For last-minute flights especially, Reward Flight Savers can be enormously valuable as their fixed price keeps the flight cost low, assuming there is availability. Another great use of Avios is to upgrade your next flight operated by British Airways, Iberia or American Airlines, subject to availability. If the carrier does not offer premium economy on your flight, it is possible to upgrade from economy to business class.
Currently, upgrades from economy to premium economy on American Airlines-operated flights are not possible. The cheapest economy fares cannot be upgraded — these are the G, O and Q fare classes.
The ticket must be issued by British Airways, or a British Airways-registered travel agent, regardless of the operating carrier. There is the ability to upgrade British Airways flights booked through third-party travel agents, but there are many more terms and conditions applicable. You will still earn Avios and Tier Points for the cash fare you originally purchased that you are then upgrading.
You can choose to upgrade just one, or multiple flights within the one itinerary subject to availability, of course. Working out the cost of your upgrade is where it gets a bit tricky. Instead, looking at the chart for a straight redemption , the cost to upgrade is the full redemption cost of the upgraded class , less the Avios for the lower class you have already paid for. So as an example, if you have an off-peak World Traveller Plus ticket from London to Toronto that you wish to upgrade to Club World, the distance is 3, flown miles one way.
That falls into Zone 5, so a Club World would be 50, Avios as a straight redemption. Deducting the 26, Avios required for a World Traveller Plus redemption that you have already paid as your cash fare , you will need 24, Avios to upgrade this flight to Club World. It is usually cheaper to upgrade during peak calendar days than off-peak calendar days. As with redemptions, upgrades are charged on a per flight basis, so if you chose to upgrade both legs of a return ticket you would be charged two separate Avios amounts to upgrade.
Now, where your upgraded class has higher fees and taxes, you will have to pay this at the time of upgrading, as well as the Avios. This is important to note because for flights in premium classes, the luxury Air Passenger Duty is payable , and this can significantly increase the cost of the redemption.
Finding availability can be notoriously difficult, especially on routes where British Airways only operates one or two flights per day. However, the beauty is that you can also redeem your Avios on Oneworld partner airlines such as American Airlines, Cathay Pacific and Qatar Airways, plus several more. This is a great tool, as it opens up a calendar with a month-by-month view. If you want to search partner awards, you have to search day-by-day on the main results page.
But this big question remains: Is redeeming long-haul flights in economy worth it? In this case, definitely not. This means that the Avios have a negative value and should not be used in this case if you want to maximize your hard-earned points the most. Planning ahead with redemptions can be crucial to bagging yourself that first-class ticket.
Fast-forward, and there are plenty of return first-class seats with reward availability on Cathay Pacific. This option really shows the amazing value that Avios can have. Regarding this second option, you will often get great value by doing a straight redemption, where you pay for the ticket using Avios and just pay for the fees and taxes and any surcharges in cash.
However, you may not have sufficient Avios in your account to cover the cost of the entire flight, or you may not wish to use so many Avios for one redemption. So, British Airways gives you the option to pay with a combination of Avios and money for redemption on British Airways or its partners, with the exception of Oneworld members Japan Airlines and S7 Airlines. Note this is not also classed as a redemption, so is dependent on the limited award availability, even though you may still be paying a large amount of the fare in cash.
As an example, here is a redemption search for a World Traveller Plus premium economy flight from London to Boston. So is this a good deal, and how much cash should you pay? Perhaps the best way to think about this is not that you are saving Avios, but instead, you are buying more, as you are handing over slightly more money in order not to use as many Avios. You would have used the full 26, Avios for a standard redemption, but you are buying some of them back by paying more money.
So, if you think of it as buying Avios, what is a good price to buy them for? Note that as this is a redemption, you are unable to change the route or airline after making an Avios and Money booking, although you can cancel the booking up to 24 hours in advance to receive a refund of both the Avios and cash that you have paid, which is a great flexibility option. Also note you do not earn full Avios and tier points for the booking, as per a standard redemption.
You can also redeem Avios for hotel stays, car rental, wine and other experiences, though we do not think these provide as much value as redeeming for flights. Terms Apply. Disclaimer: The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser.
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