American Airlines and British Airways have long had a partnership that has been restrained by anti-trust regulations.\u00a0\u00a0 You could use your AA miles to fly BA, just not from any US destination.\u00a0\u00a0 This lead to the phenomenon of AA fliers booking awards connecting to BA metal through Canada or even the Bahamas.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Those anti-trust regulations have now been lifted and AA mileage holders are free spend their miles for awards on BA flights out of the US.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This is a great thing, as there are many major airports like Phoenix, San Diego, and Baltimore where BA provides the only non-stop, trans-Atlantic service.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 While BA has had their share of problems in recent years, their global network reaches deep into far flung regions of Africa, Europe, and Asia.<\/p>\n
So What’s The Problem?<\/strong><\/p>\n BA has made an art form out of taking the value out of award redemptions.\u00a0\u00a0 Their strategy has been to levy enormous fuel surcharges on award flights. \u00a0 What is enormous? \u00a0\u00a0 A flight in a premium cabin connecting in London to Africa can cost over $1,000 in fuel fees for an award<\/em> booking.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Kind of takes the award our of award travel, doesn’t it.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Fuel fees are calculated per flight, by the length of the flight.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A flight from Denver to London will have higher fees than a flight from Chicago.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Flights in Premium Economy have a higher surcharge than economy and the it only goes up with Business and First Class award redemptions.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 These surcharges are in addition to the hefty taxes and fees that are levied by London and the UK.\u00a0 Finally, if you are stopping over in London, they will add even more fees than if you were just passing through.<\/p>\n