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

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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.

Avios redemptions on Cathay Pacific

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:

ZoneDistanceOld EconomyNew EconomyOld BusinessNew Business
11 – 650 miles7,5009,75016,00020,800
2651 – 1,150 miles10,00012,00025,00030,000
31,151 – 2,000 miles11,00014,30025,00032,500
42,001 – 3,000 miles13,00015,60038,75046,500

Here is the Japan Airlines pricing:

ZoneDistanceOld EconomyNew EconomyOld BusinessNew Business
11 – 650 miles7,50010,50012,50017,500
2651 – 1,150 miles10,00011,00024,00026,400
31,151 – 2,000 miles11,00014,30024,00031,200
42,001 – 3,000 miles13,00015,60038,75046,500
JAL Japan Airlines Avios redemptions

There is a loophole though

Ever since Qatar Airways 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 Airways 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:

Using Avios on Cathay Pacific

It’s 30,000 Avios + £56.

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

Book Avios redemptions on Cathay Pacific

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 Airways 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 (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!

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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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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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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, Cathay Pacific and Asia Miles, oneworld alliance partners

Comments (86)

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

  • Alex says:
    23 Sep23 September 05:34

    Seems every week there’s a devaluation of points somewhere

  • TimM says:
    23 Sep23 September 05:53

    This is the problem with issuing a quasi-currency with fixed-price things to spend it on at times of high inflation. It is better described as a ‘price rise’ rather than a ‘devaluation’. A devaluation would be when the points price divided by the cash price, since the last time the the points prices were calculated, had increased, not just regular inflation.

    • John says:
      23 Sep23 September 06:37

      Good point. As I now treat avios as worth a fixed 0.66p, the price of CX Z1 has risen from £106 to £138 (plus taxes and fees).

    • Ken says:
      23 Sep23 September 07:22

      We look forward to Avios redemption decreases then when flight cash prices fall…

      • JDB says:
        23 Sep23 September 07:46

        @Ken – If you look at the cost of many long haul BA redemptions 10 years vs today they are the same price or cheaper, even with the increased cash component, in real terms and notably cheaper on off peak which was introduced in 2015. European redemption prices and RFS similarly, the peak price is the same as the previous single price but off peak is lower. All this casual devaluation chat isn’t based on fact. Yes, of course there have been some Avios price increases/devaluation around the place but not on a significant scale. And as another poster has pointed out, Nectar so beloved of those who trash Avios in various ways has an exchange rate that devalued from 0.8 less than a year ago and where 0.67p today doesn’ti buy you anything like it did a year ago either.

        • Peter K says:
          23 Sep23 September 09:04

          That’s why I cashed out large numbers of Avios at 0.8p but not when it was devalued to 0.67p.

          I then used a lot of those nectar to buy a phone on ebay when there was a 20% genuine discount. 1p per avios value in the real world made more sense than keeping them in BAEC!

          • BJ says:
            23 Sep23 September 09:21

            +1, converted one third of my stash into lego I’m saving for a rainy day.

          • lumma says:
            23 Sep23 September 09:37

            It’s not really 1p per avios when you could’ve paid cash for the phone, unless for some reason you only got the discount by redeeming nectar points

        • Chabuddy Geezy says:
          23 Sep23 September 09:38

          @JDB haven’t euro redemptions gone up by 750 avios each recently?

          • JDB says:
            23 Sep23 September 10:05

            The 750 Avios increase was introduced quite a while ago when the temporary LHR recovery charge came in and was never removed, but frankly £7.50 in the scheme of things is nothing. The off peak prices remain cheaper than the unitary price ten years ago.

        • BJ says:
          23 Sep23 September 11:56

          The discussion is about partner redemptions though, and redemption(s) which require sectors operated by BA plus one or more partners. Similar arguments might be applied in some cases but the big picture is that reward flights costs more at a time when avios have become that bit harder to collect. Even the lucrative opportunities that have be available via credit cards in recent years have been offset by tightening eligibility ( which we all know you love 🙂 ). Ultimately, whether costs remain similar or less in real terms makes little difference if people don’t have the avios and/or cash to spend on rewards due to difficulties in collecting the avios and/or finding the cash elements required due to cost of living crisis.

