British Airways to increase fees for all Avios redemptions

British Airways Club plans to announce that it will increase the fees for Avios redemption from December 15th, but we don’t know what the fees will be or how much.

To its credit, British Airways Club has kept most Avios redemption values ​​stable over the years (aside from a number of increases on short-haul domestic flights operated by American Airlines and Alaska Airlines).

The scheme is notorious for the carrier’s hefty surcharges on flights operated by British Airways. Still, three years ago, British Airways introduced the option to redeem more Avios in exchange for fewer taxes, fees and surcharges (called “Reward Flight Saver”); travelers can fly to London for just $50 plus Avios.

Here’s the limited information we know and what you should do now.

British Airways Club plans to increase redemption rates

The scheme will increase Avios redemption fees for new bookings from 15 December.

Explaining the changes, the scheme’s website first notes that prices will increase on “all British Airways flights and airline partners”. However, in the price change FAQ section, the website states that the change applies to “all British Airways-operated flights to all destinations” and does not involve flights operated by partners.

British Airways explains that due to inflation, market pressures and the increase in British Airways Passenger Tax, Avios and required taxes, fees and surcharges will increase. We don’t know if this only affects award flight savers operated by British Airways (where taxes, fees and surcharges are very reasonable) or all redemptions across all airlines.

It could also mean that surcharges imposed by other programs, such as American Airlines’ AAdvantage on flights operated by British Airways, could increase as well.

While it’s appreciated that British Airways gave members a few days’ notice to lock in redemptions at existing prices, the program only provides one long-term example of price increases. This example is a round-trip flight from London to New York City:

• Economic off-season: 50,000 Avios plus USD 200 increased to 55,000 Avios plus USD 240
• economic peak: 60,000 Avios plus USD 200 increased to 66,000 Avios plus USD 240
• Premium Economy Class (off-peak hours): 85,000 Avios plus USD 610 increased to 93,500 Avios plus USD 680
• premium economy peak period: 120,000 Avios plus USD 610 increased to 132,000 Avios plus USD 680
• Business class off-peak hours: 160,000 Avios plus US$750 increased to 198,000 Avios plus US$820
• The pinnacle of business class: 180,000 Avios plus US$750 increased to 198,000 Avios plus US$820
• Off-peak first class: 136,000 Avios plus taxes, fees and charges increased to 150,000 Avios plus taxes, fees and charges
• Level 1 peak: 160,000 Avios plus taxes, fees and charges increased to 176,000 Avios plus taxes, fees and charges

While it may seem odd that First Class has a lower Avios rate than Business Class, that’s because First Class doesn’t offer “lower cash” award flight savings. As a result, taxes and surcharges are much higher – expect to pay around $1,300 per person round trip.

What’s so confusing about the announcement is that:

• British Airways provided new prices for only one of its 28 U.S. routes.
• The price increase offered only applies to return flights from London. British Airways charges different taxes, fees and surcharges for flights to and from the U.S. (Currently, a round-trip flight from New York City to London costs $159 in economy, $465 in premium economy and $530 in business class.)
• British Airways currently divides transatlantic flights into two classes: Flights between 3,001 and 4,000 miles in length (such as flights from New York City) fall into one class. Flights between 4,001 and 5,500 meters in length, such as flights from the US West Coast to London, are more expensive. We don’t know how much prices will increase in higher tiers, or whether all destinations in that tier will see the same changes.
• Prices for flights on similar routes operated by partner airlines such as American Airlines may increase or remain the same.

TPG contacted British Airways to ask for confirmation on all these unknowns, and the airline said it had no further information to provide at this time.

bottom line

While currency depreciation is an unfortunate reality of earning and redeeming points and miles, it could be worse. First, the program provides members nearly two weeks’ notice of the change, allowing them to redeem any planned travel at existing rates. Additionally, price increases are likely to be around 10-15% in terms of Avios prices and cash out-of-pocket payments for required taxes and surcharges; this represents a modest increase.

What is puzzling is that the program has been issuing notifications before going online on December 15, but has not disclosed the new prices for almost all routes to members. This makes it impossible to know the exact increase, especially as Avios, taxes, fees and surcharges are all increasing. Due to conflicting information in the announcement communications, we also don’t know if the price increase only applies to redemptions operated by British Airways, or if it also applies to redemptions operated by partner airlines.

To be safe, it’s best to book any Avios redemptions on any airline through British Airways Club before 15th December.

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