The Best Ways To Use 10,000 (or Fewer) British Airways Avios

British Airways Executive Club is one of the best loyalty programs in the world of points and miles, thanks to the ease of redeeming its currency, British Airways Avios.

British Airways and its vast network of Oneworld partners operate thousands of short- and long-haul routes worldwide. Combine great routes with the airline’s excellent distance-based award chart, and you can redeem some flights for super low mileage — including some routes under 10,000 miles one-way.

This can be incredibly useful, as cash fares on certain short-haul flights can be quite expensive.

Note that some redemptions offer better value than others, but everything you need to know about redeeming 10,000 or fewer Avios is detailed below to make the most of your Avios.

Redeem for Short-Haul Awards

As mentioned, British Airways employs a distance-based award chart, meaning shorter flights cost fewer points than longer flights.

While this can be detrimental for booking long-haul awards, it opens up amazing value for booking short-haul awards. British Airways prices every segment individually, so you want to stick to nonstop routings whenever possible. British Airways Avios can be extremely valuable on short, nonstop routes between markets where cash fares may be expensive.

This is especially true when booking last-minute, short-haul award flights, especially on business routes like Chicago (ORD) to New York (LGA).

However, since not all British Airways short-haul tickets are priced the same, here are some specifics you should keep in mind:

• British Airways has 2 different award charts: one that applies to flights on British Airways, Aer Lingus, and Iberia, and the other for flights operated by a single partner airline (other than Aer Lingus and Iberia).
• There are different prices for peak and off-peak dates.

Short-Haul Redemptions Start at 4,750 Avios

It’s important to remember that British Airways prices every segment individually. This means that nonstop routings provide the best value.

For example, BA charges just 4,750 and 5,250 Avios for off-peak and peak redemptions under 650 miles, respectively.

Medium-Haul Redemptions Start at 7,250 Avios

While the lowest prices come with the shortest flights, you can also find good value for your Avios on longer flights.

Flights from 651 to 1,150 miles can be redeemed for 7,250 Avios off-peak and 8,250 miles during peak times. This opens up huge value if you need to fly across Europe, for example, from Warsaw (WAW) to London (LHR), which is 916 flown miles.

Flights from 1,152 to 2,000 miles only cost 9,250 Avios during off-peak periods. This might include a flight from Tokyo (NRT) to Manila (MNL) on Japan Airlines, which is a flown distance of 1,892 miles.

Short-Haul Redemptions In Business Class Start at 8,500 Avios

If you prefer to fly in style, you can book short-haul redemptions under 650 miles in business class for 8,500 Avios off-peak or 9,750 Avios during peak periods. This can be worthwhile on short-haul flights on a partner flight operated by Cathay Pacific Airways, Japan Airlines, or other airlines that operate select short-haul routes with wide-body aircraft.

North American Redemptions Are a Bit Pricier

Zone 1 pricing differs slightly for flights to, from, or within North America. Using Avios for flights within North America used to be one of the best uses of Avios. However, British Airways has consistently raised the prices for flights within North America over the past several years. Now, using Avios for flights on American Airlines or Alaska Airlines starts at 12,000 Avios, more than any other part of the world.

While that is much higher than the cost in other parts of the world, it can still make sense in certain situations. Just make sure to check the cash cost of the flight and the cost using American AAdvantage or Alaska Mileage Plan miles before you use your Avios.

Transfer to Other Forms of Avios

Avios are now the loyalty currency of 5 different airlines:

• British Airways
• Iberia
• Finnair
• Aer Lingus
• Qatar Airways

While you can use your British Airways Avios to book flights on any of the above airlines, you can also transfer your Avios to one of these other programs. Each of them has its own award chart, and they each have their own sweet spots.

Redeem for Upgrades on British Airways Flights

You can also use Avios on paid tickets. With this option, you can upgrade a cash booking to the next cabin wherever there is availability. This is available for British Airways, Iberia, and American Airlines flights.

Avios upgrades can be done at the time of booking, or you can upgrade an existing flight. To determine how many Avios you need one-way, subtract the Avios needed for the cabin you booked from the cabin you wish to upgrade to.

Depending on how much you value short-haul business class, these can be very valuable and are worth considering if you’re flying British Airways within Europe.

Score a Discount on a Paid British Airways Flight

Booking a paid British Airways ticket? You can use your Avios to get a nice discount on your ticket. When booking a ticket, you’re given the option to use some of your Avios at the checkout screen.

You can take advantage of this discount by using very small amounts of miles. The discount varies from booking to booking, but in the example of a round-trip ticket between New York (JFK) and London Heathrow (LHR) above, it starts at 2,000 Avios for a $26 discount, yielding a value of 1.3 cents per point.

However, using the highest discount offered — 14,400 Avios for a $116 discount — reduces the value to just 0.8 cents per point. With this in mind, you’ll always want to do the math before you use Avios for a discount.

Redeem for Hotel Stays or Car Rentals

You can also use your Avios to book a hotel stay or car rental through the British Airways portal. The redemption price depends on how much your hotel stay or rental car costs in cash.

For example, a 1-night stay at the Hilton Chicago on Michigan Avenue in late April costs 37,450 Avios or $246 cash, giving you a value of just 0.66 cents per Avios point — far lower than what you’d achieve with a short-haul award ticket.

The cent-per-point value tends to be lower on these redemptions, so we recommend staying away from hotel and rental car redemptions. You can get far better value for other options on this list.

Earning Avios

British Airways is a transfer partner of Capital One Miles, Chase Ultimate Rewards, American Express Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, and Marriott Bonvoy. Transfers from all except Marriott Bonvoy are at a 1:1 ratio. Marriott Bonvoy points transfer to Avios at a 3:1 ratio, and you’ll get a 5,000-Avios bonus for every 60,000 Marriott points transferred.

Note, too, that there tend to be frequent transfer bonuses from Chase Ultimate Rewards and American Express Membership Rewards. We have seen these bonuses as high as 40% in the past.

Final Thoughts

As you can see, it’s easy to redeem relatively small amounts of British Airways Avios for maximum value — you can even book short-haul business class for great value.

In the end, though, stick to redeeming short-haul award tickets. This will generally give you the best value for your miles. This is especially true if you’re booking a last-minute award ticket where the cash cost is double or triple the normal price.