What is British Airway’s Reward Flight Saver, and how do you make the most of it?

If you’re based in the UK, and are a member of BA’s Executive Club there are several ways to redeem you Avios - and one of the best redemptions is via Reward Flight Saver.

BA’s reward flight saver caps taxes and fees for those paying with Avios, and given that BA’s are often the highest fees in the industry (particularly for premium tickets), this is definitely a benefit.

For short haul flights, taxes and fees are fixed at £17.50 one way (£35 return), with Avios costs coming in at between 4,000 and 10,000 each way depending on distance travelled and whether you’re travelling peak or off peak. If converted, this means a short haul return should cost between £125 and £260.

Although originally only available on short haul flights, BA has expanded this scheme to some long haul routes also, offering a simple way to get the best value from your Avios.

BA also allow you to adjust the amount of Avios you’re paying to offset more or less of the taxes and fees. For example, a business class trip to Berlin allows you to redeem anywhere between 16,250 Avios with 50p fees, down to 5,750 Avios and 67.50 fees. Depending on how you value Avios (more on that later) will help you decide just which option is best for you.

Valuing your Avios is very important, if we take ThePointsGuy UK’s current valuation of 1.1p per Avios, we see that the total cost for the above flight is between £179.25 and £127.25 - which is a fairly significant difference - the sweet spot seems to be paying 7,250 in Avios and £47.50 in fees. However, your valuation may differ from this, as if you are Avios rich you may wish to devalue the Avios slightly to avoid the majority of the fee’s in cash, even if you’re getting worse overall value.

You also need to be aware of current cash only prices for travel. If we ignore low cost airlines entirely, the earlier flight to Berlin from London would cost £318, so even at it’s worst value you would be saving £138 on the cost of the flight. However, a flight to Barcelona paying with Avios and Cash costs in between £186.50 and £281.50 return - which isn’t terrible, though if we were to pay in just cash the cost actually drops to £156 - which is £30 cheaper than the cheapest redemption offer.

When comparing redemption costs with cash, it’s also important to ensure you are comparing fairly. Avios redemptions are flexible tickets, with carry on and checked in allowances so ensure you select the correct tickets to compare with. If you need the flexibility to change or cancel a flight (£35 fee for all but Gold Status) then the Avios route is likely the best option.

So in conclusion, Reward Flight Saver is a good way to secure Short Haul and some Long Haul flights at a very competitive rate, though you do have to take into account the value of the Avios being redeemed - and check to see whether cash only is a cheaper alternative, you also need to be aware that Avios redemtions don’t build Tier Status - though that is likely a topic for another video.