
Avios Points Value in 2025
Snagging a “free” or deeply discounted flight with Avios can be tempting, but it doesn’t always guarantee the best deal. That’s why it’s so important to understand your Avios Points Value—essentially, how much each Avios Point is worth to you. Once you’ve established your own valuation, you can compare Avios-earning or cashback credit cards more effectively. In this post, we’ll explore Avios Points Value in 2025 and show you how to work out your personal valuation.
How do I work out the value of Avios Points?
Below, we’ve included some examples to help you determine what an Avios Point is worth, depending on your travel style and circumstances.
Important notes:
- Avios tickets typically offer more cancellation flexibility than cash tickets.
- You do miss out on the Avios and Tier Points you would have earned on a cash fare.
- Remember that you shouldn’t value your Avios by the cost of a British Airways (BA) fare alone. Instead, think about which airline/travel class/price you would realistically choose if Avios weren’t an option.
- You’re likely to get a better return on your Avios booking during popular travel periods (e.g., summer holidays). That’s because Avios off-peak/peak prices don’t fluctuate the same way cash fares can.
All examples below use London Heathrow as the starting airport unless otherwise stated.
1. If you normally fly short-haul with budget airlines
If you typically fly with low-cost carriers (without extra add-ons), your return on Avios is likely to be lower. For example, a return flight to Venice in September from London Stansted with Ryanair currently costs £52. A similar BA flight costs £210. If redeeming Avios it would cost 14,500 Avios + £ 35.00
- Cash fare you’d otherwise pay: £52 (Ryanair)
- Subtract the £35 fees from £52 = £17
- Divide £17 by 15,500 Avios = 0.0010967741935484 (about 0.11p per point)
You’d be getting just over 0.1p per Avios Point in this scenario which isn’t a great return. Obviously this doesn’t factor in that you get free luggage on Avios tickets.
2. If you normally fly short-haul with British Airways
If you typically fly within Europe with BA with luggage, you could get a decent return on your Avios thanks to Reward Flight Saver (RFS). With RFS, taxes and fees on short-haul flights can be had for as little as £1 in economy and £74 in business class per person, as long as you’ve collected at least 1 Avios in the past 12 months. The sweet spot in terms of value you get per Avios tends to be the cash ‘taxes & fees’ value in the middle (£35 in economy, £74 in business.)
Let’s look at a few examples:
a) Return Economy Flight to Budapest in December
- Cash fare: £298.62
- Avios cost: 15,500 Avios + £35
- Subtract the £35 fees from £298.62 = £263.62
- Divide £263.62 by 15,500 Avios = 0.0170077419 (~1.7p per point)
1.7 per Avios is a much better return!
b) Return Business Class Flight to Paphos in August
- Cash fare: £1,173.82
- Avios cost: 36,700 Avios + £74
- Subtract the £74 fee from £1,173.82 = £1,099.82
- Divide £1,099.82 by 36,700 Avios = 0.0299678474 (~2.99p per point)
That’s almost 3p per Avios Point!
c) Flying from London City Airport
London City can be very convenient, but cash fares are often expensive. Luckily, Avios pricing here is the same as from other London airports. Business class from LCY isn’t usually worth it because there’s no lounge and the aircraft seating is 2 x 2 (no middle seat to block).
- Return Economy Flight to Amsterdam in September
- Cash fare: £253.59
- Avios cost: 9,500 Avios + £35
- Subtract £35 from £253.59 = £218.59
- Divide £305.52 by 9,500 Avios = 0.0230094736842105 (~2.3p per point)
A very respectable 2.3p per Avios Point!
Now you have a rough idea of how much value you might get from spending Avios. Next, let’s look at how you can earn them…
Disclaimer: Everything below is based on personal experience and should not be taken as financial advice. Other credit cards can earn you travel points (e.g. the Hilton Honors Plus Debit Card from Currensea, or the Virgin Atlantic Credit Card). If you use my referral link for an American Express Card and are accepted, I’ll receive a referral bonus ranging from 4,000–18,000 points, depending on the card.
Get a referral for bonus points here – https://pointsuncovered.com/amex-referral-link-uk/
Let’s say you’ve decided on an Avios Points value of 1p from how you will use your Avios…
BA Free Amex (no annual fee)
On the BA Free Amex, you are getting 1% ‘back’ (1 Avios (1p) per £1) on general spending.
Barclaycard Avios (no annual fee)
On the Barclaycard Avios, you are getting 1% ‘back’ (1 Avios (1p) per £1) on general spending.
