A couple of weeks ago, the British Airways Club loyalty program announced plans for a devaluation. With the changes now being live, I’d like to go over the details (and acknowledge how I find the announcement about the changes to be oddly refreshing)…
In this post:
British Airways Club increases award costs across the board
British Airways Club has just implemented a devaluation to award pricing. For what it’s worth, here’s what the announcement about the changes was like, in early December:
We wanted to let you know that from December 15, 2025, the price of Reward Flights will increase. This will affect both the Avios and cash elements of the fare.
We’ve kept our Reward Flight prices at the same level for some time, but we’re having to make these changes as a result of increasing Air Passenger Duty and third-party charges, as well as changing market conditions and ongoing inflation.
We want to reassure you that any Reward Flights booked prior to the price change will remain at the current price.
At the time, British Airways didn’t provide the full details about the updated pricing, but did share the below examples of how pricing would change.
With the changes now live, what are we seeing?
- In terms of the changes to the number of Avios required for award flights, it seems that there has been an average of a 10% increase, with all long haul flights seeing a 10% increase in pricing, across cabins
- In terms of the changes to the cash required for award flights, prices seem to have increased by £0.50 to £2.50 on short haul flights, and by £10 to £12.50 on long haul flights (those are one-way increases)
I hate devaluations, but I appreciate the honesty
Of course it’s unfortunate to see British Airways increase award costs, though as far as devaluations go, this one seems relatively mild and reasonable. Admittedly the program already has uncompetitive award pricing in some markets, so increasing those costs even higher only makes the program even more uncompetitive.
That being said, what stands out to me most about the announcement is how it’s communicated. It’s sad that this is worthy of praise, but it’s so rare to see an airline actually owning what it’s doing — British Airways is raising award costs, and there’s no silver lining. That’s it.
It blows my mind how often we see devaluations where the airline gaslights its members, telling them the changes are due to customer feedback, or somehow suggesting that the changes are positive.
So yeah, I’m not a fan of a devaluation, but I am a fan of at least owning the changes you’re making. And as far as devaluations go, this is hardly the worst one that we’ve seen. We’ve seen much worse devaluations with significantly more dishonest messaging.
Bottom line
The British Airways Club loyalty program has increased award pricing as of December 15, 2025. The airline claims that these changes are due to the increasing UK APD, market conditions, and ongoing inflation. It would appear that the number of Avios required for flights has increased by an average of 10%, while the cash component of award tickets has increased by anywhere from £0.50 to £12.50.
No one likes devaluations, but it could’ve been worse, and at least British Airways has been honest…
What do you make of this British Airways Avios devaluation?
I have to agree with Ben. It's one thing to do something bad, but every business, everywhere is going to do that.
It's far worse to do a bad thing and say "you wanted this!"
How does an increase in the ADP fee result in an increase in points required? I can understand the increase in ADP fee causing an increase in the cash requirement but certainly not the points requirements. Or am I misunderstanding the statement?
I do not understand why everyone is so positive and falling for the BA trap.
The most avios / least cash option was almost every time the most expensive option.
Now BA has kept this most expensive version which people should have not booked anyhow with a modest increase.
But for the increase to the cheapest previous option the game looks differently.
Here is a real world example for my booking:
1. Booked...
I do not understand why everyone is so positive and falling for the BA trap.
The most avios / least cash option was almost every time the most expensive option.
Now BA has kept this most expensive version which people should have not booked anyhow with a modest increase.
But for the increase to the cheapest previous option the game looks differently.
Here is a real world example for my booking:
1. Booked Monday, December 15 before the changes:
LHR-AGP-LHR (13-16 March 2025 Off Peak Economy)
5800 Avios + £ 90
2. Today, December 16 here are the options available for the same booking:
26000 Avios + £ 2.00
24300 Avios + £ 11.78
20500 Avios + £ 25.06
16000 Avios + £ 54.80
10200 Avios + £ 120.40
6500 Avios + £ 155.14
Everyone can do their own maths. This is a significant increase.
And on the argument cash fares are so high - the cash fare today for an economy plus ticket for my same booking is only £ 170 ...
They're not gaslighting people because they ran out of gas last time.
Seriously, the gaslighting on the new program was pretty bad and they got brutally raked over the coals for it. It was so bad that I wish y'all had refused to publish the PR apologetics. But I think they decided to just take the lump (and give a little bit of warning) this time.
