British Airways, like many other airlines, no longer publishes award charts because, according to them, the traveling public is not interested in them and merely wants to see how many miles their specific itineraries require.

This change has meant that airlines, like British Airways, can change the award requirements at a whim and without advance notification to program members. For the second time in less than 12 months, they have done this for American Airlines and Alaska awards issued using BA Avios.

You can access BA here.

Here are the July BA Alaska & American Changes:

  • Flights of up to 650 miles = 12,000 Avios in economy (previously 8,250, up by 45%) or 24,000 in business (previously 16,500, up by 45%)
  • Flights of 651-1,150 miles = 16,000 Avios in economy (previously 11,000, up by 45%) or 32,000 in business (previously 20,500, up by 56%)
  • Flights of 1,151-2,000 miles = 18,000 Avios in economy (previously 14,500, up by 24%) or 40,000 in business (previously 29,000, up by 38%)
  • Flights of 2,001-3,000 miles = 20,000 Avios in economy (previously 16,000, up by 25%) or 50,000 in business (previously 42,000, up by 29%)

BA Versus QR AA Award

The beauty of linking various Avios programs (BA/IB/QR/AY) is that the award charts between these airlines have not been synchronized, and nowadays, many awards are actually far more reasonable if you move the BA Avios to QR or AY.

American Airlines  LAX-MIA Using BA Avios

American Airlines  LAX-MIA Using QR Avios

Conclusion

You really need to compare the Avios levels required through these various programs (BA, IB, QR & AY), which allow you to link accounts and move Avios freely between them, usually through BA.

The Avios requirements through QR are far better with many airlines than BA, but I guess that BA believes their Avios holders are deep in apathy, don’t understand math, are inexperienced, or are just plain disinterested.

Do your math and redeem from the correct program by moving Avios around.

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