Redeem Avios for 1.5 Cents Each on Paid British Airways Bookings

May 13, 2016

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3 min read

Redeem Avios for 1.5 Cents Each on Paid British Airways Bookings

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British Airways just announced a new promotion for using British Airways Avios to offset part of the cost of British Airways bookings. Rather than getting the standard 1 cent per Avios savings, now through May 17, you'll save 1.5 cents per Avios.

Save more and have the option to apply more Avios than the standard Avios Part Payment option.

Even better, this promotion allows you to apply more Avios to your booking than normal. The standard Avios Part Payment option only allows you to apply 7,500 Avios to save $75. For the next week, you can apply up to 15,000 Avios to save $225 off economy tickets and up to 30,000 Avios to save $450 off business and first-class tickets.

Just make sure to book by May 17 for British Airways or American Airlines flights for travel now through September 30.

Is It Worth It?

Get 50% more value out of your Avios when you apply them to a booking during the next week.

In the latest monthly valuations, TPG estimates the value of Avios at 1.5 cents each. We base this valuation off the value you can expect from a flight redemption. Using Avios during this promotion saves you exactly 1.5 cents per Avios, so it would seem to be equal to our valuation.

However, when applying Avios to partially pay for a booking, you'll still earn award and elite-qualifying miles — vs. using Avios for award flights, where you won't earn miles. That means you'll save 1.5 cents and earn miles with the Avios Part Payment option, rather than just saving ~1.5 cents per Avios.

Applying this savings to paid fares is especially valuable this week, as British Airways and American Airlines are running some excellent promotions on paid fares.

Combining Promotions

Save $850 off a Club World or First class booking by combining the $400 savings from the AARP promotion with $450 in savings from applying Avios.

Save even more by combining this promotion with other promotions currently being offered.

If you're an AARP member, you can save $65 per person off economy tickets and $400 per person off Club World (business class) or First class tickets. Also, if you're crediting your flights to American Airlines and flying before July 31, you'll earn 2,000 (economy) to 25,000 (business/first) bonus miles per round-trip if you've registered for the current AA promotion.

However, you can't combine this Avios Part Payment Promotion with the Chase British Airways Visa Signature Card 10% savings promotion code (when flying on British Airways marketed and operated flights). That means there's no advantage to flying in those outdated and crowded British Airways Club World seats, so grab a seat in American Airlines' amazing 777-300ER business class instead.

Do you plan on utilizing Avios during this promotion?

Featured image by A more favorable exchange rate can bring first-class awards within reach.