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I love Avios sweetspots (good value redemptions), and am pleased to share a few new ones I came across recently. They’re not hugely exciting, but could be very useful in the right circumstances.

Aer Lingus being taken over by BA/Iberia parent company IAG resulted in one of the better known Avios sweetspot redemptions – 12,500 one way in Economy between Dublin/Shannon and Boston – being taken away, but when one door closes…

Craig recently posted the Peak and Off-Peak calendars for BA, Iberia and Aer Lingus, and the Aer Lingus calendar is particularly interesting.

Off-peak dates cover almost 8 months of the year, which is great:

• January 5 – April 6
• April 24 – June 16
• September 11 – December 15

The main point though is that those off-peak dates require just 13,000 Avios each way to a whole load of new cities in North America:

• Boston
• New York (JFK)
• Hartford
• Newark
• Washington DC
• Chicago
• Toronto (from 14th March 2017)

It is also now possible to fly to the following cities for just 16,250 Avios, which is a very good price for West Coast USA in particular.

• Orlando
• Los Angeles
• San Francisco

Peak dates require 20,000 or 25,000 Avios respectively.

Taxes/Surcharges

One way from Ireland looks to be ~ £120, while one way from North America is more like ~£80.

Returns work out slightly cheaper in total at about ~£180.

This definitely takes some of the gloss off, particularly given the cheap direct fares you can get these days from London with Norwegian Air. There are still plenty of times though when using Avios will work out the better option (and not just if you happen to live in Ireland!)

How to book

I managed to pull up availability for a wide range of different options using Avios.com in seconds.

Availability seems good, Avios.com is quite simple to use, and remember you can transfer Avios across to Avios.com from BA Executive Club or Iberia Plus instantly (and usually easily!).

What about Business Class?

50,000+ Avios one way is pretty painful compared to what it used to be a few years ago (25,000 Avios between Dublin/Shannon and Boston!), but the taxes/surcharges are still relatively reasonable at least.

Bottom line

The taxes/surcharges and lack of good value Business Class options mean that the examples above are never going to make it into the Avios Sweetspots ‘Hall of Fame’, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t potentially useful and are certainly worth being aware of!

Anyone spotted any other good new redemption opportunities yet?