Oneworld Megado Moments

by The Points Guy on January 28, 2012 · 327 comments

in American,British Airways,Contests,Mega Do,Oneworld

The Oneworld Megado madness continues in Los Angeles this weekend, and seatmate contest winner Conor, Eric and I have been busy in Dallas and Seattle this week hanging out with the folks at American Airlines and Boeing.

We’re still in the midst of all the events, but I thought I’d share some of the lighter moments from our day in Dallas at American Airlines’ CR Smith Center. Don’t worry, I’ll give you the inside scoop from the new head of AAdvantage, Suzanne Rubin, soon, as well as glimpses at a simulated water evacuation, the high-tech flight simulators they use to train pilots, the bustling Systems Operations Control room, and a few interesting facts and figures from the morning seminar.

In the meantime, here are a few photos from the more fun afternoon activities we enjoyed while going through an abbreviated version of the safety training that all AA flight attendants undergo.

Here’s one of me playing the hero as I guide my fellow passengers to safety through the back emergency exit of a Boeing 767. “Come this way! Leave everything behind!” I think I got the hang of it.

Leave your belongings behind and follow me to safety!

Conor, meanwhile, got into character as a panicked passenger dashing from the flames and smoke inside a Boeing 757 simulator. Think he’ll make it out in time? The passenger behind him, meanwhile doesn’t look like he has a care in the world.

Don't panic, Conor, you'll get out of there!

And in this final photo, Eric puts some muscle into operating one of the emergency row exits on the 767 set before shepherding his fellow Megadoers to safety through the overwing exit.

These doors are heavy! Or, at least, Eric thinks so.

British Airways Giveaway

You might not have gotten to participate in the Megado, but that doesn’t mean you can’t take a little piece of it home with you.

To commemorate the Oneworld Megado and British Airways’ hospitality in London, I’m going to give away a BA amenity kit, insulated mug, a collectible A320 model, luggage tag, and 10,000 American Express Membership Rewards transferred into your Avios account.

To get the 30% bonus and a total of 13,000 Avios points (more than enough for a roundtrip short-haul flight of 600 miles or less each way), this transfer must happen by January 31, 2012, otherwise you’ll just get 10,000. So hurry up!

Enter the giveaway by leaving a comment below with a tip on redeeming Avios miles for the best possible awards. If you need a little assistance or inspiration, you can check out my previous post on maximizing British Airways’ Avios. I’ll draw a random winner on Monday at 8am ET and announce it on the blog Monday morning with details on the next (more lucrative) Oneworld Mega Do giveaway!

  • Scuta

    expensive short flights such as NYC/Montreal

  • http://www.racheltalkstravel.com Rachel

    I’m aiming for JFK > LHR in first class for myself and my husband for 125k each. The best thing I realized recently, however, is that if Chase doesn’t want to waive our annual fees on the BA cards, we can just switch over to the SPG Amex, transfer accordingly, and have more than enough to book the ticket without investing any more money. I was getting nervous there for a while…

  • Anonymous

    I use my BA miles to book short AA flights at the last minute all the time. For these the new redemption table is actually not awful!

  • http://www.facebook.com/dgmillar Daniel Millar

    Point per dollar, short haul rewards are very attractive if you need to travel short distances; however, I always prefer to use miles of any variety for long-haul, generally expensive rewards. My Avios are earmarked for two BA First tickets either round-trip JFK-LHR-SYD or JFK-LHR-ATH for my boyfriend and I using the Chase BA Visa 2-for-1 offer for achieving $30k spend. Since Avios required are based on distance, I’ve planned for JFK-SYD, 210,000 Avios. That was 100,000 for signing up for the Chase Visa, ~37.5k for $30k of purchases and 56k of AmEx Membership rewards miles transferred with the 30% bonus through January 31. Since AmEx Membership Rewards are linked to my corporate card, all of this cost me ~$0.

  • David

    I`m from msp, so the best use of avios points for me is 4,500 one-way from msp-ord. Now that’s a steal!

  • Charbel Barakat

    I recommend Avios for short-haul domestic flights on AA. Very inexpensive redemptions. I’m located in South Florida, so there are many direct options to major US cities.

  • GizmoD

    The new avios redemptions for short haul travel makes redemption better thn Oneworld pAArtner in economy. I occasionally use AA miles for LGA-ORD-LGA when flights are expensive. These new awards are more economical with Avios now.

  • AT

    Short hauls out of LGA or JFK, especially out of the way places that usually have high fares (especially last minute).

  • Amanda C

    I just booked LIM-CUZ on Star peru for ~$150 r/t

  • Anonymous

    For my dates, Star Peru was $280 r/t, while LAN was $450. On a route with a lot of delays and cancellations, I still feel more comfortable with LAN’s >10x daily frequency on A319/320s vs. Star Peru’s 4x daily on smaller BAe jets. Lastly, since my LIM-CUZ r/t is bookended with international LAN segments, I’d rather stay within company in case of delays.

  • Mon

    Short haul AA domestic flights

  • Brandon

    I love redeeming Avios for short-haul flights within the US.

  • Apex

    Avios has definitely made budget air travel including last minute plans an awesome value. Many have already commented on the tremendous value you can have, 3-5 cents per point vs going rate is typical. With Chase UR points and Amex MR (with about 3 times a year bonus opportunities) , plus Chase card for British Airways, there are numerous ways to get going with Avios. All I can say is Avios nicely fits into a niche (budget short haul flights) and helps fits a piece to get to a well rounded miles/points portfolio.

  • AC

    Short haul flight from LAX-SAN is a great deal!

  • Rob H

    Finding partner availability on BA.com can be really cumbersome, so I recommend signing up for a free awardnexus trial

  • John-Paul

    The new Avios system isn’t great, but by far the best deals are to be had by redeeming for short-haul trips, especially in Western Europe or short-but-expensive flights within the US.

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  • luxuryvacationclub_com

    Avios is good fro short trip like LAX to SFO

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=57602127 Amit Bansal

    I was quite bummed not being able to go to my cousins wedding in Michigan due to the high ticket cost. I was psyched when I was able to use 9000 points for a AA flight from LGA – DTW round trip plus $10. The ticket was costing $389. Amazing deal in my opinion for me and my wife!

  • Jfadds

    ORD to northwest arkansas tomvisit new crystal bridge art museum

  • Solomon Smith

    I booked SFO-DFW one way for 10,000 avios + $2.50, great deal!

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  • Dave

    Best redemption I’ve found is LGA-STL for 15K vs. tickets which typically run $300

  • Livingonanisland

    Caribbean on AA using part cash part miles, 5K one way with $65USD cash and $23.70USD tax.
    Two people hop into the Caribbean for 10K rt/ $130USD and $47.40 in tax. Possible to even island hop-
    Part cash part miles on American with Avios is the only way to stretch your miles.

  • Disappointed

    I had similar hopes. Unfortunately the Companion voucher cannot be used for flights to Sydney as BA doesn’t fly there directly. Companion voucher can’t be used on partner airlines like Quantas.

    My voucher may expire. I was going to use it for a trip to Sweden this summer because even though each passenger would pay $750 in fees we could fly in any class with our point balance. However, BA has nothing available in biz/first class within several days of our desired travel. Even the economy flights available require spending most a day to get from Heathrow to City airport in London at our own additional expense. In retrospect, I wouldn’t have focused so much spending on the BA card.

  • Ditty

    Hello, I have tried using Avios to book a trip to many destinations from SFO but with very little luck. have tried peak and off peak times. I have been mainly trying on the BA website. is there a better way?

  • Anonymous

    Use AA.com to find milesaaver awards and then call to book. Or use Qantas.com.au to find Oneworld availability http://thepointsguy.com/2011/05/how-to-use-british-airways-miles-post-10-using-qantas-com-to-find-oneworld-award-availability/

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