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Whoa: £1200 surcharges now showing on BA and Virgin Atlantic redemption flights

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Both British Airways and Virgin Atlantic have sharply increased surcharges on redemption tickets.

This definitely covers routes to North America – I’m not totally sure about the impact elsewhere due to a lack of historic data.

Avios flyers have some protection because of Reward Flight Saver which caps your fees, but you will take a big hit if you use Avios to upgrade to Business Class.

EDIT: Virgin Atlantic has now reversed this increase after an outcry. Click here to read the latest.

What’s happened with Virgin Atlantic surcharges?

Let’s take a look at what you pay, starting with Virgin Atlantic.

Here’s an Upper Class return to New York:

BA and Virgin sharply increase surcharges on redemption flights

£900 of ‘carrier imposed surcharges’ (which is pocketed by the airline) is pretty crazy, however you cut it. This is a £200 increase on what you would have paid last week.

Premium is ‘just’ £280 of ‘carrier imposed surcharge’ return:

BA and Virgin sharply increase surcharges on redemption flights

What’s happened with Avios surcharges?

Let’s go across to Avios.

Here’s a Club Suite return from Heathrow to New York JFK off-peak. The price is unchanged at 160,000 Avios + £350 because of the Reward Flight Saver cap:

However, if you look at upgrading a World Traveller Plus flight to Club World, you see the full force of the £900 ‘carrier imposed surcharge’.

Here’s a World Traveller Plus cash ticket to New York which is £999 return:

Let’s try upgrading this ticket to Club World with Avios during the booking process. You may, naively, believe that the price would be 48,000 Avios + the World Traveller Plus cash price of £998.59. You would be wrong.

Here’s exactly the same flight but using the ‘upgrade with Avios during booking’ option. The cash element shoots up to £1,619. The difference of £620 is because the ‘carrier imposed surcharge’ has jumped from £280 (World Traveller Plus) to £900 (Club World).

However …. want to see something weird?

BA has NOT increased the surcharge on First Class tickets, which is ‘only’ £550 return:

First Class – which is not part of Reward Flight Saver, remember – now has total taxes and charges of £849 between Heathrow and New York. Compare this to the £1,199 of taxes and charges you have to pay on a Club World seat when upgrading from World Traveller Plus.

Conclusion

It’s not a coincidence that BA and Virgin Atlantic keep their surcharges in step. This is always the case.

I don’t know who moved first here. The Virgin Atlantic increase happened in the last 48 hours but I don’t know when BA went to £900. If it was British Airways moving first, and Virgin Atlantic automatically followed, then Virgin Atlantic has been caught out.

Ever since BA moved to Reward Flight Saver for long haul redemptions, the carrier surcharge doesn’t have an impact on what you pay. The surcharge only kicks in for anyone upgrading with Avios or who doesn’t qualify for Reward Flight Saver – which isn’t many people.

For Virgin Atlantic, an increase in surcharges makes a difference to everyone who redeems.

£1,196 return for Upper Class is just silly. Pre-covid, BA Holidays would regularly offer Club World flights to New York, plus 3-4 nights in a hotel, for £1,299 per person all-in. Even in recent sales we have seen cash tickets to New York in Business Class drop back to the £1,500 mark.

We have, of course, seen Virgin Atlantic offer a lot of reward seat sales in recent months. There was one just last week. However, even with a 50% reduction in miles, you’d still be looking at around 50,000 Virgin Points plus £1,200 in taxes and charges for a return flight to New York. This isn’t much of a deal.

At the full price of 95,000 Virgin Points plus £1,200 of taxes and charges, you seriously have to consider what value you are getting out of Virgin Flying Club if your goal is premium cabin redemptions.

What is crazy is that you can still redeem Virgin Points for one way Delta flights in Business Class from the USA to mainland Europe for just £5 in taxes and charges.

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Category

British Airways and Avios, Virgin Atlantic and Flying Club

Comments (231)

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

  • Nick says:
    26 Mar26 March 10:30

    YQ is designed to clobber corporate customers, where it’s not part of negotiated fare deals. It’s a happy coincidence that this also means increases hit redemptions. It’s either full or nothing, there’s no halfway house allowed (and for those asking for ‘nothing’, think how much this would increase the Avios requirement!)

    • LittleNick says:
      26 Mar26 March 11:08

      But that doesn’t explain the difference in YQ for Redemption fares and Cash tickets on BA?
      Why can’t Virgin have lower YQ for redemptions vs Corporate/Cash tickets?

    • Andrew says:
      26 Mar26 March 11:47

      “YQ is designed to clobber corporate customers”
      “ think how much this would increase the Avios requirement!”
      It wouldn’t need to increase the Avios requirement at all.

  • r* says:
    26 Mar26 March 11:01

    Virgin: no ones booking flights to the US cos its terrible value, lets do half points redemption offer!

    Also Virgin: lets increase fees on points bookings by £250!

  • Charles says:
    26 Mar26 March 11:05

    Reading this makes me happy I cashed out the last few 000k I got from buying my house on my AmEx to Sainsburys.

