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Here is the full British Airways and Iberia peak and off peak Avios calendar for 2020 flights

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What are the peak and off-peak dates for redeeming Avios points in 2020? 

British Airways still hasn’t officially released the peak and off peak dates for reward flights in 2020 but we now have some clarity on what the calendar will look like next year.

EDIT:  If you are planning further ahead, the 2021 Avios peak and off-peak calendar is in this HfP article – click.

We have managed to get our hands on what we believe is the full 2020 timetable via BA contacts.  We have turned this into a neat little table, below, which gives a better overview of the entire year’s peak and off peak availability.

British Airways normally releases the calendar in June, and some people have been speculating that the lack of an announcement might mean that it is moving to revenue-based redemptions next year.  Now that we have the calendar, however, we can be fairly confident that redemptions will remain on a peak and off peak basis for 2020.

There are two things to remember:

This calendar only applies to BA.  We have added the Iberia dates at the bottom.  Iberia and Aer Lingus have their own peak and off-peak dates, which can often be helpful.  October half-term is off-peak for Iberia, for example, so New York in Business Class from Madrid is 68,000 Avios vs 120,000 Avios for a peak-date BA flight from London.

The BA calendar applies wherever you book a BA redemption, whether it is on ba.com, iberia.com or avios.com.  Similarly, if you try to book an Iberia redemption on ba.com it will NOT follow the dates below.

All redemptions on partner airlines such as Qatar Airways are charged at peak rates, 100% of the time

Note that peak dates are in yellow whilst off peak is in white.  Click to enlarge:

British Airways peak and off peak calendar 2020

Don’t ask why Tuesday 11th and Tuesday 18th August are off-peak!  It is also isn’t clear why Wednesday 15th April (Easter Wednesday) is a solo off-peak day.  This is not an error – you can check yourself on ba.com as 15th April is already bookable.

As you would expect, peak dates cover all the school breaks as well as the majority of bank holidays.  The only bank holiday weekend during an off-peak time is the first May bank holiday, which was moved from its usual Monday slot to Friday 8th May to coincide with VE Day.  It is still possible that BA flips this to a peak date!

As a reminder, here is the peak and off-peak Avios pricing chart for British Airways flights:

Cost of Avios reward flights redemption chart

The zones relate to the distance flown:

  • Zone 1: 1 – 650 miles
  • Zone 2: 651 – 1,150 miles
  • Zone 3: 1,151 – 2,000 miles
  • Zone 4: 2,001 – 3,000 miles
  • Zone 5: 3,001 – 4,000 miles
  • Zone 6: 4,001 – 5,500 miles
  • Zone 7: 5,501 – 6,500 miles
  • Zone 8: 6,501 – 7,000 miles
  • Zone 9: 7,000+ miles

Iberia Avios peak and off-peak dates for 2020

For comparison, here are the Iberia dates for next year, with peak dates in red:

Iberia peak and off-peak Avios calendar 2020

Iberia peak and off-peak Avios calendar 2020

Iberia peak and off-peak Avios calendar 2020

Iberia peak and off-peak Avios calendar 2020

…. and here is the Avios redemption pricing for Iberia, which applies whether you book at ba.com or iberia.com:

Iberia redemption chart

and

Iberia redemption Avios chart

This chart is NOT the same as the British Airways chart. The charts are nearly the same, but not quite.

Let’s take New York as an example. Both British Airways and Iberia price New York as a Zone 5 redemption. However:

British Airways charges 100,000 Avios off-peak and 120,000 Avios peak for a Club World flight to New York

Iberia, as you can see above, charges 68,000 Avios off-peak and 100,000 Avios peak for a Business Class flight to New York

There are not many destinations which are served by both BA and Iberia, of course, so the opportunities for arbitrage are limited. You also need to factor in the cost and time of getting to Madrid, although if you live outside London it is not massively more complex than changing planes at Heathrow.

If you want to learn more about how to redeem Avios points via Iberia Plus, to save a fortune on taxes and charges, take a look at this article in our ‘Avios Redemption University’ series.

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2024)

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 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 card

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

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

25,000 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.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a 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, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 12th May 2024, the Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa card is offering a bonus of 30,000 points, convertible into 30,000 Avios. You must have a Limited Company to apply. Click here to learn more and click here to apply.

Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa

Huge 30,000 points bonus until 12th May 2024 Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

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

40,000 points sign-up bonus 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.

Category

British Airways and Avios, Iberia and Iberia Plus

Comments (91)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • BJ says:
    9 Jul9 July 05:29

    Thanks for this, but are we really to believe that 7 June and 11 and 18th August are isolated off peak dates in the summer period? Also, doesn’t summer peak usually begin on a Monday, here we have it starting 4July? Probably true though as they will probably want to capture the USA holiday.

