British Airways has a new Avios subscription service, and I’m pleasantly surprised by the value proposition.
British Airways’ annual Avios subscription service
British Airways Executive Club has a new Avios subscription service, intended to help people supercharge the Avios they can earn. Members can sign-up for either a monthly or annual plan — the longer you commit and the more Avios you buy, the better the deal.
The price varies depending on where your account is registered. The best deal is for the “Adventurer” subscription, which offers a total of 200,000 Avios, in the form of a monthly deposit of 16,667 Avios.
For example, looking at UK-registered accounts, this would cost £1,789 per year, which is an opportunity to acquire Avios for £0.0089 each.
Looking at US-registered accounts, this would cost $3,069 per year, which is an opportunity to acquire Avios for $0.0153 cents each.
While British Airways often sells Avios with a bonus, the lowest cost you’ll see is typically either £0.0107 or $0.0184. The pricing with this subscription plan is significantly better.
This is how these subscription services should work
Over the years we’ve seen airlines increasingly monetizing their frequent flyer programs. It’s common nowadays to see airlines sell points in a lucrative way. The evolution of that has been these new points subscription services.
The thing is, up until now I’ve found the execution of these subscription services to be awful:
- You’re committing to buying points over a period of one year, so some sort of a discount should be applied to this, to account for the risk you’re taking by buying in advance
- If you ask me, these subscription services should always offer a lower price than the lowest offer you’d ordinarily find during a promotion
Historically these kinds of subscription services have offered higher prices than you’d typically find during a promotion, so you’d be a fool to take advantage of them. In that sense I’m impressed by the new Avios subscription service, since this price is lower than you’ll find when British Airways has a promotion on buying Avios. That’s how it should be.
For those based in the UK, I’d say acquiring Avios for under £0.009 could represent a solid deal. The price is significantly higher for those in the United States, so I’d be less likely to take advantage of the deal here. That’s especially true when you consider all the easy ways to earn Avios.
British Airways Executive Club partners with a few transferable points currencies, including Amex Membership Rewards, Capital One, and Chase Ultimate Rewards. On top of that, there are three credit cards issued in the US that earn Avios:
- Aer Lingus Visa Signature® Card (review)
- British Airways Visa Signature® Card (review)
- Iberia Visa Signature® Card (review)
Bottom line
British Airways Executive Club has a new Avios subscription service, whereby you can acquire Avios at a reasonable cost if you commit to buying them for a period of 12 months. The pricing here is lower than you’d otherwise find during a promotion on buying Avios, so that’s great.
However, personally I’d only take advantage of this opportunity if I were really engaged in the Executive Club program, and consistently got outsized value with my Avios. There’s otherwise just too much risk to committing to buying Avios over the course of a year, since a lot can change.
Do you plan on taking advantage of this Avios subscription offer?
(Tip of the hat to Head for Points)
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