  • BJ says:
    23 Sep23 September 06:03

    I came across this last night when booking HKG-BKK over the phone. I declined to pay 30k. Other readers interested in this route should look to RJ and SriLanka, they are now almost half the price of Cathay and in many cases with better longhaul J products! Note also that Emirates offers Y, J and F on the route on an a380, presumably PY now or soon also.

    With this, the Aer Lingus story yesterday, and the rarely of Qatar rewards at standard pricing of late it is obvious that a stealthy devaluation is in process. I suspect we will see more, and I doubt the anticipated 3:2 conversion of existing Finnair award chart on adoption of avios next year is going to be so generous.

    Avios-Nectar looking good again despite that devaluation if reward devaluation continue and revenue fares continue to soften.

    • Emi says:
      23 Sep23 September 06:50

      Well… I paid a full price ticket from HKG to BKK in May this year with Cathay. BA are denying me the avios and tier points. Originally claimed I had travelled on a deeply discounted ticket – not true. Flew biz class too. Any advice?

      • Rob says:
        23 Sep23 September 08:44

        Cathay P class, a mid range Business fare, does not earn with BA. Credit to Qatar.

      • The Original David says:
        23 Sep23 September 08:48

        Sounds like you have been shafted by the P fare bucket. Short answer: give up and move on. Long answer, check Flyertalk.

    • Erico1875 says:
      23 Sep23 September 07:08

      Yes, if only my energy bills were half as they were 2 years ago. A bag of smart price pasta was 29p, its now 50p.
      Thats inflation for you

      • BJ says:
        23 Sep23 September 07:45

        I doubt you’re going to find ‘smart price’ pasta in Sainsbury’s at any price 🙂

        The problem is I am finding it increasingly difficult to find avios reward seats to places I want to go, and when I can the prices do not often make sense relative to revenue fares. I have no interest in going to places that do not appeal to me just to use or get value from avios. Thus, we are again getting to the point where I might consider Nectar again as a means of offsetting revenue fliggt to the places I do want to go.

    • Erico1875 says:
      23 Sep23 September 07:09

      So Avios to Nectar is still only going to get you 40% of what it did 2 years ago

    • The Streets says:
      23 Sep23 September 07:42

      I took your previous advice and now look for cash flights for short hauls in and out of Bangkok. After many years of flying CX Business on points for this route reverted to Emirates economy and locked in at £125 for next Easter

      • BJ says:
        23 Sep23 September 07:52

        Yes, CX via avios used to be a sweetspot between BKK and HKG (and others). It was especial great when getting a longhaul aircraft as opposed to a regional. Sadly, those days are long gone. Note that RJ is (hopefully) still around 16000 one way in J. Sri Lanka too if they’re still operating their 5th freedom flight.

        • The Original Nick. says:
          23 Sep23 September 07:55

          I was redeeming Avios on the BKK -HKG and SIN – HKG route 10 years ago. I didn’t know it’d all changed. What are we looking at now between BKK and HKG in J?

          • BJ says:
            23 Sep23 September 08:08

            30k one way in J on CX, and increasingly likely to be on their rubbish regional a321s going forward. Still about 16k one way J on RJ and UL hopefully. Noted the latter is still flying the route from your comments.

          • QFFlyer says:
            23 Sep23 September 13:32

            Actually CX’s regional A321 J product is very good, I think, for a 3 or 4 hour flight. Y sucks of course.

      • BJ says:
        23 Sep23 September 08:11

        Btw @The Streets, did you book direct with Emirates and did you receive upper deck Y seats at that price?

        • The Streets says:
          23 Sep23 September 09:02

          Had some orphan emirates points to use up so nearly did but have the family in toe and booked on mass elsewhere. Good to know for next time!

    • The Original Nick. says:
      23 Sep23 September 07:52

      I found flying UL on their A330 on Tuesday quite nice.

