How To Upgrade With Avios

Upgrading your flights with Avios can be a great way to experience a premium cabin without a hefty price tag or a large Avios balance. Being able to upgrade with Avios is particularly useful for people who don’t earn a large amount of Avios each year or enough to make a business class booking outright.

What do I need to know about upgrade with Avios?

You can upgrade with Avios as long as…

1) You have an eligible British Airways ticket booked with cash

You cannot upgrade the cheapest economy class tickets (Booking classes Q, O and G). Virtually any World Traveller Plus or Club World tickets are upgradable.

It is only possible to upgrade by one class. e.g. Economy – World Traveller Plus, World Traveller Plus – Club World, Club World – First or Euro Traveller – Club Europe

You may choose to upgrade only one leg of your flight. For example, you may be happy with a daytime flight in World Traveller Plus but if the return is overnight you’d prefer Club world with a bed.

You will still earn Avios and tier points on your original booked cabin.

2) There is reward availability in the class you want to upgrade into

It doesn’t matter if there are cash tickets available in the higher class. There needs to be Avios availability in the class you want to upgrade to. Don’t worry if there isn’t straight away as more seats can open up as you get closer to check-in!

3) You have the Avios points needed… of course!

A return upgrade would cost you the difference in Avios between the cabin you’ve booked in and the cabin you are upgrading to. Below is the current Avios pricing…

To check out what destinations are in what zone look at our article on How many Avios points needed for a flight?

For example a peak return Avios ticket to Dubai (Zone 5) would cost…

40,000 Avios in World Traveller (Economy)

80,000 Avios in World Traveller Plus (Premium Economy)

120,000 Avios in Club World (Business Class)

So if you were upgrading from Economy to Premium Economy it would cost you 40,000 Avios and if you were upgrading from Premium Economy to Business Class it would also cost you 40,000 Avios.

When you upgrade there will be some additional ‘taxes & fees’ to pay. For example, there is an increased fuel surcharge on Club World over World Traveller Plus. If any of the ‘taxes & fees’ have changed since booking you’ll have to pay the new rate.

If you are upgrading from economy you will also have to pay increased APD as World Traveller Plus and above pay increased Air Passenger Duty (APD) as all ‘premium cabins’ attract a larger APD in the UK.

How do I upgrade with Avios?

There are 2 ways of upgrading with your Avios points…

1. Go to the British Airways website and then to the ‘manage my booking’ section (either click manage at the top and enter your booking details or login and click my account details then future bookings.) Once you’ve selected the flight that you are interested in upgrading towards the bottom of the page there will be an option called ‘Upgrade with Avios.’ Simply select it and follow the steps through to upgrade your ticket.
2. Login and go the Avios ‘book & upgrade‘ tool. With this, you will confirm an upgrade at the time of booking rather than chancing an upgrade later on down the line.

Remember you can only upgrade if there is reward availability in the class you want to upgrade into. Further reward seats can be added closer to departure so keep a lookout if you are interested in upgrading.

Is it worth upgrading with Avios?

I think so, yes! I typically value an Avios at 1p per point (to work out your own value of an Avios point check out our post on How to work out Avios point value?) and in my experience it’s even easier to exceed this valuation when upgrading with Avios.

For these examples I’ve searched for a week return trip in August 2021 for one person.

Dubai

A return business class flight to Dubai will set me back £2,119.95. If I use the upgrade with Avios feature on the British Airways website I’m offered Premium Economy upgraded to Business Class for 40000 Avios + £ 923.95

Then if we take away the £923.95 from the £2,119.95 it leaves us with £1,196. If we then divide that by the cost in Avios, 40,000 we get 0.0299. That is just a fraction under 3p a point… not bad!

New York

A return business class flight to New York will set me back £1,934.55. If I use the upgrade with Avios feature on the British Airways website I’m offered Premium Economy upgraded to Business Class for 40000 Avios + £984.55

Then if we take away the £984.55 from the £1,934.55 it leaves us with £950. If we then divide that by the cost in Avios, 40,000 we get 0.02375. Around 2 1/3p a point.

Mauritius

A return business class flight to Mauritius will set me back £2,288.18. If I use the upgrade with Avios feature on the British Airways website I’m offered Premium Economy upgraded to Business Class for 60000 Avios + £ 977.18

Then if we take away the £977.18 from the £2,288.18 it leaves us with £1311. If we then divide that by the cost in Avios, 60,000 we get 0.02185. Just over 2p a point.

Don’t forget… you also have the benefit of still earning tier points/Avios on the cabin you were booked into before you upgraded!

Conclusion

As you can see it’s quite easy for someone who earns a moderate amount of Avios per year to get a good return on their points by upgrading World Traveller Plus tickets to Club World. Do you like to use your Avios for upgrades rather than bookings? If so, what is your favourite route to upgrade on?