🚨 EDIT: I mentioned that Citi can transfer to British Airways, but that is not the case. The main lenders who can transfer to British Airways are Chase, Amex, Capital One, and Bilt (not Citi). 🎥 If you want to learn more about my other redemptions over the past few years, check out this playlist next: spencerjohnsonofficial.com/redemptions
Funny Citi can transfer to British Airways but it’s indirect! You have to go through Qatar first and link your BA/Qatar accounts 1:1 to pull off the transfer.
I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong. When I try to book American Airlines flights through British Airways using Avios I keep getting a notification saying no flights available. Does anyone have any tips?
Love the video Spencer! I book most of my domestic flights using this method. The only drawback is when you need to make a cancellation or a change. BA isn’t bad to deal with but it’s time consuming. I was on the phone with them for an hour today. I canceled and rebooked with Southwest! And you know how I feel about SW!!!!
Getting the blessing from Uncle Luke on this video is everything I could of dreamed of and more haha. But yes you're right.. dealing with cancellations and stuff like that is basically the same as doing so through a travel portal and can be a big headache. As for SW, you know I'm partial to em, so I think you did the right thing 😉
I respect that! The purpose behind it is not to add a paywall, although I realize that's how it may come across. The fact of the matter is that a very small percentage of my current audience would watch an extra 5-10 minutes on a video of me discussing a day by day breakdown of my trips and are only here for the facts related to the cards/points I used to make it happen. However, my members love hearing about those more intricate details and like getting a peak into my personal life, so it's a perfect fit for them and I'd rather make their paid experience even better than it currently is with more extra content. Starting another channel over time may be a very viable approach, especially if I did real travel vlogs. However, right now I don't have the time to commit to another channel and would rather keep everything in one place. To add a note about some math here though, every one of my members only videos are completely ad free, so if you really wanted to hear about those trips, you could do so for $4.99/mo ad free rather than paying $13.99/mo for YT Premium to make a normal video of mine ad free, so there's that to consider too. Overall, I really appreciate your input and hope you understand why this makes sense for my current position!
@@SpencerJohnsonOfficial I have YT premium. I don't represent your entire audience obviously, but this post got decent likes. I am a subscriber. I am also subscriber to many peoples B-channels. I don't pay for channel a single memberships. Keep up the good work, I enjoy your content.
Spencer, this video was a massive help. Seeing you go over the step by step process is incredibly useful, as opposed to just talking about it. I am very much a visual learner so this couldn’t have been any more helpful. I just booked multiple flights for my girlfriend and I to Paris for the Olympics this summer, and was able to score around 4ish cpp. I am very appreciative of these types of videos. Thanks man
This is so great to hear! I know it was more of a niche video, but I wanted to be sure to help someone step by step through the process without worrying about how the video would do. That's an awesome redemption you got though, I'm stoked to hear about your trip!! Also, thanks so much for joining the membership! This message populated into the members comments filter and I'm excited to talk with you more in the future 👊🏼
This video helps! I’m trying to learn how to get the most use out of my AMEX MR points! Please keep putting out more domestic flight AMEX partner redemption videos!
Great step by step redemption video Spencer! Always wondered how to make an AA redemption by using transfer partners and you broke it down well! Great stuff!!
I appreciate that Stan! It's a niche topic, but hopefully will help folks out still. I've also been told by a subscriber that you can find even cheaper flights using the same method through Qatar Avios instead of BA, so that's worth looking into as well!
Comment. BA Avios required for a itinerary are generally quite static, eg the same Avios for different flights on the same routing. However American, IME, often have saver rates or similar name i forget, for specific flights, so if your itinerary is flexible you can save by taking those. Specific example, by selecting the dates i flew to Hawaii from the UK this year i got it for 180k AA miles instead of anywhere from 250k to 300k airmiles. One other thing, would be useful for you to look at Qatar, ive seen other comments that Qatar often have much 'cheaper' rates for the same flights as BA >>on an American plane
Spence, why don’t you use Qatar since it’s so much cheaper? Their fees are a tiny bit higher, but it’s way less Avíos. Their award chart for short domestic flights is way better.
Thank you for the explanation! I think I need to open an account first with BA to test out my scenario as they are saying I need to convert it to Alaska points first but since Alaska and BA are in the one world alliance I could technically use your way explained above?
