

Cbs · « **Reply #489 on:** July 09, 2013, 02:53:14 PM »

Quote from: Freddie on July 09, 2013, 02:46:48 PM

Dan, b'chvodo u'b'atzmo!
So this is very important information. Who knew that if you are using Avios you should use AA's website and not BA's website?
Is this common knowledge? Have you posted on this before? Also, since I have never used AA's website, are there special instructions for how to use Avios miles on AA's website? Also, I have some AA miles as well. Can I / should I combine them> If so, which way? Avios to AA or AA to Avios? Thanks.

Hi freddie b'chvodo(a) u'vatzmo(a),
this is more then common knowledge on this forum , its just a bit of reading and searching. Take ur time and read it will feel good afterwards, i promise

but yes anytime u look for Ba awards you should search on AA.com for the saaver award and if available then its also on BA
you cant use avios on AA website. You cant combine Avios , and AA miles

Freddie · « **Reply #490 on:** July 09, 2013, 03:05:15 PM »

Okay, I just went through the thread. It was an education.
I got all starry-eyed about Avios. Now I realize that it's not gonna help me that much since I don't have a lot of AA flights in my city. It will take me a long time to spend the 55,000 miles I have.

So now the question is (and I am sure this belongs on a different thread) what miles do I actually want to be accruing if I live in Pittsburgh? I have a Platinum Delta Skymiles Business card with 60,000 skymiles just from regular business spending. That's where I do most of my business spending since there is a lot of Delta here in Pittsburgh. On the other hand, Skymiles are a notoriously poor value. There's a lot of USAirways here. I have 10,000 miles with them just from travel but never opened a USAirways card.

Because of my business, I fly at least 40 times a year (paid flights paid by my business, not reward travel.) I feel like I am doing something totally wrong here to not have miles coming out the wazoo at this point. I fly constantly and put 3 or 4 grand a month on my business cards. Oh, and I have great credit. So how come I am still paying for my personal travel? How come I am ruining my back flying to England and Europe in coach four times a year?

Guidance, please?

Marco Polo · « **Reply #491 on:** July 09, 2013, 03:07:35 PM »

Quote from: Freddie on July 09, 2013, 03:05:15 PM

Okay, I just went through the thread. It was an education.
I got all starry-eyed about Avios. Now I realize that it's not gonna help me that much since I don't have a lot of AA flights in my city. It will take me a long time to spend the 55,000 miles I have.

So now the question is (and I am sure this belongs on a different thread) what miles do I actually want to be accruing if I live in Pittsburgh? I have a Platinum Delta Skymiles Business card with 60,000 skymiles just from regular business spending. That's where I do most of my business spending since there is a lot of Delta here in Pittsburgh. On the other hand, Skymiles are a notoriously poor value. There's a lot of USAirways here. I have 10,000 miles with them just from travel but never opened a USAirways card.

Because of my business, I fly at least 40 times a year (paid flights paid by my business, not reward travel.) I feel like I am doing something totally wrong here to not have miles coming out the wazoo at this point. I fly constantly and put 3 or 4 grand a month on my business cards. Oh, and I have great credit. So how come I am still paying for my personal travel? How come I am ruining my back flying to England and Europe in coach four times a year?

Guidance, please?

Do you have any of the Ink cards? UR points have a pretty high value and can be transferred into different airlines when needed (or a bit before depending on transfer time).

Freddie · « **Reply #492 on:** July 09, 2013, 03:16:36 PM »

Marco, I got an Ink Business card a couple months ago and got the 50,000 bonus within two months. I stopped using it once I met the threshold because I got the SPG business card at the same time and need to spend on that card now. I will meet that threshold iy"H by next month, no problem and have around 30,000 SPG points by then. I can then move on to the next card.

Right now I have:

Business:
Amex Delta Platinum Skymiles
AMEX SPG
Ink
Some stupid Capital One Sparks opened in my pre-DD days

Personal
BA Visa
Some stupid PNC points also opened in my pre-DD days
An Amex Green I have had for 20 years (helps my credit) and is grandfathered in at 55 dollars membership a year.

Like I said, I fly paid flights (that my business pays for) at least 40 times a year. I spend 5k a month on cards (personal and business combined.) What am I doing wrong?

aviz · « **Reply #493 on:** July 09, 2013, 03:23:23 PM »

if you opened the ink a couple months ago - SM them and have them give you another 10k....

Marco Polo · « **Reply #494 on:** July 09, 2013, 03:57:27 PM »

Quote from: Freddie on July 09, 2013, 03:16:36 PM

Marco, I got an Ink Business card a couple months ago and got the 50,000 bonus within two months. I stopped using it once I met the threshold because I got the SPG business card at the same time and need to spend on that card now. I will meet that threshold iy"H by next month, no problem and have around 30,000 SPG points by then. I can then move on to the next card.

Right now I have:

Business:
Amex Delta Platinum Skymiles
AMEX SPG
Ink
Some stupid Capital One Sparks opened in my pre-DD days

Personal
BA Visa
Some stupid PNC points also opened in my pre-DD days
An Amex Green I have had for 20 years (helps my credit) and is grandfathered in at 55 dollars membership a year.

Like I said, I fly paid flights (that my business pays for) at least 40 times a year. I spend 5k a month on cards (personal and business combined.) What am I doing wrong?

You can always get the "other" Ink cards if you only have one to get the nice signup bonus. If you are flying often, you should probably use a card that offers additional miles on airfare like the Sapphire (Chase personal) or the Amex business Gold card.

Dan · « **Reply #495 on:** July 09, 2013, 11:52:16 PM »

Quote from: Freddie on July 09, 2013, 02:46:48 PM

Dan, b'chvodo u'b'atzmo!
So this is very important information. Who knew that if you are using Avios you should use AA's website and not BA's website?
Is this common knowledge? Have you posted on this before? Also, since I have never used AA's website, are there special instructions for how to use Avios miles on AA's website? Also, I have some AA miles as well. Can I / should I combine them> If so, which way? Avios to AA or AA to Avios? Thanks.

Check DD in a few minutes.
Hopefully it'll help some folks out.