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BA releases a ton of seats, but they comes with hefty fees – let’s lower them.
One of the most consistent ways of getting between the US and Europe is via British Airways, but I bet you’ll never forget that first time you went to do it. HOLY $&*! those are some high fees. You’re hit with them regardless of the award currency you’re ultimately redeeming, but a reader, KGV, tipped me off to a way that you can actually cut those fees down. How? Don’t use AA miles. Don’t use British Airways own Avios. Instead…use Asia Miles.
Let’s take a look at pricing out a British Airways business class:
You can use the trick on any class of ticket…including the feature image of BA first class.
Here is a look at a one way ticket from Los Angeles to London using American’s Aadvantage miles. A whopping $581.40 in . Good Grief!
However…check out the same flight using Asia Miles. $311
Far from nothing, but it’s a savings of $270. Yes, you’re spending more miles
If you’re looking to book flights between 2501 and 5000 miles…the price drops to just 45k miles one way, or 80k roundtrip. Great Sweet Spot
How do you get Asia Miles?
These three programs are the easiest.
- SPG:
- every 20k points = 25k Asia Miles
- American Express
- 1:1 ( normally takes a few days)
- Citi Bank
- 1:1
If you’re looking for more than a one way ticket, you may be interested in the Multi-Carrier Award. Not only will you reduce the number of miles it takes you’ll also lower your overall taxes and fees. Check out our post on Multi-Carrier award tix.
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Welcome Offer
Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 2x on all other travel
- 10% Anniversary Bonus
- Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
- Chase Sapphire Preferred continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel℠ and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver ( primary ), purchase protections, etc.
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- Redeem in Chase Travel℠ for 1.25 cents per point
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2027.
- $95 Annual Fee
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex® and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.
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