Avios is the miles currency of five airlines. The best part is that Avios can be transferred between these airlines easily. Each of these airlines has the same Avios earning or redeeming options for some of the partners. However, Avios Arbitrage opportunities exist, and you can use them to earn more Avios, redeem fewer Avios, or pay fewer charges for the same flight. Here is what you can make up with Avios Arbitrage.
Which airlines use Avios?
Avios is the miles currency of five airlines:
- Aer Lingus (EI)
- British Airways (BA)
- Finnair (AY)
- Iberia (IB)
- Qatar Airways (QR)
Vueling (VY) also uses Avios, Iberia’s low-cost subsidiary.
Things to Know
Avios Arbitrage sounds exciting and can be really helpful. However, you may also have better opportunities to earn Avios.
Here are a few things which could be a factor in deciding on Avios Arbitrage:
- Where do you live? If you are based out of any of the hubs of the five airlines, you will have more opportunities to earn Avios in that airline account. For example, If you reside in the UK, you may be better at earning Avios in the British Airways account since the possibility of earning Avios in British Airways would be higher. At the same time, someone in Qatar will have more opportunities to earn Avios in a Qatar Airways account. You will also have the opportunity to reach the elite status of these airlines much more easily.
- Do you have elite status? Having an elite status allows you to earn more Avios on a transaction, specifically while travelling. It also helps you upgrade your cabin.
- Better Opportunities: You can also have better opportunities to earn more miles than earning Avios.
So, Avios Arbitrage for earning Avios will depend on where you live or have elite status.
What is Avios Arbitrage?
Avios Arbitrage is an opportunity to either earn more Avios from the same transaction or activity, redeem lesser Avios on the same award redemption, or pay a lesser fuel surcharge on award redemption.
For Example: Let’s say you are travelling on an American Airlines Business Class flight between London & New York. This flight costs $4000 (Excluding Taxes) and will travel 3451 miles. You want to earn Avios on this flight. Here is how many Avios you can earn on this flight:
- Aer Lingus: 11520 Avios
- British Airways: 18898 Avios
- Finnair: 8628 Avios
- Iberia: 19200 Avios
- Qatar Airways: 8628 Avios
So, if you plan to credit the Avios to Qatar Airways, you will be short by 10.5K Avios. And crediting this flight to British Airways is better since you can also multiply Avios using Avios Balance Booster for cheap.
The same applies for redemptions. Let’s say you have an upcoming travel between BLR-SYD and just saw a Qantas Award business class flight availability. You can book this award flight for just 65K Avios with Finnair, whereas other Avios airlines will charge you 92750 Avios for this.
So, if you want to earn or redeem Avios, you would like to explore Avios Arbitrage opportunities. Here are possible Avios Arbitrage opportunities.
Earn More Avios using Avios Arbitrage
You can earn more Avios on several things. Here are Avios Arbitrage opportunities to earn more Avios:
Earn More When Flying
Four of five airlines belong to OneWorld so that you can credit any OneWorld flight to any of these airlines. Barring Qatar Airways, all airlines now offer options based on the amount spent on the flight. The amount excludes taxes but includes a fare surcharge. This Avios earning based on the amount paid can benefit high-price tickets.
Now, let’s take a few business-class flight cases and see how Avio’s earning varies:
- Qatar Airways Business Class flight:
- Earn more Avios with Qatar if your fare code is S, V, L, M, K, I & D, as compared to other partner airlines.
| Business Class (Fare) | BA | QR | AY | IB |
| S, V, L, M, K | 50% | 75% | 50% | 50% |
| H, B, Y | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
| P | 75% | 75% | 75% | 75% |
| R | 125% | 125% | 125% | 125% |
| I, D | 125% | 175% | 125% | 125% |
- Britrish Airways Business Class flight:
- Finnair gives the best Avios earning opportunity unless you have a lot on the flight.
- Although you can also credit this flight to Aer Lingus, it would be better to credit it to Finnair as you can easily sign up and navigate the Finnair website.
| Business Class (Fare) | BA | QR | AY | IB | EI |
| J, C, D | 6 Avios/£ | 125% | 250% | 6 Avios/£ | 250% |
| R, I | 6 Avios/£ | 125% | 150% | 6 Avios/£ | 150% |
- Finnair Business Class flight:
- Both IB & BA give the same Avios. You can earn 250% Avios for a Business Class flight unless you have spent a lot on the flight.
