Avios Devaluation – should you spend your Avios before 28th April?
On Tuesday, 28th April, the Avios reward programme is changing.
EARNING AVIOS:
Rewards, for travel with British Airways are to be reduced significantly, for those clients that choose the lowest priced fares. The new rewards for the lowest fares will be just 25% of current levels!
If you’re buying a low-priced fare, you should no longer let Avios rewards influence your choice of airline.
If you buy full-fare business class tickets you will receive bonus rewards. Example, the Business J class fare to Los Angeles, at £10,231 return.
SPENDING AVIOS:
EUROPE FLIGHTS
Short-haul economy and business class prices are not set to increase. In fact, an off-peak season fare is to be introduced which will cost less Avios than the current
LONG-HAUL FLIGHTS – ECONOMY
I have never recommended using Avios for long haul redemptions.
This is because the bulk of the “fare” consists of airport tax, fuel surcharge and fees which you still have to pay. The savings are minimal and a waste of Avios
LONG HAUL FLIGHTS – BUSINESS & FIRST CLASS
If you have a substantial Avios balance of over 100,000 and if you intend buying a business class ticket then you should be booking now!
A return flight to Los Angeles, Club World (Business), currently costs 100,000 Avios plus tax/airport fees/fuel surcharges. The new cost will be from 125,000 for off-peak and 150,000 for peak dates
Dubai, costs 80,000 Avios at the moment. That’s the business class return fare. The new price from Tuesday 28th April is 100,000 off-peak and 120,000 peak
And the definition of peak dates generally includes the UK school holidays, so, Dubai in July is considered peak season!
SUMMARY
If you have over 100,000 Avios and if you intend to use them for long-haul business/first class tickets, you need to book before Tuesday 28th April.
If you intend to spend your Avios on short-haul economy/business class flights you should wait until Tuesday .
This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 22nd, 2015 at 12:02 pm and is filed under Booking Tips, Industry News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
