One thing that is very consistent across airlines is that taxes and fees are charged as well, so watch out for airlines
with high fuel surcharges.
Sometimes, certain airlines have higher taxes, certain destinations have higher taxes, or you'll be
charged higher fuel surcharges depending on what airline rewards program you book with.
The main drawback with the Avios program is that airline generally charges
very high fuel surcharges on international flights.
However, you will have to
pay high fuel surcharges for most of the partner awards except Virgin Australia and Hawaiian Airlines.
While very useful on short - haul flights because of the flight distance advantage mentioned above, this is also a way to avoid the extraordinarily
high fuel surcharges British Airways charges when booking award redemptions on its own flights.
Keep in mind that Virgin Atlantic imposes
rather high fuel surcharges on its award flights, and you will also be subject to the high government and airport taxes when flying through the U.K.
Southwest has limited international routes, British Airways is useful for short haul but weak for anything longer, Virgin Atlantic loves passing along
super high fuel surcharges, and Korean Air promises no online partner redemptions and a ton of hoops to jump through via phone redemptions.
Even with the desire for many to fly Emirates first class and rinse off in that famous shower, we are ranking Emirates as bad due to their
sky high fuel surcharges and fees.
In addition, some programs impose
such high fuel surcharges on award tickets, in which case you may be better off using dollars rather than miles (I'm looking at you, British Airways).
Since American Airlines updated its award chart and announced several other program changes after it mergered with US Airways and British Airways
levies high fuel surcharges on transoceanic flights, LATAM Pass's distance - based oneworld awards can be one of the most economical ways to travel within the alliance.
Be mindful
of high fuel surcharges with some airlines in the Star Alliance, such as Lufthansa or Swiss International Air Lines.
You should also avoid flying to London on British Airways because of the airline's
very high fuel surcharges on long - haul flights.
As mentioned before, Lufthansa
charges high fuel surcharges on its long - haul award tickets, so using the companion ticket might not save you a lot of money, depending on the route.
The only downside to the Executive Club program is that British Airways
adds high fuel surcharges to award bookings, which we'll cover in more detail below.
If you are going to use the points on a British Airways flight, know that you will be
paying high fuel surcharges: $ 650 - $ 1250 for economy and $ 1250 for business class.
Though Miles & More awards
carry high fuel surcharges, their redemption rates are relatively comparable to the main domestic airlines, though occasionally with a bit of a discount, such as 50,000 miles for round - trip flights between the U.S. and Europe in economy class.
While they have
much higher fuel surcharges than US based carriers, this still may be a good use of your American Express Membership Rewards points or Citi Thank You points — both of which can be transferred into Flying Blue.
The biggest knock against Virgin Atlantic is that using points for flights on their own metal can result in some
pretty high fuel surcharges.
Award flight tip *: Round - trip business class awards from the US - Europe cost 88,000 miles, just beware of
high fuel surcharges on some partners.
Don't use if: You're flying to Europe, as you pretty much can't get around
the high fuel surcharges on partner flights.
You'll also be hit with
a high fuel surcharges for most flights to Europe, EXCEPT when flying with Delta.
We got the British Airways Signature Card a while back and used it to fly to Europe (making sure to book flights on AA to avoid
the high fuel surcharges, per your recommendation).
You'll also be hit with
a high fuel surcharge for most flights to Europe, EXCEPT for when flying with Delta.
Don't: You pretty much can't get around
the high fuel surcharges flying to Europe.