- If you want to credit Avios out of these two, credit to BA so that you can transfer quickly to Finnair & Qatar. As Iberia have a 90-day-old account clause for transfer.
| Business Class (Fare) | BA | QR | AY | IB |
| J, C, D | 250% | 125% | 6 Avios/€ | 250% |
| R, I | 150% | 75% | 6 Avios/€ | 150% |
- Iberia Business Class Flight:
- Finnair is the best if you fly on an Iberia Business Class flight as it gives 150% or 250% Avios based on mileage unless you have spent a lot on the flight.
| Business Class (Fare) | BA | QR | AY | IB |
| J, C, D | 5 Avios/€ | 125% | 250% | 5 Avios/€ |
| R, I | 5 Avios/€ | 125% | 150% | 5 Avios/€ |
You can check the following table to see how many Avios you can earn on partner business class flights. However, you should refer to the updated details on these airlines’ websites.
Transfer Accor Points to earn Avios
Accor partners with a nusmber of airlines and has also partnered with Avios airlines except Aer Lingus. So, you can transfer Accor Points to any of these airlines. However, it is possible to get more Avios from such a transfer.
- British Airways: 2:1 Transfer Ratio, minimum transfer 4K Points
- Finnair: 1:0.65 transfer ratio, minimum transfer 2K
- Iberia: 1:1 transfer ratio, minimum 3K
- Qatar Airways: 2:1 transfer ratio, minimum transfer 2K.
If you transfer via Iberia, you get 35% more Avios. However, to transfer Avios from Iberia to another airline, your account should be more than 90 days old. I recommend signing up even if you don’t use it.
Earn Avios on AirBnB
Earning Avios on AirBnB stays is also possible. You can also earn other airline miles; however, earning Avios is only possible on British Airways.
For stays at AirBnB you can earn 2 Avios per USD.
Earn Avios on Avis Car Rental
If you use Avis for car rental, you can earn more avios:
- Aer Lingus: 5 Avios per €1, Limit 10K per rental, and 1K Bonus on 1st Rental
- British Airways: 3 Avios per $1
- Finnair: 400 to 500 Avios per rental
- Iberia: 5 Avios per €1, Limit 10K per rental, and 1K Bonus on 1st Rental
- Qatar Airways: 2 Avios per $1
If you have an elite status with an airline, you can status match with Avis and get a discount. Qatar Airways elite members also earn Bonus Avios.
Buy Avios Cheaper
Even though all five airlines use the same Avios currency, they offer different bonus offers from time to time. Also, the price per Avios can be different for airlines.
| Airline | Maximum Avios | Lowest Cost Per Avios | Lowest Cost Per Avios (INR) |
| Aer Lingus | 200K | €¢ 2.12 | 1.90 |
| British Airways | 200K | $¢ 2.10 | 1.95 |
| Finnair | 200K | €¢ 2.10 | 1.88 |
| Iberia | 200K | $¢ 2.10 | 1.95 |
| Qatar Airways | 250K | $¢ 2.10 | 1.95 |
Finnair even offers the lowest price per Avios; however, do check for any promotions on Avios here. Sometimes, airlines also run exclusive offers that are not available to all.
You can buy Avios using the Avios subscription with British Airways.
Avios Balance Booster
Two airlines, British Airways & Qatar Airways, allow you to boost your Avios. With British Airways, you can boost Avios by 3 times and 6 times with Qatar Airways. Usually, it is cheaper to boost with British Airways. However, there are a few differences:
- You can boost Avios earned in the previous 3 months with Qatar Airways. The same is 30 days for British Airways.
- The Maximum Boost is 250K for Qatar Airways and 300K for British Airways. You can still boost after 300K on British Airways; however, it will be expensive. There is no limit on British Airways for Avios booster.
- A minimum of 500 Avios should be earned for Qatar Airways, whereas there is no such limit for British Airways.
- Even credit card points can be a boosted. However, some are not eligible, like HDFC Points.
Transfer Avios to other members
If you have Avios that you want to transfer to another member, you can’t do it for free. However, the cost can still be negligible.
- Aer Lingus: Can’t transfer Avios between members
- British Airways:
- Gold Members can transfer Avios for free to other members.
- Other members it costs 50 USD for every transaction.
- A maximum of 60K Avios can be transferred to a member in a single transaction.
- 200K Avios can be transferred in a year.
- Finnair:
- Senders should be 90 days old.
- There is no limit on Avios that can be transferred.
- Iberia:
- Transfer is allowed
- Maximum of 144K Avios can be transferred in a year.
- Maximum of 24K can be transferred in a single transaction.
- Both accounts should be more than 90 days old.
- There are charges to transfer Avios.
- Qatar Airways:
- Transfer is allowed.
- It costs $15 per 1000 Avios.
- The Maximum number of Avios that can be transferred in a year is 250K. This is the overall limit for purchasing, gifting, and transferring Qatar Airways Avios.
British Airways Household account
British Airways allows members to combine Avios from two or more members if they have set up a household account. This way, you don’t have to transfer your Avios every time. This is useful where members of your family also travel, whether sometimes or most of the time, it doesn’t matter.
