British Airways Executive Club Avios can be controversial — some people swear by them, while some people think they’re useless (“Avios” is the name of British Airways’ points currency). In this post I wanted to take a close look at the current reality of redeeming British Airways Avios, and the best ways to go about doing so.
I do consider Executive Club to be one of the most useful frequent flyer programs for redeeming points, even if the program can also be frustrating.
In this post:
Why you should care about British Airways Executive Club
Simply put, British Airways Executive Club is one of the most useful frequent flyer programs for redeeming on oneworld airlines. The program partners with major transferable points currencies, and we also frequently see transfer bonuses, which can make the math on these redemptions work great.
Thanks to Executive Club’s distance based award pricing, you’ll often find this program to be more practical than aspirational. It can be the ideal program for booking a short haul award in economy, while the program might not be a great value for a long haul award in first class.
The thing is, it’s important to understand what you’re getting yourself into with Executive Club, as the program works a bit differently than some US frequent flyer programs.
How to earn British Airways Avios
The great news is that even if you’re not a British Airways frequent flyer, there are quite a few ways to earn Executive Club Avios, ranging from credit cards, to transferable points currencies, to outright buying the rewards.
Get a US Avios credit card
British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus, Finnair, and Qatar Airways, all use Avios as their points currency. There are three credit cards issued in the US that directly earn Avios:
- Aer Lingus Visa Signature® Card (review)
- British Airways Visa Signature® Card (review)
- Iberia Visa Signature® Card (review)
Finnair and Qatar Airways don’t yet issue US credit cards, but I imagine that could change in the future. Also note that you can transfer Avios between select currencies, allowing you to move rewards from Iberia to British Airways, for example.
Don’t underestimate the opportunities that transferring Avios between programs can open up. For example, this allows you to indirectly use British Airways to book Iberia business class for fewer Avios, or even to redeem Avios for JetBlue Mint. I’ve written about the best uses of Qatar Airways Privilege Club Avios, Iberia Plus Avios, Finnair Plus Avios, and Aer Lingus AerClub Avios.
Transfer points from a bank currency
There are lots of ways to earn Avios with US credit cards, way beyond the above three credit cards.
British Airways Executive Club is transfer partners with Amex Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Capital One, and Chase Ultimate Rewards. Points transfer at a 1:1 ratio, and transfers are generally instant.
Note that we frequently see transfer bonuses to British Airways Executive Club Avios (or one of the other “flavors” of Avios), and that can be a great way to make your points stretch even further. I think in some cases it could even be worth making a speculative transfer when there’s a bonus available, especially if you frequently redeem Avios.
Buy Avios outright
In addition to being able to earn Avios through credit cards, the various Avios currencies often also sell rewards with a bonus, and in many cases that could be a good deal. We sometimes see bonuses of up to 50% for purchasing British Airways Executive Club Avios, Iberia Plus Avios, and Qatar Airways Privilege Club Avios.
Basics of redeeming British Airways Avios
Let’s first cover all the basics of redeeming British Airways Avio, including the logistics. What is the Avios expiration policy, how much does it cost to cancel award tickets, how much do award tickets cost, etc.?
British Airways Avios expiration policy
When it comes to the rewards expiration policy, British Airways Avios expire after 36 months of inactivity. Any transaction that involves earning or redeeming Avios would extend the expiration of those rewards. I’d consider that to be a fairly liberal policy, since even transferring just 1,000 points to British Airways would reset the expiration.
British Airways Avios award cancelation fees
When it comes to changing or redepositing awards booked with British Airways Avios, you can expect that making a change to an award ticket or redepositing the Avios for an award ticket will cost you $55 if done online, with an extra $25 fee for doing so via the call center. However, the fee varies based on where in the world your account is registered. For example, at the moment you can expect to pay €42.50 in the European Union, or £35 in the United Kingdom.
There is one interesting quirk to canceling Avios awards, which is that you don’t have to necessarily pay the full cancelation fee to redeposit an award ticket booked with Avios. You either have to forfeit the taxes and fees or pay the fee to get your Avios refunded.
Lastly, note that any changes or redeposits have to take place at least 24 hours before departure. Within that timeframe, changes and cancelations aren’t allowed.
British Airways Avios airline partners
British Airways belongs to the oneworld alliance, meaning you can redeem your Avios on any oneworld airline. This includes airlines like Alaska, American, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia, Japan Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Qatar Airways, Royal Jordanian, Royal Air Maroc, and SriLankan Airlines.
On top of that, you can also redeem Avios on Aer Lingus, Fiji Airways, and Vueling.
