As I explain in my Understanding Avios and How to Use Avios pages, Avios can be used to redeem for flights on airlines other than British Airways. This very useful for two important reasons.
- British Airways can charge outrageous fuel surcharges on their award bookings occasionally making the extra fees more expensive than a cash ticket
- There are destinations you want to travel to and airports you want to fly from that British Airways does not serve
This page will highlight several relatively unknown airline partners that can be booked with Avios via Avios.com.
First, a little background to put this into context. Avios is the name of the travel rewards currency for three separate programs, Avios.com, British Airways Executive Club, and Iberia Plus. All three programs have their own separate ways of collecting Avios. Often there is overlay, such as flights with British Airways can be used to earn all forms of Avios. Sometimes there is a unique way of collecting available through one program but not available through the other two, or there may be a special bonus Avios only offered by one program. However, you have collected your Avios the most important fact to understand is, all Avios are equal. You can transfer between the three programs (four if you count the old BMI Diamond Club program) any time you like. The only minor restriction being that an Iberia Plus account must be open for 90 days prior to an Avios transfer.
So, you can collect Avios in your British Airways Executive Club then transfer them to your Avios.com account for an award redemption.
Back to the topic at hand. Avios.com can be used to used to book airlines that aren’t available through British Airways Executive Club.
There is no Reward Saver option for these redemptions, as that redemption type is only available on British Airways metal, so the taxes and charges are variable and (usually) higher.
Here is the link to the list of airlines available via Avios.com.
Air Malta
Fly from UK to Malta direct.
- 2
- 18,000 + £62.22
- 16,000 + £82.22
- 14,000 + £92.22
- 12,000 + £112.22
Whether this is a good redemption really depends on how cheap you can get tickets to Malta and how flexible you are. It would require a cash ticket price of £242 to make the Avios required for this redemption to be worth one pence each (the standard valuation I place on 1 Avios). Also, I found availability to be sparse at best.
Aurigny
Fly between the Channel Islands and six UK airports
There is usually no problems with availability on these routes as there multiple daily flights between UK and the Channel Islands.
- 9,000 Avios + £30.74
- 8,100 + £40.74
- 7,200 + £50.74
- 6,300 + £60.74
- 5,400 + £70.74
- 4,500 + £80.74
It would require £120 cash ticket to make the top Avios redemption to make sense, which is very unlikely due to the high level of competition and the capacity of seats that have to be sold each day.
Flybe
Fly from 23 UK airports
- to 60 destinations – like Paris and Milan.
The advantage of Flybe is direct flights from regional UK airports to continental Europe. If you fly British Airways from the regions then they will route through London adding time and hassle to your journey, though without adding any extra cost.
Manchester to Paris with Flybe has a higher surcharge than the British Airways Reward Saver so it’s a choice between paying an extra £30-40 for flying direct or paying less and connecting through London.
Monarch
Fly from eight UK airports to 39 destinations – like Tenerife and Palma. Monarch is like Flybe. They fly from regional airports in the UK to popular tourist destinations so often a direct, quicker journey than connecting through London on a British Airways Reward Saver. However, you pay for this with higher taxes and surcharges.
Sample costs for London Gatwick to Palma, Mallorca.
Final Note
To be a member of Avios.com you must have an address in the UK, the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands.
Using Avios.com to Book Partner Awards
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