Tag Archives for devaluation.
British Airways already charged some of the highest cash surcharges in the award world. Now it is raising the cash element on Avios redemptions by as much as 33%, while giving members almost no detail beyond a few London-origin examples — because apparently paying hundreds of dollars on top of your points still was not enough.
Air Canada Aeroplan is changing its award chart again on June 1, and while a few prices go down, this is unmistakably a devaluation. The biggest pain hits long-haul premium cabins, where many of the most useful business and first class partner awards will cost meaningfully more.
Hyatt has now announced which hotels are changing award categories next month, at the same time its new award chart devaluation takes effect, and the combined impact is worse than most members realize. The category list alone looks bad, but the real damage shows up when you run the numbers and see how many supposed price drops barely lower the points cost at all.
Hyatt’s latest points devaluation means fewer outsized redemptions at top properties—here’s precisely how I’ll shift my strategy to keep getting the best possible value.
Turkish Airlines just wiped out the last meaningful value in its Miles & Smiles program. After raising United domestic awards last year, Turkish has hit them again: mainland–Hawaii business class jumps to 40,000 miles each way when two years ago it was 12,500.
British Airways will raise the cost of award travel on December 15, increasing both the Avios required and the surcharges you’ll pay — but the airline won’t publish the new prices in advance. The limited examples they’ve shared point to roughly 10% higher points and surcharges rising anywhere from a few percent to potentially doubling on some routes. The full extent of the devaluation won’t be known until it’s already live.
United has raised the price of close-in saver awards without warning. Routes that were 15,000 miles just days ago now price at 20,000 miles, a one-third increase that applies only within two weeks of travel and isn’t tied to cash fares.
Hilton has quietly devalued Honors points yet again. Standard “free night” awards at top properties can now reach 250,000 points — the third hike since December. With no award chart and no notice to members, Hilton continues to erode trust while gutting the value of its loyalty program.
Singapore Airlines will devalue its award prices November 1. They’re also introducing some credit towards elite status for spending through its partners. The award price changes are in many but not all cases modest – and meaningful for a program whose redemptions are already expensive.
Last fall, Virgin Atlantic moved to dynamic pricing for award travel. Virgin has already devalued this new proposition: they’ve doubled the cash surcharges you’ll pay on these cheapest bookings.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
