That's because British Airways levies maddening fuel
surcharges for award tickets on its flights.
British Airways flights are also available, but you are well - advised not to book unless you want to pay hundreds of dollars in fuel
surcharges for your award ticket.
United Airlines won't collect
surcharges for any award tickets booked using their miles.
Using the very best rate available in this promotion, 100,000 Avios would set you back # 1,200 ($ 1,585) and you still have to pay
the surcharges for the award ticket.
I couldn't care less about the Air Canada reward chart, because Aeroplan imposes fuel
surcharges for awards tickets on Air Canada, while they don't for award tickets on their Star Alliance partners.
Considering the fact that United does not pass on carrier imposed fuel
surcharges for award tickets even on partners, some people prefer to book partners such as Lufthansa with United miles to avoid these charges, even though 70,000 miles is higher than other programs would charge for that flight in business class.
Not exact matches
This is especially frustrating
for business class and first class
award tickets, and even worse if you book on an airline that hits you with steep carrier - imposed
surcharges (such as British Airways).
Expect to pay ~ $ 400 in fuel
surcharges and taxes per long - haul segment on
award bookings, but that's still cheaper than paying
for a business or first class
ticket.
The caveat is that you will have to pay a fuel
surcharge for your Miles & More
award ticket, while United does not collect these.
Carrier
surcharges for award travel are easy to find in advance because they are based on the fees normally applied to a
ticket bought with cash.
These fees are unavoidable, but pale in comparison to the worst two letters you can ever see on an
award ticket: «YQ» which stand
for fuel
surcharges.
This is because round - trip flights operated by Delta and originating in the U.S. do not incur fuel
surcharges, thus keeping your out of pocket expenses below $ 200
for both economy and business class
award tickets.
When you look
for an
award flight, always pay attention to the cash portions of your
ticket to avoid or minimize fuel
surcharges imposed by some Delta partner airlines.
For example, that one - way first class flight from New York to Singapore had roughly $ 229 in airline fuel and insurance
surcharges attached to the
award ticket.
You can estimate the
surcharge before looking
for award space by using ITA Matrix to find the same itinerary as a paid (or revenue)
ticket.
Due to the hefty fuel
surcharges from BA on
award tickets, do the math before deciding if an
award ticket is right
for you.
This is one of the best reasons to use the Venture card, because it allows you to use credit card rewards
for things you would usually not be able to redeem points or miles against, such as buses, small bed - and - breakfasts, apartment rentals, and
award ticket fees and
surcharges.
Its
award chart is in kilometers, which works out quite well
for a U.S. flyer, and there are no
surcharges added to Aeroméxico's own
award tickets.
Even though British Airways is a member of the oneworld alliance with American,
for example, they have
surcharges on their
award tickets that can add many hundreds of dollars.
Virgin Atlantic Flying club miles can be redeemed
for award tickets with Virgin America and there are no fuel
surcharges.
The biggest pitfall I see travelers falling into surrounds the airlines that charge «
surcharges» on their
award tickets —
for a lot of the airlines the days of free
award travel are long gone and this can catch out those who are new to collecting miles / points.
Passenger is responsible
for all taxes, fees, baggage fees and
surcharges applicable to
award travel, including, with respect to government imposed taxes and fees, September 11th Security Fee of $ 5.60 per one - way trip that does not include a government defined stopover, US Customs, Immigration and APHIS User Fees of $ 17.50
for each international arrival in the U.S.; and non-U.S. government
ticket taxes, fees and airport charges may add up to $ 275 per
ticket as of January 1, 2018.
MileagePlus members are responsible
for all applicable federal inspection fees, terminal facility fees, customs and immigration fees, infant
tickets (when required
for children under two years of age) and any other fees or
surcharges applicable to
award travel.
Although their mileage rates
for award tickets to Europe are not the absolute best you can find, United has several things going
for them: they make it easy to redeem miles, they don't add fuel
surcharges, and their program is a good place to get started with miles and points.
American Airlines won't collect
surcharges for the majority of
award tickets booked using their miles.
Some negative aspects of the card include high
surcharges on Virgin Atlantic
award ticket redemptions and high spending thresholds
for earning the annual bonus and the companion
ticket.
The redemption values
for travel on Virgin Atlantic can be misleading because of the
surcharges you'll have to pay on
award tickets.
An economy
award ticket from New York to London may be acquired
for as little as 20,000 miles, but you'll pay hundreds of dollars in
surcharges.
