My 1p rule for picking the best ‘Avios and cash’ combination to book

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• jek says:

  9 Jun9 June 09:10

  I use the same approach – it is guided by the question “would I buy Avios at the price?”

  Let’s go through the example:

  30,000 Avios + £25: The baseline.
  28,500 Avios + £33: buy 1500 Avios for £8 – sure (0.533p per Avios)
  23,500 Avios + £49: buy 5000 Avios for £16 – absolutley (0.320p per Avios)
  17,000 Avios + £74: buy 6500 Avios for £25 – clearly (0.384p)
  13,000 Avios + £109: buy 4000 Avios for £35 – borderline (0.875p)
  10,500 Avios + £149: buy 2500 Avios for £40 – no way (1.6p)

  As I get around 1p value for my Avios, I go for 13,000 Avios + £109. Only then I check the cash price, which should be higher than £239.

  • RobH says:

    9 Jun9 June 09:38

    I do something similar:
    https://www.headforpoints.com/2025/06/09/best-avios-and-cash-combination-to-book/comment-page-2/#comment-964933

    However, I take the “entire value based on the lowest fare”. In your calculations doing increments you lose the fact that to get:

    23,500 Avios + £49: buy 5000 Avios for £16 – absolutley (0.320p per Avios)

    You are first having to pass the previous threshold of:
    28,500 Avios + £33: buy 1500 Avios for £8 – sure (0.533p per Avios)

    So buying at option 3 you are paying an average of 0.37p per avios (not 0.32p for all the avios)

• RobH says:

  9 Jun9 June 09:11

  When doing a quick “valuation in my head” I do use the 1p rule, however, when it comes time to book I take 2 numbers, the most I pay per avios, and the least for me these are:

  Most = Avios Subscription: 403,578 @ 0.887p
  Least = Credit Card: 70,000 a year @ 0.5p

  To explain:
  – I’m on the old Subscription rate (mine and wife’s) so a better deal – and I include the 1 avios for each pound spent paying for the subscription (as if I didn’t buy the subscription I wouldn’t get the credit card avios for that transaction)
  – Credit card worked out based on if I just transferred to Nectar instead of spending Avios.

  Using the “most expensive avios” – that works out at

  30,000 Avios + £25 = £291.10
  28,500 Avios + £33 = £285.80
  23,500 Avios + £49 = £257.45
  17,000 Avios + £74 = £224.80
  13,000 Avios + £109 = £224.31
  10,500 Avios + £149 = £242.14

  So the 4th and 5th option are pretty much the same. (Using a 0.5p per Avios valuation the 4th option comes in cheapest at £159 cost). So I’d likely take the 4th option (as I have lots of avios)

  The key here, is the above calculation is “how much the flight is costing you” based on what you paid for the Avios.

  However, now look at it another way, you have a high avios balance (like myself and many others I guess) so are only interested if you can pick up more avios at less than the 0.5p cheapest avios level you have. (anything where you are giving up more than 0.5p to prevent using an avios is a loser for you)

  Assume you would use most avios by default and look at how may avios you earn and at what rate if you selected the other options.

  Option 2: £12 for 1,500 = 1.25p an avios
  Option 3: £24 for 6,500 = 0.37p an avios
  Option 4: £49 for 13,000 = 0.38p an avios
  Option 5: £84 for 17,000 = 0.49p an avios
  Option 5: £124 for 19,500 = 0.64p an avios

  In this case, the cheapest avios is at option 3 (23,500 Avios + £49) – where spending £24 pounds more gives me 6,500 more avios at the cheapest rate (for this, I’m after the cheapest avios I can get my hands on – regardless of how many, as I already have lots)

  • RobH says:

    9 Jun9 June 09:11

    One question that I’ve thought of for my case is, why not just cancel the subscription and save 0.887p an avios, 2 reasons
    1) We have it at the lower cost, if we cancel and re-subscribe later, it’s more
    2) With the 2 AMEX 2-4-1 and 3 Barclay Updgrade each year we need a large avios volume – so would burn through avios too quickly if we stopped the subscription.

  • RobH says:

    9 Jun9 June 09:32

    Correction –
    Option 2: £8 for 1,500 = 0.53p an avios

    One other thing woth noting that option 4 might get my attention at 0.38p an avios – not 100% the cheapest, but still a good chunk less than my cheapest 0.5p

  • Talay says:

    9 Jun9 June 10:29

    The current best subscription seems to be £1989 a year for 200k Avios plus 2983 Avios for paying for it, so 0.98p. Does anyone know better ?

