BA flight upgrade / booking with other airline points

[Chrizztofa]

Hi All

I fear I know the answer but I thought I'd ask anyway!

My parents are travelling HKG-LHR-EDI in June in BA Y. They are looking to upgrade to PE but can't justify the price difference.

Is there any way to transfer points into an Avios account from other airline programs to use for a points upgrade? I currently have points with QF, AA and US that I could use. I recall there may be ways to transfer points between airlines via a different (e.g. hotel) membership scheme but I'm not aware of any that can transfer to Avios.

They also need to book a return airfare EDI-HKG (late August) and HKG-EDI (June next year). What complicates matters is that my dad gets a Y return airfare reimbursed by his employer so we can't simply book a award flight - it would need to be a points upgrade. I think AA might codeshare with CX on LHR-HKG but I don't think it's possible to use AA points to upgrade on a CX-operated flight?

Any other options that you can think of?

Thanks for your time!

 

[JohnK]

Not that simple.

You might be able to get to Avios from AA, US via SPG but I suspect you would lose a fair amount on the transfer.

 

[alieninperth]

You can use AA points on BA and IB but it would appear that only from full Y. see here AAdvantage Participating Airlines Upgrade Awards | AA.com

 

[Chrizztofa]

Thanks for the replies.

I've had a look and it does indeed look difficult. The exchange rate for AA:Avios is not great as far as I can tell so that's out of the question. The upgrade award is a possibility if a bit pricey - it works out at $1,000 each for a PE upgrade (they're flying discount Y so I can't upgrade them directly). However I could potentially burn some AA points to request a further upgrade to business for them.

For the later trip I'll see if my dad can book full fare Y as part of his arrangement (not sure if he's only entitled to a discount Y fare) and then upgrade him using points while booking a separate award booking for my mum.

Thanks again!

 

[alieninperth]

this thread is also worth alookAirport Upgrade (AUP) cost tracking thread - FlyerTalk Forums from FT.

It looks like upgrades from Y - PE - J are about $400 and $1000 each

 

[Chrizztofa]

That's really handy. Didn't know BA had such a program. I've told them about it and I'll also keep an eye out for a POUG mentioned in the thread as well. Thanks!