British Airways Avios award surcharges
British Airways is notorious for its carrier imposed surcharges (often referred to by people as “fuel surcharges”). Are these due on award tickets? Yes and no:
- For travel on British Airways, the airline now offers Reward Flight Saver on all routes, whereby you redeem a higher number of Avios, but have reduced surcharges; this applies for business, premium economy, and economy
- For travel on partner airlines, British Airways generally passes on whatever carrier imposed surcharges that airline would charge on revenue tickets; a domestic US ticket won’t include any carrier imposed surcharges, while a long haul ticket will almost always have surcharges
It’s also important to understand that separate from carrier imposed surcharges, there’s also the UK Air Passenger Duty, which applies when you have a ticket originating in the UK. This can be really expensive, but applies equally to all airlines, and is a government tax.
British Airways Avios award seat guarantee
British Airways opens its award calendar 355 days in advance, so that’s just under 12 months before a particular flight. One thing I appreciate is that British Airways guarantees a certain amount of award space when the schedule opens:
- On short haul flights, you can expect a total of at least 12 award seats per flight, including four business seats and eight economy seats
- On long haul flights, you can expect a total of at least 14 award seats per flight, including four business seats, two premium economy seats, and eight economy seats
British Airways Avios household accounts
One of the cool things about British Airways Executive Club is that you can create household accounts, whereby. This allows you to pool Avios with up to six other people registered at the same address as you. This is particularly awesome for less frequent flyers, since it means you can turn your rewards into something more material by pooling Avios.
Do be aware that if you create a household account, then you’re limited in terms of who you can redeem your Avios for, so that’s the catch to be aware of. If you want to freely be able to redeem Avios for anyone, don’t bother with creating a household account.
British Airways Avios award costs & best deals
British Airways Executive Club’s award pricing is roughly distance based. Back in the day, Executive Club used to have one simple award chart for travel on British Airways and its IAG partners, and one simple award chart for travel on partner airlines.
Unfortunately that’s no longer the case, as British Airways has in tweaked award pricing for specific routes and airlines, clearly to reflect the economics of the program. That means British Airways has raised many of the award costs for flights that are most used, and where redemption costs are presumably highest for the program.
So let me try to break this down as accurately as I can…
Redeeming Avios on British Airways
Below is the Executive Club award chart, showing Avios pricing for travel on British Airways.
Zone // Distance | Economy Off Peak // Peak | Premium Economy Off Peak // Peak | Business Off Peak // Peak | First Off Peak // Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Zone 1 1-650 miles* *Not available in North America | 4,000 // 4,500 | 5.750 // 6,750 | 7,750 // 9,000 | 15,500 // 18,000 |
Zone 2 651-1150 miles | 6,500 // 7,500 | 9,500 // 11,250 | 12,750 // 15,000 | 25,500 // 30,000 |
Zone 3 1151-2000 miles | 8,500 // 10,000 | 12,750 // 15,000 | 17,000 // 20,000 | 34,000 // 40,000 |
Zone 4 2001-3000 miles | 10,000 // 12,500 | 20,000 // 25,000 | 31,250 // 37,500 | 42,500 // 50,000 |
Zone 5 3001-4000 miles | 13,000 // 20,000 | 26,000 // 40,000 | 50,000 // 60,000 | 68,000 // 80,000 |
Zone 6 4001-5500 miles | 16,250 // 25,000 | 32,500 // 50,000 | 62,500 // 75,000 | 85,000 // 100,000 |
Zone 7 5501-6500 miles | 19,500 // 30,000 | 39,000 // 60,000 | 75,000 // 90,000 | 102,000 // 120,000 |
Zone 8 6501-7000 miles | 22,750 // 35,000 | 45,500 // 75,000 | 87,500 // 105,000 | 119,000 // 140,000 |
Zone 9 7001+ miles | 32,500 // 50,000 | 65,000 // 100,000 | 125,000 // 150,000 | 170,000 // 200,000 |
There are some important things to understand:
- British Airways has both peak and off-peak award pricing, so that pricing varies based on the day that you’re traveling
- Pricing is per segment, so no matter what type of award you book, you’ll pay individually for each segment
- This is the standard award chart, though British Airways also has the Reward Flight Saver scheme, whereby you can redeem more Avios but pay lower fees
Let me emphasize that the reason this pricing is kind of a moot point is because of Reward Flight Saver, which doesn’t come with an award chart. For example, say you’re flying off-peak from New York to London. In the past, that would have cost 50,000 Avios, plus roughly $1,000 in taxes and carrier imposed surcharges.
Now this will cost 80,000 Avios, plus a more reasonable $350 in taxes and carrier imposed surcharges.
In almost any situation, Reward Flight Saver is a better deal than what was previously available. After all, I’d rather pay an extra 30,000 Avios than paying an extra $650. However, this also means that there’s no clear chart I can point you to with award pricing.
Redeeming Avios for short haul travel within Europe can also be a great deal. For example, off-peak business class from Geneva to London costs 15,000 Avios plus just $1.
