Yesterday was a very exciting day in our corner of the internet, with the fantastic (and less-expensive than expected) business class fares to Europe. I booked a trip in January, Ben booked something for Thanksgiving, and based on the comments it sounds like many of you were able to take advantage as well.
Several people have asked where they should credit these fares. The answer varies a bit based on whether or not you have elite status, so I figured I’d go through what I consider to be the best options.
To keep things simple, let’s just assume that everyone is flying between London and Los Angeles. That’s about 11,000 flown miles round-trip, so it will keep our math nice and easy.
All of these fares booked into “I” class from what I’ve seen, which is the fare bucket British Airways uses for discounted business class. If for whatever reason you have segments that aren’t in I, you might need to adjust your math accordingly.
Alaska Mileage Plan
We’re starting with Alaska because 1) I like the alphabet and 2) their system is the most straightforward.
For these fares, you’d earn the following miles if you choose to credit to Alaska:
| Earning Rates for “I” Class | Bonuses | Total Miles | |
|---|---|---|---|
| All Members | Actual flight miles (11,000) | 50% class of service bonus | 16,500 |
| Elite Members | Actual flight miles (11,000) | 50% class of service bonus (MVP earns additional 50%, MVP Gold earns additional 100%, Gold 75K earns additional 125%) | MVP: 23,000 MVP Gold: 26,500 Gold 75K: 31,250 |
Elite Bonus Flight Miles do not apply towards future elite status qualification, so regardless of your status you’d earn 16,500 miles towards elite status with Alaska.
Alaska sells miles at a significant discount several times a year, and are transfer partners with Starwood Preferred Guest. These aren’t the easiest miles to accrue, but they have a very lucrative award chart, so this is a decent option if you’re looking at aspirational awards.
American AAdvantage
I will be crediting my fare to American, and given the various bonuses going on this is probably the best option for most of us.
- There’s a promotion for oneworld transatlantic flights, meaning you earn 25,000 bonus miles per roundtrip in business class
- There’s a promotion for bonus redeemable miles for travel in paid premium cabins, whereby you can earn up to 3,500 bonus miles per direction
Now, to be honest, I’m not exactly sure the latter is going to be relevant for most of us. The terms state:
The promotion is valid for travel on all American and US Airways marketed and operated flights (including codeshare flights between the two carriers), and American and US Airways marketed flights that are operated by partners, including British Airways, Iberia, Finnair, Japan Airlines, and Qantas
I’m pretty sure most of us booked through British Airways, in which case our flights might be operated by American, but were certainly marketed by British Airways. So unless you issued your ticket on American stock (which I know some people did in hopes of applying systemwide upgrades), this particular bonus is not as relevant.
The transatlantic promo is definitely still in play though, and leads to some delightful earnings rates:
| Earning Rates for “I” Class | Bonuses | Total Miles | |
|---|---|---|---|
| All Members | Actual flight miles (11,000) | 25% class of service bonus 25,000 transatlantic bonus | 38,750 |
| Elite Members | Actual flight miles (11,000) | 25% class of service bonus 25,000 transatlantic bonus (Gold earns additional 25%, Platinum earns additional 50%, Executive Platinum earns additional 100%) | Gold: 41,500 Platinum: 49,750 Executive Platinum: 49,750 |
American has a bifurcated system for earning elite status. If you qualify on miles, you’ll earn 100% of the base miles on this fare, so ~11,000 elite-qualifying miles. If you qualify on points, you’ll earn 1.50 EQP per flown mile, so ~16,500 elite-qualifying points.
Given the transatlantic bonus, this is a great option for most people. Having ~40,000 AAdvantage miles in your account gives you a ton of redemption choices. That’s enough for a roundtrip domestic flight in economy (though please don’t do that), and puts you well on your way to a business class award between the US and Europe or Asia.
For those outside of the US, 40,000 miles is more than enough for a one-way trip between other regions — flights between Europe and the Middle East are only 30,000 miles in business, or 40,000 in first, for example.
Keep in mind as well that American often sells miles at a reasonable rate, and is transfer parters of Starwood Preferred Guest. Combined with their various co-branded credit cards, it’s pretty easy to accrue more miles for an award.
British Airways Executive Club
If you are looking to redeem miles for short-haul economy flights, British Airways Avios are incredibly valuable, and this could be a good place to credit your miles. British Airways is offering a similar bonus on transatlantic travel, so the miles add up quickly here as well:
| Earning Rates for “I” Class | Bonuses | Total Miles | |
|---|---|---|---|
| All Members | 150% of miles flown | 25,000 transatlantic bonus | 41,500 |
| Elite Members | 150% of miles flown | 25,000 transatlantic bonus (Bronze earns additional 25%, Silver earns additional 50%, Gold earns additional 100%) | Bronze: 44,250 Silver: 47,000 Gold: 52,500 |
I’m not a British Airways elite, and find their tier points system a little confusing. I’m sure it makes great sense to those of you who credit to BA normally, but for everyone else there’s a calculator that will tell you how many Avios and tier points you’ll earn for your flight. Our example flights between Los Angeles and London should give ~280 tier points for the roundtrip.
Bronze status is granted after 300 tier points, so if you plan on flying British Airways in future, and would value the elite status, this is a good starting point.
British Airways is also a transfer partner of American Express Membership Rewards in most countries, along with Chase Ultimate Rewards and Starwood Preferred Guest. They also allow household accounts, so if you’re not a frequent traveler or have booked family trips, this could be a good place to credit miles.
Keep in mind, however, that outside of short-haul economy flights British Airways awards can be very expensive. The combination of the distance-based program and high fuel surcharges mean premium cabin travel is not very reasonable using Avios. It can, however, be a good deal for upgrades!
Speaking of upgrades
There have been quite a few questions about this as well, so it’s worth adding a side note.
If your tickets were issued by British Airways (and if you used the AARP discount, they were), then:
- You can use Avios to upgrade to first on British Airways if space is available
- You can also use Avios to upgrade to first on American
- You cannot use American miles to upgrade
- You cannot apply American systemwide upgrades, even if you’re flying AA
Basically, whichever airline is “marketing” (selling) the flights controls everything to do with the ticket. So if you want to upgrade to first all the British Airways rules and rates apply.
Bottom line
This is a fun fare, and I’m excited that so many of you have been able to take advantage of it!
In most cases, American is going to be your best bet for accruing miles, though both Alaska and British Airways might make sense depending on your situation. Regardless, the earning potential is fantastic, and the miles earned on this trip should put you well on your way to another adventure!
What about you? Where are you planning on crediting your flights?
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