The cash part is where I'm seeing a huge difference as a frequent BA traveller. For TATL, the cash component of an award ticket is now $2,100 round trip in business class. That's absurd! PE is almost $1,000 as well. I decided to stick with BA as a gold member based in the US, but if all I get is tier status and the Avios are essentially worthless for TATL flights, why would I stick around?
Use the Avios on AA or dump them to a transfer partner airline?
Yeah - that's what I'll have to do. And I actually misspoke above - that's just the carrier imposed surcharge portion! Taxes and the leaving London levy are in addition to that.
DOH to North American went from 70k to 94.5k.
No matter how its spun, that is a huge 35% devaluation.
In Business or Economy? LOL.
@Ben, a very important point on BA, which is worth highlighting (you may want to check headforpoints, which details it further): BA (at least in short-haul) has multiple pricing options. I find the best option to almost always be the middle one (with the example of NCE-LHR, that's 5500 Avios + 29 EUR in economy, or 9500 Avios + 53 EUR in Club, with the new prices).
Unless you are desperate to burn Avios, for...
@Ben, a very important point on BA, which is worth highlighting (you may want to check headforpoints, which details it further): BA (at least in short-haul) has multiple pricing options. I find the best option to almost always be the middle one (with the example of NCE-LHR, that's 5500 Avios + 29 EUR in economy, or 9500 Avios + 53 EUR in Club, with the new prices).
Unless you are desperate to burn Avios, for a short-haul economy ticket, there is no point spending 16000 Avios + 1 EUR when you can do 5500 Avios + 29 EUR
You make a very valuable observation there GR, thank you.
Such a shame that Ben, missed the opportunity to update the republication of this article, must have been thinking about his clicks, yes?
They did gaslight us and the bloggers. In the examples, they only listed those unattractive options that no one will book (with 1 GBP in surcharge). The sweet spots are those "Rewards Flight savers" with slightly higher surcharges but half the avios.
For these, the increase is about 15% in Avios and €8 in surcharge. Some short haul routes > 650 miles even went up more than 20%
If you wanna talk about bloggers gaslighting us, it’s folks like TPG, owned by Bankrate, who merely want to shill for the big companies and couldn’t handle us commenters, would regularly promote this mere ‘60K sign-up bonus is worth $10,000 and will get you Emirates First!’ all the freaking time… *facepalm*
TPG is so bad I've actually asked a friend to stop sending me TPG links.
Gray, the most embarrassing thing is when my P2 tells someone that I am into the whole 'points' thing, and she'll say, 'oh, you like The Points Guy, right?' And I just have to practice some quick deep breathing meditation, and... politely reply, 'no, not that particular blog, but, yes, I do very much like the hobby.' (Ooof.)
Japan Airlines first class is now 136,000+ miles and $200 feet one way. Ouch.
It’s death by a thousand cuts with them. 9 years as gold and I’ve switched to DL/skyteam. You cannot trust BA, and they will continue to erode their mediocre service and loyalty scheme, and their IT department is atrocious. Their carrier imposed charges have continued to increase to where it’s better to buy a ticket in many instances. They are unapproachable and rigid - impossible to get any resolution to service problems. Their most famous...
It’s death by a thousand cuts with them. 9 years as gold and I’ve switched to DL/skyteam. You cannot trust BA, and they will continue to erode their mediocre service and loyalty scheme, and their IT department is atrocious. Their carrier imposed charges have continued to increase to where it’s better to buy a ticket in many instances. They are unapproachable and rigid - impossible to get any resolution to service problems. Their most famous answer is NO. That’s if they respond.
Lol - you're saying Delta is more trustworthy and is not a mediocre loyalty scheme??? You're one of the few
They are not quite Delta yet. Delta requires a million skypesos to go to Tulsa.
The part I don't understand are the base prices in miles they share in that post 55k for economy, 85 for premium and 160 for business during off peak. But from my experience redeeming transatlantic award flights eco was. ~35k, premium 55 and business 95k. That's an 85% raise if the new minimum are the ones they shared!
Can someone comment on that?
Maybe you're thinking one way? But round trip transatlantic off peak to US east coast has been 160k for a while. Even ten or so years back before peak/off-peak it was 100k biz round trip.
