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Stuffed #1: How British Airways sharply devalued Avios for members outside the UK and US

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We’ve now had a bit of time to digest the changes to long haul Avios pricing on Wednesday.

As more examples come to light, it is clear that this is a major devaluation.

It has been disguised by giving a (roughly) 15% discount to UK members who use an Amex 2-4-1 voucher and who can afford to use the maximum number of Avios. Strip these people out and there are some serious underlying issues.

I will run through them over the next few days. The biggest problem is that anyone not based in the US and UK has seen an increase of up to 92%, more usually 45% to 60%, for long haul redemptions.

HfP is, of course, a UK site with an 80% UK readership. This 80% figure holds across all platforms – the site, our email list and social media. Another 10% is from the US.

What wasn’t clear to us on Wednesday is what has happened to people based outside the UK and US. Long haul Reward Flight Saver is not available outside these countries.

The ‘top’ RFS price is the new Avios ‘base’ price

There is one thing you need to know which wasn’t obvious when the changes were announced. The ‘headline’ RFS price is now the BASE Avios redemption price.

Let me explain what I mean.

On Tuesday, the base price for Club World to New York, for an off peak return, was 100,000 Avios + £850.

On Wednesday, the base price for Club World to New York, an off peak return, changed to 160,000 Avios + £850. There was a whopping 60% increase in the number of Avios needed.

However, if you live in the UK or US and qualify for Reward Flight Saver, you will pay a reduced rate of 160,000 Avios + £350. You can choose other combinations, including the old price of 100,000 Avios + £850, if you wish, so you don’t need to be worse off.

What happens if you don’t live in the UK or US?

Let me show you. Here is the New York booking I discussed above, booked via an account which doesn’t qualify for long haul Reward Flight Saver:

How does 160,000 Avios + £850 for a return off-peak Club World flight to New York sound?

If you live in France, Germany, Dubai, Singapore, Spain, whatever …. you’re in big trouble. British Airways has hung you out to dry. There is no way for you to qualify for long haul Reward Flight Saver because it is only available to people who live in the UK or US.

(Well, you could change the address on your BA account. This would block you from holding any local BA financial products, however, and you can’t swap your address back for six months.)

Some examples from Germany

If you can read German, or are happy to use Google Translate, German site meilenoptimieren.com gives other examples.

For example, priced using a German BAEC account:

  • Economy one-way from London to New York on Tuesday: 13,000 Avios + €318
  • Economy one-way from London to New York on Wednesday: 25,000 Avios + €318
  • Business one-way from London to Dubai on Tuesday: 60,000 Avios + €540
  • Business one-way from London to Dubai on Wednesday: 90,000 Avios + €540
  • Business return from London to Miami on Tuesday: 137,500 Avios + €985
  • Business return from London to Miami on Wednesday: 200,000 Avios + €985

These three examples represent an increase of 92%, 50% and 45% respectively.

UK and US residents can also lose Reward Flight Saver pricing

Even if you do live in the UK or US, you can still come a cropper.

I admit that it is unlikely for HfP readers, but any Executive Club member who fails to earn an Avios in a 12 month period loses the right to Reward Flight Saver. There are plenty of UK and US members who are also now facing a 45%-60% rise in long haul premium cabin redemption pricing.

There are other articles to come next week which will look at how BA has stuffed people with ‘old style’ 2-4-1 Amex vouchers and how it has increased fees or – where blocked by law – the Avios required from low tax departure points.

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:

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Barclaycard Avios card

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

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

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British Airways American Express

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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

Comments (200)

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

  • Rob says:
    9 Dec9 December 10:36

    Is another issue with this that surely BA can amend the financial component on the fly? BA can slowly crank the paid component up over the next few weeks once the spotlight has moved on, resulting in a better position for them and a worse position for Avios holders. Ultimately a big devaluation if the base Avios price has gone up so much.

    • Rhys says:
      9 Dec9 December 10:41

      They can do that anyway, and have done so multiple times this year (which we’ve covered).

      If anything, fixing the cash elements of RFS means that it becomes more obvious when they change.

      • Rob says:
        9 Dec9 December 10:57

        Yes I suppose so. Do they have a table of the cash elements available on the website? With so many options it is a bit hard to keep track of, and therefore easier for them to price more dynamically without people realising.

        • Rhys says:
          9 Dec9 December 10:59

          No, but given it is priced at round numbers (£300, £400, £600 etc) you can’t increase it to £324.99 without someone noticing!

  • Scott says:
    9 Dec9 December 10:58

    A lot of negative comments on these changes, and clearly some groups/destinations have been disproportionately affected, but rather than looking at how things were before I prefer to compare to the cash alternative.