    What do I get for value ?

    LHR-DOH-BKK is my main run and usually on Etihad for cash but Qatar is good. I don’t like Emirates.

    Normal cash fares seem to be in the £2250 range at the moment making the bottom end 150k Avios plus £750 taxes bang on the 1p a point.

    But redemption dates on Qatar are thin and getting thinner and the upgrade to first for an extra 37.5k Avios per sector is even harder to get, though nice when you can.

    I rarely change a flight but that is a benefit of course. Etihad’s costs to change are often more than a whole new return flight !

    Currently flying out in August with daughter for 4 x first legs, 4 x business legs for circa 405k Avios and about £1200 fees.

    I wouldn’t have paid for first in cash but the business would have been £2250 x 2 = £4500 and I’ve “paid” £4050 in Avios and £1200 fees = £5250 which for half the flights in first for an extra £750 is a bargain.

    So I guess my “value” is in upgrades I would never pay for as I’d be happy in business.

    • RobH says:

      9 Jun9 June 11:06

      Hi Talay, The lower cost for Avios Subscription was when they had the launch price (about 3 years ago I think) which is better than it is now for the 200,000 package. Each year it renews it does so at the original price I paid when I signed up for the Subscription (not the new entrant price you see on the site now).

      It’s good that I can still get it at the original price – however I’m now in the situation where our family account has a lot of Avios – but don’t want to cancel at the deal price I have as in 2 years I’d of burnt through all the avios and the other Avios income streams are not enough to service our holidays 🙂

      (I’m sure at some point BA will move all the old subscribers to the latest price – at that point I’ll likely cancel)

      • Talay says:

        9 Jun9 June 17:15

        @RobH

        Sure, I saw the original subscription and thought “not bad ….. but ….” but to be honest, back then there was no using Avios on Qatar and on my route into Bangkok, BA had even stopped flying (not that I would fly 2-4-4 coffin class) but I was heavily into Etihad and their double dip BusinessConnect. Heck, BA weren’t even flying into KL and SIN was on the old seat A380s.

        I was also generating 200/300k Avios a year, largely unused, so why subscribe for more ?

        With Finnair joining the scheme and a cheeky way to use Iberia to fly on Qatar using Avios, I might regret not starting the subscription.

    • Saltrams says:

      9 Jun9 June 11:13

      “ I don’t like Emirates”
      Interested in why that is please. Not being contentious, I’d genuinely like to know. I last flew EK in 2007!

      • Throwawayname says:

        9 Jun9 June 13:47

        I’ve not flown EK but I do have three reasons for disliking them:
        – They’ve still got lots of planes with the lousy 2-3-2 business class.
        – DXB isn’t a convenient connection point if you’re travelling between Europe and the Far East. I really don’t mind connecting flights, but I would much rather do 1.5 hour to ZRH or Scandinavia followed by a 12-hour flight than two 7-hour segments.
        – They’re state-owned by an autocratic state.

        I would consider compromising on all three of those if their prices were keen (heck , I have happily flown with Saudia to BKK for about a quarter of what everyone else was charging). But they’re not.

        • Saltrams says:

          9 Jun9 June 15:50

          Interesting @Throwawayname. I wonder if this tangential subject is OK here?
          My POV at your point 2 is the opposite to yours; I’d much rather do the 2 more even timed sectors!
          The cabin layout is valid though; I do choose flights carefully for QOS (which includes seating etc. The whole experience).
          Point 3 is can-of-worms debate material best left out of this subject forum 😉

        • Throwawayname says:

          9 Jun9 June 20:09

          I can never sleep more than a couple of hours in flights of that sort of length, whereas with a proper long haul (9+ hours) it’s very possible to get 5-6 which is sufficient to keep me going for a day.

      • Talay says:

        9 Jun9 June 17:19

        @Saltrams – Emirates – everyone’s favourite airline, not !

        If you get Qatar’d on Emirates, it is not even a flat bed but some abomination which feels like it is from the 1980s.

        Their seats do not have as much space as Etihad or Qatar.

        I don’t value the “look at me” bar nonsense. Sitting anywhere near it is annoying.

        Food is no better, same with wine.

        I much prefer ABU or DOH to DXB as a transit.

        Redemptions are poor value.

        Seat prices are often 30% to 50% higher than Etihad.

