British Airways has quietly increased the cost of some Avios redemptions on partner airlines Cathay Pacific and Japan Airlines without any warning.
Members of the Avios programme have traditionally enjoyed attractive rates for using Avios to book short-haul flights on both British Airways and its partner airlines. Flights between London and Europe on British Airways remain one of the best uses of Avios thanks to its Reward Flight Saver option, which also has low fixed fees and taxes.
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While short hops around Asia are probably not in the immediate plans of many Avios collectors right now, they will now have to part with more points if they wish to fly Oneworld members Cathay Pacific and Japan Airlines within Asia in the future.
As first spotted by FlyForMiles, the Avios increases for flights on Cathay Pacific using Avios are as follows:
| Flight length | Economy — previous price | Economy — new price | Business class — previous price | Business class — new price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zone 1 (1 – 650 miles) | 6,000 | 7,500 | 12,500 | 16,000 |
| Zone 2 (651 – 1150 miles) | 9,000 | 10,000 | 16,500 | 25,000 |
| Zone 3 (1,151 – 2000 miles) | 11,000 | 11,000 (unchanged) | 22,000 | 25,000 |
While the new prices for Avios redemptions on Japan Airlines are as follows:
| Flight length | Economy — previous price | Economy — new price | Business class — previous price | Business class — new price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zone 1 (1 – 650 miles) | 6,000 | 7,500 | 12,500 | 12,500 (unchanged) |
| Zone 2 (651 – 1150 miles) | 9,000 | 10,000 | 16,500 | 24,000 |
| Zone 3 (1,151 – 2000 miles) | 11,000 | 11,000 (unchanged) | 22,000 | 24,000 |
Devaluations such as these are an unfortunate part of the world of miles and points, though it’s very disappointing that British Airways chose to increase these prices without any notice. Well-respected loyalty programmes will usually provide a notice period of impending price increases in order to allow their members who have earned these points to redeem them at the existing rates.
Related: Emirates devaluing first class awards in July by removing Flex awards
No-notice devaluations create distrust amongst members as the value proposition of the programme today could completely change tomorrow. It’s also puzzling that only certain airline partners have seen these increases adding complexity to the programme with so many different redemption amounts.
Are the new prices worth your Avios? Do remember that both airlines regularly operate long-haul-configured aircraft on these shorter routes, which means especially in business class, you can expect a much more comfortable ride than you would find on British Airways short-haul flights.
Related: A great short-haul business class: a review of Cathay Dragon on the Airbus A321
Asian Oneworld member Malaysia Airlines has not been impacted by this devaluation.
