Related posts:
-Chase British Airways Visa: Earn up to 100,000 Avios for a limited time only! Earn 50K for spending $2K in 3 months, earn an additional 25K for spending another $8K in 12 months, and earn an additional 25K for spending another $10K in 12 months.
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Effective 02/02/16 British Airways is raising the cost of short-haul zone 1 flights between 1-650 miles in flight distance from 4.5K Avios to 7.5K in coach, from 9K Avios to 15K in business, and from 18K Avios to 30K in first.
Curiously this change is only for flights that are to, from, or within the United States. Short haul zone 1 flights like London-Milan, Iguazu-Sao Paulo, Johannesburg-Victoria Falls, and Sydney-Melbourne remain 4.5K Avios in coach.
My guess is that American may be raising the minimum cost of an award flight to British Airways, hence the price increase for zone 1 short-haul flights in the US market only.
All other awards remain the same.
It’s changes like these that are the reason I advised people to only transfer Avios for the next 6-9 months of travel back in September when AMEX stopped transferring Membership Rewards points to British Airways at parity.
Still, with travel starting at 7.5K Avios with no close-in fees and just $5.60 in cancellation fees, Avios travel remains a bargain for domestic flights.
Current BA award chart:
| Zone | Flight Distance | Coach | Business | First |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1-650 | 4.5K | 9K | 18K |
| 2 | 651-1,151 | 7.5K | 15K | 30K |
| 3 | 1,152-2,000 | 10K | 20K | 40K |
| 4 | 2,001-3,000 | 12.5K | 37.5K | 50K |
| 5 | 3,001-4,000 | 20K | 60K | 80K |
| 6 | 4,001-5,500 | 25K | 75K | 100K |
| 7 | 5,501-6,500 | 30K | 90K | 120K |
| 8 | 6,501-7,000 | 35K | 105K | 140K |
| 9 | 7,001+ | 50K | 150K | 200K |
BA award chart effective 02/02/16:
| Zone | Flight Distance | Coach | Business | First |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 (Flights that don't touch the USA) | 1-650 | 4.5K | 9K | 18K |
| 1 (Flights to, from, or within the USA) | 1-650 | 7.5K | 15K | 30K |
| 2 | 651-1,151 | 7.5K | 15K | 30K |
| 3 | 1,152-2,000 | 10K | 20K | 40K |
| 4 | 2,001-3,000 | 12.5K | 37.5K | 50K |
| 5 | 3,001-4,000 | 20K | 60K | 80K |
| 6 | 4,001-5,500 | 25K | 75K | 100K |
| 7 | 5,501-6,500 | 30K | 90K | 120K |
| 8 | 6,501-7,000 | 35K | 105K | 140K |
| 9 | 7,001+ | 50K | 150K | 200K |
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41 Comments On "British Airways Eliminating 4.5K Avios Awards For Flights To, From, Or Within The United States"
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Nooooooooooooooo
Buruch Dayan Huamas!!!
Very sad
Why not consolidate the second ‘1’ and ‘2’? What’s the difference?
@Welder:
Because zone 1 will still exist, just not for travel in the US.
“Bookings made before 10:00 GMT on 2 February 2016 [that’s 5 AM Eastern time] will not be affected by this change, even if they are for travel after this time. You’ll be able to change the date and time of your booking after this time, for the standard service fee, without paying any additional Avios.”
Horrible news. All good things come to an end.
1. How much tax and fees should we expect to pay in general when booking with BA?
2. Whats my best bet for going from toronti to La?
@Dan:
Oh, right.
This is horrific news for my routine Cle-phl route.
End of an era:(
Yet another example of Americans paying more to subsidize the rest of the world.
What about to canada?
@Sola:
Unfortunately, BA’s change fee is $55 while the cancellation fee is $5.60.
@Adios avios?:
It’s $5.60 for domestic one-ways.
There are lots of 12.5K options for LAX-YYZ.
@Aaron:
Bad news for all ultra-short hauls that were a bargain.
@Hidden Tax:
I don’t think that’s the case here, I wrote my speculation in the post.
@Yehuda:
Is the flight “to, from, or within the US?”
Can I book prior to February 2, for travel after February 2, under the old redemption chart?
Is it still cheapest using avios NYC to Los Angeles?
This must be related to the imminent American devaluation
@Miles:
Yes.
@dave:
That award is unchanged.
@Al:
I doubt that.
@Dan:
US-Canada is affected
http://www.britishairways.com/en-gb/executive-club/spending-avios/north-america-reward-flights
Is the to/from/within USA by segement or by booking? In other words, yyz-lga-yyz would be qualified as?
@Flaco:
Yes, a US-Canada flight would meet the definition of “to, from, or within the US.â€
Let’s protest outside the BA headquarters in the US. #DDLivesMatter
Are the any award flight on Avios that depart in the afternoon? I’ve run countless searches at this point and can only find flights between 6am and 11am.
@Michael:
Read the related post.
You need to search AA.com and then call BA (preferably the Singapore call center) to book it if it’s not on BA.com.
I’m just glad Zone 2 wasn’t effected (NYC – Florida, NYC – Chicago). These are still good deals.
Dan- Southwest just release their Pesach time schedule. Beginning April 5 they will be flying 2 daily non-stops from Newark to Orlando. Rate to go for Pesach are very well priced ($99 each way or 4,XXX points). Of course the 2 free checked bags can come in handy for people traveling for Pesach. They will be keeping the flights to Orlando from Long Island as well for those who live on Long Island you still can fly from Long Island.
Alot of yidden will be losing parnosah
i think it happened because American saw that most people on those
flights are through avios
I am more concerned with Hyatt being in talks to acquire Starwoods
It was too good to be true although it lasted a good few years I always felt ba is losing their pants with these crazy cheap flights
Less then half of what American themselves charge!
These nyc-yul were awesome!!
I guess we’ll have to stick to skiplagged…
just got the card and now i can’t find ANY flights from flu to new york??? how do i get them?
Is Iberia changing their award chart for flights touching the US? Why not just transfer BA avios to IB avios and book through them?
@Yehoshua Iberia doesn’t allow one-way Oneworld awards, and doesn’t have the easy/cheap cancellation that BA does.
How can I book a flight with US Airways using avios? I am looking for a direct flight from NYC to Johannesburg using avios. Any help appreciated
First its red card now its avios! Oy vey
everybody who reads dans should cancel there ba credit cards until they rescind this evil decree!!! dan has millions that apply trough his website so they should get pretty scared and we will succeed !!!!
this means that scam companies such as Point2Point and Domestic Travel which work by selling Avios tickets booked through BA will have to raise their prices on the NYC-DTW and PHL-DTW, NYC-CLE legs.
@Dan
What did u mean by calling the AA singapore calling center? If I see a flight on AA Awards or even if I see an AA flight to buy they should be able to assist me with booking it with BA avios?
thank u
@Moishy:
You need to thoroughly read through the related post found in the beginning of this post.
seems like lga to yyz connecting in dca for example went up to 9000 avios instead of 4,500
@interesting:
Uhm… Any connection will price as the sum of the two segments
Dan,
Is Iberia Avios an option? Can it be used like British?
So with Avios, it will cost 7,500 for short haul.
With AA Reduced Mileage Awards, its 8750, even for long haul domestic flights. Tons of cities are available in January. Time to push the AA Citi cards.