I can't find any flights to match on british airways. I'm using large hubs that I don't even want to fly to and it's still saying no flights match. I'm doing something wrong.
Thanks for the video. It helps to be reminded of these indirect ways of booking award travel, as you did. I am wondering what you have found is the best way to find the current transfer bonus offers for the various points currencies.
I have tried many different routes on British airways website but it all ends up with a "web page problem" error. Is it because I don't have an account? I would like to have AA as an option but I haven't had luck looking up flights on British Airways.
My question. If it takes 24-28 hours for the transfer points to be credited to the target account, how/when do you actually book the flight? Are you able to save the flight and then book it? What happens if you log out and then want to book the flight? Do you lose the flight?
Couldn't have explained this better Spencer. As someone who likes to use my rewards points for flights, this is huge! I've recently found out how to book flights with airlines that aren't direct transfer partners by using strategies like this, so this video is super helpful. Wish I would've known this sooner. Thank you bro, keep up the great videos! - Diego
Love this more niche but super informational video Spencer! Utilizing Avios for American Flights is one of the best ways to redeem points for flights domestically! Of course, always agree with your sentiment of just putting your points to use & utilizing an earn & burn strategy so awesome that you were able to make this redemption and make the trip to Savannah & Hilton Head happen! Great video as always Spencer!
That's great to hear man! It's definitely a niche video, but for those looking for how to do this, I hope it'll be a one stop shop for them. I'll be earning and burning a lot more points this year, so definitely stay tuned 😆
Great video! Avios can give really good deals for AA. I transferred over a ton of Amex points during the 30% transfer bonus. The recent devaluation hurt a little but still not a bad deal in many cases.
Thanks so much JP! I'm gonna be looking into using Qatar Avios for this strategy too as a subscriber told me those flights are almost always cheaper. We'll see! And yeah, devaluations suck, but I kinda expect them so they don't hurt me as bad haha.
This video was much needed as AA is the easies, and usually cheapest for the convinces, airline to get to the one international place I travel to. I’ll def have to check this out as I plan to take a trip in October. Love your content. - Ivan
I'm glad it was helpful for you man! Just note that I've also been told by a subscriber that you can find even cheaper flights using the same method through Qatar Avios instead of BA, so that's worth looking into as well! Thanks for the support as always brotha.
Nice video Spencer. I find actual nuts and bolts videos such as this one very helpful. It makes the redemptions real instead of theoretical thereby making it a higher probability that I will try it. 2 additional considerations for booking domestic flights. First, sometimes the cancellation penalties for bookings on alliance partners are high vs. the OG airline. On United, for instance, I have no fees to cancel award travel based on my status, so I can hold a flight and not worry about cancelling it later. Second, some times you get credit for status by using miles to book a flight. Again, this is true for United. These two things change the calculus for booking with an airline or an alliance partner. My base multiplier is 1.50 since I have the Chase Sapphire Reserve and Amex Biz Platinum. So, for an Alliance partner booking, I want at least 2.0X if not 2.5X to justify booking with an alliance partner vs the travel portal .
I'm glad you find a lot of values in videos like these! I plan to do many more. And thank you for the notes here as well. Those are all super good points! I'm just getting my feet wet with the airline alliance side of the game, so all this information definitely helps me out.
There are flights with connections but they are actually more expensive. Example Columbus to Miami is 9k but if you have to connect in DC it might be 12k
I love any and all questions! Unfortunately yes, transfer bonuses are only around for a limited time. They don't always tell you when they're gonna expire, so people usually take advantage of em really quick.
Don't forget that your essentially booking through an online travel agency, so you'll deal with those issues if you need a change your flight or if it gets canceled.
No problem! It's a 1:1 transfer, however, you can expect to get 1.4-1.5cpp for your SW bookings. Every booking is different, but that's been my experience.
@@SpencerJohnsonOfficial yeah I just booked a flight from Sf to Las Vegas got 1.4 CPP not terrible. I’m still new to the game. One last question: I have the Sapphire Preferred and the Freedom Flex to complete the trifecta should I go Freedom Unlimited or Business Ink Unlimited?
So I've done this for a future flight. What no one talks about is what actual seat you are getting when booking economy through BA. What are bag options. Do you get to choose seats. All that stuff. Any insight?
