Complete Guide to Avios: British Airways, Finnair, Qatar, Iberia, Loganair and Aer Lingus

“Avios” is the name of the points currency shared by several airline frequent flyer programs: British Airways, Finnair, Iberia, Aer Lingus, Loganair, Vueling and Qatar Airways. Points earned through one of those programs can be moved around to any of the others. For example, if you have Aer Lingus Avios, you can move those points […] The post Complete Guide to Avios: British Airways, Finnair, Qatar, Iberia, Loganair and Aer Lingus appeared first on Frequent Miler. Frequent Miler may receive compensation from CHASE. American Express, Capital One, or other partners.

May 26, 2025 - 19:35

“Avios” is the name of the points currency shared by several airline frequent flyer programs: British Airways, Finnair, Iberia, Aer Lingus, Loganair, Vueling and Qatar Airways. Points earned through one of those programs can be moved around to any of the others. For example, if you have Aer Lingus Avios, you can move those points to your British Airways or Iberia accounts. That provides quite a bit of flexibility, but also creates some complexity as well.

Each of the Avios programs have slightly different rules and pricing for booking awards. In some cases British Airways (BA) is the best choice. Other times, it might be Iberia or Qatar. In this article, we’ll talk about how best to use Avios, pitfalls to be aware of and the relative strengths and weakness of each member program.

This guide has been updated to include program changes in 2025, including the addition of Loganair to Avios.

How to register with each Avios program

You can’t earn or spend Avios until you’ve signed up to be a member with the loyalty programs that use Avios as their reward currency. Registration is free, and some deals require having had an account open for a certain amount of time before you can participate, so it’s a good idea to sign up for all five programs just in case.

Important: Make sure that all of your personal information is identical within each program: use the exact same name, email address, phone number, and home address. This will make it easier to freely move points around later.

Registration links:

How to Earn Avios

Earn Avios via credit cards

One of the easiest and quickest way to earn Avios is through credit card welcome offers. Below are the current cards that earn Avios directly:

Card Offer and Details
Chase British Airways Visa Signature® Card ⓘ $855 1st Yr Value EstimateClick to learn about first year value estimates 100K Avios Non-AffiliateThis is NOT an affiliate offer. We always present the best offer even when it means less revenue for Frequent Miler Earn 100K Avios after $7.5K spend in 6 months$95 Annual Fee Learn more This card is subject to Chase's 5/24 rule (click here for details). Information about this card has been collected independently by Frequent Miler. The issuer did not provide the details, nor is it responsible for their accuracy. Recent better offer: Expired 7/4/22: 100K after $5K spend FM Mini Review: Good choice for a nice intro bonus. Award rebate makes the card a keeper if you frequently book awards from the US to Europe. Earning rate: 3X British Airways. Iberia, Aer Lingus, and LEVEL ✦ 2X hotel accommodations booked directly with the hotel ✦ 1X elsewhere Base: 1X (1.1%) Travel: 2X (2.2%) Brand: 3X (3.3%) Card Info: Visa Signature issued by Chase. This card has no foreign currency conversion fees. Big spend bonus: Every calendar year you make $30,000 in purchases on your British Airways Visa card, you’ll earn a Travel Together companion Ticket good for two years. Noteworthy perks: Up to $600 per year in award fee rebate statement credits ✦ 10% off BA flights originating in the US. ✦ No foreign transaction fees ✦ Complimentary Instacart+ for 3 months (must activate by 12/31/27) ✦ $10 monthly Instacart credit
Chase Iberia Visa Signature® Card ⓘ $855 1st Yr Value EstimateClick to learn about first year value estimates 100K Avios Non-AffiliateThis is NOT an affiliate offer. We always present the best offer even when it means less revenue for Frequent Miler Earn 100K Avios after $7.5K spend in 6 months$95 Annual Fee Learn more This card is subject to Chase's 5/24 rule (click here for details). Information about this card has been collected independently by Frequent Miler. The issuer did not provide the details, nor is it responsible for their accuracy. Recent better offer: Expired 7/4/22: 100K after $5K spend FM Mini Review: Good choice for a nice intro bonus. Unless you fly Iberia often or intend to go for the big spend bonus, though, I don't see it as a compelling card to keep past the first year. Earning rate: 3X British Airways. Iberia, Aer Lingus, and LEVEL ✦ 2X hotel accommodations booked directly with the hotel ✦ 1X elsewhere Base: 1X (1.1%) Travel: 2X (2.2%) Brand: 3X (3.3%) Card Info: Visa Signature issued by Chase. This card has no foreign currency conversion fees. Big spend bonus: Every calendar year you make $30,000 in purchases on your Iberia Visa card, you’ll earn a discount voucher good for $1,000 to use toward two tickets on the same flight Noteworthy perks: 10% off on Iberia flights when you use your Iberia Visa to purchase at iberia.com/Chase10 ✦ No foreign transaction fees ✦ Complimentary Instacart+ for 3 months (must activate by 12/31/27) ✦ $10 monthly Instacart credit
Chase Aer Lingus Visa Signature® Card ⓘ $855 1st Yr Value EstimateClick to learn about first year value estimates 100K Avios Non-AffiliateThis is NOT an affiliate offer. We always present the best offer even when it means less revenue for Frequent Miler Earn 100K Avios after $7.5K spend in 6 months$95 Annual Fee Learn more This card is subject to Chase's 5/24 rule (click here for details). Information about this card has been collected independently by Frequent Miler. The issuer did not provide the details, nor is it responsible for their accuracy. Recent better offer: Expired 7/4/22: 100K after $5K spend FM Mini Review: Good choice for a nice intro bonus. Unless you intend to go for the big spend bonus, though, I don't see it as a compelling card to keep past the first year. Earning rate: 3X British Airways. Iberia, Aer Lingus, and LEVEL ✦ 2X hotel accommodations booked directly with the hotel ✦ 1X elsewhere Base: 1X (1.1%) Travel: 2X (2.2%) Brand: 3X (3.3%) Card Info: Visa Signature issued by Chase. This card has no foreign currency conversion fees. Big spend bonus: Every calendar year you make $30,000 in purchases on your Aer Lingus Visa card, you’ll earn an economy class companion ticket good for 1 year. Noteworthy perks: Priority Boarding on Aer Lingus flights departing from and returning to the US from Ireland ✦ No foreign transaction fees ✦ Complimentary Instacart+ for 3 months (must activate by 12/31/27) ✦ $10 monthly Instacart credit

Earn Avios via transfer partners

Each program below transfers to Avios on a 1:1 basis (click the links to see our full guides):

In some cases, a transferable currency might only directly transfer to one Avios program. For instance, Citi ThankYou Rewards can only be transferred to Qatar Airways, but once you’ve done that, you can then move the Avios to your British Airways, Finnair, Iberia, Loganair or Aer Lingus account.

Marriott Bonvoy transfers to to Avios at a rate of 60,000 Marriott points to 25,000 Avios, while Accor Live Limitless transfers to Finnair Plus at a 1:1 ratio. These are probably the only hotel points currencies whose transfer ratio could be worth considering. See here for more details.

Transfer Bonuses to Avios

The programs listed above will occasionally offer bonuses when you transfer points to Avios. Any current transfer bonuses will appear here:

Transfer From	Transfer Bonus Details	Start Date	End Date
Citi ThankYou Rewards	30% transfer bonus from Citi ThankYou Rewards to Qatar Privilege Club Avios	4577805/01/25	4580805/31/25

Earn Avios via shopping portals

British Airways offers a shopping portal designed for US customers: www.shopping.ba.com. When you plan to buy something online anyway, you can start your shopping at this portal, then click through to the store where you want to shop. You’ll then earn extra rewards in addition to those earned with your credit card.

Iberia and Aer Lingus also offer shopping portals, but they’re more geared towards European customers.

Earn Avios via travel

Paid Flights

When booking paid flights on British Airways, Aer Lingus, Finnair, Iberia, Qatar Airways, Loganair or on any of their partners (such as American Airlines, Alaska Airlines, etc.), you can earn Avios by entering your British Airways Club number (or Iberia/Finnair/Qatar/Aer Lingus number) into the reservation. Keep in mind that, in some instances, you’ll might be able to obtain more valuable earnings by crediting your flight to another program. If you know the class you’re planning to book, a great way to decide where to credit your miles is via wheretocredit.com.

Paid Hotels

A number of websites offer bonus miles when you book hotels through their sites. However, sometimes they’ll charge more than other options, so always compare prices before booking. Here are some sites that offer Avios as an earning option:

British Airways Avios also partners with Marriott, Hyatt, IHG, and Airbnb. This allows you to earn Avios on paid bookings with those programs. More details can be found here.

When do Avios expire?

All Avios now expire after 36 months, but any activity that earns or spends Avios resets the clock, as does transferring points from a bank currency like Amex Membership Rewards or Chase Ultimate Rewards. Transferring from one Avios program to another does not reset the clock, but does change it to whatever the current expiration date is of the account that you transfer the Avios to.

a seat with a monitor and a pillow on the side of the seat — British Airways business class

How to Redeem Avios

Each Avios program except for Finnair and Loganair is distance-based. This means that they will charge more points for longer flights and, unlike zone-based programs, they won’t charge more for crossing borders. For example, a short flight from the US to Mexico costs the same price in Avios as a flight of the equal distance that’s entirely within the US of(although taxes and fees may be different).

