In late April British Airways Executive Club announced that they’d be making changes to their award redemption rates for travel on partner airlines. Rather annoyingly they said that changes would be made, but refused to officially share what those changes were.
Well, British Airways’ partner award chart changes kicked in as of today (May 30, 2019), so we now know what the new redemption rates are.
British Airways’ new partner award chart
Here’s British Airways Executive Club’s new award chart for travel on partner airlines:
| 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 |
As a point of comparison, here’s their previous award chart. Travel on partner airlines was “peak” pricing:
| 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 |
As a reminder:
- For awards within North America, Zone 1 pricing doesn’t apply (so even a flight under 650 miles within North America would use Zone 2 pricing)
- However, flights under 650 miles within North America are still pricing at the old Zone 2 price of 7,500 Avios; if you’ve held off booking one of these routes, I’d suggest booking now rather than waiting for the “undocumented” 20% discount to go away, or perhaps this is what British Airways intended to do
- The partner award chart changes don’t apply to travel on British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus, or Vueling
My take on British Airways’ new partner award pricing
Given the direction that frequent flyer programs have been headed, in particular when it comes to introducing dynamic award pricing, I’d say these changes actually aren’t too bad.
Since British Airways has a distance based award chart, the sweet spot has long been using Avios for short haul awards that would cost a lot if paying cash.
With these Executive Club changes, we’re seeing a significant increase in the cost of short-haul awards, while the increase in long haul awards is minimal.
For example, a 7,001+ mile flight in economy increases in cost from 50,000 Avios to 51,500 Avios, which is an increase of just 3%. That’s not bad at all.
What’s worse are the changes on short-haul redemptions. For example:
- Awards of up to 650 miles increase from 4,500 Avios to 6,000 Avios, which is an increase of 33% (again, these didn’t apply within North America, though)
- Awards of 651-1,150 miles increase from 7,500 Avios to 9,000 Avios, which is an increase of 20%
- Awards of 1,151-2,000 miles increase from 10,000 Avios to 11,000 Avios, which is an increase of 10%
- Awards of 2,001-3,000 miles increase from 12,500 Avios to 13,000 Avios, which is an increase of 4%
While any devaluation is bad news, I’d say these changes aren’t actually that bad, and I was initially expecting they’d be much worse.
Are Avios still valuable for partner awards?
I’d say so. 9,000 Avios for a flight of up to 1,150 miles, or 10,000 Avios for a flight of up to 2,000 miles, is a pretty good deal.
More importantly, for many people British Airways Avios are easy to come by. British Airways Executive Club is transfer partners with Amex Membership Rewards and Chase Ultimate Rewards. There’s even a 30% transfer bonus at the moment from Chase to British Airways.
So there’s still a lot of value to be had, especially if you acquire Avios during a transfer bonus.
Bottom line
While no one likes an award chart devaluation, I’d say British Airways’ partner award chart changes could have been much worse. I just don’t get why they had to be so cryptic about these changes, and couldn’t have announced the details upfront.
What do you make of British Airways’ partner award chart changes, now that we have all the details?
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