What Is The Best Use Of Avios?

If you are thinking of collecting Avios points or if you’ve accumulated a healthy balance you may be wondering what is the best use of Avios and how you can get the most value from your Avios point collecting. Let’s take a look at your options and what value you might get back…

What’s an Avios point worth?

There are two ways you can look at this…

As a cash saving

This is the saving in cash that you make by booking with Avios compared to if you paid cash. If you wouldn’t normally fly with British Airways compare this with the airline you would have flown with otherwise. This is a very real and literal value of your points.

For example, a return economy flight to Paphos in August with British Airways is £524.09. Avios cost is 20,000 + £35. If we take the £35 from £524.09 it leaves us with our cash saving of £489.09 (almost 2.5p value per Avios point!) If you want to go into more detail about how to work out Avios point value check out our post here – https://pointsuncovered.com/avios/how-to-work-out-avios-point-value/

Aspirational value

This is using Avios to book something you wouldn’t other do so e.g. a business class to the Maldives for your honeymoon… even if you’d never pay cash for that ticket! Whilst you could compare to the cash rate for ‘value’ this wouldn’t strictly be true as you would never have paid the cash rate. In this instance, however, your Avios have HUGE aspirational value by helping you have a comfortable and rememberable start to your honeymoon of a lifetime!

So what are the best use of Avios points?

1. Reward Flight Saver
   
   In Europe, with BA’s reward flight saver scheme, the ‘taxes and fees’ of flights are capped at £35 return in economy class and £50 return in business class per person. You’re eligible as long as you’ve collected at least one Avios in the past 12 months. This tickets also include luggage, unlike the cheapest cash options. Some examples…
   
   London – Venice
   Economy
   £259.09 cash or 15000 Avios + £35
   259.09 – 35 = 224.09. Divide that by Avios cost = 1.49p per Avios
   
   Business
   £457.09 cash or 30000 Avios + £50
   457.09 – 50 = 407.09. Divide that by Avios cost = 1.35p per Avios
   
   London – Amsterdam
   Economy
   £172.19 cash or 9000 Avios + £35
   172.19 – 35 = 137.19. Divide that by Avios cost = 1.52p per Avios
   
   Business
   £292.39 cash or 18000 Avios + £50
   292.39 – 50 = 242.39. Divide that by Avios cost = 1.34p per Avios
   
   London – Paphos
   Economy
   £596.99 cash or 20000 Avios + £35
   596.99 – 35 = 561.99. Divide that by Avios cost = 2.8p per Avios
   
   Business
   £939.99 cash or 40000 Avios + £50
   939.99 – 50 = 889.99. Divide that by Avios cost = 2.22p per Avios
   
2. Long-haul Business Class
   
   Flying long-haul business class with Avios points is often seen as the sweet spot for the value return per Avios point. If you would normally pay cash for such bookings you will find using your Avios excellent value. Some examples (All Business Class returns)…
   
   London – New York
   £2,065.84 cash or 120000 Avios + £ 698.12
   2065.84 – 698.12 = 1367.72. Divide that by Avios cost = 1.14p per Avios
   
   London – Maldives
   £4,184.54 cash or 125000 Avios + £ 604.33
   4184.54 – 604.33 = 3,580.21. Divide that by Avios cost = 2.86p per Avios
   
   London – Dubai
   £1,999.04 cash or 100000 Avios + £ 532.08
   1999.04 – 532.08 = 1466.96. Divide that by Avios cost = 1.46p per Avios
   
3. Aspirational bookings
   
   If you are looking to make a long-haul booking in business or first-class for a special occasion or treat there is no better way than using your Avios! Whilst you may need to be flexible on dates/timings or location depending on how popular a route is Avios are a fantastic way to treat yourself and a loved one to a bit of luxury! When making an aspirational booking, as I mentioned previously, don’t worry so much about the value per point you are getting… as you wouldn’t have paid cash anyway! Enjoy it!
   
   Some examples of popular honeymoon destinations Avios cost from London.
   
