British Airways has announced that they will be devaluing their points December 15. They haven’t said what new pricing will look like, other than that “the price of Reward Flights will increase on all British Airways flights and airline partners” and to give a couple of examples.
They aren’t hiding the ball on this with ‘some prices are going up, and some are going down and we think this is actually going to be good for most of our customers.’ It’s just straight up inflating the currency. Here are the examples they give.
| Current Price | New Price | |||
| London-Geneva (one-way) | ||||
| – Coach | 9,250 + 50p | 10,000 + £1 | ||
| – Business | 15,000 + £12.5 | 16,500 + £15 | ||
| London -New York (off-peak, roundtrip) | ||||
| – Coach | 50,000 + £100 | 55,000 + £120 | ||
| – Premium economy | 85,000 + £305 | 93,500 + £350 | ||
| – Business | 160,000 + £375 | 176,000 + £399 | ||
| – First | 136,000 + “taxes, fees, surcharges” | 150,000 + “taxes, fees, surcharges” |
Key takeaways:
- Points prices are going up around 10% in these examples
- It’s not just points that’s going up, but surcharges are going up, too. Surcharges can vary by market and by direction, and a number of other factors and these are just a couple of examples. But we’re seeing increases from a few percentage points to 20% to even doubling.
- They aren’t even telling us what the changes to surcharges will be on transatlantic first class awards – even though this is one of the examples they’re offering!
- This also implies changes (increases) to upgrade pricing.
Note that BA says that, unlike in previous devaluations, if you make a change to time or date of a pre-existing booking after the December 15 devaluation they will not force you to reprice the award with more miles and cash. So some of you will want to redeem BA Avios now where you know a route you’ll going to fly – maybe book for a year out – and then change the date of travel to when you’ll need it.
However, with these data points we really don’t actually know what to expect, and British Airways says they will not tell us until the changes are in effect (and even then, you’ll have to search award routes to see – they aren’t going to release comprehensive details on what they’ve done).
British Airways no longer has a published reward chart. However, roughly speaking they following a standard formula but not in all cases. Here’s what you can generally expect today for travel on British Airways and its Avios partner airlines, where there’s peak and off-peak dates.
| Distance | Coach (Off-Peak/Peak) | Premium Economy (Off-Peak/Peak) | Business (Off-Peak/Peak) | First (Off-Peak/Peak) | ||||
| 1-650 | 4,000 / 4,500 | 5,750 / 6,750 | 7,750 / 9,000 | 15,500 / 18,000 | ||||
| 651-1150 | 6,500 / 7,500 | 9,500 / 11,250 | 12,750 / 15,000 | 25,500 / 30,000 | ||||
| 1151-2000 | 8,500 / 10,000 | 12,750 / 15,000 | 17,000 / 20,000 | 34,000 / 40,000 | ||||
| 2001-3000 | 10,000 / 12,500 | 20,000 / 25,000 | 31,250 / 37,500 | 42,500 / 50,000 | ||||
| 3001-4000 | 13,000 / 20,000 | 26,000 / 40,000 | 50,000 / 60,000 | 68,000 / 80,000 | ||||
| 4001-5500 | 16,250 / 25,000 | 32,500 / 50,000 | 62,500 / 75,000 | 85,000 / 100,000 | ||||
| 5501-6500 | 19,500 / 30,000 | 39,000 / 60,000 | 75,000 / 90,000 | 102,000 / 120,000 | ||||
| 6501-7000 | 22,750 / 35,000 | 45,000 / 75,000 | 87,500 / 105,000 | 119,000 / 140,000 | ||||
| 7001+ | 32,500 / 50,000 | 65,000 / 100,000 | 125,000 / 150,000 | 170,000 / 200,000 |
And here’s what the partner award pricing generally looks like, though not all partners and flights follow this pricing exactly.