But, if you buy a revenue
ticket instead of an
award ticket, it will cost you $ 3,599.90, Which means you are paying 76,500 miles
for $ 3,106.50, difference between revenue
ticket ($ 3,599.90) and taxes and
surcharges on
award ticket ($ 493.40)
Which means you are paying 36,125 miles
for $ 272.5, difference between revenue
ticket ($ 726.90) and taxes and
surcharges on
award ticket ($ 456.40).
It» a a great way to cover random travel expenses or high
surcharges on
awards tickets but you need to be a little familiar with the card before you go
for it.
Always watch
for the fuel
surcharges as British Airways adds them to their
award tickets on most other carriers as well.
However, If you are considering accumulating miles
for this promotion, keep in mind that Singapore Airlines charges fuel
surcharges on
award tickets and this promotion is valid
for only saver economy
awards on select routes.
Qatar Airways adds fuel
surcharges to its
award tickets, but the
award chart is reasonable
for awards on its own flights.
Per the current
award chart, you would need 42,500 miles (after 15 % discount
for online redemption's) and INR 11,108, which includes INR 9,051 in carrier
surcharges for a one way
award ticket in Suite.
British Airways is being sued by a group of flyers
for imposing fuel
surcharges on
award tickets.
-LSB-...] 2013, a group of Executive Club members brought a lawsuit against British Airways
for imposing fuel
surcharges on
award tickets.
United Airlines
for example, is a great transfer option because they do not charge fuel
surcharges on their
award tickets.
That represents a 25 - 33 % increase in costs
for what were already the most expensive
awards, and British Airways is STILL collecting fuel
surcharges on these
tickets.
United Airlines
for instance does not pass on fuel
surcharges to their
award tickets.
A huge reason a lot of people have discounted the value of Avios, however, is that using them to fly British Airways to or through London means that you can get hit with huge taxes and fuel
surcharges that are often the majority of the
ticket price, so the value of Avios you redeem
for certain
awards can be rather low.
Avianca is known
for being one of the few foreign carriers that does not impose fuel
surcharges, but the airline does have some very quirky
award ticketing rules and notoriously bad telephone customer service.
They never charge fuel
surcharges, they allow free date changes, they have very flexible routing rules, they allow one - way
awards for half the mileage, they have a short - haul
award for 20,000 miles, they allow
for a stopover and an open - jaw so that you can really maximize an
award trip into multiple free trips, they have an around - the - world
award to visit tons of cities on one
award ticket, and they have dozens of partners to fly on, most of which can be booked on their website.
But
for frequent flyers they are a pain because some airlines — most notably European and Asian frequent flyer programs, but also a handful of North American programs (Aeroplan on about half of its Star Alliance partners, American predominantly on British Airways, and Delta on several partners)-- add fuel
surcharges onto
award tickets.
- By having the BA Visa you also get 10 % off paid BA flights with code: CARDOFFERU - If you spend $ 30,000 in a calendar year on the BA Visa you earn a free companion
ticket that is good
for a free companion
award in any class when you redeem your Avios but it is only good
for travel on BA or Open Skies operated flights which means you'll be paying fuel
surcharges.
For those based in the USA we will likely use them for our outbound flights to avoid the international surcharge that is collected by Delta on award tickets originating outside the U
For those based in the USA we will likely use them
for our outbound flights to avoid the international surcharge that is collected by Delta on award tickets originating outside the U
for our outbound flights to avoid the international
surcharge that is collected by Delta on
award tickets originating outside the USA.
People love Aeroplan because they offer some pretty great redemption options (90,000 miles
for business class to Europe, though they've recently changed their
award chart to be less valuable)-- see here
for details, and they love ANA because with their distance - based rewards you can get some great values (63,000 ANA miles
for a business class
ticket on Virgin to London which until recently did not require Virgin's outrageous fuel
surcharges).
We really value United Miles more than any other, (awesome rules
for award tickets and don't have to worry about fuel
surcharges) and SPG's points transfer to United at a 2:1 ratio, not awesome compared to Ink Bold's 1:1 ratio with United.
Although British Airways does not pass on fuel
surcharges for American Airlines flights within North America, they unfortunately do add charges
for award tickets between the US and Europe on American Airlines and most other partner flights.
Pros: The ability buy miles cheaply and price out
awards combining both miles and cash based on your needs, no fuel
surcharges even on premium
tickets, relatively low redemption rates
for many
awards.