It's an economy flight, so you get American Airlines economy perks. You'll choose your seat on American. Your essentially booking through a travel agency, so there's the issues with that
LK_EBM explained it perfectly above. I was able to choose my seats like a normal AA flight and I personally never check bags so that wasn't an issue for me.
Unfortunately they do not transfer directly to AA, only Bilt can do that. However, there are ways to book AA flights using Citi points through airline alliances similar to what I'm talking about in this video.
I’m still at the beginning of my evolution, get cards, doing spends, accumulating points & miles. But I’m starting to transition from earn to burn, with a trip planned for late 2024 paid for mostly with point redemptions, so this was a perfect video for me. Looking forward to more similar videos
Well you're off to a great start it sounds like!! That's great to hear this video was helpful for you. Also note that I've also been told by a subscriber that you can find even cheaper flights using the same method through Qatar Avios instead of BA, so that's worth looking into as well!
Can you do this same thing with a family of 3. Everyone always shows how to do it for a single ticket and one way. How about 2 adults 1 child round trip? And if you don’t have enough points can you pay partial points and rest in dollars?
I could definitely look into that more! Maybe I'll make a big video in the future about how to utilize different airline alliances and can show multiple examples, some for solo travelers and some for family travelers. Great ideas!
Danggg that blows. It defintiely doesn't always work, but I've found pretty good success for most of my trips so far. Hopefully your next one will work!
I wanted to give this a try for myself just to browse multiple different American hub airports I even did the exact same flight Spencer showed in the video and BA keeps saying sorry we have no available flights, any suggestions/help.
That's defintiely odd. I assume you created a BA account and everything, so it should have shown you some results. Especially if you did the exact same one I did. I would double check all the boxes are the same as mine (including the drop down being on Economy rather than business or first class) because even one small change may cause you to get directed to the wrong place.
I appreciate that brotha! I've also been told by a subscriber that you can find even cheaper flights using the same method through Qatar Avios instead of BA, so that's worth looking into as well!
I love to hear it man! I hope it can be of use to you! I've also been told by a subscriber that you can find even cheaper flights using the same method through Qatar Avios instead of BA, so that's worth looking into as well!
As always LK came in with the perfect answer. I was able to do it through American, but I'm pretty sure I got there through the BA booking confirmation so it wasn't too hard to find.
I'm going to Atlanta next week and there wasn't any way to book with transfer partners so I used my $300 travel credit plus 1.5 cents per point with the CSR. So happy i finally upgraded to the CSR
Great step by step guide Spencer! Airlines alliances are a 💪 tool to get more value and to open more ways use points! Thanks for the info brother and keep up the great work!🫵
🚨 EDIT: I mentioned that Citi can transfer to British Airways, but that is not the case. The main lenders who can transfer to British Airways are Chase, Amex, Capital One, and Bilt (not Citi).
🎥 If you want to learn more about my other redemptions over the past few years, check out this playlist next: spencerjohnsonofficial.com/redemptions
Funny Citi can transfer to British Airways but it’s indirect! You have to go through Qatar first and link your BA/Qatar accounts 1:1 to pull off the transfer.
I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong. When I try to book American Airlines flights through British Airways using Avios I keep getting a notification saying no flights available. Does anyone have any tips?
Love the video Spencer! I book most of my domestic flights using this method. The only drawback is when you need to make a cancellation or a change. BA isn’t bad to deal with but it’s time consuming. I was on the phone with them for an hour today. I canceled and rebooked with Southwest! And you know how I feel about SW!!!!
Come one Uncle Luke! 1st you wanted to cancel the Platinum and now you are flying Southwest!😂
Ha Ha Ha! only as a last resort!!! I had some credits and points in the account. @@CesarJoel
Getting the blessing from Uncle Luke on this video is everything I could of dreamed of and more haha. But yes you're right.. dealing with cancellations and stuff like that is basically the same as doing so through a travel portal and can be a big headache. As for SW, you know I'm partial to em, so I think you did the right thing 😉
I hate the members paywall idea. If you really feel recaps are better than make a b-channel. I rather ads than paywall.