Finnair still prices award flights based on zones instead of distance and doesn’t use peak/off-peak pricing either, so there can be some significant variations in the Avios needed for short haul flights.

In general, Avios are great for booking short-distance flights on oneworld member airlines (or other partners), but sometimes aren’t as appealing for long hauls. Each Avios program has its own award charts and award booking rules, although the charts for partner awards have gradually become much more standardized. Aer Lingus has the same award chart as British Airways, but with fewer partner airlines. Vueling is covered by Iberia’s award charts. As a result, only British Airways, Finnair, Iberia, Loganair and Qatar are covered below.

Avios award cancellation policies

Aer Lingus AerClub

Changes or cancellations on an award are allowed up to 24 hours before departure for a €42.50 fee by contacting Aer Lingus.

British Airways Club

For accounts that are registered in the US, there is a fee to change or cancel an award ticket that is equal to the total taxes and fees or $55, whichever is less. That fee goes up by $25 if it’s done via a call center.

Finnair Plus

Changes on an award are allowed up to 24 hours before departure for a €50 fee. Award ticket cancellations are allowed up to 24 hours before departure, but taxes and fees are not refunded (points are).

Club Iberia Plus

For travel on Iberia, you can change or cancel an award up to 24 hours before departure for a €25 fee. Within 24 hours, awards can’t be changed or cancelled for a refund. Partner awards are non-refundable.

Loganair Loyalty

All Loganair award tickets are non-refundable, but changes are allowed for date, time, or route, provided the Avios required remain the same. If a Reward ticket is not used or cancelled, Avios will be forfeited, but airport tax refunds may be available (admin fee may apply).

Qatar Airways

You can change or cancel an award up to 24 hours before departure by paying a $25 fee. Between 3 and 24 hours of departure, that fee goes up to $100. Within 3 hours of departure, there is no refund for changes or cancellations.

Avios Award Charts

When booking an award on British Airways or Iberia-operated flights, the number of Avios required depends on which airline you want to fly. Whether you book the award from your BA account or your Iberia account, the number of required Avios will be the same. Strangely, the taxes and fees often vary between the two, so it makes sense to look up award prices on both websites in order to find the cheapest option.

British Airways is notorious for the high surcharges that it imposes on its award flights. In addition to the charts listed below, it has now implemented an additional redemption option called “Reward Flight Saver.” This effectively allows you to pay additional Avios in exchange for lower fees. It can sometimes be a much better deal than paying those fees directly in cash.

Award chart for travel on British Airways, Finnair, Iberia or Qatar

Both British Airways (BA) and Iberia (IB) offer peak and off-peak pricing on their own metal based on the date flown. The airlines don’t publish official award charts, but old charts provide a rough estimate as to how much flights will cost.

Here is an one for British Airways:

Distance (in miles)	Economy Off-Peak/Peak	Premium Economy Off-Peak/Peak	Business Off-Peak/Peak	First Class Off-Peak/Peak
1-650	4,000 / 4,500	5,750 / 6,750	7,750 / 9,000	15,500 / 18,000
651-1150	6,500 / 7,500	9,500 / 11,250	12,750 / 15,000	25,500 / 30,000
1151-2000	8,500 / 10,000	12,750 / 15,000	17,000 / 20,000	34,000 / 40,000
2001-3000	10,000 / 12,500	20,000 / 25,000	31,250 / 37,500	42,500 / 50,000
3001-4000	13,000 / 20,000	26,000 / 40,000	50,000 / 60,000	68,000 / 80,000
4001-5500	16,250 / 25,000	32,500 / 50,000	62,500 / 75,000	85,000 / 100,000
5501-6500	19,500 / 30,000	39,000 / 60,000	75,000 / 90,000	102,000 / 120,000
6501-7000	22,750 / 35,000	45,000 / 75,000	87,500 / 105,000	119,000 / 140,000
7001+	32,500 / 50,000	65,000 / 100,000	125,000 / 150,000	170,000 / 200,000

Here is Iberia’s (which also applies to Vueling flights):

