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American Airlines (+ US Airways) Flights: Using British Airways Avios out of New York-NYC
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American Airlines (+ US Airways) Flights: Using British Airways Avios out of New York-NYC

by jeffreyNovember 20, 2014

Ever since US Airways and American Airlines announced their merger, I’ve been excited about the prospect of having many more options of using British Airways Avios for award flights within the US. This thought became reality on March 31, 2014 when US Airways offically joined the Oneworld Alliance and thus, overnight, travelers in the US had many more options to maximize Avios redemptions.

This opens up lots of opportunities for maximizing short, non-stop flights out of or to American Airlines’ and US Airways’ hub cities:

Avios-award-Chart

First in this series, we looked at the US Airways hubs and only US Airways flights:  Charlotte, North Carolina-CLT, then Philadelphia-PHLWashington-DCA and Phoenix-PHX. Now, with the merger getting closer and closer to finalizing, I’ve begun mapping the American Airlines hub cities with a combination of AA and US flights. I’ve started with the New York hub at JFK and included flights from other New York area airports including LaGuardia-LGA, Newark-EWR, Westchester County-HPN and Long Island-ISP.

The New York-JFK hub is a substantial hub for American Airlines, with about a dozen international destinations as well as decent number of US cities served.

I have compiled this map to help assist in visualizing and then planning just how far a British Airways Avios will take you on AA/US:

Screen Shot 2014-11-20 at 12.34.16 PM

Some great values are:

  • As with all of these Avios redemptions, just about any Zone 1 city in green is probably a great value at just 9k Avios roundtrip, especially those destinations to Canada (Montreal-YUL or Toronto-YYZ)
  • New York-JFK to Bermuda-BDA for 15k Avios (if you can find availability) is a steal.
  • Any of the destinations in the Caribbean end up being a pretty solid deal for just 20k Avios roundtrip: San Juan-SJU, Saint Thomas-STT, Saint Maarten-SXM, St Kitts and Nevis-SKB or Cancun-CUN.
  • All of the European cities served by AA out of JFK can be booked for only 40k miles RT, which can be a good deal most of the time, especially compared to Delta or United who charge 50% more miles at 60k RT: Dublin-DUB, Manchester-MAN, London-LHR, Paris-CDG, Madrid-MAD, Barcelona-BCN, Zurich-ZRH, Milan-MXP.

Pros to booking with Avios instead of AA or US miles:

  • You can often save thousands of miles if you optimize your route
  • British Airways is a transfer partner of American Express and Chase Ultimate rewards so it might be easier to generate points

Cons to booking with Avios instead of AA or US miles:

  • The Avios award chart is based on non-stop flights, adding additional segments will increase the cost of an award.
  • Booking with Avios isn’t always cheaper. For example, AA’s seasonal saver awards to Europe cost just 40k miles RT, so you’d be better off booking with AA miles because you can take advantage of multiple segments. Another example is that New York to the West Coast is 25k miles with Avios or with American miles, so it’s a wash either way.

Here’s a simple chart with the destinations served:

AirlineOriginDestinationNameDist in milesDist in kmAvios Zone
USEWRPHLPhiladelphia, PA - International801291
USLGAPHLPhiladelphia, PA - International951531
USHPNPHLPhiladelphia, PA - International1151851
USISPPHLPhiladelphia, PA - International1302091
AAJFKBWIBaltimore, MD1842961
USLGABOSBoston, MA1842961
AAJFKBOSBoston, MA1873011
AAJFKDCAWashington DC - National2133431
USLGADCAWashington DC - National2143441
USHPNDCAWashington DC - National2343771
AAJFKORFNorfolk, VA2904671
USLGARICRichmond, VA2924701
AALGAORFNorfolk, VA2964761
AALGACHOCharlottesville, VA3054911
AALGAYULMontreal, QC - Dorval3245211
AAJFKYULMontreal, QC - Dorval3335361
USLGAPITPittsburgh, PA3355391
AAJFKPITPittsburgh, PA3405471
AALGAYYZToronto, ON - International3575751
AAJFKYYZToronto, ON - International3665891
USLGAROARoanoke, VA4056521
AAJFKCLECleveland, OH4256841
AAJFKRDUDurham, NC4276871
AALGARDUDurham, NC4316941
AALGAGSOGreensboro, NC4617421
AALGACMHColumbus, OH4797711
AAJFKCMHColumbus, OH4837771
USLGAILMWilmington, NC5008051
AALGADTWDetroit, MI - Metro/Wayne County5028081
USEWRCLTCharlotte, NC5298511
AA/USJFKCLTCharlotte, NC5418711
USLGACLTCharlotte, NC5448751
AA/USLGADAYDayton, OH5498841
USHPNCLTCharlotte, NC5649081
AAJFKCVGCincinnati, OH5899481
AALGATYSKnoxville, TN64710411
AALGASDFLouisville, KY65910612
AAJFKINDIndianapolis, IN66510702
AAEWRORDChicago, IL - O'Hare71911572
AALGAORDChicago, IL - O'Hare73311802
AAHPNORDChicago, IL - O'Hare73811882
AAJFKORDChicago, IL - O'Hare74011912
AAJFKBDABermuda, Bermuda76212262
AALGAATLAtlanta, GA76212262
AALGABNANashville, TN76412302
AAJFKBNANashville, TN76512312
AALGASTLSaint Louis, MO88814292
AAJFKMCOOrlando, FL - International94415192
AALGATPATampa, FL101016252
AALGAPBIWest Palm Beach, FL103516662
AALGALITLittle Rock, AR108517462
AAEWRMIAMiami, FL - International108517462
AAJFKMIAMiami, FL - International108917532
AALGAMIAMiami, FL - International109617642
AALGAXNAFayetteville, AR - Northwest Arkansas Regional114718462
AAEWRDFWDallas, TX - Dallas/Ft Worth Intl.137222083
AALGADFWDallas, TX - Dallas/Ft Worth Intl.138922353
AAJFKDFWDallas, TX - Dallas/Ft Worth Intl.139122393
AAJFKAUSAustin, TX152124483
AAJFKPAPPort Au Prince, Haiti152224493
AAJFKCUNCancun, Mexico155525033
AAJFKSJUSan Juan, Puerto Rico159825723
AAJFKSTTSaint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands162326123
AAJFKSXMSaint Maarten, Netherlands Antilles168127053
AAJFKSKBSt Kitts, St Kitts and Nevis173727953
AAJFKEGEVail, CO - Eagle County Airport174628103
AAJFKANUAntigua, Antigua and Barbuda177028493
AA/USEWRPHXPhoenix, AZ213334334
USJFKPHXPhoenix, AZ215334654
AAJFKSJOSan Jose, Costa Rica - Juan Santa Maria220435474
AAJFKLASLas Vegas, NV224836184
AAJFKSEASeattle, WA - Seattle/Tacoma International242138964
AAJFKSANSan Diego, CA244639364
AAJFKLAXLos Angeles, CA247539834
AAJFKSFOSan Francisco, CA258641624
AAJFKDUBDublin, Ireland317951165
AAJFKMANManchester, United Kingdom334153775
AAJFKLHRLondon, United Kingdom - Heathrow345155545
AAJFKMADMadrid, Spain358957765
AAJFKCDGParis, France - Charles Degaulle363558505
AAJFKBCNBarcelona, Spain383161655
AAJFKZRHZurich, Switzerland393163265
AAJFKMXPMilan, Italy - Malpensa399564295
AAJFKVCPSao Paulo, Brazil - Viracopos470275676
AAJFKGRUSao Paulo, Brazil - Guarulhos Intl474576366
AAJFKGIGRio De Janeiro, RJ, Brazil478677026
AAJFKEZEBuenos Aires, Argentina - Ministro Pistarini528285016

When you’re ready to book, follow this guide: How-to: Book US Airways Flights With British Airways Avios. And, don’t forget that you can transfer American Express Membership Rewards Points to British Airways to book flights with Avios.

BOTTOM LINE: Although the addition of US Airways to the Oneworld Alliance only adds ~15-18 flights to American’s New York markets (mostly short, regional destinations), AA+US still has quite a strong route network with many choices to save a lot of points/miles when booking award tickets if you try to use BA Avios. Only 15k miles from New York to Bermuda? Yes, please.

About The Author
jeffrey