Is this the best round-the-world routing using Avios?

A HFP reader sent in his round-the world itinerary and was wondering if it was the best way to travel around the world using Avios points?

I liked his itinerary but, as the reader was not based in the UK, I thought I could tweak it to start in the UK and add some extra destinations.  This is what I came up with.

My suggested routing trip takes in Berlin, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Doha and Venice. 

The total cost (in Economy) is just 110,500 Avios plus £194 tax.

This is how I did it:

London to Berlin, British Airways (4,000 Avios + £17.50 off-peak)

Berlin to New York JFK, airberlin (20,000 Avios + £60)

New York to Chicago, American (7,500 Avios + £14)

Chicago to Los Angeles, American (10,000 Avios + £3)

Los Angeles to Tokyo (American, 25,000 Avios + £3)

Tokyo to Doha (Qatar, 25,000 Avios + c £40)

Doha to Venice (Qatar, 12,500 Avios + £39)

Venice to London (BA, 6,500 Avios + £17.50 off-peak)

You could chop the cost down sharply by ignoring Doha and Venice and doing this:

Tokyo to London (BA, 19,500 Avios + £61 off-peak)

This would reduce the cost to 86,000 Avios plus £158.50 but you miss out on Doha and Venice.

You could also swap Berlin for Dublin and fly Aer Lingus to New York for roughly £60 of tax.

If you have any ideas for improving on this (whilst keeping a good balance of Avios, taxes and destinations) please post your ideas below.

---

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (January 2021)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

There are two official British Airways American Express cards:

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points, such as:

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

If you have a small business, we especially recommend Capital On Cap’s Visa card which comes with a generous bonus worth 10,500 Avios:

(Want to earn more Avios?  Click here to visit our home page for our latest articles on earning and spending your Avios points and click here to see how to earn more Avios this month from offers and promotions.)