Your Top 10 BA Reward Flight Questions

Your Top 10 Avios Redemption Questions Answered

We’ve collated some of the most frequently asked questions about BA Avios and put them to reward travel expert, Alisha Collins.

The pandemic has made flexibility a hotter topic than ever. Travel restrictions and testing requirements have eased significantly in recent weeks but some unpredictability remains.

So, in this feature, we’ve asked Alish to focus on your top 10 questions about booking reward flights with British Airways in the current environment.

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Are BA reward flights refundable?

Yes, one of the really useful benefits of booking British Airways reward flights is that you can cancel easily and not be significantly out of pocket, unlike with cheap, non-refundable, cash airfares.

This is true so long as you cancel more than 24 hours before departure. You will get all the Avios returned to your account and all cash you paid for taxes and surcharges is refunded too, less the cancellation fee, which is usually £35 per person. You can do this at BA.com or by calling British Airways customer services.

If the taxes and fees on your original booking were less than £35 you won’t be asked for any more money. Another way of putting it is that the change fee is £35 or whatever you paid in taxes and charges per person, whichever is lower.

If you booked your reward flight as a return ticket, once you have flown the outbound leg you can’t cancel the inbound flight to receive a refund. However, you can change the date or time of your return flight, so long as Avios reward seats are still available.

So, if you aren’t sure about your plans to come home, you might want to book two one-way reward flights instead of a return.

During the height of the pandemic, some customers who tried to cancel their flights online didn’t pay a fee but received a future travel voucher instead.

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Can I move a reward flight booking?

Yes, so long as there are BA reward flights available for the time and date you want to move to. There is usually a change fee of £35 per person, but there is no charge for Gold Priority Reward booking changes. Unlike cancellations, you can change the date for the inbound leg of a return ticket, so long as you do it sooner than 24 hours before the departure date.

BA charges more Avios for reward flight tickets that depart on peak dates than it does for off-peak dates. Peak dates normally coincide with UK school holidays. So if you move your flight from an off-peak date to a peak date you will normally have to make up any fare difference in Avios (the taxes will be the same if you are flying to the same destination).

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Can I change my reward flight destination?

Yes, this is another thing you can do up to 24 hours before you leave on your original flight, so long as there are reward flight seats available for the destination and flights you want to change to. You will need to make up any fare difference (in Avios & taxes).

The change fee of £35 per person will apply unless your booking was a Gold Priority Reward.

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What happens if BA cancels my reward flight?

Under retained EU law (the rules that apply after Brexit), BA is not allowed to leave you high and dry if they cancel any flight that you are booked on. These rules only apply to certain flights to, from or within the EU. Check Is my flight covered by EU rules? | UK Civil Aviation Authority to see if your flight is covered. If it is, then BA must let you choose between two options - a complete refund or an alternative flight. If you choose a refund, then you will get all the Avios returned to your account and all cash paid will be refunded. If you choose an alternative flight you can select any available seat in the same cabin class. You are not restricted to only the reward seats.

If you choose an alternative flight, but this means you are delayed in reaching your destination, you are also entitled to care and assistance. This usually means food, drink, access to communication (this could be by refunding the reasonable cost of phone calls) and overnight accommodation if required.

If you received less than 14 days’ notice of the cancellation, you may also be able to claim compensation.

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Will I be treated differently if something goes wrong?

No, in the UK and EU your passenger rights are not diminished if you pay with Avios instead of cash. If BA cancels your flight and you choose to receive a refund, you will get your Avios back along with any cash you paid in taxes and fees, instead of being refunded the full cash price of the flight ticket, as you would if you had booked with cash. But this won’t affect any separate claims for compensation.

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Will I lose my points if I cancel a reward flight on BA?

No, with British Airways reward flights, if you cancel more than 24 hours before departure, all the Avios you used to book the flight will be refunded to your account.

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How far in advance can I book a reward flight?

You can book flights with Avios on BA up to 355 days in advance.

