The Best Avios Redemptions for 2021

We have listed the best avios redemptions for 2021 with British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus and other partners in Business or First class.

The best avios redemptions for the year 2021

1. Iberia – Business Class to and from the US

Transcontinental business class flights with Iberia have to be on the best avios redemptions 2021 list. Flights from and to Madrid are a great way to redeem avios. You will avoid the high taxes and fees that you would pay when redeeming your avios with British Airways.

New York, Boston and Chicago are all available for 34,000 avios, one way in business class on off-peak dates, which seems like a bargain with around 100€ in fees and taxes only.

Miami for only 42,500 avios, is as well one of the best avios redemptions for the year 2021.

To search for availability you can simply use Iberia’s website and look for flights.

Remember that if you have your avios collected with British Airways you have to transfer your avios to Iberia via the combine my avios feature.

There is also a way around if you are in a household account.

2. Aer Lingus – Business Class Dublin to North America

Flights from Dublin to North America are an excellent way to redeem your avios,  you will save a significant amount of money in taxes when you fly out of Dublin.

Furthermore, you can already immigrate to the US at the airport in Dublin. That will save you a lot of time, as you do not have to clear the immigration in the US, which is often tied to long queues.

Aer Lingus also has a peak and an off-peak calendar.

Below a few examples:

• Oneway flights between Ireland and Boston, Chicago, Hartford, Minneapolis, New York, Toronto or Washington cost 13,000-20,000 avios (off-peak/peak) in economy, or 50,000-60,000 Avios (off-peak/peak) in business class
• Oneway flights between Ireland and Los Angeles, Miami, Orlando, San Francisco or Seattle cost 16,250-25,000 Avios (off-peak/peak) in economy, or 62,500-75,000 avios (off-peak/peak) in business class

Avios on- and off-peak calendar for 2021 can be found here.

3. British Airways – Upgrade cheap premium economy fares to business class

Avios upgrades with British Airways made it to our list for the best avios redemptions in 2021. You can upgrade any premium economy flight with BA to business class, if award seats are available of course.

You can find available dates with award availability on BA’s website with the function “book with money, upgrade with avios“. Sadly BA’s website doesn’t always show you the cheapest premium economy ticket when you do it that way.

Therefore, always check if the price for the premium economy flight is the same when booking it without the upgrade. If there’s a difference, just call BA to make the booking in premium economy and upgrade via the phone.

To know how many avios are needed for the upgrade, you have to subtract the number of avios from the cabin you’re in from the cabin you’re going to.

A quick emaple

Off-peak London to New York is 50,000 avios, and in premium economy 26,000 avios. So an upgrade from premium economy to business is 24,000 avios one-way, (50,000-26,000) plus taxes (around £100), that’s 48,000 avios for the return flight.

This option is very interesting as BA often offers sales in premium economy, check our dedicated Premium Economy Flights website to find those deals.

British Airways has an excellent new business class, the Club World suites. All routes can be found here and a flight review here.

4. Royal Air Maroc – Business class United States to Morocco

Royal Air Maroc recently joined the oneworld alliance, and made it also to our list.

If you like to travel to Morocco from the United States, this is by far your best option, as you would pay 62,000 in avios and only roughly 150€ in charges.

Royal Air Maroc flies to/from New York, Chicago, Washington and Miami.

5. American Airlines – Business Class flights within the US

Domestic first class flights within the US are a great way to redeem your avios, as the taxes are almost non-existent.

Here’s a distance table on how many avios you would need for flights in business class.

Flights under:

• 600   miles will cost you 11,000 avios.
• 1,150 miles will cost you 12,000 avios.
• 2,000 miles will cost you 17,000 avios.
• 5,000 miles will cost you 28,000 avios.

For example, New York to Miami, Chicago or Dallas would cost you 16,500 avios in domestic First Class (business class) one-way.

6. Qatar Airways – Business class Germany to Doha

When you fly out of Germany to Doha, you can experience the best business class product on the market, Qatar Airways QSuite, for only 77,500 avios and around 530€ in taxes for the return flight.

While this is not the cheapest redemption in terms of fees, the avios you have to pay are low as both, Frankfurt and Munich just fall in a cheaper zone here.

Booking two one-way flights will increase the taxes and fees you have to pay.

7. Cathay Pacific – First Class Europe to Hong Kong

A first class redemption has to be on our list for the best avios redemptions in 2021. Do you ever wanted to fly one of the best products out there with your points/miles?

Cathay Pacific is a oneworld partner, you can fly from either London or Frankfurt to Hong Kong in First class for 123,750 avios and around 100€ in taxes for the one-way flight.

8. JAL – Business class US to Tokyo

An interesting redemption from the US to Asia is with JAL.

You have to pay 77,250 avios for a 12 hours flight, fees and taxes are literally non-existent. This redemption is available from San Francisco and Los Angeles.

From the East Coast the flight to Tokyo will cost you 102,000 avios in business class one-way.

Flight review: JAL Business class

9. Travel in business class within Asia

There are many interesting options to redeem your miles within Asia with Cathay Pacific and JAL.

You might be lucky and Cathay Pacific will still operate long haul aircraft on your route after the pandemic, in that case you might even be able to fly in a lie flat seat.

Here are some redemption examples:

• Hong Kong to Saigon 16,500 avios and 35€ in taxes with Cathay Pacific.
• Tokyo to Hong Kong 22,000 avios and 30€ in taxes with JAL.
• Flights within Japan 12,500 avios and virtually no taxes at all with JAL.

Conclusion

No matter where you have your base in the world, from most parts you can find a flight in our best avios redemptions 2021 list.

As you can see, the real gems are mostly not with British Airways but with oneworld partners.

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