I respect that! The purpose behind it is not to add a paywall, although I realize that's how it may come across. The fact of the matter is that a very small percentage of my current audience would watch an extra 5-10 minutes on a video of me discussing a day by day breakdown of my trips and are only here for the facts related to the cards/points I used to make it happen. However, my members love hearing about those more intricate details and like getting a peak into my personal life, so it's a perfect fit for them and I'd rather make their paid experience even better than it currently is with more extra content.
Starting another channel over time may be a very viable approach, especially if I did real travel vlogs. However, right now I don't have the time to commit to another channel and would rather keep everything in one place.
To add a note about some math here though, every one of my members only videos are completely ad free, so if you really wanted to hear about those trips, you could do so for $4.99/mo ad free rather than paying $13.99/mo for YT Premium to make a normal video of mine ad free, so there's that to consider too.
Overall, I really appreciate your input and hope you understand why this makes sense for my current position!
@@SpencerJohnsonOfficial I have YT premium. I don't represent your entire audience obviously, but this post got decent likes. I am a subscriber. I am also subscriber to many peoples B-channels. I don't pay for channel a single memberships. Keep up the good work, I enjoy your content.
Spencer, this video was a massive help. Seeing you go over the step by step process is incredibly useful, as opposed to just talking about it. I am very much a visual learner so this couldn’t have been any more helpful.
I just booked multiple flights for my girlfriend and I to Paris for the Olympics this summer, and was able to score around 4ish cpp. I am very appreciative of these types of videos. Thanks man
This is so great to hear! I know it was more of a niche video, but I wanted to be sure to help someone step by step through the process without worrying about how the video would do. That's an awesome redemption you got though, I'm stoked to hear about your trip!!
Also, thanks so much for joining the membership! This message populated into the members comments filter and I'm excited to talk with you more in the future 👊🏼
This video helps! I’m trying to learn how to get the most use out of my AMEX MR points! Please keep putting out more domestic flight AMEX partner redemption videos!
Great step by step redemption video Spencer! Always wondered how to make an AA redemption by using transfer partners and you broke it down well! Great stuff!!
I appreciate that Stan! It's a niche topic, but hopefully will help folks out still. I've also been told by a subscriber that you can find even cheaper flights using the same method through Qatar Avios instead of BA, so that's worth looking into as well!
Comment. BA Avios required for a itinerary are generally quite static, eg the same Avios for different flights on the same routing.
However American, IME, often have saver rates or similar name i forget, for specific flights, so if your itinerary is flexible you can save by taking those. Specific example, by selecting the dates i flew to Hawaii from the UK this year i got it for 180k AA miles instead of anywhere from 250k to 300k airmiles. One other thing, would be useful for you to look at Qatar, ive seen other comments that Qatar often have much 'cheaper' rates for the same flights as BA >>on an American plane
Spence, why don’t you use Qatar since it’s so much cheaper? Their fees are a tiny bit higher, but it’s way less Avíos. Their award chart for short domestic flights is way better.
I have been trying to book NY to Tokyo on American though British airlines but never had any success and tips?
Thank you for the explanation! I think I need to open an account first with BA to test out my scenario as they are saying I need to convert it to Alaska points first but since Alaska and BA are in the one world alliance I could technically use your way explained above?
This was great. Thanks Spencer! I’d love to see more redemption videos like this!
Thanks so much Jake! I definitely plan on doing more in the future!
I can't find any flights to match on british airways. I'm using large hubs that I don't even want to fly to and it's still saying no flights match. I'm doing something wrong.
Thanks for the video. It helps to be reminded of these indirect ways of booking award travel, as you did. I am wondering what you have found is the best way to find the current transfer bonus offers for the various points currencies.
I have tried many different routes on British airways website but it all ends up with a "web page problem" error. Is it because I don't have an account? I would like to have AA as an option but I haven't had luck looking up flights on British Airways.
My question. If it takes 24-28 hours for the transfer points to be credited to the target account, how/when do you actually book the flight? Are you able to save the flight and then book it? What happens if you log out and then want to book the flight? Do you lose the flight?
Couldn't have explained this better Spencer. As someone who likes to use my rewards points for flights, this is huge! I've recently found out how to book flights with airlines that aren't direct transfer partners by using strategies like this, so this video is super helpful. Wish I would've known this sooner. Thank you bro, keep up the great videos! - Diego
That's awesome to hear man! I'm really glad you enjoyed this one. I'm looking forward to making more like it!