So to summarize, I think British Airways redemptions are a much better deal across the board than they used to be, thanks to Reward Flight Saver. Short haul awards are consistently a great deal, among the lowest priced awards you’ll find with any program.
Meanwhile long haul awards are a better value than they used to be, though odds are still good that you can get more value through other programs. For example, I’d still rather book a transatlantic business class award through Air France-KLM Flying Blue, where I could pay just 50,000 miles, plus the surcharges are lower.
Redeeming Avios on partner airlines
British Airways has separate award pricing for travel on partner airlines, which you can find below (sort of). This pricing is per segment, and one-way.
Zone // Flight Distance | Economy | Premium Economy | Business | First |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Zone 1 1-650 miles* *Not available in North America | 6,000 | 9,000 | 12,500 | 24,000 |
Zone 2 651-1150 miles | 9,000 | 12,500 | 16,500 | 33,000 |
Zone 3 1151-2000 miles | 11,000 | 16,500 | 22,000 | 44,000 |
Zone 4 2001-3000 miles | 13,000 | 25,750 | 38,750 | 51,500 |
Zone 5 3001-4000 miles | 20,2750 | 41,250 | 62,000 | 82,500 |
Zone 6 4001-5500 miles | 25,750 | 51,500 | 77,250 | 103,000 |
Zone 7 5501-6500 miles | 31,000 | 62,000 | 92,750 | 123,750 |
Zone 8 6501-7000 miles | 36,250 | 72,250 | 108,250 | 144,250 |
Zone 9 7001+ miles | 51,500 | 103,000 | 154,500 | 206,000 |
For travel on partner airlines, there’s not peak and off-peak pricing, but rather there’s standardized pricing… sort of. While pricing for a particular flight will always be the same, assuming there’s award availability, different partners have different pricing.
For example, Executive Club charges the following number of Avios for awards on American and Alaska:
- Flights of up to 650 miles cost 8,250 Avios in economy or 16,500 Avios in business
- Flights of 651-1,150 miles cost 11,000 Avios in economy or 20,500 Avios in business
- Flights of 1,151-2,000 miles cost 14,500 Avios in economy or 29,000 Avios in business
- Flights of 2,001-3,000 miles cost 16,000 Avios in economy or 42,000 Avios in business
I’d say there are some real sweet spot award opportunities here. That’s especially true when you factor in how easy Executive Club Avios are to earn, and how there are often transfer bonuses.
For example, being able to redeem just 8,250 Avios for a short haul award from Miami to the Caribbean on American is a great deal, given how much those tickets will often cost when paying cash.
But around the globe there are deals to be had. Executive Club is my go-to program fro short haul Qantas awards in Australia, short haul Qatar Airways awards in the Middle East, short haul Cathay Pacific awards in Asia, etc.
Redeem Avios for a multi-carrier award
As you can see, all the above award pricing is per segment. British Airways does have one other award option that’s not talked about much, which is the multi-carrier award chart. Let me start by just sharing that chart, which shows economy pricing (premium economy costs 1.5x as much, business class costs 2x as much, and first class costs 3x as much).
This chart applies when flying with two or more oneworld airlines, and these awards need to be booked by phone. You can include up to eight segments, and can have unlimited stopovers.
Let me just cut to the chase — I don’t want to completely dismiss this as a redemption option, but I just think the juice isn’t worth the squeeze here. The Avios rates actually sound quite good — you could fly up to 25,000 miles in business class for 240,000 Avios.
However, the surcharges will be high, and the logistics are complicated as well, in terms of finding award availability, booking, and lack of flexibility. If you’re a big planner and like an adventure, this could represent a good deal. But for most of us, I just don’t think this is worth it, given that most programs allow one-way awards nowadays, so you can easily piece together your own round the world adventure.
What about redeeming Avios for hotels, car rentals, and more?
As is the case with most frequent flyer programs, there are ways to redeem British Airways Avios that don’t include flights. You can redeem British Airways Avios for everything from car rentals, to hotels, to merchandise.
However, it’s almost never a good deal. Using these redemption options, you’ll pretty consistently get under one cent of value per Avios, which I wouldn’t consider to be very good (personally I value Avios at ~1.3 cents each).
Just to give one example, for a night next weekend you can book the Sheraton Times Square New York for 20,650 Avios, which shows as being reduced from 30,250 Avios.
The paid rate for that night, including all taxes and fees, is at most $174.
That’s just one example, but you’ll find a similar pattern with most redemptions. While redeeming for non-travel experiences might be a good way to minimize fees, it’s not a good way to maximize your Avios otherwise.
Bottom line
British Airways Executive Club Avios are a useful currency. Not only are Avios easy to earn, but there are also often transfer bonuses, which can stretch your rewards further.
