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One of the best uses of British Airways Avios is for award travel on its partner airlines. And one of those partner airlines that routinely offers solid value for your Avios is none other than the world's largest air carrier:
With more than 350 destinations across more than 60 countries, American Airlines can take you to just about anywhere you need to go. Even better, most of AA's routes are bookable with British Airways Avios. In some cases, it makes more sense to book routes throughout American Airlines' network with Avios than
Unfortunately, devaluations over the past few years have made booking American Airlines flights with Avios less attractive. But there are plenty of cases where it is still advantageous.
Here's all you need to know about booking American Airlines flights with British Airways Avios.
Booking American Airlines Flights With British Airways Avios
With a huge fleet and extensive network, American Airlines is one of British Airways' most important airline partners. Both are founding members of the Oneworld alliance, so it's pretty simple to redeem British Airways Avios for flights operated by American Airlines.
Finding American Airlines award availability through British Airways is generally an effortless experience, depending on the route you want to fly. Within the Americas, you can almost always find space on American Airlines flights.
With some luck, you can also find award space on American flights between the U.S. and Europe, South America, Asia, and more. Compared to many carriers, American isn't especially stingy with the award space it makes available to partners.
Related: How To Find Airline Partner Award Flight Availability
British Airways award chart for American Airlines flights
British Airways doesn't publish an official award chart for flights operated by a single partner airline. The rates you'll see when booking partner awards may vary slightly depending on the airline.
However, for booking American Airlines (and Alaska Airlines) flights specifically, the following unofficial award chart applies to flights within North America:
| Distance/Zone | Economy | Premium Economy (on select flights to Hawaii/Alaska) | Business (Domestic First) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Up to 650 miles (Zone 1) | 13,500 | N/A | 26,500 |
| Up to 1,151 miles (Zones 2) | 18,000 | N/A | 35,500 |
| 1,152 to 2,000 miles (Zone 3) | 20,000 | N/A | 44,000 |
| 2,001 to 3,000 miles (Zone 4) | 22,000 | 44,000 | 55,000 |
| 3,001 to 4,000 miles (Zone 5) | 23,000 | 45,500 | 67,000 |
On top of that, British Airways will occasionally tinker with its unofficial partner award chart, often without announcing the changes in advance. The most recent devaluation occurred in December 2025, when the airline hiked its own and partner awards by roughly 10% for both the award cost and the taxes and fees. Sadly, American Airlines was not immune to these changes.
Which American Airlines Flights Are Still Worth Booking With Avios?
Let's take a look at some of the top ways to redeem British Airways Avios for American Airlines flights.
Short-haul flights
Zone 1 economy pricing — even though it recently went up — is still decent given the places you can go for 13,500 British Airways Avios one way. Here are some options for just 13,500 Avios:
- Charlotte (CLT) to Toronto (YYZ)
- Chicago (ORD) to Birmingham (BHM)
- Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) to Santa Fe (SAF)
- Phoenix (PHX) to St. George (SGU)
Looking for sun and sand? Here are a handful of Caribbean destinations accessible for just 13,500 Avios from Miami:
- Miami (MIA) to North Eleuthera, Bahamas (ELH)
- Miami (MIA) to Grand Cayman (GCM)
- Miami (MIA) to Havana (HAV)
- Miami (MIA) to Cancun (CUN)
Expanding out to Zone 2, which costs 18,000 Avios in economy, here are some nonstop American Airlines flights you can book with British Airways Avios:
- Charlotte (CLT) to Bermuda (BDA)
- Phoenix (PHX) to Puerto Vallarta (PVR)
- Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) to San Jose del Cabo (SJD)
- Miami (MIA) to Barranquilla (BAQ)
The key to getting good value for your Avios is to use them for regional or international destinations where prices are consistently high.
Domestic first class in lie-flat seats
One of the best ways to fly domestically in the United States is on American Airlines' lie-flat business- and first-class seats. You can book these flights for as few as 35,500 British Airways Avios for Zone 2 hops.
American Airlines operates wide-body aircraft on select frequencies on a handful of domestic routes, such as:
- Dallas (DFW) to New York-Kennedy (JFK)
- Charlotte (CLT) to Miami (MIA)
- Phoenix (PHX) to Chicago (ORD)
- Philadelphia (PHL) to Los Angeles (LAX)
You can view the plane type by clicking on the line that says “American Airlines — AA(Flight Number).”
Flights in the Zone 3 and Zone 4 bands cost 44,000 and 55,000 British Airways Avios one way, respectively. This is a steep price, but it could be worth using your points for the experience. You could also take advantage of an Avios transfer bonus to further reduce the cost.
However, it's worth noting that American modifies the routes that get these internationally configured jets every month. See the full list of American Airlines domestic lie-flat business-class seats for this month.
Last-minute trips
One of the best uses of British Airways Avios on American Airlines is for last-minute trips. Cash prices are usually high when booking a ticket only a handful of days out, so an award ticket can be the way to go.
Consider this route from Phoenix (PHX) to San Luis Obispo (SBP) on the California Central Coast. A last-minute flight costs over $400 one way.
