It sounds like British Airways is being generous, with it announcing the latest “improvement” to its Executive Club loyalty programme by making every one of its flights available from just £1 plus Avios.
But is it?
According to the airline, when booking any flight or holiday, Avios part payment invites customers to reduce the monetary cost of their booking by selecting the amount of Avios they would like to contribute. Until now, the maximum discount varied depending on multiple factors, whereas the airline is now giving customers the option to reduce their booking to just £1 using Avios.
Using Avios part payment is different to booking a Reward Seat, of which there are a limited number on each flight at a fixed rate. Members booking any flight can use Avios part payment regardless of the seat type, allowing more flexibility, with varying amounts of Avios to contribute.
Last year, British Airways Holidays introduced Avios part payment, with holiday package bookings starting from £1 + Avios.
Members using Avios part payment toward their booking will still collect Avios and Tier Points on their flight as well as any bonus Avios and Tier Points if applicable.
Part payment can also be used for flights operated by American Airlines between the UK and North America, and British Airways codeshares with selected partners.
In Quotes
Colm Lacy, British Airways Chief Commercial Officer, said:
“We’ve listened to our Members’ feedback and we’re really excited to be introducing this latest update for them. We know that most of our customers choose the lowest cash amount when it comes to making Reward Flight bookings, so we anticipate this to be a popular option for those using Avios part payment too. Ultimately, our goal is to keeping adding more choice and flexibility for Members.”
But is it worth it?
Part-Pay with Avios has always been a niceity to me – but the value of your Avios goes down as you pay with more Avios. Here’s an example of a return between London Heathrow and Singapore.
You can see how much you save with Avios when you log in with your Executive Account.
The sweetest spot in this is £20 off with 2,000 Avios (1p/Avios value). That depreciates all the way down to 0.43p/Avios at the higher end of the redemption price bracket – losing over 65% of the value of your Avios, compared to the top discount.
Ouch.
Looking at a London to Zurich return, it is more of the same, tailing off quickly:
Again, you’re yeilding1p/Avios on a £10 discount – with it trailing downward from there (with up to £21 being a reasonable exchange rate – after that, you’re going to be getting a lot less per pound… tailing off to about 0.43p/Avios value).
Whilst you do earn Avios and Tier points on these fares, you’re also bound by the fare rules. You might find that a reward seat may offer better value – if there’s one on the route you need (as well as the flexibility they offer).
In the past, I’ve used the part-pay with Avois to knock off £20 to £ 50 here and there – to take the sting out of an expensive airfare, but beyond that, I’ve always had trouble justifying the decreasing returns.
Do the numbers before you hit buy
This is a case of doing the numbers and seeing where there is value. I see value at very much the lower end, taking the smaller discounts whilst using a flight to replenish some of that cost.
If you’re rich in Avois and can see the value, or cash poor and again – have the Avios – have at.
It’s a quick way to burn through your pile of Avios.
But there are better value redemption operations out there, especially with Reward Flight Saver flights on offer.
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