Award costs are distance based, and the numbers you're quoting sound like the distance between the UK and West Coast.
Not surprising. BA is rapidly becoming like the whole of Britain. Squeeze every penny from consumers, only to underdeliver in the final product. No wonder people are fed up.
JD, it is not only in Great Britain, the U.S. commenters are saying exactly the same thing about their airlines and hotel chains.
“third-party charges, as well as changing market conditions and ongoing inflation” corporate speak empowering a bunch of bottom-line enriching charges
BA award chart is still 100% on distance with Zones.
Why do they not show the taxes for F tickets in the table? Are they so egregious they're too embarrassed to publish them?
Really annoying they would make this announcement immediately after the Bilt Rent Day transfer bonus promo.
By design… in 2025, our global economy is basically one big ‘rug pull’ (who’s holding the bag?)
Ford, I’m sure that you have said on several post that Xi said it.
If "upgrade with avios" is not being impacted, c'est la vie. The fact that already not great values are being made less not great... so be it.
“Not great, not terrible…” (Also, ‘if these worked, you’d be wearing them.’)
My usually route using either BA or IB went about 20% more in avíos around mid 2025.
why does first class require less avios?
Less Avios, but the taxes + fees are generally 2-3x the price of business.
So basically they're saying that they want to soak their loyal customers for not only more Avios but more cash as well, then give short notice and no specifics on the devaluation but only a few cheery-picked examples of increases? What's not to like?
At least BA isn't using the usual "based on customer feedback" and "to provide more choices to our loyal members" bulls*** that we usually get. If I'm being fleeced, I'd rather you just straight-up tell me you're fleecing me because you can, rather than gaslighting me about "changes we think you'll like".
Ah, the honest middle finger. I suppose there’s something to be said for that over lying to engaged loyalty members.
I, too, prefer directness to passive aggression. Like, less backstabbing, more front-stabbing.
As you profess to preferring directness 1990, I will no longer display any of your so called passive aggression. There will be no “Backstabbing” from me, I will come straight to the point.
It is my considered opinion that there are actually two separate individuals who are using the 1990, login to post herein. One individual definitely displays a passive nature, while the other has a tendency to project certain aggressive tendencies when you are...
As you profess to preferring directness 1990, I will no longer display any of your so called passive aggression. There will be no “Backstabbing” from me, I will come straight to the point.
It is my considered opinion that there are actually two separate individuals who are using the 1990, login to post herein. One individual definitely displays a passive nature, while the other has a tendency to project certain aggressive tendencies when you are off guard Ford.
I know, I’ve been warned …. :-)
Oh, you mistake my occasional sarcasm for passivity… hmm… interesting… NOT.
Glad I've moved away from British Airways! Goodbye top tier GGL status. Shifted it all to United. Still would be nice to hold OW Emerald somewhere though.
lol, UA's rates are even worse. There are no sweet spots in MileagePlus at all. At least there are still some in the avios program.
I feel it is much better than Delta’s oh! Our program gets more valuable next year and then they charge 400k for J, too valuable for that!
What? It’s not because a devaluation is what customers really wanted? How strange…
!@*%!((
Pardon my French. With that out of the way, then what's a reasonable course of action? Try to book flights under current rates or transfer to another Avios partner?
I've had a bad feeling a wave of devaluations were coming and looks like this is only the start...
I appreciate the email not trying sugarcoat it. Could've been worse and signed off the email with: Happy Christmas!
This is nothing compared to TK's devaluation. 150-167% today on some rewards
Well, it is Turkey, so they're used to inflation...
Not funny in this instance, bud.
Oh no, I didn’t take you to be an Erdogan puppet, Christian. Uh oh. If anything, I thought you’d be more into referring to it as Constantinople (you know, because… ‘christian’).
Is this going to affect Partner award rates? Might have to burn a bunch of Avios if so
To be fair, in Short-Haul (e.g. LHR-NCE) the award pricing is super competitive: 8500 avios + 42€ in Club, who beats that?
Upgraded Points has what several new flights cost now and what they will cost after the increase.
As a London local, the UK government is indeed raising APD. ("Duty" = "tax"). They're also raising a tourist tax, to be levied on hotels. The airlines, including BA, along with hotels, airports, and other travel & hospitality industries have raised their objections, yet these taxes are going head.