Amazingly, American Airlines still has multiple seats available to book with British Airways Avios. It even has domestic first-class seats available if you want to fly up front! Economy will cost you just 13,500 Avios, which nets you close to 3.1 cents per Avios.
If you have to travel on American last minute, make sure you consider British Airways Avios as an option.
How To Book American Airlines Flights Using British Airways Avios
The process of booking American Airlines flights using British Airways Avios starts on British Airways' website. After logging in, you'll want to navigate over to your account dashboard, scroll down, and click on “Book flights with Avios.”
Like any other award booking, you'll enter the details of your trip: origin, destination, dates, and so on. The next step is clicking on “Get flights.”
Itineraries operated by British Airways will show up first, followed by partner-operated itineraries. If award space on American Airlines is available, you'll be able to select the itinerary and class you want to book, then complete your purchase without hassle.
If you're working with a transferable point balance that you want to move to British Airways Club, the best time to do so is after you've confirmed there are available seats to book. Once you see the American Airlines flight options on British Airways' website, you're good to kick off the transfer. Generally, transfers happen instantly, making the experience seamless from start to finish.
There's no availability — what should you do?
Sometimes, you'll come up empty-handed when running an award search, and there won't be a flight available you can book on your intended day of travel. From here, you have a few options to find availability.
You can first scroll left or right of British Airways' booking calendar to check availability up to three days before or after your original search. This is often the easiest way to find flights close to when you originally wanted to travel. In award travel, flexibility is key, after all. Unfortunately, British Airways does not have a week- or month-view that shows which dates have seats available.
But if you're still unable to find any flights, there are two places you can look for the nearest partner availability on American Airlines. The first is on the Alaska Airlines Atmos
American Airlines flights are bookable with Atmos Rewards points, so you'll see live partner award space on American Airlines in these results. Generally, if you can book an award with one partner, you should be able to book it with another.
Filtering by airline and airport is the easiest way to see the other days where there's bookable space on American Airlines.
Once you find a day with a flight that works for you, the next step is going back to the British Airways website and plugging in the new dates.
If the availability isn't reflected on the British Airways website, you may need to call British Airways to make the booking. Make sure to mention that your desired flight was not listed on the British Airways website. When you bring this up, the customer service representative should waive the phone booking fee.
Alternatively, you can use a tool such as ExpertFlyer. This tool will allow you to comprehensively search for partner award space on your intended day of travel and a few days on either side. For help navigating this unintuitive tool, we've assembled a complete guide to ExpertFlyer.
Earning British Airways Avios
There are many ways to earn Avios — even without traveling on British Airways or another Oneworld airline.
Co-branded credit cards
Swiping the British Airways
If you're a new applicant, you'll earn 75,000 bonus Avios after you spend $5,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening. In recent redemptions, AwardWallet users have redeemed Avios at an average of 2.55¢ apiece, which makes the bonus worth over $1,900.
The British Airways Visa Card charges a $95 annual fee and earns 3X Avios per $1 spent on purchases with British Airways, Aer Lingus, Iberia, and LEVEL, 2X Avios per $1 spent on hotel accommodations, plus 1 Avios per $1 spent on all other purchases. As it's issued by Chase, the card is subject to the 5/24 rule.
- Earn 75,000 Avios after you spend $5,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening.
- Earn 3 Avios per $1 spent on purchases with British Airways, Aer Lingus, Iberia, and LEVEL.
- Earn 2 Avios per $1 spent on hotel accommodations when purchased directly with the hotel.
- 10% off British Airways flights starting in the US when you book through the website provided in your welcome materials.
- Every calendar year you make $30,000 in purchases on your British Airways Visa card, you'll earn a Travel Together Ticket good for two years.
- Pay no foreign transaction fees when you travel abroad.
- Simply tap to pay with your contactless British Airways Visa Signature Card. Just look for the contactless symbol at checkout. It's fast, easy and secure!
- Member FDIC
- 3X Avios per $1 spent on purchases with British Airways, Aer Lingus, Iberia, and LEVEL
- 2X Avios per $1 spent on hotel accommodations
- 1X Avios for every $1 spent on all other purchases
Related: Best Credit Cards To Earn Avios
British Airways transfer partners
British Airways is also accessible from a slew of transfer programs. Earning transferable points and moving them to British Airways Club when you find an eye-catching redemption is one of the best ways to manage your points and miles.
In other words, holding a card that earns
Related: Do British Airways Avios Expire?
Combine Avios between accounts
One nice feature of multiple airlines using the Avios currency is that it's possible to move Avios between your account with one airline to another Avios-program airline freely and instantly. You can transfer Avios between all seven Avios-earning accounts online for free. With British Airways, you can also pool Avios among up to seven individuals at an address by setting up a household account.
Bottom Line
One of the best ways to get the most out of your British Airways Avios is to redeem with a partner airline. And one of British Airways' partners that routinely offers outsized value on Avios redemptions is none other than American Airlines. With a little effort, you can find and book American Airlines flights to many destinations using your Avios for excellent value.
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: British Airways Visa Signature® Card (Rates & Fees)
