Avios Purchase 50% bonus

Got excited and thought the Avios 50% transfer bonus promotion was back... welp.

Not worth it at all. !!!

azhang24 wrote: ↑ Got excited and thought the Avios 50% transfer bonus promotion was back... welp.

In my very tired state, I thought the same. I've been waiting for an Amex transfer to Avios bonus but there hasn't been one for a long time (?) or...I missed it.

how do you guys use avios points? I am in Vancouver and have been very difficult to find any flight tickets at all for last 2-3 years.. it was pretty hard before the pandemic, and after that, my points seems completely useless..
I got less than a year left before it expires.. not sure what to do at this point

chinook79 wrote: ↑ how do you guys use avios points? I am in Vancouver and have been very difficult to find any flight tickets at all for last 2-3 years.. it was pretty hard before the pandemic, and after that, my points seems completely useless..
I got less than a year left before it expires.. not sure what to do at this point

I'm in Vancouver too and am planning on doing this (source: https://princeoftravel.com/points-progr ... ays-avios/):

The “West Coast to Hawaii” sweet spot is one of the best examples. With most region-based programs, flights from Continental North America to Hawaii often cost 40,000 miles for a round-trip flight in economy (though there are a few exceptions). With Avios, on the other hand, many West Coast destinations are connected to Hawaii by direct flights, and the distances are mostly a shade under 3,000 miles, the upper threshold for Zone 4 on the Avios reward chart. So Vancouverites, if you can get yourself down to Bellingham or Seattle, you’ll only be redeeming 13,000 Avios for a one-way ticket on Alaska Airlines to get you out to any of the Hawaiian islands.

chinook79 wrote: ↑how do you guys use avios points? I am in Vancouver and have been very difficult to find any flight tickets at all for last 2-3 years.. it was pretty hard before the pandemic, and after that, my points seems completely useless..
I got less than a year left before it expires.. not sure what to do at this point

Sorcerer wrote: ↑ I'm in Vancouver too and am planning on doing this (source: https://princeoftravel.com/points-progr ... ays-avios/):

The “West Coast to Hawaii” sweet spot is one of the best examples. With most region-based programs, flights from Continental North America to Hawaii often cost 40,000 miles for a round-trip flight in economy (though there are a few exceptions). With Avios, on the other hand, many West Coast destinations are connected to Hawaii by direct flights, and the distances are mostly a shade under 3,000 miles, the upper threshold for Zone 4 on the Avios reward chart. So Vancouverites, if you can get yourself down to Bellingham or Seattle, you’ll only be redeeming 13,000 Avios for a one-way ticket on Alaska Airlines to get you out to any of the Hawaiian islands.

YVR has it tough for BA redemptions.

Typically, Avios are very good for non-BA short-haul trips, since BA levies heavy surcharges on redemptions, kind of like the old Aeroplan. The currently difficulty is that Canada doesn't have a dedicated OneWorld carrier, and the pandemic has destroyed any availability of member carriers coming to Canada (i.e. YVR-LAX on AA, etc.). My guess is it'll be this way for some time. Those that do, have minimal direct destinations, which results in poor value, as Avios prices out by segment, not by distance to destination.

If you currently want to take advantage of Avios at decent valuation, you'll likely have to border hop to fly out from SEA > BLI > PAE to fly on Alaska or AA; or you'll have to travel to other continents to take advantage of these (i.e. Cathay, Japan, Malaysia for Asia; Iberia in Europe, etc.). There was talk of WestJet being interested in joining OneWorld some years back, which would've been fantastic for us, but they ended up going in a different direction.

They're also an okay valuation to redeem for trans-Pac flights, but Asia is very conservative when it comes to COVID, so availability is also shot there at the moment... Perhaps looking out into later 2022 may give you some options.

If you're content to sit on them, a way to extend them is to apply for an RBC BA Visa to reset your expiry, or get some activity with car rentals via Budget/Avis.

Why is this posted. Airline miles go on sale all the time.

Out of YVR Alaska airlines flies direct to Seattle and Dallas. From Bellingham you can go directly to Seattle. Everywhere else such as Hawaii, vegas etc require one stop via Seattle usually. I don't when not flying direct if its still worth it. Would it help to book two separate flights via points. YVR to Seattle and Seattle to Vegas?
https://www.alaskaair.com/route-map/?li ... stinations