Yesterday, the 100,000-point welcome bonus on the Chase BA credit card returned. Combined with the 40% MR-to-BA transfer bonus from earlier this year, readers in North America could rack up a large amount of BA miles (Avios) if they played it well. In our Introduction to British Airways Avios (1), we covered the basics of using Avios. Today, OneMoreDay will continue the discussion, mainly focusing on how to earn Avios, plus a few other practical tips and tricks. 
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Earning miles
From the perspective of credit card points transfers, Avios are relatively easy to earn. Transfer partners include:
- Chase Ultimate Rewards (UR), 1 UR = 1 Avios.
- AMEX Membership Rewards (MR), 1 MR = 1 Avios. Sometimes there are transfer bonuses; we have seen bonuses ranging from 25%-50%, which means 1 MR = 1.25-1.5 Avios. Earlier this year there was a 40% transfer bonus, so 1 MR = 1.4 Avios.
- SPG points (Starpoints), 20,000 SPG = 25,000 Avios, equivalent to 1 SPG = 1.25 Avios.
However, note that starting October 1, the MR-to-Avios transfer ratio will be reduced to 1 MR = 0.8 Avios. This is not good news for those holding a large MR balance. If you expect to need a lot of BA miles and do not want to apply for a BA credit card, remember to transfer your MR to BA before October 1. Note: MR-to-BA transfers used to take 1 to 2 nights, so if you planned to transfer, you needed to leave enough time in advance. Based on FT and DPs from some helpful readers, MR-to-BA transfers are now basically instant.
For flight earning, if you fly BA and AA, we recommend crediting to AA, because AA gives 100% earning on paid AA and BA flights, while BA does not. If you often fly Cathay Pacific and usually buy the cheapest economy fares, we recommend crediting to BA. Why? Below is the earning chart for Cathay Pacific discounted economy fares when credited to AA, BA, JL miles, which we introduced before, and Cathay’s own program, Asia Miles:
| Earning fare class | K, L, M | V | S, N, Q |
|---|---|---|---|
| Asia Miles | 100% | 100% | 25% |
| Avios | 25% | 25% | 25% |
| AA miles | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| JL miles | 50% | 0% | 0% |
As you can see, for the cheapest S/N/Q fare classes, only Asia Miles and Avios earn anything. In OneMoreDay’s view, Avios are more valuable than Asia Miles. So if you are buying very cheap Cathay tickets, crediting to Avios is recommended.
After all that, how do you check the fare class? For example, if you book a round-trip ticket from Boston to Shanghai on Cathay’s website, before the final payment you will reach the itinerary review page:
In the red box, you can see the letter N after Economy. That means this ticket books into fare class N. If you credit to AA or JL, you would earn no miles at all, so we recommend crediting to BA, which would earn 25% of the flown distance in Avios. The round-trip distance for Boston-Hong Kong-Shanghai is 17,498 Miles, so you could earn 17,498*25%=4,376 Avios.
Hotel stays can also earn miles. For example, as we previously introduced, RocketMiles can earn you several thousand Avios on a single hotel stay when there is a strong promotion. If your AMEX card has the Rocketmiles 200-50 offer, you can earn several thousand miles at very low cost.
The miles family account
If your parents visit the U.S., the miles they earn from flying generally cannot be credited into your account, especially with the three major U.S. airlines. However, if you collect BA miles, you can create a Household Account, which is what we usually call a family account. Members in the family account can pool the miles they earn from flying, and those miles can be redeemed for award flights for any member in the account. The miles used will be deducted proportionally from each member’s Avios balance.
To join a family account, family members must first register for a BA membership account. Click here to register.
You can click here to create your family account.
For example, I booked my parents on round-trip Cathay Pacific flights next year from Qingdao-Hong Kong-New York in fare class N. I also registered BA accounts for them (using my address) and added them to my Household Account. After they fly, each of them would earn 18,204*25%=4,556 Avios, so the Household Account would have 4,556*2=9,102 Avios total (assuming the Household Account started with zero miles).
That is just enough to redeem a round-trip ticket from New York to Boston (requiring 9000 Avios+$11.2). After the redemption, the Household Accout would have 102 Avios left, and each parent’s account would have 56 Avios.
After setting up a BA family account, you can also redeem miles for other family members and friends who do not live with you, up to five people. But note that friends at a different address cannot credit their flight miles into the family account. Also, once you set up a family account, you cannot freely redeem tickets for just anyone anymore; you can only redeem for those five people.
AA awards can board in Group 1
AA flights booked with BA miles are eligible for Group 1 boarding, which boards after military personnel, families with children, Concierge Key, Executive Platinum Elite, Platinum Elite, and Gold Elite. This Group 1 boarding perk is the same perk provided by Citi AA credit cards and Barclays AA Aviator credit cards. However, it does not include the free checked bag benefit on domestic U.S. flights that comes with those two credit cards.
But what if you have one of those two AA cards and do not want to waste that benefit? Here OneMoreDay shares a practical trick: use the website of fellow oneworld airlines Qatar Airways or Royal Jordanian to change your frequent flyer number. I will use Royal Jordanian’s website as an example below; Qatar Airways works similarly:
- Log in to Royal Jordanian’s Manage Booking page.
- Enter your Reservation Number (the six-character alphanumeric code BA gives you after you book on its website) and Last Name. Then click “Search”.
- Click "Update My Contact", change the Frequent Flyer Information to your AA membership number, enter your personal information, and then click “Save”.
This way, your award ticket will carry your AA membership number. Because AA credit card benefits are tied to your frequent flyer number, not to whether you used that card to purchase the ticket, you can then use the AA credit card’s free checked bag benefit!
Customer service phone numbers
Alaska Airlines and Aer Lingus are both BA partners, but neither belongs to oneworld, so their award tickets cannot be booked directly on BA’s website. To redeem flights on either airline, you need to call BA customer service. BA’s North America phone number is 800-247-9297 (7am-11pm), and wait times of an hour or two are common. If you need to book by phone, OneMoreDay recommends calling BA’s Hong Kong service line instead: +852 3071 5083 (Monday - Friday 09:00-17:30, Saturday 09:00-12:45), which is usually much faster.
To redeem Alaska Airlines award tickets, first search for award space on Alaska Airlines’ website, then call one of the phone numbers above to book.
As for Aer Lingus...
Aer Lingus
What? Never heard of Aer Lingus? It is an airline based in Ireland, abbreviated EI. It does not belong to any alliance, and it has ties with both BA and UA (though BA’s parent company has now acquired most of its shares, so joining oneworld feels like only a matter of time). If you redeem an Aer Lingus nonstop flight from Boston to Dublin, the chart below shows that the flight distance is exactly 2993 Miles:
That means you can redeem it for exactly 12,500 Avios one way, and BA does not charge fuel surcharges on EI flights! This is also one of the cheapest mileage redemptions between the U.S. and Europe! It is especially worth watching for people living around Boston. Once you get to Dublin, you can continue using BA miles to redeem flights to other European cities. 4500 Avios or 7500 Avios can get you nonstop flights from Dublin to the following parts of Europe:
EI’s other North American destinations include New York, Chicago, Orlando (!!), and Washington. These all cost 20,000 one way, with no fuel surcharges. For U.S.-Europe travel, you can also choose airberlin AB, and BA does not impose fuel surcharges on AB redemptions either. New York-Berlin also costs only 20,000 Avios one way, the same as AA’s off-peak award pricing, except BA offers this redemption year-round.
So how do you search for EI award tickets? Once again, it’s time for our old friend, the UA website. On the booking page of UA’s homepage, just enter the following information:
As you can see, EI nonstop award availability is actually quite solid. In January and February, there are basically economy and business class award seats available almost every day:
Once you find the award space, just call BA to book it.
Related reading:
Introduction to British Airways Avios (1) – Award Redemptions
Introduction to the Chase British Airways Co-Branded Credit Card
Guide to Using Membership Rewards (MR)
Points Systems 101 (3): The Three Major U.S. Credit Card Points Ecosystems