Distance (in miles)	Economy Off-Peak/Peak	Premium Economy Off-Peak/Peak	Business Off-Peak/Peak
1-650	4,500 / 5,000		9,000 / 10,000
651-1150	7,500 / 8,250		15,000 / 16,500
1151-2000	10,000/ 11,000		20,000 / 22,000
2001-3000	11,000 / 12,500		21,250 / 31,250
3001-4000	17,000 / 20,000	25,500 / 35,000	34,000 / 50,000
4001-5500	21,250 / 25,000	31,750 / 43,750	42,500 / 62,500
5501-6500	25,500 / 30,000	38,250 / 52,500	51,000 / 75,000
6501-7000	29,750 / 35,000	44,250 / 61,250	59,500 / 87,500
7001+	42,500 / 50,000	63,750 / 87,500	85,000 / 125,000

As you can see above, during off-peak dates, it is almost always a bit cheaper to fly BA economy vs. Iberia economy. However, to fly business class, BA is only cheaper for short flights whereas Iberia is much cheaper for long flights. Peak dates follow a similar pattern, but the award price differences are more modest.

Finnair’s award chart for flights on its own metal looks a bit different than both Iberia and BA, primarily because it still prices everything based on zones instead of distance and doesn’t use peak/off-peak pricing:

Zone	Economy	Premium Economy	Business
1: Finland and Northern Europe	6,500		10,000
2: Central Europe	12,000		18,000
3: Western and Southern Europe	13,000		20,000
4: Canary Islands, Madeira and Israel	15,000		25,000
5: Doha, Dubai and India	28,000	42,000	55,000
6/7: Asia and North America	30,000	43,500	62,500

In general, Finnair tends to be slightly more expensive across the board for most flights, with the notable exception of some long-haul business routes (especially when compared to peak Iberia/BA pricing). Award flights on Finnair’s own metal are priced by segment, so a connecting itinerary will cost the sum of the prices for each individual leg.

Loganair is by far the most simple program when booking award flights, as all awards cost the same: 6,500 Avios. There is no variance based on distance or cost. If there are two legs involved, each leg prices separately and the total cost will be 13,000 Avios. This can be an excellent deal for some routes, like London to the Shetland Islands. Loganair only allows award bookings on its own flights and Inter-Orkney Islands flights cannot be booked with Avios.

Loganair Route Map (courtesy of FlightConnections.com)

Qatar Airways doesn’t publish a chart for its own flights, instead offering an online calculator tool, which allows you to search the amount of Avios that are required for various redemptions. Even though there’s no published chart, Qatar still prices its awards by geographic zone and utilizes peak and off-peak pricing. All cities in the US and Canada belong to the same zone. In general, a saver flight between Doha and North America cost 35,000-47,500 in economy, 70,000-94,500K in business and 105,000-142,000 in First Class (depending on whether the pricing is peak or off-peak).

Award chart for travel on a single Avios partner

If you intend to fly another airlines using British Airways, Finnair, Iberia or Qatar Avios, then the following chart roughly describes the rates for most partners:

Distance (in miles)	Economy Class	Premium Economy	Business Class	First Class
0-650	6,000	9,000	12,500	24,000
651-1151	9,000	12,500	16,500	33,000
1152-2000	11,000	16,500	22,000	44,000
2001-3000	13,000	25,750	38,750	51,500
3001-4000	20,750	41,250	62,000	82,500
4001-5500	25,750	51,500	77,250	103,000
5501-6500	31,000	62,000	92,750	123,750
6501-7000	36,250	72,250	108,250	144,250
7001+	51,500	103,000	154,500	206,000

Not all partner airlines follow this chart completely and there are numerous exceptions, some of which are outlined below.

British Airways

Starting in 2021, British Airways began introducing slightly different pricing for flights in certain zones on specific partner airlines. The following partners are affected in the listed zones:

American Airlines and Alaska Airlines (inter-North America flights only)

Zone 1 (0-650 miles): 12,000 economy / 24,000 business
Zone 2 (651-1151 miles flown): 16,000 economy / 32,000 business
Zone 3 (1151-2000 miles flown): 18,000 economy / 40,000 business
Zone 4 (2001-3000 miles flown): 20,000 economy / 50,000 business

Cathay Pacific

Zone 1 (0-650 miles): 7,500 economy / 16,000 business
Zone 2 (651-1151 miles flown): 10,000 economy / 25,000 business
Zone 3 (1152-2000 miles flown): 11,000 economy / 25,000 business

Japan Airlines

Zone 1 (0-650 miles): 7,500 economy / 12,500 business
Zone 2 (651-1151 miles flown): 10,000 economy / 24,000 business
Zone 3 (1152-2000 miles flown): 11,000 economy / 24,000 business

Qatar Airways

Zone 1 (0-650 miles): 7,000 economy / 16,000 business / 21,000 first
Zone 2 (651-1151 miles flown): 10,000 economy / 24,000 business / 39,000 first

Finnair

Finnair’s partner award pricing generally follows a similar (though not identical) structure to the BA award chart listed above. However, since Finnair still operates based on zones, it lists a separate chart for each partner with pricing displayed by region according to the home country from which that partner operates.

