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.
Continue reading: Live: British Airways’ New Partner Award Chart
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
I'm certain we're in for a major AAdvantage devaluation. Imagining it'll be a combination of 1) no award chart, like Delta and United, and 2) increased costs for partner awards (to mirror BA's strategy).
for AA awards of 0-650 miles, it's still pricing at the old rate of 7500/15000 (economy/business), which obviously is already high/higher than other airlines' new pricing for this band.
I’m actually okay with the change. Just like any currencies, it will be inflated over time. It’s not as bad as it could have been.
Sure, this stinks, but compared to every other airlines' devaluations it's peanuts. Still a great value for AA domestic flights when you factor in the ability to cancel for a full redeposit and not having to pay the insane close-in booking fee. All of that for cheaper or just 500 miles more than what AA charges for their own awards is a steal in my book.
Agreed with Aron: we might soon see AA award devaluation -- and i'm afraid it will be much worse than just "peanuts" - AA is actually a last bastion of the award openness and honesty, not to mention, very reasonable mileage requirements for international travel... Ben is right: the trend is not good...
Are we seeing any increases to fees/surcharges on partner award bookings? That’s what I am most concerned about.
the multi partner award chart didn't change at all. you can build mixed cabin itineraries with those and get some good value out of them.
Given that the new Avios rates are now confirmed, maybe now is a good time to transfer Chase UR points with the 30% bonus after all (for those who have been waiting)? Seems like with the transfer bonus this still might be one of the better uses of UR points. Especially if you can transfer to BA
Can OMAAT do an updated post on Avios sweet spots i.e. the possibility to transfer Chase --> BA --> Iberia for off-peak biz to Europe?
It's good to see the west coast to Hawaii redemptions have changed minimally, including premium cabins. That remains one of the best sweet spots in the chart. I was worried that was going to be destroyed just before the booking window for a planned 2020 trip.
Does anyone know why when the new pricing went into effect all Japan Airlines domestic flights have disappeared from BA's award availability? There is generally multiple daily awards available between Tokyo/Osaka and Tokyo/Sapporo and now there are no awards domestically in Japan for any day of the entire available schedule.
I wish that band 1 was still available for North America. The increase makes it cost double what it cost back when that band was available. Does anyone know why they initially ended that band?
I still see many circumstances where band 1 can provide one with great value.
Does anyone know if the prices also changed for Iberian Avios redemptions?
Just checked a flight from ORD-CMH. It's still pricing at 7500 Avios so I guess that pricing is intentional on BA's part