   (peak dates Avios cost)
   
   Maldives 150,000 Avios per person Business Class return
   Cancun, Mexico 150,000 Avios per person Business Class return
   St. Lucia 150,000 Avios per person Business Class return
   Mauritius 180,000 Avios per person Business Class return
   Sydney 300,000 Avios per person Business Class return
   
4. Not with BA…
   
   If you don’t like BA or fancy trying a different Premium product you can book the amazing Qatar QSuite or book Cathay Pacific First Class with Avios points. You can book these through the BA website by making a reward booking as per normal…
   
   London – Doha in the Qatar QSuite will cost you 124000 Avios + £ 496.74. Compare that to 110000 Avios + £ 498.26 with British Airways
   
   London – Hong Kong in Cathay Pacific First Class will cost you 247500 Avios + £ 249.74. Compare that to 222000 Avios + £ 578.88 with British Airways
   
5. Part-pay with Avios
   
   Part-pay with Avios is a feature that allows you to book a cash seat with a discount by redeeming some of your Avios against the cost. Whilst never an outstanding deal it’s very useful if there is no reward availability for flights you need. You will also earn Avios points & tier points when part-paying with Avios, you may wish to take this into consideration.
   
   This is different from Avios & cash where you are booking a REWARD flight and use cash to save the amount of Avios being used. You can read more about Avios & cash here – https://pointsuncovered.com/avios/whats-the-cheapest-way-to-buy-avios-points/
   
   To work out the value per Avios point divide the cash discount by the amount of Avios it costs. This will give you the value of an Avios point in that particular offer. We value Avios at 1p a point so getting anything around that figure that is a decent deal. Let’s look at an example…
   
   London – Paphos
   
   (Avios amounts assume you have the Blue Executive Club tier with BA aka anyone who has joined BA and not reach Bronze yet. If you have status use the calculator located here – https://www.britishairways.com/travel/flight-calculator/execclub/_gf/en_gb – to work out how many Avios you will get.)
   
   Economy Cash Return – £368.79
   
   You will earn 1,990 Avios & 40 tier points (depending on your booking class this may vary)
   
   £10 off with 1,000 Avios – 1p per Avios
   £20 off with 2,800 Avios – 0.71p per Avios
   £36 off with 6,100 Avios – 0.59p per Avios
   £50 off with 9,200 Avios – 0.54p per Avios
   £74 off with 15,000 Avios – 0.49p per Avios
   £90 off with 18,500 Avios – 0.48p per Avios
   £110 off with 23,000 Avios – 0.47p per Avios
   £130 off with 28,000 Avios – 0.46p per Avios
   £160 off with 35,500 Avios – 0.45p per Avios
   
   Business Cash Return – £596.79
   
   You will earn 5,970 Avios & 160 tier points
   
   £30 off with 3,000 Avios – 1p per Avios
   £70 off with 10,400 Avios – 0.67p per Avios
   £130 off with 24,000 Avios – 0.54p per Avios
   £180 off with 36,200 Avios – 0.49p per Avios
   £230 off with 48,600 Avios – 0.47p per Avios
   £280 off with 60,400 Avios – 0.46p per Avios
   £320 off with 69,600 Avios – 0.45p per Avios
   £420 off with 92,000 Avios – 0.45p per Avios
   
   As you can see only at the lowest discount you get 1p per point BUT if you are Avios rich and cash poor it can provide an excellent opportunity to make the flights more affordable. This is particularly the case when you can’t be flexible with dates/time and there is no reward availability.

Conclusion

As you can see there are some great uses for Avios points whether you like to use your Avios as a ‘cash saving’ on flights or to fly around the world in a business class seat you wouldn’t otherwise pay for!

If you are looking to kick-start your Avios with a huge 200,000 haul don’t forget to take a look at our guide to fast track yourself to a rather cool 200,000 Avios points – https://pointsuncovered.com/american-express/fast-track-yourself-to-2000000-avios-points/