IndusInd Bank Avios Visa Infinite Credit Card (India)
- Fees: INR 40K+Taxes
- Two Variants: British Airways & Qatar Airways
- British Airways Variant (Sign-up Offer): 55K Avios
- Qatar Airways Variant (Sign -up Offer): Gold Status & 20K Avios
- Retain Qatar Airways gold by spending INR 300K on Qatar Airways using this card.
- Check Eligibility.
Transfer HDFC Points to Finnair (India)
You can transfer HDFC Points to four Avios airlines, and transferring to Finnair rather than to other airlines will give you 100% more Avios.
- British Airways: 2:1
- Finnair Air: 1:1
- Qatar Airways: 2:1
- Iberia: 2:1 (via accor)
Transfer Avios During Promotions
Every year, we see bonus Avios on the transfer of credit card points. Qatar Airways usually offers the offer worldwide, whereas British Airways may be limited to a particular country.
Fly Better Using Avios
Usually, you need the same amount of Avios Across airlines. However, there could be routes where you will pay less Avios or have better availability.
Fly British Airways Better When Using Avios
If you are planning to use Avios for British Airways Busienss Class award flights, the cost will be similar across airlines. However, you may still be able to book Economy flights for less.
| Route | Cabin | BA | AY | IB | QR |
| SIN-SYD | Economy | 30K | 25K | 30K | 25K |
| LHR-DXB | Premium Eco | 42.5K | NA | 42.5K | NA |
| LHR-BOM | Business | 100K | 100K | 100K | 100K |
| LHR-JFK | First | NA | NA | NA | 68K |
| LHR-EDI | Ecobomy | 9.75K | 16.25K | 9.75K | 9.75K |
| LHR-YVR | Business | 100K | 100K | 100K | 100K |
You can not book British Airways flights using Avios in your Aer Lingus account. Also, the Availability of British Airways flights varies. Finnair may or may not have access to British Airways flights. First Class availability may also be limited for members. For Example, LHR-JFK first class was bookable online via Qatar Airways, whereas it didn’t show up on other Avios airlines. You can use seats.aero by using American Airlines award availability for British Airways if you want to check for award seats.
Fly Finnar Better When Using Avios
Similar to British Airways, the cost of Avios remains the same for Finnair across airlines. However, on some routes, Qatar Airways is better than other airlines. For example, the flight between Helsinki & Frankfurt costs only 9K avios if you use Qatar Airways and 12K if you use other airlines. However, at the same time, Qatar Airways may have higher mileage for business class flights on Finnair.
| Route | Cabin | BA | AY | IB | QR |
| HEL-SIN | Economy | 30K | 30K | 30K | 31K |
| HEL-DXB | Business | 55K | 55K | NA | 38.75K |
| HEL-DEL | Business | 55K | 55K | 55K | 62K |
| HEL-DEL | Economy | 28K | 28K | 28K | 20.75K |
| HEL-JFK | Business | 62.5K | 62.5K | 62.5K | 77.25K |
| HEL-FRA | Economy | 12K | 12K | NA | 9K |
| HEL-HKG | Business | 62.5K | 62.5K | 62.5K | 77.25K |
Fly Iberia Better When Using Avios
If you fly Iberia using Avios, you would want to look at something other than Finnair. Firstly, mileage is high, and availability could be better. The best bet is to book Iberia itself. However, you may not find business class availability on Iberia, which is available with British Airways or Qatar Airways.
| Route | Cabin | BA | AY | IB | QR |
| MAD-GRU | Economy | 21.25K | 50K | 15.95K | 25.75K |
| MAD-MEX | Premium Eco | 31.75K | NA | 31.75K | NA |
| MAD-BOG | Business | 42.5K | 110K | 42.5K | 77.25K |
| MAD-DOH | Economy | 17K | NA | 22K | 20.75K |
| MAD-JFK | Business | 34K | 75K | 34K | 62K |
| MAD-MVD | Economy | NA | NA | 33.25K | 31K |
Fly Qatar Airways Better When Using Avios
Qatar Airways has uniform availability across airlines except Finnair. Also, booking Qatar Airways with Finnair is expensive for Business Class. However, mileage is mostly the same across airlines. Only Finnair may have some routes where you find some arbitrage in the economy cabin.
| Route | Cabin | BA | AY | IB | QR |
| DOH-SIN | Business | 50K | 55K | 50K | 50K |
| DOH-LHR | Business | 43K | NA | 43K | 43K |
| DOH-SYD | Economy | 35K | 50.5K | 35K | 35K |
| DOH-BOM | Business | 26K | 38.5K | 26K | 26K |
| DOH-FRA | Economy | 21.5K | 17K | 21.5K | 21.5K |
| DOH-BKK | First | 75K | NA | 75K | 75K |
Booking Award Flight for someone else
All airlines allow you to book reward flights for friends and family. However, if you have set up a British Airways Household account, you can only book for members of the household account. You can, however, add members to the household account friends list and book.