Love this more niche but super informational video Spencer! Utilizing Avios for American Flights is one of the best ways to redeem points for flights domestically! Of course, always agree with your sentiment of just putting your points to use & utilizing an earn & burn strategy so awesome that you were able to make this redemption and make the trip to Savannah & Hilton Head happen! Great video as always Spencer!
That's great to hear man! It's definitely a niche video, but for those looking for how to do this, I hope it'll be a one stop shop for them. I'll be earning and burning a lot more points this year, so definitely stay tuned 😆
Long time watcher, first time commenter... with my new badge! 😀
Let's go!! I love it dude! Thanks so much for the support 👊🏼
Thanks for the info + video!
Absolutely man!
Great video! Avios can give really good deals for AA. I transferred over a ton of Amex points during the 30% transfer bonus. The recent devaluation hurt a little but still not a bad deal in many cases.
Thanks so much JP! I'm gonna be looking into using Qatar Avios for this strategy too as a subscriber told me those flights are almost always cheaper. We'll see! And yeah, devaluations suck, but I kinda expect them so they don't hurt me as bad haha.
This video was much needed as AA is the easies, and usually cheapest for the convinces, airline to get to the one international place I travel to. I’ll def have to check this out as I plan to take a trip in October.
Love your content.
- Ivan
I'm glad it was helpful for you man! Just note that I've also been told by a subscriber that you can find even cheaper flights using the same method through Qatar Avios instead of BA, so that's worth looking into as well! Thanks for the support as always brotha.
Nice video Spencer. I find actual nuts and bolts videos such as this one very helpful. It makes the redemptions real instead of theoretical thereby making it a higher probability that I will try it.
2 additional considerations for booking domestic flights. First, sometimes the cancellation penalties for bookings on alliance partners are high vs. the OG airline. On United, for instance, I have no fees to cancel award travel based on my status, so I can hold a flight and not worry about cancelling it later. Second, some times you get credit for status by using miles to book a flight. Again, this is true for United. These two things change the calculus for booking with an airline or an alliance partner. My base multiplier is 1.50 since I have the Chase Sapphire Reserve and Amex Biz Platinum. So, for an Alliance partner booking, I want at least 2.0X if not 2.5X to justify booking with an alliance partner vs the travel portal
.
I'm glad you find a lot of values in videos like these! I plan to do many more. And thank you for the notes here as well. Those are all super good points! I'm just getting my feet wet with the airline alliance side of the game, so all this information definitely helps me out.
It looks like BA only does direct flights on AA. Do you know of a way to do flights with layovers?
There are flights with connections but they are actually more expensive. Example Columbus to Miami is 9k but if you have to connect in DC it might be 12k
It looks like Luke gave a great explanation above! I appreciate that!
Can you still use British airways to book aa flights if the flight is international?
I found a redemption flight from American airline but no availability through British airways, what should I do to use my amex points?
Noob question. For example there's a running promotion transfer bonus on certain airline. Does it have expiration?
I love any and all questions! Unfortunately yes, transfer bonuses are only around for a limited time. They don't always tell you when they're gonna expire, so people usually take advantage of em really quick.
Don't forget that your essentially booking through an online travel agency, so you'll deal with those issues if you need a change your flight or if it gets canceled.
Absolutely right man. It can be super annoying if you have to do that for sure.
Thanks. How’s the redemption rate from Chase to Southwest?
No problem! It's a 1:1 transfer, however, you can expect to get 1.4-1.5cpp for your SW bookings. Every booking is different, but that's been my experience.
@@SpencerJohnsonOfficial yeah I just booked a flight from Sf to Las Vegas got 1.4 CPP not terrible. I’m still new to the game. One last question: I have the Sapphire Preferred and the Freedom Flex to complete the trifecta should I go Freedom Unlimited or Business Ink Unlimited?
So I've done this for a future flight. What no one talks about is what actual seat you are getting when booking economy through BA. What are bag options. Do you get to choose seats. All that stuff. Any insight?