| Distance | Coach | Premium Economy | Business | First | ||||
| 0-650 | 6,000 | 9,000 | 12,500 | 24,000 | ||||
| 651-1151 | 9,000 | 12,500 | 16,500 | 33,000 | ||||
| 1152-2000 | 11,000 | 16,500 | 22,000 | 44,000 | ||||
| 2001-3000 | 13,000 | 25,750 | 38,750 | 51,500 | ||||
| 3001-4000 | 20,750 | 41,250 | 62,000 | 82,500 | ||||
| 4001-5500 | 25,750 | 51,500 | 77,250 | 103,000 | ||||
| 5501-6500 | 31,000 | 62,000 | 92,750 | 123,750 | ||||
| 6501-7000 | 36,250 | 72,250 | 108,250 | 144,250 | ||||
| 7001+ | 51,500 | 103,000 | 154,500 | 206,000 |
Once December 15 comes we’ll be able to see how these prices change. Overall British Airways charges more in both points and fees than most other programs once you get into long haul flying, and premium cabins. This is especially relevant to U.S. members because BA is a transfer partner of many of the major credit card currencies.
Here’s the trick, though. Each Avios program has its own award chart, and we haven’t seen announced changes to the other Avios programs. And you can transfer points back and forth between Avios programs. So you may be able to arbitrage this, moving British Airways points to Finnair or Qatar Airways for better pricing on the same flights.
The reason they don’t quote TFCs for first class is that it doesn’t fall under their Reward Flight Saver scheme. You pay the same TFCs as a cash booking, so it’s a variable amount based on the city pair, rather than varying based on the mileage band.
Their YQ in premium cabins went up quite substantially a few weeks ago so there have been silent increases in the cost of F redemptions. To increase the F Avios rates, on top of the YQ increase, is… charming.
Is there any incentive for these corporations to not devalue? Like, these programs are completely within their control, very little regulation, here or abroad, so, yeah, why not, as long as there’s adequate notice, just keep screwing over consumers. *sigh* Earn ’em and burn ’em, folks.
I have a rookie question for the comments section to answer: I recently flew BA as the return leg of an AA award ticket. I found it to be quite a nice ride in economy and would fly them again but oof! On the fees to go to London. It was $448 RT on an AA award ticket. So I’m looking at your new chart with £120 fee, which is about $160 today. Teach me why the $300 difference. I thought that was government fees from each country.
The fees vary depending on who issues ticket. It’s a risky time to devalue your currency. The only real disincentive is customers disengagement.
@BookGirl305 — So, you booked BA metal via AA points, and you’re wondering why AA charges you more fees than BA would? Yeah, where’s that extra $300 go… profits for AAL, that’s where. Unnecessary fees that we all just put up with, it seems. The greed is by-design, sister.
@1990 Since you apparently spend all day every day ruining the user experience across every major travel blog, maybe it’s time to simply start your own?
Something with a catchy name…may I suggest, “A Douchebag Abroad”
@FL360 – yes, but this is an example of a specific route where YQ is published. So they absolutely have a specific amount to quote.
@Coolio — Do you ever contribute anything on-topic, or just bigotry and personal attacks? By all means, feed me more, but, buddy, please, do me a favor, and add more *spice* ‘…mediocre.’
I used to burn a ton of Avios ORD-MCO/TPA and vv visiting my folks. The one way in AA’s domestic first (business class) used to price at 15k Avios. Factoring in the 1 or 2 transfer bonuses from Amex per year it was such a great way to routinely get $0.03 to $0.05 of value. Now the same flights price at 32k Avios one way and are basically the last currency I’d use.
As long as they are not updating the ‘upgrade with Avios’ program, that’s fine, the regular award seats were not terribly attractive through BA to begin with (although if you took advantage of the Bilt 100% transfer bonus offer, maybe…). In general if I wanted a straight BA ticket would try to book those through AA, certainly less points although the surcharges are high (especially if you begin/end in London). If you can get a ticket where you’re going to Europe and connect through London in a way that avoids the higher surcharge, it’s a great deal for 57.5k AA points.
The sweet spot for many with BE has been buying a cheap PE ticket and upgrading with Avios to Business for the difference in the now un-official reward chart (so for JFK-LHR it’s 24k avios (50k-26k) for off peak) plus whatever random surcharge the BA system spits out (and unless you do it at booking, you have to call… not pleasant). It’s never a great deal, but it’s usually not a bad deal?
Best deals across the pond (when you can find them) are with Virgin for 29k points plus their surcharge. Always good to hunt for.
