American Express is currently offering a 25% transfer bonus to the British Airways Avios program for its Canadian cardholders, available until November 12, 2017. If you plan on booking any flights over the next few months, particularly those in the three regions I outline below, now is the perfect time to make the transfer. Here’s a bit of background, laced with my own personal expertise, to help you make the best decision about your flights.
First, though, there are a few reasons why I’m a good candidate to keep Canadians abreast of what’s happening within the world of travel rewards credit cards. I’m Canadian myself, so I deeply understand the all-too-common frustration of searching for credit card recommendations only to find hundreds of American opinions and not a single one from Canada. On top of that, three years ago I founded Yore Oyster, a flights concierge service that saves corporate executives thousands of dollars and dozens of hours of time booking business class flights. I’m constantly watching out for exceptional flight deals, both for our Yore Oyster audience as well as for my own travels, which makes maximizing credit card rewards a fun side project. Why pay full price for your flight if you can pay a fraction of that just by being in-the-know?
I’ve been recommending that Canadians get an American Express card for years now, and nothing has changed. Their Membership Rewards program is hands-down the best credit card points program available to Canadians, and if you use it wisely—following directions such as those I show in this post on combining American Express, Aeroplan and Avios—then you can get some exceptional value out of the program. Just a few weeks ago I outlined the best travel rewards credit cards in Canada and, perhaps unsurprisingly, the top two cards were both from American Express. The American Express Platinum Card and the even swankier Business Platinum Card are sure winners once you learn to properly value and apply your points, while the American Express Business Gold Rewards Card offers the first year free, the holy grail of racking up credit card points on a shoestring. Other options available to Canadians, like the BMO World Elite Mastercard (which I’ve personally had) and the RBC Visa Infinite Avion card (which I haven’t), pale in comparison to American Express’ offering when it comes to their reward structures—it’s not even a fair fight. I'm a big proponent of my N26 Black card as well, with its clever use of TransferWise's currency exchange technology, but even N26 can't compete when it comes to flight rewards. If you're Canadian, an American Express card is the way to go.
The Offer
Assuming you already have an American Express card with a Membership Rewards balance, simply login to your account, connect your British Airways Avios account (or open a new Avios account), and then transfer your points. You’ll be notified that the regular transfer rate, 1,000 Membership Rewards points for 1,000 Avios points, has been increased to 1,250 Avios per 1,000 Membership Rewards points. Keep in mind that this particular promotion is only available for Canadian cardholders, so if your American Express card has been issued in any other country, you’ll have to wait until there’s a promotion there.
How To Get The Highest Value For Your British Airways Avios Points
You can redeem your Avios points on plenty of airlines—including American Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines and, of course, British Airways—for flights between destinations all over the world. Here are three of my favorite use cases that ensure you get excellent value for your Avios points.
- Flights Within South America
Domestic flights in South America are generally quite cheap, but international flights can be obscenely expensive. For example, the cheapest one-way from São Paulo, Brazil to Bogota, Colombia, both of which are regional flight hubs, is well over $400 between now and Christmas, and it comes with a whopping 20-hour itinerary. With Avios, a 6-hour direct flight on the same route costs just $50 and 12,500 Avios points.
- Flights To/From South America
Perhaps my favorite Avios redemption is the New York City to Rio de Janeiro route, which costs just $6 and 25,000 Avios points one way for the direct, 10-hour American Airlines flight. Compare that with the lowest ticket price between now and Christmas, $470, which takes somewhere between 22-34 hours, depending on which day you fly.
- Flights Between North America and Asia
A third sweet spot in the Avios program is on flights between North America and Asia, particularly Hong Kong. Flying from Toronto to Hong Kong costs just $70 and 35,000 Avios points, while Vancouver to Hong Kong is just $70 and 30,000 points. Compare that with the prices of the exact same direct Cathay Pacific flights, which bottom out at $680 and $520 respectively, and that’s a great value for your points.
American Express used to offer this transfer bonus much more regularly to Canadians, but it’s become significantly rarer in recent times. The last time they offered a transfer bonus to Avios was back in January 2016, so with that as the baseline, you can expect the next bonus to come at least six months from now. I'm a big fan of the Avios program, so I'll be transferring a good portion of my points before the promotion ends. If you have any trips coming up, especially within the regions I mention above, I suggest you consider transferring yours, too.
