British Airways Avios (which is what they call their frequent flyer miles) are the best mileage/points currency for short flights because it uses a distance-based award chart. Flights up to 650 miles cost just 4,500 Avios each way, flights between 651-1,151 miles are 7,500 Avios each way, between 1,152-2,000 miles costs 10,000 Avios each way, and 2,001-3,000 mile flights are 12,500 each way. These can be a fantastic deal since the actual airfare for these flights are still in the hundreds of dollars. To learn more about Avios, see my beginner’s guide to Avios (my second most-read post ever).
There are some amazing routes available that fall within these lower rates, but they’re not always obvious. You generally want to find a hub of a Oneworld airline, then figure out what cities you can travel to nearby. I decided to make a list some great values, starting with the 4,500 level. And remember – you can transfer both Amex Membership Rewards and Chase Ultimate Rewards points into Avios.
These points and flights come in handy for me when I’m looking to visit multiple destinations or need to position for another award flight. It’s definitely not a comprehensive list, but hopefully you’ll find these useful. Let me know if there’s anything I should add.
4,500 Avios Redemptions Each Way
Domestic
- Los Angeles/OC (LAX/SNA/LGB/ONT) to Las Vegas (LAS), Phoenix (PHX), San Francisco (SFO), Salt Lake City (SLC)
- New York (JFK/LGA) to Boston (BOS), Cleveland (CLE), Montreal (YUL), Pittsburgh (PIT), Toronto (YYZ), Washington (DCA)
- Chicago (ORD) to Atlanta (ATL), Detroit (DTW), Minneapolis (MSP), Raleigh (RDU), St. Louis (STL), Toronto (YYZ)
- San Francisco (SFO) to Portland (PDX), Palm Springs (PSP), Salt Lake City (SLC)
- Tons of intra-Alaska routes.
International
- Hong Kong (HKG) to Taipei (TPE)
- Sydney (SYD) to Brisbane (BNE), Melbourne (MEL)
- London (LHR) to Amsterdam (AMS), Berlin (BER), Dublin (DUB), Frankfurt (FRA), Milan (MXP), Munich (MUC), Nice (NCE) Paris (CDG), Zurich (ZRH)
- Helsinki (HEL) to Moscow (SVO), Oslo (OSL), Stockholm (ARN)
- Madrid (MAD) to Algiers (ALG), Barcelona (BCN), Casablanca (CMN), Geneva (GVA), Lisbon (LIS)
- Lima (LIM) to Cuzco (CUZ)
- Amman (AMM) to Baghdad (BGW), Cairo (CAI), Medina (MED)
- Doha (DOH) to Dubai (DXB), Muscat (MCT), Riyadh (RUH)
Hopefully I’ll do one at the 7,500 level as well, but the larger the distance gets, the more difficult it is to put a list like this together. I did this mostly off the top of my head (plus double checking to make sure), so if anyone knows a more automated way, please let me know!
do any of these charge fuel surcharges?
The following airlines will have some form of fuel surcharge. Some are less than others though.
AA flights to Europe and Asia.
BA flights to outside of Europe.
Cathay Pacific flights
Finnair flights
Iberia flights
JAL flights
LAN Argentina flights
Malaysia Airlines flights
Qantas international flights flights (not domestic)
Qatar Airways flights
Royal Jordanian flights
Don’t forget intra – Alaska non-stops.
I think there are 9 flights from ANC alone! Didn’t add it to the list here because I don’t think it’s one of the more popular vacation spots.
Chicago to New York is 7,500 Avios, not 4,500.
Unless I’m very tired, I don’t think I have that one listed. Am I missing it?
HEL>OSL is 4500 Avios and $77.67 in taxes. I priced non-stop flight HEL>OSL on Kayak (we’re doing this flight in March 2015) and it was $62 on Norwegian Airlines. I’ll save my Avios. 🙂
Good idea…always check cash prices!
Which airline can I redeem Avios for between SFO and LAS??? I don’t think AA nor Alaska flies that route direct.
You’re correct…that was an error and has been fixed. Only Southwest, United, and Virgin fly that route.
Chicago to ATL and RDU works at the 4500 level!
Thanks, will add to the list!
are you going to do an IB avios special? this was pretty cool 🙂
I didn’t plan on it but might be worth thinking about.
There’s also 4,500 Avios redemptions from the Bay Area to Phoenix.
SFO to PHX is 7,500 Avios. Literally just a single mile over the 4,500 limit of 650 miles!
Although I should point out that Oakland and San Jose to Phoenix *do* qualify, which is why you probably said Bay Area and not just SF in the first place.
What! A nice informative post without any drama in the comments section. I will take my reading elsewhere. Lol! Cool post.
haha if you want drama, go to TBB!
British Airways’ subsidiary Comair has great redemptions from Johannesburg. Johannesburg to Victoria Falls, Livingstone, and Maputo are incredible deals at 4500 avios. Also JAL domestic routes
There might be a few interesting ones from Colombo too.
Hi! thank for the post. You forgot to mention 4,500 miles for several routes in Japan also suck as FUK-NRT and many other routes also. these are for JAL flights.
From DFW and LHR would be helpful.