British Airways has announced a less than stellar “Double Avios” promotion

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Shortly after letting the cat out of the bag and letting us know that we will all soon be earning a lot fewer Avios when we fly, British Airways has, without irony, launched a new Double Avios promotion. For some, this will be a nice bonus. For most, this will be a big disappointment.

The promotion

You don’t have to delve too deep into the terms and conditions to begin to see just where this promotion falls down.

• Only base Avios are doubled in this promotion.
• Double Avios are only available on a maximum of 4 segments.
• Double Avios can be earned on all British Airways flights (flights operated by British Airways) and all flights between Europe and North America sold by British Airways and operated by American Airlines, Iberia, or Finnair.
• Double Avios can only be earned on bookings made after registration.
• Double Avios can only be earned by bookings made by 23:59 GMT on 20 November 2022.
• Double Avios can only be earned on travel that’s completed by 31 January 2023

You’ll find full details on the promotion page

Thoughts

The booking period is 17 days long (the offer started yesterday), the travel period is just 89 days long, existing bookings are excluded, and the promotion is only valid on a maximum of four flights.

Wow. Where do I get in line to kiss the ground before the “generous” souls that came up with this deal? 🙄

To all intents and purposes, this is a bit of a nothing promotion, and anyone dressing it up as anything else is either fooling themselves, trying to fool you, or has a very odd idea of what a good promotion looks like. This is a promotion that will benefit relatively few people.

I understand why existing bookings don’t count because British Airways is clearly trying to drum up some extra business and doesn’t feel the need to reward those of us who have already given it our cash. I don’t like it but in reality, that’s fair enough.

What I don’t understand is why the airline is limiting this deal to just 4 segments (a single trip of Manchester-London-Miami-London-Manchester would max out the number of flights this promotion will cover) and why it’s restricting the double Avios to flights taken in the next 89 days? That all seems remarkably mean.

I know that we’re coming up to the Christmas holidays but that doesn’t mean that BA has to take on the personality of Ebenezer Scrooge!

Still, the promotion is what it is so the main thing now is to make sure that no one who can do well here misses out on any Avios.

The key things to remember here are the following:

Registration is essential. Bookings made prior to registration will not earn double Avios even if they adhere to all of the other promotion rules.

You have to book by 23:59 GMT on 20 November 2022.

Only base Avios are doubled so any Avios earned through cabin bonuses or elite status bonuses will not be doubled. Do not make the mistake of thinking that the earnings on offer are more generous than they are.

The first four segments that you credit to the British Airways Executive Club and that qualify for this promotion will be the four segments on which British Airways will pay out double Avios.

What this means is that If you’re going to book multiple flights that will be covered by this promotion, make sure that your four highest-earning segments are the ones that British Airways counts towards this promotion.

The best way to explain what I mean by this is by using an example:

Let’s assume a flyer is making the following two bookings:

• Manchester – London – Manchester in Economy Class (1st trip to be taken)
• Manchester – London – Los Angeles – London – Manchester in Economy Class (2nd trip to be taken)

If a flyer credits both of these trips to the British Airways Executive Club they will earn double Avios on the following segments:

1. Manchester – London (1st trip)
2. London – Manchester (1st trip)
3. Manchester – London (2nd trip)
4. London – Los Angeles (2nd trip)

This flyer would miss out on earning double Avios on their Los Angeles – London segment and as that’s the joint longest segment being flown, that would see them leaving a lot of Avios on the table.

In this instance, the flyer would be better off crediting their first trip to another loyalty program (assuming that they don’t desperately need the tier points from this trip) and only crediting the second trip to the British Airways Executive Club.

Clearly, this is a very simplistic example so anyone finding themselves in a similar position should carefully work out what their Avios and Tier Point earnings will be from each booking and only then decide which segments/bookings to credit to the BAEC (remember that a shorter flight in Business Class may earn more Avios than a longer flight in Economy Class).

Most importantly, make sure that you read all the terms and conditions (here) before you make any bookings. Understand how this promotion works and only then plan your bookings.

Bottom line

British Airways has launched a Double Avios promotion that runs through 20 November but please make sure you read all the terms and conditions very carefully before attempting to participate. The way this promotion is structured, a lot of people are excluded and for those who aren’t excluded, it can be easy to accidentally leave quite a few Avios on the table. Understanding how this deal works is the key to avoiding mistakes and disappointment.