British Airways Avios Redemptions in Premium Cabins Get a New Fee

Updated: July 18, 2024, 10:36pm CDT

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New Fee on British Airways Avios Redemptions
Final Thoughts

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If you’re looking to redeem your Avios for flights in premium economy or business class with British Airways, you’ll now pay slightly more, thanks to a new fee.

In the grand scheme of things, the new fee isn’t much on some flights, but it’s an unfortunate change no matter how you look at it. Here’s what we’re seeing.

New Fee on British Airways Avios Redemptions

The British Airways Executive Club program offers several pricing options when booking an award flight. You can use Avios plus cash in several different combinations, which is convenient when you don’t have quite enough Avios for an award but want to offset the majority of the cost before paying for the rest with cash.

British Avios redemption options LHR MAD — Clicking on **More pricing options** will show Avios plus cash options. Image Credit: British Airways

You can redeem Avios for everything from economy flights to first class. The new fee we’re seeing doesn’t apply to economy bookings — just for awards in British Airways Club Europe, World Traveler Plus premium economy, and Club World business class.

If you click on More pricing options when selecting an award flight, the cash portion for each Avios plus cash price has now gone up by £12 (~$15.60).

British Airways previously introduced the Rewards Flight Saver (RFS) with capped taxes and fees to make pricing more attractive. This change makes the pricing less attractive. Now, the least amount of cash you’ll pay out of pocket on this flight between Berlin (BER) and London City (LCY) is $25.

British Airways Avios redemption BER LCY with new fees business class — A higher cash copay is now showing on many BA premium awards. Image Credit: British Airways

When considering the hefty taxes and fees you may pay on some Avios redemptions, $15.60 is relatively small in the grand scheme of things. That said, this new increase still reduces the value obtained when redeeming an award ticket.

This devaluation — which it is, even though it’s not a change in the number of Avios required for a flight — comes on the heels of another valuation. Avios redemptions on Alaska Airlines and American Airlines flights increased twice this year, and now you’ll cough up a bit more cash when redeeming Avios for British Airways flights.

Hot Tip:

There are 2 types of fees you might pay on award tickets: mandatory fees and fuel surcharges. You can’t get around the former, but booking through the right rewards program may help you avoid the latter.

Final Thoughts

There’s a new fee of £12 (roughly $15.60) on British Airways Avios redemptions in premium economy and business class. That’s unfortunate. While it might not be much when looking at the big picture, it’s still an increase in fees, and no one likes that.