UK airports are also raising passenger drop-off charges as well as penalties for drop-offs of more than a few minutes. Objections raised as well, to no avail.
If Trump even floated doing half the nonsense Labour are doing people would be dropping like flies from the collective aneurysm.
The most economically inept government in British history
One can only echo your comments 99.
Even though a larger percentage of voters at the last election did not vote for Labour, the country still gets the worst government in the history.
“The most economically inept government in British history”
You’ve already forgotten Liz Truss…?
No - she was awful but short lived and (in the grand scheme of things) largely ineffectual, at least compared to this lot, the actual "most economically inept government in British history”
Ending the VAT refund, pales in comparison to the long term harm Labour are subjecting the country to
99, Paul, ….
Fact, each successive Labour government since WWII, has left Great Britain in a worse financial state than when they took office.
Fact, each successive Conservative government up to Margaret Thatcher, has had to contend with the previous Labour governments ineptitude.
Fact, since Margaret Thatcher, Great Britain has endured both inept Labour and LidDem governments. By LibDem I mean those numpties who called themselves Conservatives just because they sported a...
99, Paul, ….
Fact, each successive Labour government since WWII, has left Great Britain in a worse financial state than when they took office.
Fact, each successive Conservative government up to Margaret Thatcher, has had to contend with the previous Labour governments ineptitude.
Fact, since Margaret Thatcher, Great Britain has endured both inept Labour and LidDem governments. By LibDem I mean those numpties who called themselves Conservatives just because they sported a Blue Rosette at election time and still do so.
Now, one is certain that some who frequent this website will be well aware of those facts, however, the ORD’s of this world who prefer “News” to “Reviews” will undoubtedly appreciate the enlightenment, yes ORD?
Absolute twaddle
Atlee took over when the UK was bankrupt post WWII
Blair oversaw a massive increase in real term wealth AND a reduction in poverty levels.
What exactly has this present government done that is so bad?
Pub business rates increasing = simply a revaluation to levels pre-covid
Winter fuel allowance = a stupid bung for pensioners that should be means tested
Pray tell except whatever you've read in the telegraph??
Trump is floating different nonsense. Horrible on both sides of the Atlantic.
What Trump is "floating" to the delight of his clueless cult members, doesn't have a word in English language yet. The grass is always greener on the other side, isn't it?
Thank you for the laugh Andy …. :-)
I came to comment before someone commented the latest screwing of rewards program is not too terrible.
But i see i did not get here in time. I don't know why people like getting screwed by corporations.
Eh, in the grand scheme of things, that's not a terrible devaluation. Still fairly low taxes/fees for business versus VS.
Yeah, 'not great, not terrible...' Some are calling it 'a light chest x-ray'...
Oh, there's still ample gaslighting to go around...
*cough* AeroB13a *cough*
You called master? As you command ….
When the proletariat elected this inept mob of loony Marxists, those of us who could see the writing on the wall made our plans. We sold all our goods and chattels to our BVI companies, we rent from them homes and motor vehicles, etc. Even the ownership AOP.6 cannot be traced to me. As far as this thieving Labour government is concerned we live off our pensions.
So...
You called master? As you command ….
When the proletariat elected this inept mob of loony Marxists, those of us who could see the writing on the wall made our plans. We sold all our goods and chattels to our BVI companies, we rent from them homes and motor vehicles, etc. Even the ownership AOP.6 cannot be traced to me. As far as this thieving Labour government is concerned we live off our pensions.
So master! The gas has been turned off and all one can see is the light at the end of the tunnel. No “Gaslighting” required in the Southern Hemisphere presently.
Funny, because hyperbolically referring to opponents as ‘Communist!’ often doesn’t help your cause (see NYC, recently.)
After they screw their elites with new Tier Points, this is the least they could do for their members.
So Eskimo, how does this situation affect you?
It sucks but also is not surprising.
Less and less reason to have BA as a viable option - their full cash rates are absurd
I wonder why we constantly see transfer bonuses on the cc end to transfer to avios and yet they continue to devalue. Why not just not offer the bonus and stop devaluing?
Because the rest of the world doesn't revolve around credit cards in your wallet.
I would wager a vast majority of the points in the system are from credit cards, and not flying. That's what causes the devaluations.
Because they still want to earn money or earn more money