No, it’s not a diet aid or something mad, but the new name for for BA Miles, Airmiles UK and a few other things as well.
So Avois points will become the base currency for all loyalty and reward programmes of International Airlines Group (IAG).
As well as spending them on Flights, you’ll be able to spend them on hotels and car hire.
Points at this juncture are NOT being devalued, and all the current programmes (Iberia Plus and BA Executive Club) remaining the same, with Avios being the new Airmiles programme in the UK. All programmes remain separate for now, with Avios points shared between all the group.
The conversion value is One BA Mile will equal one Avios point in November 2011.
There are some major changes to spending points, with Milan, Prague, Helsinki, Cairo, Amman, Jeddah, Boston, New York, Bermuda, Toronto, Washington, Chicago, Shanghai, Rio, Bangkok, Narita, Hong-Kong and Singapore having reductions in fees, and Tel Aviv, Pristina, Catania, Larnaca and Mauritius requiring more points – like any programme… changes have pluses and minuses…
More importantly, taxes and fees on Shorthaul routes have been dropped to £27/€27in Euro Traveller, £34/€34 in Club Europe. See http://www.britishairways.com/travel/route-table/public/en_gb for some highlighted changes.
I’m not sure on these changes – least of all the name Avios is going to drive me bonkers. Certainly some price cuts are always welcome, and for the low point collectors, cheap taxes on a Eurotrip may convince them to spend points on these runs. Least of all the full changes go live in November when the full changes will be revealed to all.
Business Traveller has the scoop, whilst there is plenty of discussion on FlyerTalk.