When they go on sale, British Airways flights to and from Heathrow and Gatwick airports are guaranteed to have at least 8 seats available to book as reward seats in economy class (Euro Traveller or World Traveller), 2 seats in premium economy class (World Traveller Plus)- on flights where it is available- and 4 in business class (Club Europe or Club World).

On flights to and from London City, BA guarantees at least 4 reward flight seats that can be booked with Avios in both business (Club Europe) and economy (Euro Traveller).

Airlines hate empty seats on their aircraft. So depending on how well a flight is selling, British Airways frequently makes more reward flight seats available, up to the departure date. Reward Flight Finder members can set up alerts to be among the first to find out when BA releases new reward seats.

Some people say that they can always find seats they can book using Avios. Often it turns out they are confusing reward flights- tickets bought entirely with Avios (plus taxes and fees)- with flights that are partially paid for with Avios. The availability of reward flight seats is more restricted than those you can buy with a combination of Avios and cash. Typically the equivalent pound-per-point you receive is also higher with reward flights.

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Will I lose My BA Executive Club status because I can’t travel during the pandemic?

British Airways has extended members’ status several times during the pandemic. Now that the UK is easing travel restrictions it has done so again, but it is unlikely to keep doing so. As of January 2022, any Executive Club members with Bronze, Silver or Gold status, with a points collection period that ends between 1 April and 30 June 2022, will receive another year of their current status. This means that no British Airways

Executive Club memberships renewed during this period, will lose their status, regardless of how many BA Tier Points they have earned.

The 25% lower Tier Point thresholds, for each status level, that BA introduced during the pandemic, have also been extended again for Members with Tier Point collection end dates up to December 2022.

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Will my Avios points expire?

Avios points only expire if there is no movement at all on your account within 36 months. To keep your account active and retain all your points, all you need to do is to earn or spend at least one Avios point every 36 months. ●

Can I still earn Avios without taking a flight?

This is a question we have been asked a lot over the pandemic, with many people still nervous about booking international flights. The answer is yes, very easily and lucratively too.

There are many ways to collect Avios through doing the things you’d normally be doing.

This could include doing supermarket shopping, buying fuel for your car, booking hotel stays or shopping online.

If you use a British Airways American Express card you will earn Avios on everything you pay for with it. Many other Amex cards let you earn Membership Reward Points on your spend, which can also be easily converted to Avios on a 1 to 1 basis. But only the BA branded Amex cards let you earn a 2 for 1 Avios redemption voucher.

Many people in the UK will have a Nectar card, or use the Nectar app, to earn Nectar points on all their spending with Sainsbury’s, Argos, Esso and over 400 other brands. If you link your Nectar and British Airways Executive Club accounts you can convert points to and from both schemes. So you can turn Nectar into Avios (and vice versa).

Any points you earn this way are in addition to the points you could earn by paying with your Amex card.

If you like shopping online, I recommend taking a look at BA’s Avios eStore. It features over 1400 selected retailers such as John Lewis, Marks & Spencer and Apple, as well as hotel booking sites such as Booking.com and many more deals. By buying via the eStore you will earn Avios you wouldn’t otherwise receive on your purchases. Again you can use a BA Amex card to earn even more points.

Barclays Bank customers can earn Avios too. Avios Rewards are available to customers of the bank with a Premier or Personal Wealth account. There is a £12 fee and some eligibility criteria apply. But if you qualify you will get a joining bonus when you join the scheme, receive 1,500 Avios every month, get anniversary bonus rewards and earn extra Avios through promotional offers.

If news and current affairs are your thing, why not take out a subscription with The Economist or The Spectator. Both offer generous amounts of Avios when you subscribe.

I could easily go on and on in answering this question. The fact is there are loads of ways to earn Avios without even leaving your house, let alone the country.

If there is a particular place you’d like to visit, why not set yourself a target to earn the Avios you’ll need for your flights? You can find out how many points you’ll need and check reward flight availability using Reward Flight Finder. You can also set availability alerts for your ideal travel dates.

Next, take a look at the BA Avios website to check out the current list of Avios partners and their promotions.

With a bit of careful planning, you’ll soon be well on the way to earning enough points to book reward flights to your dream destination.

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