Unlike its own flights, Finnair prices partner awards by destination and origin, regardless of whether or not there are multiple legs.

Like British Airways, Finnair also has elevated minimum pricing for many partners, with some bizarre variances in premium cabin pricing:

Alaska Airlines

Within Continental US/Canada: 11,000 economy / 40,000 first

American Airlines

Within Continental US/Canada: 11,000 economy / 30,000 first

Cathay Pacific

Hong Kong – China: 11,000 economy / 18,000 business / 30,000 first

Iberia

Flights within Spain: 9,200 economy/ 15,000 business
Spain – Canary Islands: 12,500 economy / 23,000 business
Spain – Europe: 14,000 economy / 27,000 business

Japan Airlines

Flights within Japan: 8,500 economy/ 14,500 business
Japan – Korea: 11,500 economy / 19,000 business

Qantas Airlines

Flights within Australia: 13,000 economy/ 22,500 business / 42,000 first

Qatar Airways

Qatar – UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman: 8,500 economy / 15,000 business / 26,500 first

Royal Jordanian

Flights within Jordan: 9,000 economy / 12,000 business

Sri Lankan Airlines

Sri Lanka – India (except for Delhi), Maldives: 10,000 economy / 18,000 business

Iberia

For years, Iberia had a different award chart for each partner that they had (and still posts a separate chart for each one). That said, most are identical now, and follow the same pricing as BA for single partners.

The only redemption partner that still has a different award chart is LEVEL, Iberia’s low-cost carrier. Those awards are priced based on the following tiers:

Off-Peak LEVEL awards

Zone 6 (4001-5500 miles): 21,250 economy / 31,750 premium economy
Zone 7 (5501-6500 miles flown): 25,500 economy / 38,250 premium economy
Zone 8 (6501-7000 miles flown): 29,750 economy / 44,250 premium economy

Peak LEVEL awards

Zone 6 (4001-5500 miles): 25,000 economy / 43,750 premium economy
Zone 7 (5501-6500 miles flown): 30,000 economy / 52,500 premium economy
Zone 8 (6501-7000 miles flown): 35,000 economy / 61,250 premium economy

Qatar Airways

Qatar uses the same partner award chart as BA. Qatar only allows partner awards with a single partner airline, doesn’t allow stopovers, but will permit open-jaws.

Like BA, Qatar has increased prices for Alaska and American within North America:

American Airlines and Alaska Airlines (inter-North America flights only)

Zone 1 (0-650 miles): 9,500 economy / 20,000 business
Zone 2 (651-1151 miles flown): 13,000 economy / 27,000 business
Zone 3 (1152-2000 miles flown): 14,500 economy / 34,000 business
Zone 4 (2001-3000 miles flown): 16,000 economy / 43,000 business

Qatar also has a partnership with JetBlue, and this can be a surprisingly good use of Avios.

a seat with two monitors on it

Award chart for travel on multiple British Airways partners

Unlike Iberia and Qatar, BA will allow award bookings with multiple partners and it can be a appealing sweet spot for Avios. That said, it’s a complex award to book and, if you plan to fly multiple BA partners on a single award, yet another chart comes into play:

Distance (in miles)	Economy Class	Premium Economy	Business Class	First Class
0-650	30,000	45,000	60,000	90,000
1501-4000	35,000	52,500	70,000	105,000
4001-9000	60,000	90,000	120,000	180,000
9001-10000	70,000	105,000	140,000	210,000
10001-14000	90,000	135,000	180,000	270,000
14001-20000	100,000	150,000	200,000	300,000
20001-25000	120,000	180,000	240,000	360,000
25001-35000	140,000	210,000	280,000	420,000
35001-50000	160,000	240,000	320,000	480,000

Rules for booking a multi-partner award with British Airways

Currently, multi-carrier awards must be booked over the phone
There is a maximum of eight flight segments and seven stopovers
Travel must be completed within twelve months
One open-jaw is allowed
Your route must follow whatever BA considers to be a “logical” sequence
You can only use oneworld partners
You have to include at least two oneworld airlines besides British Airways
The Avios price of your trip is based on the cumulative distance of your flight segments, as opposed to pricing each segment individually (like a normal BA award).

How to book flights via British Airways Club

To book flights online with BA Avios, you must log into your British Airways Club account (at BA.com), then hover over the “Book” menu item and click “Book a flight with Avios.”