    • RTS says:
      23 Sep23 September 09:29

      I actually need BKK to HKG on 30th Oct. Where are you booking RJ ? via Qatar PC?

      I also need HKG – PVG 2 weeks later…

      • BJ says:
        23 Sep23 September 12:14

        If it’s not showing up on BA call and ask in event it’s an IT thing. They only operate 3 or 4 days a week and it is afternoon departure from BKK with late evening departures from HKG. Check RJ site, might not yet havevresumed since Covid.

      • david says:
        23 Sep23 September 12:24

        yes on Qatar.

    • Chris says:
      23 Sep23 September 09:38

      There is also Ethiopian at about hkd 3000 and Hong Kong airlines uses its A330 with flat beds on some departures.

      • BJ says:
        23 Sep23 September 12:19

        Yes, avios pricing on CX now very similar to route revenue pricing. HKT still a little better value on avios with CX, 32k avios compared to £420-450ish CX cash fares. Flights mostly on regional a330 but sometimes longhaul a330.

  • sm says:
    23 Sep23 September 07:02

    Last week booked Osaka to Hongkong CX using asia miles for flights 9/24 paid 10k miles economy plus £60. There were 4 of us so two also in business which was 25k each. Flight is under 1500 miles distance so not sure the table shown is effective immediately?
    CX reward seats only show on Ba.com 4 days after they’ve been released to CX customers so limited. Cash tickets expensive even with HK express.

    • The Streets says:
      23 Sep23 September 07:38

      I’m trying to use my virgin miles to book ANA from Tokyo to Hong Kong next summer but no availability ever shows on the United website. I can’t work out if it’s because it’s not yet loaded or if they have all gone

    • Rob says:
      23 Sep23 September 08:43

      This is an Avios chart, not an Asia Miles chart.

  • The Original Nick. says:
    23 Sep23 September 07:56

    I was redeeming Avios on the BKK -HKG and SIN – HKG route 10 years ago. I didn’t know it’d all changed. What are we looking at now between BKK and HKG in J?

  • tony says:
    23 Sep23 September 08:16

    Think the bigger issue here is that one way J class cash fares in that part of the world are eye wateringly expensive. That’s where I see the big devaluation anyway. With so much competition in Y that’s a mere distraction.

  • RTS says:
    23 Sep23 September 09:24

    When you redeem on qatar for a partner airline, do you have to send in a service request?

    • Rob says:
      23 Sep23 September 09:57

      Yes

      • Novice says:
        23 Sep23 September 10:25

        what is a service request?

        • Rob says:
          23 Sep23 September 10:37

          You fill in the online form and ask if they have any reward seats!

          You can check in advance if there are seats by doing a search at ba.com.

          • Matt says:
            23 Sep23 September 11:05

            I Recently booked a flight on Bangkok air via Qatar. I completed that form but after 4 days of no response I managed to book it over the online chat instead.

          • KK says:
            23 Sep23 September 11:27

            how long does it take to complete the request normally? or if you can call up to request an award?

          • Rob says:
            23 Sep23 September 11:39

            No idea, interested in any feedback.

          • Kwab says:
            23 Sep23 September 13:15

            I did online service requests for Bangkok Airways and Malaysia Airlines avios redemptions over the summer. Both took about 24 hours to complete.

          • Novice says:
            23 Sep23 September 22:57

            Ok thanks @Rob. Useful info might have to use it since I’m looking to use my avios asap.

    • DonLee says:
      23 Sep23 September 11:57

      How is the cancellation fee charged with Qatar? Is that same as BA that they won’t charge additional when cancelling if the tax is below cancellation fee

  • Michael C says:
    23 Sep23 September 09:38

    @BJ also seeing no sweet spots for BKK next summer – there are (slightly surprisingly) Avios to SIN, back from BKK, but only in Y of course. The way back on daytime CX is fine, and have come to a fam decision to just suck up the outbound: arriving in SIN at 1600h is always a bit miserable sleepwise anyway!

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