@Coolio — By the way, ‘An Idiot Abroad’ (2010) was a great 20-episode series by Ricky Gervais. Honestly, worth a watch. Enjoy.
@Peter gets it. “connect through London in a way that avoids the higher surcharge, it’s a great deal for 57.5k AA points.” This is the way. Hadn’t considered the upgrade angle or Virgin, so thank you!
Avios: Iberia has much lower fees, but is a shitty airline.
Short haul AA domestic flights are increasing. Already I had not found those to be competitive.
I remember the change from miles to Avios. BA claimed that prices would be about the same. That was not remotely true for travel not starting or ending in the UK. This blog and others warned us in time to use our miles before that massive devaluation. In my case, it was a triangle trip across the Pacific.
@1990 – I think the Virgin deal can be very good. 29k points (and with the transfer bonuses, often less) plus a variable surcharge – I think the one I’m doing next month is 29k+$500 or so. It’s really not too bad.
Upgrade with avios is not the most user friendly, but always worth looking at. Need to confirm business award availability with BA’s reward flight finder first. Then can either do it at booking, although I think you are often better off buying a PE ticket and calling up (can only upgrade one class – can do PE to Business but not Economy to Business) and seeing what they quote you. Can always cancel the PE ticket within 24 hours for full refund if you don’t like the quote.
As for BA surcharges – if you want to be on BA metal across the pond, they’re cheaper when not originating in LHR. $250 cheaper or so originating in Milan Linate, for example, although still ~$600 just not ~$850. But 57.5k AA points… not bad… go get that Strata Elite 100k bonus!
@Gary – Thank you for not attempting some pathetic both-sides thing by saying “It could have been worse” to excuse BA’s rapacity and, short notice, and utter lack of clarity on the impending devaluation. I strongly suspect that some lame blogger/s will side with BA on this.
@Peter — Oh yes, I got my 100K already. Looking forward to Friday’s 6x Citi Nights… haha.
What do you like most about BA? The non-functioning IT, LHR airport , ridiculous fees for award tickets , inability to operate flights on time, the terrible employees. filthy airplanes or Avios devaluations?
I have not flown BA for the past three years. Gold > Silver> Bronze >Blue in April. Let us know when they fix some of their mess.
At what point it just becomes better to just buy a round trip across the pond in J for straight up cash.
I’ve seen round-trip first in the 2.5 to 3K range during summer this year. After paying so many points and so many fees, I think that price might be a cheaper.
@rjb – I would not be happy if I was UK based and they were my captive airline, but as a JFK based flyer, I like that I can get a club world suite guaranteed on every flight from JFK to LHR. I like that if I want to go up to Scotland beyond Edinburgh that I can connect on a flight to Inverness or Aberdeen. Their IT and call center are terrible! Their award tickets are not great through BA (although upgrade with avios still is ok value), but through AA, some good redemptions can be had.
Delta Flight 1 from JFK to LHR yesterday, today, etc is on an A330-200. I mean, come on. I’d take a BA club suite over that any day, no matter how good the new D1 lounge is. It’s a perfectly good product!
And I really don’t think LHR is that bad. Is it perfect? No. But as long as you don’t have to transfer terminals (and yes, that might be a big if), the BA lounges are perfectly fine (I especially like the balcony area of the First lounge). As are the lounges in T3. As is the Virgin Clubhouse. There’s a lot to like, actually, including the new Elizabeth line.
This just in worst airline loyalty program somehow finds a way to stoop even lower. In other news London voted best place to lose your luxury goods at knife point in 2026.
What do you like most about BA? The non-functioning IT, LHR airport , ridiculous fees for award tickets , inability to operate flights on time, the terrible employees. filthy airplanes or Avios devaluations?
I have not flown BA for the past three years. Gold > Silver> Bronze >Blue in April. Let us know when they fix some of their mess.
It irks me that BA continues to charge enormous sums for redemptions, whereas carriers like AF/KL do not charge such exorbitant fees. If I’m flying to the continent, I see no advantage in flying BA. The only time I think it’s attractive is when I fly to LHR and want to avoid one of the US3, and even then, the US3 offer some advantages that European airlines do not. Other than that, I’ll likely not be flying them. The Club World seats are nice, but the service doesn’t seem materially different from that of other carriers.