Ending: Book British Airways rewards flights with 50% fewer Avios

a close-up of a seat

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Last Wednesday, British Airways launched one of the very best Avios promotions we have ever seen when it announced that British Airways Executive Club members could book long-haul Rewards Flights with 50% fewer Avios than normal. Sadly, and as with all good things, this promotion is about to end, so you have under 36 hours in which to make the most of this deal.

Key terms

  • Book by 13 October 2020
  • Travel by 30 June 2021
  • Save 25% on the Avios cost of short-haul flights
  • Save 50% on the Avios cost of long-haul flights
  • The discounts are valid on one-way and roundtrip bookings
  • The discount only applies to British Airways flights and not partner airlines
  • Discounts will appear automatically when customers search for Reward Flights
  • Surcharges, taxes & fees are not discounted

Quick thoughts

I gave more in-depth thoughts on the original post announcing this promotion so I’ll keep this section brief.

Yes, it’s disappointing that British Airways isn’t also discounting the ridiculous surcharges that it adds to all long-haul Reward Flight bookings but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t some fantastic deals to be had here.

If you have a Companion Voucher (issued by the card_name) or a 2-for-1 voucher (issued by the British Airways Amex cards in the UK) the deal on offer is that much better.

To illustrate what I mean, I’ll use a booking that I’ve made during this promotion as an example.

I have no idea when travel across the Atlantic is going to be viable for most people once again, but I’ve made a speculative booking that sees Joanna and me flying in First Class between London Heathrow and Los Angeles in 2021. One of our flights falls during “peak season” while the other falls in “off-peak” season and, ordinarily (i.e outside of this promotion), this booking would require the use of 185,000 Avios per person for a total cost of 370,000 Avios + surcharges.

I’ve made the most of the current 50% discount and paired it with a 2-for-1 voucher to get that same booking for just 92,500 Avios + surcharges:

a screenshot of a flight

I paid the surcharges using card_name (I earned 5 points/dollar for these charges), so I can tell you that £1,333.40 in surcharges ended up costing me a total of $1,735.46.

As I value Avios at 1.0 cents each, this whole booking has effectively cost me $2,660.46.

I know British Airway First Class isn’t in the same league as the First Class offerings from the likes of Emirates, Air France, and Lufthansa, but at $1,330.23 per person, this is still a phenomenal deal.

Bottom line

British Airways is selling long-haul Reward Flights for 50% fewer Avios than normal, but this deal will only be around until the end of tomorrow (UK time) so there’s not much time left to make your bookings.

Unsurprisingly, Rewards Flight availability isn’t looking as good today as it was last Wednesday, but I’m still seeing a lot of availability on some very popular routes (yes, even routes that don’t involve the US), so the deals are still there to be booked.

Has anyone else booked any deals they’re particularly happy to have found?

3 COMMENTS

  1. It’s a good deal if you are going to book with Avios anyway. Kind of like saying it’s a good deal to buy an item worth $50 at Kohl’s for $48 because they have it on sale for 50% off.

    I do think there may be some reall outsized value in this on low surcharge routes however.

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