A common and well known use of Avios miles is for short flights since the price depends on the distance traveled.
In fact, the majority of sweetspots with British Airways Executive Club Avios miles are on domestic flights in Australia or Japan where flights are very expensive.
However, there is another sweetspot in Oneworld’s multi-partner itineraries on long-haul routes, especially in business and first class.
The usual pricing with Avios miles is per flight segment.
However, for multi-partner Oneworld itineraries, the total distance of the trip will be taken into consideration. So, it allows us to include several flights for a lower cost, especially if we include short-haul flights in our route.
There is a second fee schedule for Oneworld multi-partner reservations. This chart works when traveling on two or more Oneworld partners, excluding British Airways.
It is still possible to have flight segments with British Airways, but you will have to add two more partners to access these prices.
For example, the following fare schedule (economy class cost) applies if you book a flight from Montreal to Sydney
The number of Avios miles required for a Oneworld multi-partner award ticket in premium economy will be 1.5X higher than the amounts above; for business class it will be 2X and first class will be 3X higher.
On British Airways flights, the fare difference between economy and business class is increased by 3X when it is only 2X when using partners!
We can see here that a flight between Montreal and London requires well over three times the Avios miles in business class compared to the cost of economy class.
So using the Oneworld Multi-Partner chart in business or first class is a great way to get the most value out of your Avios miles.
The rules for using your Avios on Oneworld multi-partner award tickets are not very clear.
In theory, you should limit yourself to 8 flight segments and one overland segment; this leaves a lot of room to build a dream itinerary! In practice, the restriction on the number of flight segments seems very firm, but for land segments, it depends on the agent.
A land segment means that you get from one place to another on your own.
Thus, this distance is not taken into consideration in the pricing. You just need to be on time for your flight after the ground segment.
For example, Montreal-London flight, ground segment, Helsinki-Doha flight, Doha-Hong Kong flight and so on.
To get the most value from this chart, it is best to book long distance and in business or first class.
Also, it’s a great way to try out several airlines with Avios since these miles are easily accessible in Canada with multiple credit card transfer partners or with some card directly from RBC!
There are plenty of Oneworld partners to go to Australia and Asia.
Indeed, the following companies have a very interesting network from their hub.
By using Avios on the Oneworld multi-partner grid, it would be possible to make a trip to Japan and Australia on the same ticket!
What is interesting in this example is the addition of the short-haul segments between NRT-KIX and SYD-MEL to the long-haul flights to get there.
Internal flights in Japan and Australia are expensive. Indeed, Avios miles are often optimized when leaning towards this avenue.
If you want to travel to both countries, it can be interesting to build a multi-partner Oneworld itinerary.
Since you must limit yourself to a maximum of 8 flight segments, it can be smart to book multiple short-haul flights with Avios on the Oneworld multi-partner grid.
Then use Aeroplan points, for example, on another ticket to get to Japan and back from Australia!
All flights to Japan and Australia would have totaled approximately 78,000 Avios if booked on the standard fare schedule compared to 70,000 Avios on the same ticket with the Oneworld multi-partner fare schedule.
When we search for prices on Google Flights for the domestic Japan portion of the flight only, we can see that they are upwards of $900.
For comparison purposes:
If you use your Membership Rewards points for an account credit, you will need 90,000 American Express Membership Rewards points to apply to your domestic flights within Japan only.
If you use your Membership Rewards points to transfer to Avios for a Oneworld multi-partner flight, you’ll need 70,000 American Express Membership Rewards points to get domestic flights in Japan, domestic flights in Australia and a flight between the two countries.
Then, you can also discover several very different destinations on the same ticket in Europe, the Middle East and Africa with the Oneworld multi-partner grid!
Considering that round-trip economy flights between Montreal and Nairobi run between $1,500 and $2,000, it’s worth transferring 200,000 American Express Membership Rewards points in Avios instead of using these points as an account credit (200,000 Membership Rewards points = $2,000 cash back).
This way, not only will you be in business class, but you have the opportunity to visit several other places for the same price!
The distances mentioned in the Oneworld multi-partner price list are large enough to allow us to make “round the world” type itineraries!
The following itinerary (19,258 miles) allows us to fly on the wings of four different companies and visit four cities for the cost of:
Then, here is another example with a segment by land. Since the total distance is 19,873 miles, the price in Avios is identical to the previous illustration.
Land segment
This kind of Oneworld multi-partner itinerary is perfect for visiting Japan before going to Southeast Asia.
Then, you can use the numerous low-cost airlines to discover the region at your own pace (Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, etc.) before you go to Australia.
Once in Kangaroo Country, you can drive along the beautiful landscape of the east coast from Cairns to Sydney to catch your flight back to Montreal!
Two trips for the price of one? Again, the rules are not very clear on this. Technically, nothing prevents you from booking two separate trips on the same airline ticket. Try your luck with the agent and if it doesn’t work out, call back another time!
Trip # 1: YUL-LGA; JFK-HEL-DOH-YUL
Trip #2: YUL-DFW-SYD-DFW-YUL
You’ll need to be patient as you search for availability on each of the flight segments in your Oneworld multi-partner itinerary, one by one.
Using the previous example, it will be frustrating to find seats on all flights, on the dates you want and in the fare class you want, and then hit a wall at the last segment.
In the event that you can’t find a seat on a flight, you can always check on partner programs. In fact, if a Cathay Pacific flight appears available on Asia Miles, you will be able to book it with your Avios even if it does not appear on British Airways Executive Club.
For each segment, make sure you have the following information
Once you have your detailed itinerary at hand, simply call to make a reservation!
The Oneworld multi-partner grid is an excellent tool to master to optimize Avios miles.
Aeroplan, Asia Miles, Avios… which is the best program (or mix of programs) to book your dream trip? There is no single answer unfortunately; get out your calculator and do some simulations!
In short, the possibilities are endless. Sky is the limit. Do you have any questions? Come and ask them in this Facebook community topic.
Savings are here:
