People have a misconception about airline miles, believing that it needs unattainable points to redeem a free flight. This may be true for first class or business class flights, as well as long, international flights. But with British Airways Avios, 4,500 miles can already mean a 600 miles-or-under flight.

The British Airways program, unlike the traditional airline loyalty programs, is distance-based. You do not have to base fares on a regular chart or the price of the ticket you booked; instead you only have to count the number of miles flown. This makes sshort-haul flights easy to attain for fewer miles than most people assume.

You'd be surprised on how little points you need to get to attain free flights from certain parts of America to the Caribbean and Hawaii. From Miami to Grand Cayman (453-mile flight), you only need 4,500 miles to get a free flight.

From Charlotte to Grand Canyon (1,093-mile flight), you only need 7,500 miles. New York City to St. Marteen (1,693-mile flight), you only need 10,000 miles. From Los Angeles to Maui, you only need 12,500 miles.

Early this year, the British Airways made significant changes to its frequent flyer program. Many customers bemoaned these changes because they may end up paying more for these "free" flights.

One of the major changes is slashing the number of Avios awarded for flying under discounted tickets. Avios is the frequent flyer points currency used by Iberia and British Airways.

Despite these changes, BA is still among the easiest airlines to earn miles with, because it is distance-based. A possible downside is it charges huge fuel surcharges on most of their flights and you have to pay for each trip separately.

Another important thing to know about BA Avios is you won't be charged a close-in booking fee.

The bottom line is that even though British Airways Avios can sometimes be hard to redeem, it still offers the best program for domestic travel. The best way to collect miles is through credit card sign-up bonuses.