British Airways Avios Adds “Reward Flight Saver” to Long-Haul Flights

British Airways Avios has revamped the way you can redeem points for British Airways flights. The UK-based airline has unveiled details about the extension of “Reward Flight Saver” award bookings to include long-haul British Airways flights booked with Avios.

As a result, we’re seeing a mix of good and bad news when it comes to the default way to redeem Avios: the cost in Avios is going up, but the carrier-imposed surcharges are going down.

There’s definitely some value to be found here, though, and if you don’t want to redeem points this way, you’ll still be able to make redemptions under the previous schema.

Lower Fuel Surcharges on British Airways Flights

As a quick refresher, British Airways has always charged exorbitant fuel surcharges on their own flights when redeeming any frequent flyer miles, including Avios. It would sometimes be cheaper to purchase a ticket with cash instead of redeeming Avios and paying the surcharges.

As of today, British Airways is offering “Reward Flight Saver” flights as an alternative redemption option on long-haul flights with British Airways. 

The biggest advantage of redeeming Avios via Reward Flight Saver is that the carrier-imposed surcharges will be greatly reduced. In fact, you’ll have the option to pay a flat fee which will include all taxes, fees, and fuel surcharges, including the UK Air Passenger Duty (APD).

To be clear, the Reward Flight Saver concept isn’t new. Reward Flight Saver redemptions have been available for European short-haul flights for a while now, but this is the first time Reward Flight Saver flights are being rolled out to the North American public on British Airways long-haul flights.

Canadian- and US-based Avios accounts can already see Reward Flight Saver options during check-out, which shows up as the default choice once you select a flight. 

The above example is a non-peak date and shows the price for a one-way flight in British Airways business class from Toronto to London. The default cost is the new Reward Flight Saver price, which comes out to 80,000 Avios and $350 (CAD).

If you click “More pricing options”, you’ll see that all of the previously available redemption levels are still accessible, and you can still choose to pay whichever combination of Avios and cash you wish.

The best option previously was to pay the full fare in Avios and all taxes and fees in cash. On this same route,…