Flying On A Budget With Points

You’ve probably seen us (and many others) talk about using points for business class or first class flights but what about travelling on a budget? Maybe having luxury flying doesn’t bother you as you just see it as a way from A to B or you’d rather spend your point balance on more flights or hotels. In this post, we are going to take a look at flying on a budget with points and what options you have!

Flying On A Budget With Points

As we mentioned above collecting points doesn’t mean you need to spend them on first-class or business class flights! If you are happy with economy flights you can see a lot more of the world for a lot fewer points (and money), particularly in Europe where the ‘taxes & fees’ on Economy Avios bookings are a maximum of £35 per person return. This post focuses on BA routes as their network and ease of collecting Avios makes it a great option for most people.

What value should I be aiming to get?

To see what you might value Avios points at/how to value them see our article here – https://pointsuncovered.com/avios/how-to-work-out-avios-point-value/ – we value our Avios at 1p per point and aim for this as a minimum. To work out the value you are getting from a flight simply price up a cash flight for the same dates/route/timings, take away the ‘taxes and fees’ of the Avios booking and then divide the remaining number by the Avios cost. Remember 0.01 would be 1p which is the figure we aim to achieve when making our Avios redemptions.

So where can I go?

Before we jump in it’s worth you knowing your own valuation of an Avios point, see our article here – https://pointsuncovered.com/avios/how-to-work-out-avios-point-value/. We aim for 1p per point and if you are flying long-haul economy it’s often not possible to hit that high. You can certainly fly on a budget… but you won’t always be getting the best value for your points!

All the below prices are based on off-peak economy seats. There are other options that require more Avios/less cash or less Avios/more cash.

UK

In the UK, with BA’s reward flight saver scheme, Fares 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. Here are some great places you can visit on a budget…

Edinburgh

Edinburgh features on our How To Use Your Points For A UK Staycation guide and return flights from any London airport will only cost you 9,500 Avios + £ 35.00 per person with reward flight saver.

Jersey

Return flights to Jersey from any London airport will only cost you 9,500 Avios & £35 return in economy with reward flight saver.

Newquay

Return flights to Jersey from any London airport will only cost you 9,500 Avios & £35 return in economy with reward flight saver.

Europe

In Europe, with BA’s reward flight saver scheme, Fares 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

Alicante

Featured in our Travelling On A Budget Hotels With Points guide return flights from any London airport will only cost you 14,500 Avios + £ 35.00 per person with reward flight saver.

Gdansk

Featured in our Travelling On A Budget Hotels With Points guide return flights from any London airport will only cost you 14,500 Avios + £ 35.00 per person with reward flight saver.

Venice

Return flights to Venice from any London airport will only cost you 14,500 Avios & £35 return in economy with reward flight saver.

International

British Airways now also offers their reward flight saver scheme on flights to North America and various other destinations (they don’t list them, unfortunately.) If you see a little blue icon next to the ‘off-peak’ text like below that means you can book a reward flight saver ticket on that flight.

Remember long-haul economy flights are often poor value compared to other options, we have an article discussing why here – https://pointsuncovered.com/avios/should-i-use-avios-on-long-haul-economy-flights/. To work out what value you are getting use the method we mentioned earlier in this post.

Dubai

Return flights to Dubai from any London airport will cost 50,000 Avios & £100 return in economy with reward flight saver.

Toyoko

Return flights to Toyoko from any London airport will cost 70,000 Avios & £200 return in economy with reward flight saver.

New York

Return flights to New York from any London airport will cost 50,000 Avios & £100 return in economy with reward flight saver.

Conclusion

As you can see you can often pick up a great price when flying on a budget with points. The further away you go however the less likely you are to get value for your points in economy class. If you’re on a budget personally we’d stick to Europe with low ‘taxes and fees’ and lower Avios rates. What is your favourite ‘budget’ getaway on points? Let us know in the comments below!