This will bring you to a dialog box that lets you input your desired airports, dates, class of service, etc.

a screenshot of a computer

How to book flights via Club Iberia Plus

Iberia shows an option to book with Avios directly on their home screen. Fill out your flight details and make sure to click “Pay with Avios.” You will have to log in before you can go further.

a screenshot of a travel website

How to book flights via Aer Lingus AerClub

Aer Lingus AerClub now offers the ability to directly book award flights online, with an easy award search tool:

Keep in mind that this will only reveal Aer Lingus, BA, and Iberia flights. If you want to book other partners, you must use BA.com.

How to book flights with Finnair Plus

Finnair allows you to book with Avios directly on their website. Simply select “Award flight,” log-in and then enter the travel details.

How to book flights with Loganair Loyalty

In order to book a Loganair award flight, you simply log-in to the website, check the box that says “spend Avios,” and search for availability.

How to book flights with Qatar Privilege Club

With Qatar Airways Privilege Club, you need to log in at the Qatar Airways website. Once logged in, you should see a box to tick that says “Book an award flight” under the home page flight search tool.

Sometimes that box inexplicably disappears. If you can’t see it, you can try searching through the Qatar Airways app as awards can also be searched for and booked there.

Finding and booking JetBlue seats with Qatar Avios

See this handy video about how to book JetBlue award tickets with Qatar Airways Privilege Club for more about the mechanics of finding awards. Most partners should show up online.

Using Avios for flight upgrades

If you pay cash for a British Airways flight, it may be possible to upgrade to the next level of service with Avios. For example, you can use Avios to upgrade from economy to premium economy, from premium economy to business or from business to first class.

The only paid British Airways flights that are not upgradeable in this way are the discount economy fares Q, O and G. All other fare classes are upgradeable as long as an award is available in the next level of service.

The cost for an upgrade is the difference in price between the awards. For example, if you want to upgrade from premium economy to business class, you can look up the cost of a business class award and an economy award. The upgrade cost will be the difference between those two.

a woman wearing headphones sitting in a chair

Avios Sweet Spots

Best Uses of Avios for economy class travel

Domestic US from 8.5K one way on JetBlue

The short story: Qatar Airways Privilege Club offers distance-based award pricing on JetBlue, which can be a decent value for economy class in some instances.
Miles required: From 8.5K for the shortest domestic flights to 25K in economy class on transcontinental flights.
How to find awards: You search for space via QatarAirways.com, but to see a calendar of availability, you'll need to find "P" class space for business class awards. You can find this via a paid tool like ExpertFlyer or with advanced routing codes via ITA Matrix.
How to book awards: Book online at QatarAirways.com.
Change and cancellation fees: $25 more than 24 hours in advance / $100 Between 3-24 hours in advance / Nonrefundable within 3 hours or after departure
Key warnings: The Qatar Airways website sometimes can not find major airports. We hope this is a temporary glitch.
Transfer from: Amex, Citi. Also transfer to BA and then to Qatar with: Bilt, Capital One, Chase, Wells Fargo

North America to Europe from 13K one-way

The short story: You can use British Airways, Iberia, Finnair or Aer Lingus Avios to fly on those airlines for low mileage prices on nonstop routes.
How to find awards: Search for British Airways available space at britishairways.com for Aer Lingus at United.com, Avios.com or using the award search tool. For Iberia, use the Advanced Avios tool. It's always best to search before transferring.
How to book awards: Book British Airways flights online at britishairways.com. You can book Aer Lingus over the phone with British Airways, use Avios.com, or use this award search tool. Search for available space on Iberia at iberia.com or use the Advanced Avios Search tool. For Finnair, book at finnair.com.
Change and cancellation fees: $55. If the taxes & fees on your ticket were less than $55, British Airways allows you to instead forfeit those fees rather than pay $55. However, in practice, they sometimes still refund the taxes.
Key warnings: Note that it may be worth checking all 3 booking options (Avios.com, BritishAirways.com, and Iberia.com) to determine your best deal, though keep in mind that things like cancellation policies differ (note that Iberia offers no changes or refunds at all on most partner flights whereas British Airways offers cheap cancellation). Aer Lingus and British Airways charge for each segment separately, so multi-segment trips can get expensive quickly (Iberia charges based on cumulative distance each way, which can be cheaper on connecting itineraries).
Transfer from: Amex, Bilt, Capital One, Chase, Wells Fargo. Also transfer to Qatar and then to BA with: Citi.

