Avios : Book an award ticket on British Airways

British Airways Executive Club is the loyalty program of British Airways. This program rewards frequent travelers and allows them to earn Avios in a variety of ways. These points can then be redeemed for award tickets on British Airways and many of its partners, including :

To find out all about this frequent flyer program and how to earn Avios, read our complete guide.

In this article, we’ll detail the step-by-step procedure for redeeming Avios for a British Airways ticket, also known as an award or reward flight.

First of all, visit the British Airways website.

If you already have a British Airways Executive Club account, log in using your login and password. If you don’t have one, you can create one for free.

Once connected, navigate to the top menu and select Book. In the Flights sub-section, click on Book a flight with Avios.

You will then be redirected to the Avios flight search engine. Enter your departure and arrival airports, travel dates, class (economy, business or first) and number of passengers. You can search for a one-way or return trip.

The list of available flights is displayed. You’ll also have a view of the availability of award tickets for the date entered, plus or minus three days. Off-peak means that the flight is in low season, and that you will benefit from the best possible fares.

British Airways is a member of the oneworld alliance. Flights from partner airlines will also be displayed, provided award seats are still available. In the case of the Montreal-London flight, there is only one result. The flight is operated solely by British Airways.

A special mention will appear if fewer than six award tickets are available.

Click on Find availability with British Airways on other dates at the top of the search results to view the availability calendar. This allows you to see at a glance which dates have award seats available, and which days are Peak or Off-peak.

The calendar only works with British Airways flights: it will not display the results of partner airlines.

This calendar is also very useful for finding seats in business class. Specify Business Class in your search and consult the calendar. Business class seats are scarce: in this example, there is only one ticket available for the whole month of September!

If you’re aiming for business class, book well in advance. The best time to book is a year before your trip, more precisely 355 days before departure with British Airways. You will then have access to all available award tickets.

Depending on your itinerary and dates, you’ll have from one to around ten flight options. Select the one that suits you best and click on the flight class. You’ll then see a summary of the itinerary and the price in Avios, including taxes and fees.

British Airways is known for charging a lot of taxes and fees on its award tickets. In our example, a non-stop flight from Montreal to London on British Airways costs 30,000 Avios plus $100 in taxes: an excellent deal!

Until recently, taxes on this same flight were close to $600… almost the same price as if the flight had been purchased in cash. British Airways seems to have revised its policies on taxes and fees, and the amounts are now much more reasonable.

30,000 points for a one-way ticket between Eastern Canada and Europe is a good price. What’s more, unlike Aeroplan and its dynamic pricing, British Airways’ pricing follows a fixed chart based on distance. This means that the price in points will not change, making it easier to accumulate points and search for the award ticket.

In business class, the same flight between Montreal and London costs 90,000 Avios and $350 in taxes (three times as much as in economy class).

For flights between Canada and Europe in business class, look no further than Flying Blue. The special offers are very attractive: you can find flights between Montreal and Paris in business class for 37,500 Flying Blue miles and $241 in taxes. A real bargain!

Promo Rewards change every month, see our article for details.

Once you’ve selected your flight, you can choose between several exchange options. If you don’t have enough Avios to cover the full cost of your ticket, British Airways offers you the chance to buy the missing miles at the high price of almost 3¢ a point. You won’t get the best value for your points this way, but it can tide you over and suit your situation.

Then check your flight schedule, date and ticket conditions. You’ll find details on modifications and cancellations. These are possible with an award ticket, and you will be able to recover all Avios spent, as well as a refund of taxes.

Cancellation and change fees are 58 CAD for departures from Canada. The complete list of fees can be found on this page.

Then there are the details of the baggage allowance. British Airways award tickets come with a free checked bag.

Enter the details of the passenger(s) for this trip. You can also book a ticket for another person with your Avios, even if you are not traveling with that person.

That’s it! You finally arrive at the payment page. You can pay taxes with any credit card. Once confirmed, you’ll receive an e-mail with your reservation code (PNR) and trip details.

Other airlines also use Avios as points in their frequent flyer programs, such as Qatar Airways, Aer Lingus and Vueling.

As for other British Airways partners such as Japan Airlines and American Airlines, they have their own program with a different currency. However, Avios can be used to book award tickets on these airlines. Read our detailed guides :

Qatar Airways flights can be booked on the British Airways website and vice versa. Normally, point rates should be the same, but taxes may vary.

Let’s compare the Montreal-Doha flight with Qatar Airways and the Montreal-London flight with British Airways, both in economy class:

Surprisingly, in both cases, British Airways charges less tax.

In addition to taxes, there’s another aspect to consider: seat availability. This is particularly important for business and first-class tickets. Airlines will be releasing only a few premium tickets to their partners.

In our example above, it will be more difficult to book a Montreal-London business class ticket on the Qatar Airways website than on British Airways. For the Montreal-Doha flight, the opposite is also true. Business class seats for a Qatar Airways flight will be in very short supply on the British Airways website.

Since Avios transfer freely between British Airways and Qatar Airways accounts, be sure to search both sites for availability and the best rate. Finally, book your award tickets as far in advance as possible, up to a year before your departure.

In any case, award tickets can be changed or cancelled for a fee of 58 CAD with British Airways (flights departing from North America) and 25 USD with Qatar Airways.

To book award tickets with Avios on the Qatar Airways website, the complete guide can be found here :

Avios accumulated in your British Airways Executive Club account can be transferred to Iberia Plus, AerClub or Qatar Airways Privilege Club.

To move points between programs, first go to the My Account page on the British Airways website. In the top menu, navigate to the Executive Club tab and click on Combine my Avios.

Here you’ll find all the details on how to transfer or combine points with Iberia, Aer Lingus and Qatar Airways.

Click on Combine my Avios under Iberia Plus and AerClub to access a new page.

You can then connect to the other account and choose the number of points to transfer. Please note: the name and address in both accounts must be identical. You cannot move points between the accounts of two different people.

The procedure for transferring Avios between British Airways and Qatar Airways is much simpler. Find out more in this article:

Avios are freely transferable between Qatar Airways Privilege Club, Iberia Plus, AerClub and British Airways Executive Club. If you change your mind, you can transfer your points back to your British Airways account at any time, without limit.

There are two main ways to accumulate Avios: in the air or on the ground. In the air, you can earn Avios on all your paid flights with British Airways and its partners. Points are awarded on the basis of the cash price of the ticket, less taxes and fees.

In addition to flying, you can accumulate Avios with your daily purchases. RBC offers a co-branded credit card with British Airways that earns lots of Avios. In addition, the RBC Avion Rewards program allows members to transfer Avion points to the British Airways Executive Club at a one-for-one rate.

American Express Canada is also a partner of the British Airways Executive Club. Membership Rewards points are transferred into Avios at a one-for-one rate.

Finally, the Shopping BA portal lets you earn Avios on every pound you spend online.

To find out all about the different ways to earn Avios, read our complete guide:

You are now ready to book an award ticket with Avios on the British Airways website. For former HSBC customers who now have RBC Avion Rewards points, the British Airways Executive Club program is well worth a look. Transferring points between these programs is a great way to get maximum value from RBC Avion points, especially when there are transfer bonuses.

In addition, British Airways is currently running a status equivalence promotional campaign. If you hold a high status with one of the seven targeted airlines, you could achieve British Airways Executive Club Silver status or above.