How to book low tax redemptions with US Airways
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This series of articles covers the best ways to get maximum use for your Avios points. Other articles look at, for example, airberlin, TAM and Iberia amongst others. All of these airlines charge a fraction of the taxes and surcharges asked by British Airways for redemptions on their planes.
Save money by redeeming on US Airways
US Airways joined the oneworld alliance on 31 March 2014. If you are keen to minimise the amount you pay in tax and fuel surcharges, they offer an interesting option.
These are the routes currently flown by US Airways from the UK and Ireland. All require 80,000 Avios in Business Class.
Take a look at the taxes number (these figures all relate to Business Class return flights – remember that BA would want roughly £550 for a BA or AA flight):
Dublin to Philadelphia – £28 (says £49 then reprices, see screenshot)
London to Charlotte – £194 (say £215 then reprices)
London to Philadelphia – struggled to find but imagine as above
Manchester to Charlotte – £165 (says £186 then reprices)
Manchester to Philadelphia – £165 (says £186 then reprices)
Edinburgh to Philadelphia – £162 (says £185 then reprices)
Glasgow to Philadelphia – £161 (says £170 then reprices)
US also flies Dublin to Charlotte and Shannon to Philadelphia over the Summer.
Now, you may never have wanted to go to these places. However, US Airways has major hubs in Philadelphia and Charlotte, and can connect you from there to pretty much anywhere else you want to go.
Philadelphia, in particular, is close to New York and the East Coast and it is an easy connection by air or rail.
It is worth noting that the taxes are especially low if you are just flying TO the UK from the USA. Charlotte to Heathrow has tax of just £1! Compare that to £260 for a one-way British Airways redemption from the US in Club World. This is the same £1 price that airberlin charges for one-way business class redemptions from the US to Germany.
The easiest way to search for US Airways availability is to use the usairways.com website. You don’t even need to log-in to search for miles seats. Make sure you tick the ‘US flights only’ box and the ‘use miles’ and ‘direct flights’ boxes.
If the US website shows availability at the 50,000 mile level then ba.com should be able to pull up the same seat.
Ignore any days where US wants a higher figure – these are premium awards which you cannot book with Avios. Make sure you click through from the calendar to the summary page on usairways.com to double-check that business class seats are there – sometimes it shows availability at the 50k level when it actually involves a connection.
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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (March 2025)
As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards. Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!
In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.
You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:
Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard
Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review
Barclaycard Avios Mastercard
Get 5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review
There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:
British Airways American Express Premium Plus
30,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review
British Airways American Express
5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £15,000 Read our full review
You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.
SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.
SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.
American Express Preferred Rewards Gold
Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review
The Platinum Card from American Express
80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee Read our full review
Run your own business?
We recommend Capital on Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, and the standard card is FREE. Capital on Tap cards also have no FX fees.
Capital on Tap Visa
NO annual fee, NO FX fees and points worth 1 Avios per £1 Read our full review
Capital on Tap Pro Visa
10,500 points (=10,500 Avios) plus good benefits Read our full review
There is also a British Airways American Express card for small businesses:
British Airways American Express Accelerating Business
30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review
There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.
SPECIAL OFFER: Until 8th April 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Business Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to 120,000 points. You receive 80,000 points when you spend £12,000 within three months and a further 40,000 points if you spend on the card between Month 14 and Month 17. Points convert 1:1 into Avios and many other programmes. Click here to apply.
SPECIAL OFFER: Until 8th April 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Business Gold is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 60,000 points. You receive 40,000 points when you spend £6,000 within three months and a further 20,000 points if you spend on the card between Month 14 and Month 17. Points convert 1:1 into Avios and many other programmes. Click here to apply.
American Express Business Platinum
Up to 120,000 points when you sign-up and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review
American Express Business Gold
Up to 60,000 points sign-up bonus and FREE for a year Read our full review
Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.
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