British Airways in court in the US over fuel surcharges on Avios tickets

An interesting court case is currently working its way through the US legal system. Four frequent flyers in the States are suing British Airways over the fairness (or not) of the fuel surcharges imposed on Avios reward tickets and corporate net fares.

The latest attempt by British Airways to have the case thrown out has just failed, and it will proceed to the next stage.

See this Reuters story here for more details.

To quote:

In a decision made public on Friday, U.S. District Judge Raymond Dearie in Brooklyn, New York, said the plaintiffs offered sufficient support for their claims that the surcharges were not “reasonably related to or based upon” fuel costs. He did not rule on the merits of the case …..

The plaintiffs said British Airways saw the fuel surcharges as a means to boost revenue, and charge frequent flyers hundreds of dollars on each “free” reward ticket.

In letting the case proceed, Dearie cited a statistical analysis from the flyers that suggested that British Airways’ fuel surcharges from 2007 to 2012 “bore little relationship to – and were not based upon – changes in the price of fuel.”

There are a couple of points worth mentioning here. The first is that, for reasons unknown, British Airways charges higher fuel surcharges – substantially higher, in fact – for round-trip tickets which start in the US compared with the UK.

Heathrow to New York return in Club World has total taxes of £533. New York to Heathrow return has total taxes of £732. That won’t look good in court.

Secondly, I will leave you with this bit of data courtesy of my friend Andy.

Cost of fuelling a BA A380 to Los Angeles, return: $170,000 (figure comes directly from a BA pilot)

First Class fuel charge revenue: 14 x £359 = £5,026

Club World fuel charge revenue: 97 x £359 = £34,823

World Traveller Plus fuel charge revenue: 55 x £239 = £13,145

World Traveller fuel charge revenue: 303 x £239 = £72,417

Total fuel surcharge collected on a full A380 flight to Los Angeles: £125,411 = c $200,000

‘Profit’ generated by fuel surcharge vs the cost of fuel: c $30,000

The full court filings in the case can be downloaded from Loyalty Lobby here.

It is not clear where this case will end up – the worst case scenario, for BA, is that it is made to refund fuel surcharges to anyone who has flown to or from the US in recent years on an Avios ticket or corporate net fare (to which fuel surcharges are additional).

This would not be unparalleled – similar refunds were made a few years (I got one myself) when BA settled another court case.

PS. If you are not a regular Head for Points visitor, why not sign up for our FREE weekly or daily newsletters? They are full of the latest Avios, airline, hotel and credit card points news and will help you travel better. To join our 65,000 free subscribers, click the button below or visit this page of the site to find out more. Thank you.

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2025)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

Get 5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

30,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £15,000 Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital on Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, and the standard card is FREE. Capital on Tap cards also have no FX fees.

Capital on Tap Visa

NO annual fee, NO FX fees and points worth 1 Avios per £1 Read our full review

Capital on Tap Pro Visa

10,500 points (=10,500 Avios) plus good benefits Read our full review

There is also a British Airways American Express card for small businesses:

British Airways American Express Accelerating Business

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.

American Express Business Platinum

50,000 points when you sign-up and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and FREE for a year Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.