    • BJ says:
      9 Jul9 July 05:30

      *7 July

      • The Original David says:
        9 Jul9 July 07:41

        A few years ago every Tuesday and Wednesday was off-peak, wasn’t it?

        • Rob says:
          9 Jul9 July 08:19

          Yes, when they first launched peak. 2015/16.

        • Matt B says:
          9 Jul9 July 14:55

          I flew out on a Tuesday in the Easter holidays this year, and BA had that day as off peak. It meant I needed more Avios to upgrade to F than I planned.

    • Anna says:
      9 Jul9 July 07:18

      I BJ, I guess we’ll see when the award flights are released but historically BA have been known to have mid-week days as “off peak” during otherwise “peak” weeks. I imagine these are days with less demand as a lot of people like to fly at weekends.

      • BJ says:
        9 Jul9 July 08:06

        David/Anna, now that you mention it I recall that. It would be good if this does prove to be the case as it provides a little respite, especially for family groups if they can get the seats required. I need 6 of July so missing that Tueday by one day otherwise it’s extra for my insurance. Using a 241 though and expected to pay 90k anyway so no personal loss for me.

  • Stuart says:
    9 Jul9 July 05:33

    Somewhat O/T question.

    Can I book EI flights (for myself) over the phone to BA using pooled household Avios?

  • Ash says:
    9 Jul9 July 07:55

    Were I a cynic, I would say that the random off peak days are a marketing ploy so that they can say that off peak days are available EVERY MONTH !

    • Rob says:
      9 Jul9 July 08:18

      Could be right …. or there is a % of off-peak dates they want to hit.

      • meta says:
        9 Jul9 July 12:02

        Or they haven’t officially released the list as they are planning to introduce dynamic pricing, so this is just a temporary list until they do.

      • Jb says:
        9 Jul9 July 13:33

        How long has the peak/off-peak regime being around?
        It might (or not) be interesting to analyse how the yearly proportion has changed since it’s inception.

  • Dave says:
    9 Jul9 July 08:43

    I booked the 15th of april off peak day on sunday I can confirm it is true, redemtion to singapore, happy days!

  • Simon says:
    9 Jul9 July 08:53

    So if you book for next year before the calendar comes out, is it just educated guess work what tariff applies?

    • Stu N says:
      9 Jul9 July 09:10

      If you’re trying to plan in advance and avoid peak days then it is guesswork until flights are actually released 355 days out. When you book it will go through at the “correct” rate for the day.

      • Shoestring says:
        9 Jul9 July 09:32

        booked RFS ticket T-355 one year @7500 Avios, then later it went down to 6500 – I forgot to try to get 1000 back but I reckon they’d have said tough anyway

    • Rob says:
      9 Jul9 July 10:03

      No, because the off-peak / peak dates are always shown during booking. The only benefit of this calender is to help you with advance planning – you still can’t book until 355 days before departure.

      I feel a rush of Summer holidays from 11-18th August 2020 coming on, for a start.

      • john says:
        9 Jul9 July 10:07

        So those dates might end up peak next year!

        • Russ says:
          9 Jul9 July 11:38

          Agree. It’s hearsay.

          ‘British Airways still hasn’t officially released the peak and off peak dates for reward flights in 2020 but we now have some clarity on what the calendar will look like next year.
          We have managed to get our hands on what we believe is the full 2020 timetable via BA contacts.’

          Which is a different position from the title ‘Finally …… the full British Airways peak and off peak Avios calendar for 2020’

          • Rob says:
            9 Jul9 July 11:44

            BA can obviously change this chart at any point until 355 days in advance, since that is when flights open for booking. The chart we published is the chart BA intends to work with. Someone may wake up tomorrow and decide that 11th August should be peak after all, but there’s nothing we can do about that!

  • sayling says:
    9 Jul9 July 09:34

    Very useful, thanks, Neil.

    I expect a similar service next year, now, though 😂😉

  • C says:
    9 Jul9 July 10:11

    Slightly OT but BA reward flight related. Any idea when we might expect a long haul economy reward flight sale (save 50% of the required avios)? The last one was over a year ago (June 2018) but before that they had the same offer the previous December. I know these are generally considered poor value but as I’m looking to do an economy redemption anyway (as not enough miles anymore to consider anything in a higher class!) it would be a bonus and I’ll hold off booking for now!

  • Lewis says:
    9 Jul9 July 10:11

    Does a list of destinations by zone exist? Had a Google can’t find anything?

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