Hawaii for 13.5K – 15K from the US east Coast

The short story: Finnair offers a zone-based award chart, so flights from the East Coast of the USA on Alaska Airlines or American Airlines can be a great value.
Miles required: 13,500 Avios each way on Alaska or 15K on AA plus $5.60 for economy-class between North America (including east coast cities) and Hawaii. 47.5K Avios each way in business class on American Airlines or 50.5K each way in first class on Alaska.
How to find awards: Search for available Alaska space at britishairways.com.
How to book awards: Book via chat at finnair.com or over the phone at 929-474-6049 or 323-694-7646 (Mon–Fri 8 a.m.–8 p.m., Sat–Sun 8 a.m.–6 p.m. Eastern Time)
Key warnings: The British Airways site sometimes shows phantom award space for AA (see: Phantom menace: an award search time suck). You may want to double-check Qantas.com for availability before transferring points.
Transfer from: Capital One. Also transfer to BA and then to Finnair with Amex, Bilt, Chase, Wells Fargo or to Qatar and then to Finnair with Citi.

South America from 15.5K one-way

The short story: Club Iberia Plus offers a distance-based award chart that matches British Airways. However, since they don't allow changes or cancellations on American Airlines awards, you're probably better off booking via British Airways
Miles required: From 15.5K miles each way depending on distance. No fuel surcharges on American Airlines. See our Avios Complete Guide for a full award chart.
How to find awards: Search for available space at iberia.com. Use the Advanced Avios Search tool.
How to book awards: Book online at iberia.com. Use the Advanced Avios Search tool.
Key warnings: Most Iberia partner bookings, including those on American Airlines, are completely nonrefundable and can not be changed. Because of that policy and the fact that Iberia's chart for American Airlines flights now matches the British Airways chart for the same flights, you're probably better off booking via BA. Only book AA flights with Iberia if plans are certain.
Transfer from: Amex, Bilt, Chase, Wells Fargo. Also transfer to BA and then to Iberia with: Capital One, Citi

Best Uses of Avios for first and business class travel

Europe from 34K one-way via Iberia

The short story: Iberia charges as few as 34K miles one-way in business class on its own flights from New York, Boston, Chicago, or DC to Madrid during off-peak season. Sometimes they run a winter travel promotion for even less. We don't recommend using Iberia for partners awards as they completely nonrefundable.
Miles required: Varies by distance, but starts at 34K during off-peak dates or 50K during peak dates on Iberia metal. Fuel surcharges are very mild (Around $175 in total taxes & fees round trip. If booking one-way, surcharges are higher leaving Europe than flying to Europe.)
How to find awards: Search Iberia.com using the Advanced Avios Search Tool
How to book awards: Book at Iberia.com after using the Advanced Avios Search Tool.
Key warnings: Iberia's website can be challenging to navigate and availability can be challenging to find. There are some surcharges, but at under a hundred bucks from the US to Europe, they are much milder than when using British Airways Avios. Note that Iberia's award chart is distance-based, so itineraries with connections will require more miles. Sometimes connecting itineraries will have availability even when the nonstop legs between the US and Spain are not available on their own.
Change and cancellation fees: €25/$40 for Blue, Premium Economy, or Business Class (we’ve had recent data points that suggest that this is $40 for US customers despite there being no mention of it on the website). Only on flights operated by Iberia, Iberia Express, and Air Nostrum, partner awards are nonrefundable.
Transfer from: Amex, Bilt, Chase, Wells Fargo. Also transfer to BA and then to Iberia with: Capital One, Citi

Fly Qatar Airways to Doha for 70K one-way

The short story: British Airways normally offers a distance-based award chart, in what is an exception they charge 70K Avios each way for business class between the US and Doha on Qatar Airways (these flights do not follow the distance band).
Miles required: 70K miles each way in business class between the US and Doha. Taxes and fees add around $250 round trip.
How to find awards: Search for available space at britishairways.com. It's always best to search before transferring.
How to book awards: Book American flights online at britishaiways.com or over the phone at 1 800 452 1201.
Change and cancellation fees: $55. If the taxes & fees on your ticket were less than $55, British Airways allows you to instead forfeit those fees rather than pay $55. However, in practice, they sometimes still refund the taxes.
Key warnings: British Airways charges for each segment separately, so multi-segment trips can get expensive quickly. Taxes & fees also increase substantially with further segments on Qatar.
Transfer from: Amex, Bilt, Capital One, Chase, Wells Fargo. Also transfer to Qatar and then to BA with: Citi.