    The writing was on the wall years ago and whilst most “airline news” websites have just swept it under the rug -perhaps so they keep receiving their free annual flight in club or maybe 1st – rob has sort of held them BA to account (though I think things could have been made a good bit clearer).

    To give an example i had flights INV-LAX in First Class. For 2 people it was 170,000 avios + £560~ in taxes and surcharges + a BAPP Companion voucher.

    I haven’t read the “what is an Avios worth” article, I don’t need to, to know its massively skewed. ALL flights (just like hotels atm) are MASIVELY over priced. £270 for a 1 way to Porto in cattle class…

    As most will know, QR Ex-EU and CX in Asia are the only places where avios make sense, ohh or hops over to Hawaii for New Years Eve parties

    • Rob says:
      26 Mar26 March 11:20

      You do understand it makes no sense to say that flights are overpriced given the high load factors? A month ago, IAG said that it had already sold 80% of the seats it expected to sell for the April to June quarter.

      • Charles says:
        26 Mar26 March 11:58

        Fair comment -couldn’t reread before posting as it wouldn’t alow me to pan up on mobile.- “overpriced” would be my opinion.
        The term I should have used which would be FACT would be hyperinflated.

        A fair assessment would you not agree, Rob?

        • Rob says:
          26 Mar26 March 12:38

          Airline seats are one of the very few ‘fairly’ priced assets. Every day the same product is sold at a different price depending on demand. You can’t say the same about cornflakes.

          Prices have gone up because people are willing to pay it – in fact, too many people are willing to pay it, hence high price is being used as a way of managing supply and demand.

          Hotels are slightly different because a lot are choosing – due to lack of staff and because it improves the experience for everyone – to deliberately push up prices so half their rooms are empty but the other half are sold for a premium. Those who are willing to pay find no problem getting a spot by the pool, a table for breakfast etc.

          • jjoohhnn says:
            26 Mar26 March 14:04

            Wendy’s touted the idea of dynamic pricing for their burgers recently and it caused some outrage, but Slug & Lettuce announced they were going to charge more per pint at peak times! Cornflakes dynamic pricing could be coming soon!

          • Rob says:
            26 Mar26 March 14:19

            Wendy’s made a PR mistake because they made it sound like that prices would go up at busy times, when they meant they would go down at quieter times. In the long run, of course, it’s the same thing.

          • Geoff says:
            26 Mar26 March 21:19

            “Prices have gone up because people are willing to pay it – in fact, too many people are willing to pay it, hence high price is being used as a way of managing supply and demand.”

            Weren’t BA passenger numbers either slightly below pre Covid or only slightly above or Covid levels in their last set of results?

            Therefore not a massive increase in demand

          • Rob says:
            26 Mar26 March 22:00

            The BA fleet was smaller last year than 2019 …. have you forgotten about all those 747s?

    • BBbetter says:
      26 Mar26 March 12:41

      You bought your house on Amex?

    • Johnny Tabasco says:
      26 Mar26 March 13:57

      lol a quick pop over to Hawaii for a NYE bash – I love this site sometimes

    • TGLoyalty says:
      26 Mar26 March 14:14

      Supply – Demand controlled by price its not a Novel idea … the fact is people are paying it therefore prices will stay high

      • Geoff says:
        27 Mar27 March 01:53

        “The BA fleet was smaller last year than 2019 …. have you forgotten about all those 747s?”

        You said it’s all about demand though….

  • LittleNick says:
    26 Mar26 March 11:09

    Won’t this also affect Redemptions on other oneworld Programs redeeming on BA, as this is largely passed on as they don’t have RFS?
    Similarly for Virgin and Skyteam?

    • Rhys says:
      26 Mar26 March 11:16

      They set their own surcharges which have always been passed on.

    • Rob says:
      26 Mar26 March 11:21

      For those airline that pass on the surcharges, yes. However BA doesn’t get that money – it is kept by the ticketing airline I believe.

      • LittleNick says:
        26 Mar26 March 13:08

        Not sure about that, whilst it may be charged by the ticketing airline I suspect there will be some element which goes to BA. Seems to me there’s at least two parts to redemption surcharges on partner awards, an element from the operating carrier and an element from the ticketing airline. AA with no/low surcharges on redemptions across Oneworld except BA implies to me that BA must be charging at least some of the surcharge to AA as they couldn’t absorb it all for their members redemptions. Don’t know for sure but I can only suspect

  • Jim Utd says:
    26 Mar26 March 11:45

    There is still value to be had with both avios and virgin points, just not on the Uk to USA routes looking at this. I’ve used virgin points on KL a few times now and good value plus lots of Regional UK flights available too. Same with Avios. Qatar to NZ/Aus for 90K from Uk and £400 tax/YQ is still amazing value.