Award Inventory Release Date
Even if the airlines have the same miles currency, they may have different award inventory releases for their metal & partner awards:
- Aer Lingus: 330 days in advance.
- British Airways: 355 days in advance
- Finnair: 362 days in advance
- Iberia: 360 days in advance
- Qatar Airways: 361 days in advance
This is important because you will be able to book your award flight earlier than you think you can. For example, if you want to travel on Qatar Airways Business Class and have Avios in British Airways, you can transfer them to Qatar Airways’ account and book an award flight six days earlier than you can do so in your British Airways account. This is useful on popular routes.
Pay Less Charges using Avios Arbitrage
Most of the time you will have same avios requirement across airlines. However, there could be significant difference between taxes that one airline may be charging.
- Mileage & Taxes on British Airways Business Class (LHR-SIN):
- BA: 110K+647.88
- AY: 110K+$675.48
- IB: 110K+$669.38
- QR: 110K+$675.48
- Even the mileage is same accross airlines, the taxes are lowest if you book directly with British Airways.
- Mileage & Taxes on Qatar Airways Business Class (DOH-SYD):
- BA: 70K+270.56
- AY: 130K+$248.06
- IB: 70K+$135.15
- QR: 70K+264.60
- Only, Finnair have a higher mileage than others. All other airlines have same mileage whereas, Iberia have the lowest charges when booking Qatar Airways Business Class.
- Mileage & Taxes on Finnair Airways Business Class (HEL-JFK)
- BA: 62.5K+$505.86
- AY: 62.5K+$164.86
- IB: 62.5K+$205.51
- QR: 77.25K+$58.51
- Qatar Airways have the lowest taxes for Finnair, however, the mileage is increased by 15K Avios. The Qatar Airways can be used where, mileage difference is not significant.
- Mileage & Taxes on Iberia Airways Business Class (MAD-MEX):
- BA: 42.5+$191.33
- AY: 75K+$156.80
- IB: 42.5+$155.43
- QR: 42.5+$155.43
- Even though Iberia & Qatar Airways mileage & charges are same. It would be better to book it with Qatar Airways.
Redeem for Partner Awards Better Using Avios
If you plan to use Avios for these airlines common partners, you can save on some Avios and sometimes taxes too. It would have been a bit better if all the airlines issued award charts, however not all does:
- British Airways doesn’t publish any award chart.
- Qatar Airways have Qcalculator for calculating the miles you may need for a direct route.
- Iberia & Finnair have award chart for each partner airline.
How many avios you need for partner awards?
The image below have some popluar route of airlines that you can book with Avios.
- NA means, the flight was not available for booking online.
Award Availability
Usually, flight availability is similar across airlines. However, there is still some gap between availability.
- British Airways:
- Best Availaibily accros airlines.
- Finnair:
- Limited Access to British Airways Business Class.
- Iberia award flight may not show online.
- Access to certain partner business classes is limited or not available at all, like Alaska Airlines in North America.
- Can only book Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines & Qanatas Airlines Online.
- Iberia:
- Good Availability.
- No Access to Qantas Business Class.
- Alaska Airlines first or business class may not show online.
- Can’t redeem Royal Jordanian & Royal Air Maroc Business class flights online.
- Qatar Airways:
- Best Availaibily accros airlines.
Flight Upgrade
Avios in a British Airways account can be used to upgrade British Airways, Iberia, and American Airlines flights. However, Finnair, Iberia & Qatar airlines only allow upgrades on their flights and not on any partner airlines.
Award Flight Cancellation Charges
Avios airlines have different award flight cancellation policy:
- British Airways:
- Cancellation charges are varied for accounts based on residence.
- For Indian accounts, INR 3220 is charged for cancellations.
- Refer this link.
- Finnair:
- €50 cancellation charges 24 hours before departure; taxes are not refunded.
- Iberia (Only allowed on BA & IB flight)
- Economy (Blue Class): Allowed 24 hours before departure for $40.
- Economy: Free Cancellation 24 hours before departure
- Business Class: Allowed 24 hours before departure for $40.
- Partner award bookings are non-refundable.
- Qatar Airways:
- $25 cancellation charges 24 hours before departure
- $100 cancellation charges between 24 to 3 hours before departure
Bottomline
Avios Arbitrage is possible. You can earn more Avios, redeem fewer Avios, or pay lower charges. However, over time, Avios Arbitrage will be reduced.