It's an economy flight, so you get American Airlines economy perks. You'll choose your seat on American. Your essentially booking through a travel agency, so there's the issues with that
LK_EBM explained it perfectly above. I was able to choose my seats like a normal AA flight and I personally never check bags so that wasn't an issue for me.
i believe citi premier does transfer to american airlines
Unfortunately they do not transfer directly to AA, only Bilt can do that. However, there are ways to book AA flights using Citi points through airline alliances similar to what I'm talking about in this video.
@@SpencerJohnsonOfficial oh ok. im wrong. thanks for the info. more power to your channel. 👍
I’m still at the beginning of my evolution, get cards, doing spends, accumulating points & miles. But I’m starting to transition from earn to burn, with a trip planned for late 2024 paid for mostly with point redemptions, so this was a perfect video for me. Looking forward to more similar videos
Well you're off to a great start it sounds like!! That's great to hear this video was helpful for you. Also note that I've also been told by a subscriber that you can find even cheaper flights using the same method through Qatar Avios instead of BA, so that's worth looking into as well!
Can you do this same thing with a family of 3. Everyone always shows how to do it for a single ticket and one way. How about 2 adults 1 child round trip? And if you don’t have enough points can you pay partial points and rest in dollars?
I could definitely look into that more! Maybe I'll make a big video in the future about how to utilize different airline alliances and can show multiple examples, some for solo travelers and some for family travelers. Great ideas!
Tried using looking for a Hawaii trip out of atl and no go sadly
Danggg that blows. It defintiely doesn't always work, but I've found pretty good success for most of my trips so far. Hopefully your next one will work!
Love the step by step redemption video!
I'm happy to hear that! It's a bit different from my normal content but I hope it helps people out.
I wanted to give this a try for myself just to browse multiple different American hub airports I even did the exact same flight Spencer showed in the video and BA keeps saying sorry we have no available flights, any suggestions/help.
No, you're probably too late. Award space is LIMITED.
Even when he was booking, there was only 7 award seats left in a 200+ seat plane.
@@LK_EBM I get that but absolutely nothing was popping up LAX, DFW , JFK , PHI multiple dif dates one ways and round trip
That's defintiely odd. I assume you created a BA account and everything, so it should have shown you some results. Especially if you did the exact same one I did. I would double check all the boxes are the same as mine (including the drop down being on Economy rather than business or first class) because even one small change may cause you to get directed to the wrong place.
Super helpful video today Spence, hopefully I can make a similar booking soon!
I appreciate that brotha! I've also been told by a subscriber that you can find even cheaper flights using the same method through Qatar Avios instead of BA, so that's worth looking into as well!
This is a very helpful video, thank you Spencer, I’m planning on taking a trip to DC using Amex points on AA so this is very useful
I love to hear it man! I hope it can be of use to you! I've also been told by a subscriber that you can find even cheaper flights using the same method through Qatar Avios instead of BA, so that's worth looking into as well!
I’d be curious to find out did you pick your seat on the BA website or did you do that once you confirmed your flight with AA
Do it on American
@@LK_EBM is it free to do so or do they try to get you to pay to do it unless it’s the day before or two days before the flight?
@@Nick-1828 the Economy seats are free. It'll cost more if you want premium seats, like exit row .. etc
As always LK came in with the perfect answer. I was able to do it through American, but I'm pretty sure I got there through the BA booking confirmation so it wasn't too hard to find.
@@LK_EBM greatly appreciate your responses!
This is a great video.
I'm glad you enjoyed it!!
This only works if you’re travel dates are flexible
It definitely helps as I explained in the video! However, it's worked well for me so far and I haven't been super flexible. YMMV!
I'm going to Atlanta next week and there wasn't any way to book with transfer partners so I used my $300 travel credit plus 1.5 cents per point with the CSR. So happy i finally upgraded to the CSR
Let's go dude! That's when those travel credits come in clutch. I love to hear it.
Great video ❤
Thank you Vicki!!
Finally someone explains this
I'm glad I could be of service!
I like to book 2 one-way bookings than 1 round-trip... Provides a little more flexibility.
That's a great tip I should have mentioned here. Thanks for bringing that up!
😊
Another first place finish! Nice work 👑
Great step by step guide Spencer! Airlines alliances are a 💪 tool to get more value and to open more ways use points! Thanks for the info brother and keep up the great work!🫵
Thank you so much brother! I'm just getting my feet wet with them, but I'll be sharing my experience as I continue to learn!