Avios redemptions on Cathay Pacific and Japan Airlines devalued with no notice

British Airways has quietly snuck out a devaluation of short- and mid-haul Avios redemptions on two Asian partners – Cathay Pacific and Japan Airlines (JAL).

It only impact flights under 3,000 miles. Long haul services retain their existing pricing.

With cash flights often relatively cheap in this part of the world, you may end up thinking twice about a redemption unless you need the flexibility to cancel or change your ticket.

Whilst you might not immediately think that this impacts you, it may well do. Avios redemption seats are very tight to Tokyo and Hong Kong, for example. One way around this is to fly into China on British Airways – where seats are more easily found – and then connect on JAL to Tokyo or Cathay Pacific to Hong Kong. China’s visa rules don’t apply if you do this, even if you stopover for a couple of nights.

How has Avios pricing changed?

The changes are not uniform across both carriers.

It’s worth remembering that this is the second devaluation of Cathay Pacific and Japan Airlines flights in two years. Click here to see what happened in July 2021. For example, whilst we show very short Cathay flights going from 7,500 Avios to 9,750, they were only 6,000 Avios in June 2021.

Here is the Cathay Pacific pricing:

Zone	Distance	Old Economy	New Economy	Old Business	New Business
1	1 – 650 miles	7,500	9,750	16,000	20,800
2	651 – 1,150 miles	10,000	12,000	25,000	30,000
3	1,151 – 2,000 miles	11,000	14,300	25,000	32,500
4	2,001 – 3,000 miles	13,000	15,600	38,750	46,500

Here is the Japan Airlines pricing:

Zone	Distance	Old Economy	New Economy	Old Business	New Business
1	1 – 650 miles	7,500	10,500	12,500	17,500
2	651 – 1,150 miles	10,000	11,000	24,000	26,400
3	1,151 – 2,000 miles	11,000	14,300	24,000	31,200
4	2,001 – 3,000 miles	13,000	15,600	38,750	46,500

There is a loophole though

Ever since Qatar Privilege Club adopted Avios as its reward currency, it has provided a fall back in case of any painful changes to British Airways Executive Club pricing.

This HfP article shows how to link your Qatar Privilege Club and British Airways Executive Club accounts.

Here’s an example. This is Hong Kong to Ho Chi Minh City on Cathay Pacific in Business Class booked via ba.com:

It’s 30,000 Avios + £56.

Here is the exact same flight booked via Qatar Privilege Club:

Yes, you can save 45% on the Avios required for this route (I assume the taxes are the same – you can’t book it online) by transferring your Avios to Qatar Privilege Club and booking from there. I can’t guarantee similar savings on every route but it is clearly well worth checking.

I’m losing count of the number of different Avios pricing charts that exist: Aer Lingus peak and off peak, Iberia peak and off peak, British Airways peak and off peak, Qatar Airways, Japan Airlines, Cathay Pacific, American Airlines, all other partner airlines and the multi-partner chart. I make that 12. You also need to factor in the fact that the Iberia, BA and avios.com websites sometimes throw up different taxes and charges figures, plus the fact that Qatar Airways may have totally different partner pricing. Coming soon we will have Finnair’s Avios pricing chart too ….

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (December 2023)

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:

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

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 9th January 2024, you will receive 30,000 Membership Rewards points (convertible to 30,000 Avios) with American Express Preferred Rewards Gold. You receive 25,000 points if you spend £3,000 in three months and a further 5,000 points if you hold the card for 15 months. You can apply here.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 9th January 2024, you will receive a huge 100,000 Membership Rewards points (convertible to 100,000 Avios) with The Platinum Card. You receive 75,000 points if you spend £10,000 in six months and a further 25,000 points if you hold the card for 15 months. You can apply here.

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.

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.

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.

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