BA Premium Amex (£300 annual fee)
On the BA Premium Amex, you are getting 1.5% ‘back’ (1.5 Avios (1.5p) per £1) on general spending.
Barclaycard Avios Plus (£20 monthly fee, £240 annual fee)
On the Barclaycard Avios Plus, you are getting 1.5% ‘back’ (1.5 Avios (1.5p) per £1) on general spending.
Amex Gold (FREE first year, £195 annual fee afterward)
On the Gold Amex Card, you are getting 1% ‘back’ (1 Membership reward point (1p) per £1) on general spending. Membership reward points transfer 1:1 into Avios.
Amex Platinum (£650 annual fee afterward)
On the Amex Platinum, you are getting 1% ‘back’ (1 Membership reward point (1p) per £1) on general spending. Membership reward points transfer 1:1 into Avios.
Other things to note
Sign-up bonuses
If you are new to Amex or Barclaycard you may be eligible for a sign-up bonus. (check here to read about the Amex eligibility rules and here for the Barclaycard eligibility rules.) This can massively boost your earnings in your first year with the card(s). I’ve included a few examples below so you can see how lucrative they can be!
The BA Free Card comes with a 5,000 Avios welcome bonus if you spend £2000 in 3 months. To earn that normally on the card you’d need to spend £5000.
The Barclaycard Avios comes with a 5,000 Avios welcome bonus if you spend £1,000 in 3 months. To earn that normally on the card you’d need to spend £5,000
The Premium BA Amex comes with a 30,000 Avios welcome bonus if you spend £6000 in 3 months. To put that into context you’d need to spend over £16,500 on that card to get that many Avios points!
The Barclaycard Avios Plus comes with a 25,000 Avios welcome bonus if you spend £3,000 in 3 months. To get that normally you would need to spend £20,000!
The Gold Amex Card comes with a 20,000 membership reward points (equal to 20,000 Avios) welcome bonus. You would need to spend £20,000 to earn those points on general spend!
The Platinum Amex Card comes with a 50,000 membership reward points (equal to 50,000 Avios) welcome bonus. You would need to spend £50,000 to earn those points on general spend!
If you need inspiration as to what you can do with those sign-up bonuses take a look at the below articles!
- Where can I fly to for 5,000 Avios
- Where can I fly to for 25,000 Avios
- Where can I fly to for 50,000 Avios
Annual fees
Some Avios earning credit cards have annual fees. Whether or not these represent good value to you is down to your personal preference/spending. The ones that have annual fees tend to have higher sign-up bonuses, increased earn-rates and other benefits. It’s worth noting that Amex annual fees are pro-rata refunded on cancellation. That means if you kept the BA Premium Card (annual fee £300) for 3 months you’d receive a refund of £225 which means your total outlay would be £75. The Barclaycard Avios Plus is also a ‘pay-monthly’ product at £20 a month (down-gradable to the free card or close for free.) If you kept this card for 3 months your total outlay would be £60
2-4-1 Vouchers on the BA Amex cards
The BA Companion voucher (Earned at 15K spend on the Free/Premium BA Amex) in effect ‘doubles the value of your Avios.’ Why? They are basically 2-4-1 vouchers to use on Avios redemptions. This allows you to get 2 tickets for the price of one in Avios, the cash element of ‘taxes and charges’ would still be due for both tickets. With the recent changes, you can even use the 2-4-1 voucher as solo traveller and get 50% off the Avios cost or on Iberia or Aer Lingus! Though remember the voucher earned with the Free BA Amex can only be used on economy flights whereas the voucher on the Premium BA Amex can be used in all cabins including Business & First Class.)
Upgrade voucher on the Avios Barclaycards
The Avios Upgrade voucher (earnt at 20K spend on the FREE Barclaycard Avios & 10K spend on the Barclaycard Avios Plus) also in effect almost doubles the value of your Avios. You can book Business Class seats for the Avios cost of Premium Economy or Economy (depending if there is a Premium Economy cabin.) Whilst you’ll still need to pay the ‘taxes & fees’ of the Business Class seat you will save a chunk of Avios!
Different earn rates
Different cards earn different rates on different things! For example, the Premium BA Amex earns 3 points per £1 on British Airways or BA Holidays spend rather than 1.5 points. The Gold Card earns 2 points per £1 on airline purchases rather than 1 point. Make sure you know how much you are likely to spend and on what to get an accurate idea of your earnings!
2025 Avios Points Value Conclusion
As you can see, the exact value of an Avios Point is subjective—it depends on how, when, and where you use them. While Avios have a built-in “floor” of 0.5p each when converted to Nectar points, it’s quite common to get well over 1p per point if you redeem wisely.