Hi, I'm new to all this forum posts so forgive me if I am being stupid. Can anyone advise what the best way to use points and miles to get to Canada is? I've got a family wedding next year in July and want to do it as cheap as possible. I have over 50k Avios from credit card promos and over 50k from moving my holiday inn points. I've only ever used Avios in Europe with the reward flight option and the taxes for using it to Canda seem high and was wondering if I was missing anything? Cheers
Hi Points - first of all welcome to InsideFlyer UK! Secondly, there really is no such a thing as a stupid question here - only stupid answers (on occasion - and usually my own). The 'best' way is obviously pretty subjective, but with a bit more info we should be able to offer some suggestions: Which part of Canada are you heading to, how flexible are your dates, and how amenable are you to connecting vs flying direct (if it saves money/Points).
Unfortunately trading 10,000 IHG points for 2,000 Avios isn't a particularly good deal at all, especially since BA will charge a substantial amount in surcharges. There is very little you can do to reduce the cost of reaching Canada using Avios. If you're going to Toronto, I believe you have the option of flying on Aer Lingus via Dublin on separate tickets. Otherwise, you would have to do something that sounds completely crazy... book using Avios from Dublin or Copenhagen to your Canadian destination, with a connection in London. You then need to make you own way to your chosen departure airport. (you can't just show up at Heathrow) The amount that BA charges is much lower. But to be honest... save your Avios for the future and keep an eye on fare sales, etc. to get to Canada...
All good points - I was thinking perhaps something along the lines of getting an ultra cheap Norwegian/Wow/etc flight to basically anywhere in USA/Canada and Avios/cheap flight from there to actual destination.
Excellent, thank you all for comments. Hadn't thought about the internal flights and tagging on a few other places. Cheers
There aren't actually a lot of "cheap flights" within Canada and AA reward availability is non-existent. You're more likely to find a cheap flight from Gatwick on Air Transat or Westjet.
It all depends on your style of travel really. Personally, I actively seek out (long, preferably overnight) connections as opportunities to quickly check out a new city en route to my actual destination, but others can find it tiring and stressful.
Yeah, often decent prices available on them. is the AA domestic/NA availability still dreadful? I haven't looked for a while, but have actually always been pretty lucky in the past.
I know it's tempting, but I agree that moving IHG or any hotel points you have accrued into Avios is a last resort in terms of value. If you can, better to redeem in the programme you earned in and wait for sales in Avios redemptions. Easier said than done I realise!
It can definitely make sense sometimes for other airline miles (AA, Alaska, etc), but Avios are so (relatively) easy to earn or to acquire fairly cheaply ~1p, that I'd rarely recommend it no matter how tempting!
