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- British Airways Avios is the rewards currency of British Airways, the UK’s flag carrier.
- You can redeem Avios for flights on many airlines, including British Airways — but the carrier often incurs huge fuel surcharges.
- British Airways is now giving you the option to pay fewer surcharges in exchange for more points.
- Read Insider’s guide to the best airline credit cards.
British Airways is the flag carrier of the UK, and one of the largest airlines in the world.
Its loyalty points, called Avios, have long been an extremely valuable rewards currency to collect. That’s for two reasons:
- British Airways has 15 airline partners that you can book with Avios points, including American Airlines, Japan Airlines, Fiji Airways, and Aer Lingus. You can get just about anywhere on the planet with British Airways Avios points.
- British Airways Avios points are extremely easy to collect, with an impressive seven transfer partners. This allows you to effectively earn Avios with dozens of credit cards.
However, one huge deterrent of the loyalty program has been its sinfully high fuel surcharges on British Airways-operated flights.
Thankfully, British Airways now gives you the option to pay dramatically less in fuel surcharges — but there’s a catch.
We’re focused here on the rewards and perks that come with each card. These cards won’t be worth it if you’re paying interest or late fees. When using a credit card, it’s important to pay your balance in full each month, make payments on time, and only spend what you can afford to pay.
British Airways introduces ‘Reward Flight Saver’ option for all flights
Before this change, it wouldn’t be uncommon to find round-trip transatlantic award flights on British Airways with between $550 and $1,900 in taxes and fees attached (depending on the cabin). Hard to swallow for most travelers, meaning Avios were most useful for:
- Long-haul flights not operated by British Airways
- Any short-haul flights (typically a distance of 650 miles or less)
Now, British Airways is making Avios slightly more enticing to use on its own flights. British Airways is allowing you to effectively pay for most of the fuel surcharges with points — and at a decent rate, often well above Insider’s valuation of 1.3 cents each.
Here’s how it works: You can now book British Airways award flights for a flat cash price in addition to your Avios. You can fly from the US to London for as little as $100 each way in economy or $350 in business class. The previous taxes and fees would have amounted to around $290 in economy and $950 in business class, so this is quite a discount.
The catch is that you’ll pay quite a few more Avios in exchange for this lower cash price. Here’s an example of a round-trip economy flight between New York and London. As you can see, you’ll pay 50,000 Avios and $200 in taxes and fees. This flight previously would have cost 26,000 Avios and $578 in taxes and fees. That means you’re paying an extra 24,000 Avios for a $378 discount — giving you a value of 1.57 cents per Avios point. That’s not bad at all.
British Airways
If you prefer the previous way British Airways priced its flights, that’s still an option. Click the “More pricing options,” and you can view a handful of Avios-to-cash ratios that you can use, including the old price.
It’s also worth noting that when you book business class flights, you can find yourself getting a value of up to 2 cents per point with this new pricing structure.
You can also book long-haul flights between London to other countries for similar prices. Below is a round-trip economy flight from London to Dubai. As you can see, the price is identical to the route between New York and London.
British Airways
Because British Airways uses a distance-based award chart, you’ll pay more Avios (and cash) the farther away your destination is. For example, booking a round-trip flight from London to Singapore or Australia will cost hundreds of dollars — and many thousands of points — more than a quick jaunt from New York to London.
This change makes the British Airways credit card more appealing
British Airways Visa Signature® Card
Intro offer
75,000 Avios after you spend $5,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening and earn an additional 25,000 Avios after you spend $20,000 in the first 12 months of account opening
Rewards
Earn 3 Avios per $1 spent on purchases with British Airways, Aer Lingus, Iberia, and LEVEL. Earn 2 Avios per $1 spent on hotel accommodations when purchased directly with the hotel. Plus earn 1 Avios per $1 spent on all other purchases.
British Airways Visa Signature® Card
Intro offer
75,000 Avios after you spend $5,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening and earn an additional 25,000 Avios after you spend $20,000 in the first 12 months of account opening
Rewards
Earn 3 Avios per $1 spent on purchases with British Airways, Aer Lingus, Iberia, and LEVEL. Earn 2 Avios per $1 spent on hotel accommodations when purchased directly with the hotel. Plus earn 1 Avios per $1 spent on all other purchases.
Details
Rewards
Earn 3 Avios per $1 spent on purchases with British Airways, Aer Lingus, Iberia, and LEVEL. Earn 2 Avios per $1 spent on hotel accommodations when purchased directly with the hotel. Plus earn 1 Avios per $1 spent on all other purchases.
Intro offer
75,000 Avios after you spend $5,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening and earn an additional 25,000 Avios after you spend $20,000 in the first 12 months of account opening
Recommended Credit
Good to Excellent
Regular Annual Percentage Rate (APR)
19.74% – 26.74% Variable
Pros & Cons
Highlights
Additional Reading
The above changes make the British Airways Visa Signature® Card better than ever for two reasons.
1. The card offers up to $600 in credits to offset fuel surcharges
British Airways is fully aware of how frustrating exorbitant fuel surcharges have been. That’s why they’ve baked into the British Airways Visa Signature® Card a benefit that gives you up to $600 in credits on award flights to London when you fly British Airways and pay with your card.
You’ll get a $100 statement credit for economy and premium economy flights, or a $200 credit for business- and first-class flights, up to three times each year.
Because this was previously an unthinkable way to use your points for many travelers, this benefit wasn’t terribly valuable. But now, the card will fully cover the taxes and fees of a round-trip coach flight from New York — and remove 50% of the fee for a business class flight.
2. The card comes with an annual Travel Together companion ticket
After you make $30,000 in purchases in a calendar year, the card will give you a “Travel Together” ticket, valid for two years. This allows you to take a companion with you for only the cost of taxes and fees when you redeem Avios points for an award flight on British Airways.
That’s a great benefit, but the crippling taxes and fees associated with the ticket made this difficult to use. But the fact that you’ll pay much less cash and more Avios makes this companion ticket an excellent deal. Add to this the fact that the card will cover up to $600 in fuel surcharges, and you could use this benefit to book two round-trip flights from New York to London for:
- 50,000 points and $100 in economy
- 160,000 points and $800 in business class
You can read our British Airways Visa credit card review to learn more about the card.
Bottom line
While British Airways isn’t technically lowering its fuel surcharges, it’s giving you the ability to redeem Avios for a large chunk of the would-be cash price at a solid rate. If you’ve got an abundance of Avios, award tickets on British Airways flights are a reasonable option for the first time ever.
These changes are also a boon for holders of the British Airways Visa Signature® Card, as its Travel Together companion ticket and up to $600 in credits towards taxes are much more valuable.