        • Saltrams says:

          10 Jun10 June 14:17

          OK @Talay lots of valid reasons there and I’ll certainly keep them in mind. My next journey in that general direction is booked on QR so if I’m content there I may never stray back. As I mentioned, my last trip was in 2007 and Emirates were streets ahead in those days!

• ADS says:

  9 Jun9 June 10:39

  and for pro level analysis you need to compare that £239 reward flight “cost” with cash options

  e.g. LHR cash flight might be £200 … so is the flexibility of the reward flight worth an extra £39 ?

  a STN flight might be £180 … but you need to add £25 each way if you’re booking less that 11 days before departure … and you need to add extra for a bag ?

  a LPL flight might be £100 … and trains might be £30 … but do you want to spend the day travelling ?

• Tracey says:

  9 Jun9 June 11:42

  Under the new regime, is it worth factoring in the Avios earned on actually paying for the flight?

  • Rob says:

    9 Jun9 June 11:46

    You can adjust the comparable cash figure if you want, but because the taxes element don’t count its not a quick calculation. In any event, for many the real reason to use Avios on short haul or long haul economy is for flexibility to cancel and how it compares to a cash flight is somewhat secondary.

• camille55 says:

  9 Jun9 June 14:53

  Do most on here redeem only for self or couples?

  I generally redeem for 4 or 5 (but sometimes with extended family for up to 7 or 8). At this no of pax, the laws of physics tend to break down (for me anyway!). I nearly always go for the least cash option. Not great per pence value, but at least this enables a fun-filled family Euro weekend or trip, with the cash saved going on food and drink instead. Keeps it affordable, frankly.

  Example – just used a bunch of miles for MUC (Oktoberfest) – perfect times, cancellable, etc, for 7 pax. Not a great value redemption on paper, but cash fares were 350 quid per person handbags only otherwise, which we would never pay.

  Am I in the minority group of folks who don’t really look at Avois per pence? Rather, just see miles a means to the intangible (memories, etc), that would otherwise be unachievable?

  • Mark says:

    9 Jun9 June 18:18

    Exactly the same.

    I also don’t see the point in “subscribing” for avios. All the avios I earn are technically free. So it doesn’t really matter what ppp I get for them.

    • camille55 says:

      9 Jun9 June 19:42

      Glad I’m not the only one!

      There are those that say every Avios earned via a credit card is technically not free, in that you could have got cash back instead. But that’s no fun in that and no potential intangible benefit or necessarily a trip to look forward to.

      If you are earning purely from employer paid travel, then fair play.

  • CJD says:

    10 Jun10 June 16:25

    I’m the same and I think people get too hung up on extracting the maximum possible value from their Avios.

• Garethgerry says:

  9 Jun9 June 15:24

  If you are booking at T-355 and just want to be quick, choose option in middle, it won’t be far off

  • Andrew says:

    9 Jun9 June 15:52

    At T-355 of course you are booking the outbound 355 days out and adding the return later…generally not a problem at least with the outbound as there will be some waiting for the return to be available.

    My only use of X these days – to contact BA to get the 241 applied to the return as well. (You can only do this if the return was not available at the time of booking the outbound – works for open jaws too)

    • Garethgerry says:

      9 Jun9 June 16:09

      Depends on route some go very fasr

• Brian P says:

  9 Jun9 June 15:56

  I like the maths and I’m always keen to work out my pence per avios redemption…

  I always aim for high value redemptions: +3p per avios Vs cash fair… Total avios in the bucket is critical, so high cash / low avios may be enabler of next journey… Also depends on future earning…

  In the example given id probably go 17,000 default, or 13,000 if balance running low…

• HH says:

  9 Jun9 June 16:28

  Pro tip: ChatGPT is fantastic at automating this analysis. All I do is paste the BA screenshot showing all the options and ask “if 1 Avios = £0.0092, which is the cheapest option?” (You can replace my £ value with whatever you deem an Avios to be worth).

  It will return the total £ cost of the Avios and cash component for each option and present the optimal solution within seconds.

  • Talay says:

    9 Jun9 June 17:22

    Ah, the sort of this we could do in our heads at school 40 years ago when we could also chant the times table verbatim and we didn’t need a “safe place” to hide.

  • patrick says:

    9 Jun9 June 17:48

    I use a brain for the same purpose.

    • Saltrams says:

      9 Jun9 June 18:28

      😂🤣😂👍🏼

  • WilcoRoger says:

    10 Jun10 June 07:32

    So you use AI to do 5 simple multiplications and additions for arriving at a very ambiguous “best” solution? And call it a “pro” tip?

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