    With an Amex 241 (not free to attain, but fee somewhat offset by Avios earned) a couple can fly direct from UK to west coast USA off-peak for 180k Avios + £900 = £2100 (I use Avios>Nectar cash-out value of 0.67p)

    I believe this compares favourably to cash fares.

    Similarly, they can fly to south America on Iberia from MAD for 100k + £440 = £1110 + positioning costs of say £300-400 including overnight hotel. Again I’d be happy to use this option versus cash fares.

    I think that those finding value in this scheme will outweigh the others who’ll be switching elsewhere.

    • Rhys says:
      9 Dec9 December 11:03

      That’s fine for you, using RFS with a 2-4-1. We acknowledge it’s good news in our articles from Wednesday.

      It is not good news if you can’t get RFS, which anyone outside the UK and US can’t. That’s what this article is about!

  • JRich says:
    9 Dec9 December 11:09

    Totally screwed anyone that used one way economy redemptions to the UK from low tax jurisdictions (HKG, Brazil, Japan). Shameful really. Not sure what can really be done about it though, because it has brought BA into line with most other European carriers (Flying Blue, Lufthansa, etc.) so nothing to switch to…. How does FinnAir or Qatar compare? Rob it may be worth doing an article about other One World programs for people outside of the UK/US now that BA has thrown us under the bus.

    • Dace says:
      9 Dec9 December 11:31

      I am UK based but would use these low tax places regularly. It is very annoying, I am just happy I have HKG booked already.

      • meta says:
        9 Dec9 December 12:11

        HKG is not a low tax jurisdiction. Cap was removed a few years ago, but BA forgot to introduce it. Cathay Pacific had it on/off in the past few years. Brazil is only for tickets purchased in Brazil, so you had to always book separately. And Japan also increased the cap earlier this year.

        • John says:
          9 Dec9 December 14:36

          Well HK is a low tax jurisdiction. But this surcharge is not a tax.

          • meta says:
            9 Dec9 December 16:45

            I meant in terms of fuel/carrier imposed charges and so did OP given the specific mention of three places.

    • Mikeact says:
      9 Dec9 December 20:00

      I would point you to FlyerTalk…this is primarily a UK site with maybe around 10% US readership.

  • aq.1988 says:
    9 Dec9 December 11:56

    Hi Rob, sorry not read all the comments, so not sure if it’s been asked/answered, but can you do an article highlighting how the new RFS option impacts Eastbound travel please? Especially bearing in mind that you can fly on Qatar ex-UK to many of the same destinations, albeit with a stop. I understand you can’t use the 2-4-1 on Qatar (although I have hope with it being possible on Iberia and Aer Lingus now, it might be an option in the future), but seeing as their taxes were lower to begin with, it might be more beneficial to fly Qatar and save your 2-4-1

  • dom says:
    9 Dec9 December 12:42

    i have a couple of business class 2-4-1 booked to tokyo and los angeles . is it possible to amend them to use the maximum avios and the lowest taxes or do i need to take the risk of cancelling them (for a £35 *2 fee) and then rebooking them with the more favourable pricing?

    • Rhys says:
      9 Dec9 December 12:47

      You can try calling and seeing if they’ll amend it.

    • smblcklck says:
      9 Dec9 December 13:15

      Not clear yet. Some have been able to amend, I was told I’d need to cancel and rebook. Call exec club and ask, and let us know the result!

  • Hugo says:
    9 Dec9 December 13:12

    I’m not UK based anymore, last redemptions I made I paid £500 odd + points +2-4-1 for club worlds/firsts to east asia
    Looking at the changes since I left in 2018 – exorbitant increases to taxes, huge points inflation, and tougher earning rates – if I was still there I would really not be feeling inclined to play this game anymore…especially not since I recently flew return J to NYC for £1000 with Swiss and to Tanzania with KLM for £1800

  • Nun says:
    9 Dec9 December 13:20

    BA confirmed that 2-for-1 vouchers in the US cannot be used on IB or EI. Another hit

    • meta says:
      9 Dec9 December 13:23

      That’s good because they are swimming in Avios and points, so at least there won’t be an influx of bookings through that.

  • Kev I says:
    9 Dec9 December 13:21

    Looks like they’ve changed the avios prices for Europe too LHR-AMS return in economy is now 19,000 + £1 2 days ago it was 18,500 + £1

    • meta says:
      9 Dec9 December 16:47

      It’s an IT glitch thing for now, but I suspect short-haul is next.

      • Jack Hodgson says:
        9 Dec9 December 23:04

        Why would they go for short haul exactly ? Nothing has been devalued for U.K. citizens they need to encourage people to fly with them hence the exec club

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

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