    • babyg_wc says:
      26 Mar26 March 12:10

      Much trickier finding 90k to NZ/AUS…. not only are they hard to find, they have increased to 108K for certain dates, and and you are out of luck if you have more than 2 people wanting to travel together….. and the fees are around £600 to nz now (which are made to look cheap because of the silly fees elsewhere)….. but yeah still value to be found if you look hard.

    • Den S says:
      26 Mar26 March 12:34

      For non USA routes I still think it is a no brainer!

  • JimBH says:
    26 Mar26 March 11:56

    I used an Amex 241 voucher to book LHR-MIA a few months ago for travel this June. Out in First, back in CW. I paid 175K Avios overall and £524.50 per person in YQ and £307.01 taxes, ie. total taxes/fees £831.51 per person.

    Rob, in your example above you mention £350 for total taxes, the only difference being that your example is CW both ways whereas we’re F out & CW back. Did I pay an extra £480 purely because of the F element in my booking?

    • Rob says:
      26 Mar26 March 12:39

      Yes, pricing gets messy when you mix a non-RFS with an RFS. It will be cheaper for you if you do both legs in F I think.

      • James C says:
        26 Mar26 March 13:13

        Remember with RFS on LH there are bands. £350 is the band with NY, BOS and Dubai in it. Miami and the Caribbean is £450. Pricing is weird on a F/J combination as Rob says. In your example, with 2-4-1 LHR- MIA off-peak both legs in F should be 170k Avios total and £849.32 in surcharges each. One way J/ one way F should be 175k Avios and £745.46 surcharges each. J both ways 180k Avios and £450 in surcharges per person. I think you have overpaid YQ in what you quote above- was this done online or over the phone?

        • JimBH says:
          27 Mar27 March 05:05

          Thanks for replying James and apologies for delay in coming back. It was booked online. I’ve pasted below the exact breakdown from the eticket receipt:

          Taxes/fees/charges
          Government, authority and airport charges Per adult
          Air Passenger Duty – United Kingdom GBP 194.00
          Animal & Plant Health User Fee (Aphis) – USA GBP 3.10
          Passenger Civil Aviation Security Service Fee – USA GBP 4.60
          Immigration User Fee – USA GBP 5.70
          International Transportation Tax – USA GBP 17.20
          Customs User Fee – USA GBP 5.70
          International Transportation Tax – USA GBP 17.20
          Passenger Service Charge – United Kingdom GBP 55.81
          Passenger Facility Charge GBP 3.70
          Total government, authority and airport charges*
          > More information
          GBP 307.01

          British Airways fees and surcharges Per adult
          Carrier Imposed Charge GBP 524.50
          Total British Airways fees and surcharges
          > More information

          GBP 524.50
          Total taxes, fees and surcharges per person GBP 831.51

      • JoshB says:
        26 Mar26 March 14:22

        By way of comparison, I priced up a return LHR-NYC in F at 68K avios and just under 850 in taxes etc – while booking I looked at he alternatives and if I’d have changed one leg from F to CW then the Avios cost went up to around 75K and the charges down to 770ish. Needless to say its F both ways.
        (One person using companion voucher faod)

  • Strawb says:
    26 Mar26 March 12:06

    Isn’t it more than a decade since the class action lawsuit on overcharging fuel surcharges in the US resulted in BA settling the dispute for millions in $$$? Then they rebranded YQ to YR – “carrier-imposed surcharge” so there wouldn’t be any further lawsuits. It’s only ever increased since then. BA has to claw back the damages they paid out and have been relentless doing so ever since. It’s exactly why my 2-4-1 companion voucher, extended over 2 years since Covid, expired last month. Oh well. Virgin’s 50% off promo on flights to the US is just laughable. I’m just thankful I can still redeem on carriers with less exorbitant fees.

  • Christian says:
    26 Mar26 March 12:35

    Like others, I’ve given up with the avios lark. I’ve let both a 2-4-1 and a virgin voucher expire in the last couple of months. It literally isn’t worth it any more. I can fly when I want buying a cash ticket and make an adventure of it going from Europe, all for the same price. I was big into airmiles for a few years, but now it just seems like it’s a constant war of attrition where the airlines find endless ways to screw over their most engaged customers. I’d like it if HfP were to pivot more towards Hotel schemes, but to be fair you cover a lot of the main stuff and that market seems slow to innovate. Plus until there’s a decent non Amex hotel scheme card in the UK there just aren’t the earning opportunities there used to be. I’m building up MR points now by default. I hope I can find something interesting to spend them on…

    • Throwawayname says:
      26 Mar26 March 14:42

      MR points can be converted to Flying Blue miles which can offer terrific value (particularly with Promo Awards).

      • Erico1875 says:
        26 Mar26 March 15:10

        But you only get 1mr point versus 1.5 Avios using a BAPP. and a companion voucher thrown in at 10K spend
        Do the maths with those considerations and I reckon Avios will win.

        • John says:
          26 Mar26 March 23:14

          Depends on what airlines you want to fly and where you want to go

          I have zero interest in flying any skyteam airline so I wouldn’t collect skyteam miles even if the MR>FB conversion rate was tripled

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