Avios aren’t just useful for travel on British Airways, but redemptions on partner airlines can also represent a good deal. In particular, many find value in redeeming Avios for short haul travel to and from the United States, when flying with American or Alaska.
While British Airways Executive Club Avios aren’t my favorite rewards currency, I do consider them to be among the most generally useful, and I think they’re part of a well thought out points strategy.
What are your favorite uses of British Airways Avios?
One thing about Avios is that they are often available on short-haul AA flights with 24-48 hours notice in first class. When my father was ill the year before last, there were several times where I had to fly up on short notice or extend a stay by a day, and it was frequently available for 15000 Avios (now a little higher). I was able to leverage an AMEX bonus and move 100k MR in, so I was getting $400 tickets for essentially 11k MR.
@Ben - I'm surprised you didn't write about this. Booking 2 one-way trips with Avios is CHEAPER in surcharges (by a lot) than booking a roundtrip. The reason is you are "taxed" for both flights if a roundtrip originates in the USA. But if you book seperate one-ways, you're only "taxed" on the leg out of the USA. The saving are significant. The bummer is if you're trying to use the Chase Travel Together certificate,...
@Ben - I'm surprised you didn't write about this. Booking 2 one-way trips with Avios is CHEAPER in surcharges (by a lot) than booking a roundtrip. The reason is you are "taxed" for both flights if a roundtrip originates in the USA. But if you book seperate one-ways, you're only "taxed" on the leg out of the USA. The saving are significant. The bummer is if you're trying to use the Chase Travel Together certificate, you have to book as a roundtrip to extract it's full value.
FlyerTalk has multipe threads about this: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/british-airways-executive-club/2044689-why-ba-fees-2-5x-avios-return-originating-us.html
I use avios every time on short haul flights in the US to expensive destinations like Vail, Steamboat, Napa, Monterey etc its my favorite use of all miles/points!
the other glitch with household programs is if you're transferring avios to a partner airline such as Iberia. You can transfer to Iberia, but you cannot transfer back to yourself if you are in a household account.
Very poor advice Lucky, advising people to redeem 15,000 avios -1$ given the nature of your blog, thats not the sweet spot. BA has made this the headline cost of tax more recently but actually it is better to choose the equivalent to £17.50 to get the best value out of the avios. That was fixed cost for all Reward Flight Saver before BA introduced the ability to reduce the cash cost further by spending more avios - but it is very poor value to do this.
totally agree. The avios +$1 is almost always not the best option
Or just fly out of HKG whereby carrier imposed surcharges are not allowed and give BA the finger!
Although BA Avios looks like it has a lot of OneWorld redemption partners, many of them (say, IB, QR, CX) hold a large portion of the award inventory for their own programs.
I don’t know about the others, but I’ve never seen anything on IB that wasn’t also on BA for the same price in Avios.
West Coast to Hawaii for only 15K is one of my favorite sweet spots.
Flights are constantly being canceled. Also you risk being downgraded with no compensation. Avoid BA
Just look at the BA compensation threads on FlyerTalk. EU/UK261 has specific rules on compensation in the event of downgrade, which covers award tickets. You might have to expend quite a bit of effort to enforce the rules (or contract it out to a claims company), including taking BA to the arbitrator, but you can get there in the end. That's at least more than what can be said for most non-European programs.
Just booked last week using 95K BA avios: SIN-DOH-MIA. Over 24 hours of Q-Suites travel.
IMO, the best use of Avios is the ability to link/transfer instantly to Qatar for QSuite
Now, if they could only get a website that worked...not that Iberia's is much better. (It's not.)
Big fan of Avios. They have the best Qatar Airways availability. MIA-DOH-SEZ in J for 75K miles for instance.
It’s also good to book premier economy and use avios to upgrade to business. I find this to be a good deal rather than full outright redemption.
It's worth mentioning how slow and inefficient (by design?) their website is for award searches. Also, in years past, it's been a practical impossibility to reach a human if anything goes wrong with your booking (and boy that will definitely happen if you try to book a close-in Business Class partner award with American!). Also you should tell people where to look to find their "real" locator code, since you can't check in for your flight with the one BA gives you.
It is displayed on the manage your booking page if/when you go to, say, select seats.
I just booked MAD-JFK in J for 34k BA Avios, which doesn’t jive with your charting, but I’m quite pleased with it.
(MAD-BDL via DUB was my preference, but it was double the avios *and* cash. Half the cash saved will cover the Avis to get my car from BDL)
Good summary, Ben. And I’m glad you brought up the fact that you don’t necessarily have to pay the full cancellation fee. For this reason, I will frequently purchase Alaska flights, and just pay the small taxes and fees if I have to cancel/change.
Although I have no issues with the BA website, I will say their app is garbage. There is no way in 2024 that a reward flight finder should have to load in a browser page instead of doing it in app.