North America to Europe from 78,000 Avios one-way on JetBlue

The short story: Qatar Airways Privilege Club offers reasonable award pricing on JetBlue, which can be a great way to book Mint (business) class to Europe.
Miles required: 78K each way. Taxes & fees departing the US are $10.10.
How to find awards: You can search for space via QatarAirways.com, but it is easier to start by finding "I" class space for business class awards. You can find this via a paid tool like ExpertFlyer or with advanced routing codes via ITA Matrix. See the video instructions in this post for detailed instructions about how to find and book space.
How to book awards: Book on QatarAirways.com
Change and cancellation fees: $25 more than 24 hours in advance / $100 Between 3-24 hours in advance / Nonrefundable within 3 hours or after departure
Key warnings: Note that Qatar only charges mandatory taxes ($10.10 departing the US and between ~$40-$100 departing Europe) with no additional carrier-imposed surcharges on JetBlue awards.
Transfer from: Amex, Citi. Also transfer to BA and then to Qatar with: Bilt, Capital One, Chase, Wells Fargo

Fly Cathay Pacific between Asia and North/South America for 85K one-way

The short story: Finnair offers a region-based award chart and charges 85K Avios each way for business class between North (or South) America and Asia on Cathay Pacific.
Miles required: 85K one-way on Cathay Pacific plus ~$150 for business class between the North (or South) America and Asia. Economy flights are 35K each way.
How to find awards: Search for available space at finnair.com.
How to book awards: Book via finnair.com.
Change and cancellation fees: $50 (or taxes and fees if cancelling).
Transfer from: Capital One. Also transfer to BA and then to Finnair with Amex, Bilt, Chase, Wells Fargo or to Qatar and then to Finnair with Citi.

Oceania / Multiple Carrier tickets (build-your-own-round-the-world)

The short story: British Airways offers an award chart for travel on a single partner and a lesser-known chart for travel on two partners. That second chart could save you some Avios if you were to mix AA and Qantas for example. The Avios price of your trip is based on the cumulative distance of your flight segments, as opposed to pricing each segment individually (like a normal BA award).
- In addition, BA also still offers somewhat appealing pricing from Hawaii to Fiji or Kiritimati on Fiji Airways in economy class.
Miles required: From around 200K "round trip" in business class from most US cities (can vary based on distance). See the mixed partner chart along with an excellent explanation for how to leverage it here. In short, you could turn this into a multi-stop, multi-carrier journey and the number of miles required will vary some but still be less than booking separately via British Airways.
- Honolulu to Kiribati on Fiji Airways can be booked for 11K one-way in economy, while the onward flight to Fiji is ~20K.
How to find awards: Search for available space on each segment separately at britishairways.com.
How to book awards: Book over the phone. There isn’t always a clear methodology for pricing mixed-cabin awards and some agents may be less well-versed in the mixed chart. There is a maximum of eight flight segments and seven stopovers, and travel must be completed within twelve months. One open-jaw is allowed and you can only use oneworld partners when utilizing the mixed partner chart.
Change and cancellation fees: $55. If the taxes & fees on your ticket were less than $55, British Airways allows you to instead forfeit those fees rather than pay $55. However, in practice, they sometimes still refund the taxes.
Key warnings: This is a lesser-known chart and some agents may not be well versed in using it. Be prepared to hang up and call again.
Transfer from: Amex, Bilt, Capital One, Chase, Wells Fargo. Also transfer to Qatar and then to BA with: Citi.

Managing Avios

How to combine Avios across programs (e.g. move points from Iberia to BA)

Avios can be freely moved across BA, Iberia, Finnair, Qatar and Aer Lingus. To do so, you must have an account with each program.

It’s very important to ensure that all of your personal information (name, email, birth date, address, phone number) is exactly the same with each program.

If you want to move points to/from Iberia, note these additional requirements:

You cannot move points to/from Iberia within 90 days of joining the Iberia Plus program. So, this is a good reason to enroll in Iberia Plus now, even if you don’t have any immediate need for it.
Your Iberia account must have had some activity within the past 36 months (points earned or redeemed). An easy option is to transfer 1,000 points from Amex Membership Rewards or Chase Ultimate Rewards.
If moving points from Iberia to British Airways, you may have problems if you have a British Airways household account. However, you can get around this by transferring points first to Aer Lingus and then to British Airways).

You may be able to book Qatar Airways flights using Avios in your British Airways Executive Club account without even moving them to Qatar Privilege Club. More detail can be found here: Finding Qatar availability and booking it without moving Avios.

How to share Avios with others

The best way to share Avios with others is via a Household Account, which allows to pool together Avios that were previously held previously in separate accounts. Full details about Household Accounts can be found on BA’s website here.

The post Complete Guide to Avios: British Airways, Finnair, Qatar, Iberia, Loganair and Aer Lingus appeared first on Frequent Miler. Frequent Miler may receive compensation from CHASE. American Express, Capital One, or other partners.