Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Forums Frequent flyer programs British Airways Executive Club Dynamic pricing for Avios redemptions

  • AndrewT 564 posts

    There are various 160TP CE routes available for sub £350. I recently paid £332 to Budapest.

    Long haul TPs can be earned at similar rates for now when combined with the Double TP offer.

    There should be no comparison between flight and potential credit card earnings as they are completely different concepts.

    JDB 6,255 posts

    Isn’t there a website that shows the cost per TP earned for BA flights?

    Some were as low as a couple of quid per TP for some short haul club destinations and lower during sales.

    And TPs earned from spending on the right card should cost more than those earned from flying.

    Yes, the cheapness of those flight TP earning opportunities vs the more ‘traditional’ high spending business/leisure customer that BA actually needs to court is the ‘problem’ they are trying to correct. Even with the principle of ‘selling’ TP established, I doubt they will go so far as to sell Gold.

    runnerbean 121 posts

    There are various 160TP CE routes available for sub £350. I recently paid £332 to Budapest.

    Long haul TPs can be earned at similar rates for now when combined with the Double TP offer.

    There should be no comparison between flight and potential credit card earnings as they are completely different concepts.

    What was the starting pointing for Budapest?? On the BA checker I can only see 80 return

    AndrewT 564 posts

    LHR – OTP is 80TP each way in CE.

    JDB 6,255 posts

    LHR – OTP is 80TP each way.

    But OTP is Bucharest, not Budapest, the city referenced in the original post! Bucharest is 80 each way whereas Budapest is 40 each way, as were other regional destinations like Belgrade.

    BA Flyer IHG Stayer 3,103 posts

    @BAFlyer there used to be. But I don’t think they can get the data any longer to put the chart together. It was on Speedbird.

    That’s a shame but it’s easy enough to workout for ourselves though a table is handy

    I’m getting £ 2.63 per TP from a return to Berlin in a couple of weeks but £ 3 for an AMS in Jan

    AndrewT 564 posts

    LHR – OTP is 80TP each way.

    But OTP is Bucharest, not Budapest, the city referenced in the original post! Bucharest is 80 each way whereas Budapest is 40 each way, as were other regional destinations like Belgrade.

    Ah sorry brain fade, I meant Bucharest.

    Now to go and double check where I’ve booked the hotel 😃

    Mouse 221 posts

    Told you so…

    NorthernLass 10,518 posts

    I can only see news for TPs so far …!

    Scott 339 posts

    What I have heard is a move to 1 tier point per £20 spent.

    Were they right?

    executiveclubber 530 posts

    I can only see news for TPs so far …!

    You missed the threatening “There is much more to come” in the BA email announcing these changes. It’s coming!

    simonjones 92 posts

    well I think certain people owe me an apology , I am a premier member (relatively new this year ) I was told about these changes however was told not to mention details.

    ed_fly 388 posts

    well I think certain people owe me an apology , I am a premier member (relatively new this year ) I was told about these changes however was told not to mention details.

    have you found your missing 241 voucher yet? Premier team should be able to help with that.

    BA Flyer IHG Stayer 3,103 posts

    well I think certain people owe me an apology , I am a premier member (relatively new this year ) I was told about these changes however was told not to mention details.

    First rule of being a Prem is not to talk about being a Prem!

    BTW its NO secret BA wanted to move to revenue based status earnings because Alex Cruz talked about it several times whilst he ws CEO. So it was hardly a secret it was going to happen!

    Krispy 88 posts

    The question is will BA move to dynamic pricing redemption flights, and if so will they keep guaranteed seats availability, or will it be as tragic as virgin points

    Super Secret Stuff 396 posts

    Any IAG insiders with the gossip??

    Mouse 221 posts

    @Scott slightly out on the pricing (£20 vs ~£13 in today’s money) but otherwise yes.

    executiveclubber 530 posts

    Announcement coming very soon

    ed_fly 388 posts

    Announcement coming very soon

    none of us are going to be surprised if BA introduce dynamic pricing for reward flights, if you want to claim some form of onside knowledge, something a bit more specific than very soon is needed, are you predicting this week, 1st half Jan, 2nd half Jan etc? Also are you going to predict whether they’ll guarantee x saver rate seats per flight, or go full virgin?

    executiveclubber 530 posts

    @ed_fly I don’t care about being first to break the news — I just feel for fellow HfPers who used this site to build a healthy balance, who are about to see its value massively eroded overnight. Aka basically all of us.

    Nobody else is making a racket about this so anyone who sees this thread and chooses to lock in their 2025 plans as a result may find themselves really happy they did.

    meta 1,732 posts

    Some of us have been doing this for years. I have been maintaining a balance of only 30k Avios in my household account for the last six years except during covid due to cancellations. Even then, I tried to rebook straight away to reduce the balance. I have often been told that I am crazy to follow earn and burn strategy because I won’t be able to book if redemption seat suddenly opens up. This is wrong assumption because I can transfer my HSBC points in an instant and most of time seats for these destinations usually don’t interest me much. In any case, not being dependant on Avios makes it easy to book with someone else.

    CJD 188 posts

    Frustratingly I’m sitting on a decent balance as my plans are for January/February 2026.

    Fingers crossed Iberia don’t go down the same route.

    NorthernLass 10,518 posts

    This is why I don’t generally buy or boost avios. The threat of devaluation is ever present, so if there was a sudden change to dynamic pricing I would obviously be very annoyed if I’d spent £00s on avios which then lost a large amount of their value.

    I’ve got nearly 500k in the HHA, but am lucky enough to be flexible these days and hopefully get decent value from them whatever happens, as with the recent VS changes.

    Though on the other hand, are BA even that shameless that they’d massively devalue something they’ve been aggressively flogging to customers via subscription and boosting for the past couple of years?

    Froggee 1,206 posts

    Yes. BA are that shameless.

    I am trying to be philosophical about it as it does feel like an inevitability.

    The million Avios question for me is whether, pricing the 241 at £300, I will still be able to achieve > than one pence per Avios.

    If not then it will suck.

    Big time.

    We generally have around one million Avios in the household account (although currently 1.4 million) which is roughly one year’s spending. Avios have been kind to the Froggee family over the years so any pain in terms of devaluation on the balance will be secondary to the lost opportunity of flying in reasonable comfort at a not unreasonable price.

    We don’t have much of note with HSBC/Amex as HSBC were swept to SQ and Amex to Bonvoy fairly recently.

    If I end up only being able to get half a pence of value per Avios then that will be a £7k loss on the stash but this pales compared to potentially no longer saving that much on an annual basis.

    Ironically the recent changes to the executive pub grub club mean tier points are worthless to me. This is fine – I am not complaining unlike some! Hopefully cash fares will start to come down and the problem will be solved for us. West coast of the US for sub £1,700 and Asia for £2,300 in J is where I would like to be.

    Avios have made this possible (with refundable fares to boot).

    All good things end.

    Krispy 88 posts

    It’s a shame really. But do you think it spells the end of avios points collection? Will having cashback through TCB/cashback cards be more profitable?

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