British Airways has launched a Flash Sale that allows Executive Club members to buy Avios with a 50% bonus through December 19, 2022.
Executive Club has capped the number of Avios that one can purchase any calendar year before any bonuses at 100,000, and the limit is raised during this sale to 200,000 (max 300K with the bonus).
You can access this offer on BA’s website here.
BA sells its Avios at different prices in the UK, Europe, and the US (depending on the account address), and it seems that Europe is usually the cheapest option. Compare the prices, and you’ll see a significant difference.
Price in Euro Area
The lowest price of an Avios purchased under this offer is 1.2 euro cents. However, the price for USD purchases is much higher.
The maximum bonus during these sales has been 50%, and the Avios price depends on where your account is based. British Airways has previously offered up to a 75% bonus, but only to affiliated credit cardholders.
Buying Avios can make sense if you can use them for Reward Flight Savers with limited taxes/fees (a popular option for travel between London and European cities) or you have a 2-4-1 redemption voucher and happen to be a Gold Guest List member (much better availability) + combining all this with an upgrade voucher.
Some partners have very low or no fuel surcharges at all. So using Avios for those or short/medium-haul business class flights can be a good deal.
Avios Subscription
British Airways launched an Avios subscription service earlier in the fall that allows members to buy Avios at a lower cost.
British Airways Launches Avios Subscriptions
Conclusion
Considering BA charges very high fuel surcharges on their awards, it rarely makes sense to redeem for long-haul economy flights on their metal (with some exceptions, as is always the case). As a result, the non-stop partner awards in premium cabins are often the best deal using Avios.
BA’s award availability can sometimes be challenging but tends to be acceptable if you have some flexibility.
These are the terms & conditions for this promotion:
Promotional terms and conditions: 50% bonus Avios
- This offer is only open to Members of the British Airways Executive Club (Eligible Participants).
- The offer is available from 00:01 (GMT) Friday 16 December 2022 to 23:59 (GMT) Monday 19 December 2022 only (the ‘Offer Period’).
- During the Offer Period, Eligible Participants will receive 50% extra Avios (bonus Avios) when they Purchase or Gift Avios.
- This offer is only valid when you Buy or Gift 5,000 Avios and above.
- Avios can only be purchased or gifted at Purchase and Gift Avios Application Form.
- Eligible Participants may Gift Avios (purchase for someone else) during the promotional period, provided that the recipient holds a British Airways Executive Club account with at least one Avios point in their account.
- The Bonus Avios will not count towards your annual limit of 200,000 Avios.
- This offer cannot be used in conjunction with any other Purchase Avios offer.
- The Executive Club Terms and Conditions and Conditions of Use apply to this offer and can be found at ba.com.
- British Airways reserves the right to cancel or amend the terms of this offer.
General Terms & Conditions:
- Avios can only be bought in specified amounts, starting at the minimum of 2,000 Avios.
- Buy Avios may be amended from time to time for promotional activity, please see the Buy Avios page for details.
- The Purchaser will be able to spend Avios when they appear as credited in the Purchaser’s Executive Club account. There may be occasions where there is a delay of up to 3 working days in the Avios being credited to your account. If after this time you have not received your Avios, please let us know via the Contact Us form at the bottom of the Buy Avios page.
- Avios can only be bought on Ba.com using the Buy Avios application.
- The transaction currency will be pre-determined based on the registered country of the British Airways Executive Club account.
- The Purchaser must be a Member of the British Airways Executive Club and age 18 years or over.
- The Purchaser must have at least one Avios in their Executive Club account in order to buy Avios. If the Purchaser has a balance of zero Avios, they will need to have collected or redeemed Avios in the past 36 months in order to buy Avios.
- The Purchaser will be unable to buy Avios if they have a negative balance.
- The Buy Avios year begins 1 January and ends 31 December.
- Purchasing Avios will reset the 36-month Avios expiry rule, as set out in the British Airways Executive Club Terms and Conditions.
- You have the right to cancel contracts for the purchase of Avios within 14 days of purchase provided the base and bonus Avios have not been used. To exercise the right to cancel the purchase of the Avios, you must select the refund option contained in your Buy Avios email confirmation. If you cancel, we will reimburse the entire payment without undue delay and no later than 14 days after the day on which we were informed about your decision to cancel this contract.
- Avios which are subsequently refunded will not constitute activity for the purposes of the 36-month Avios expiry rule in the Terms and Conditions.
- In the case of Fraud or Misconduct, both as defined in the Terms and Conditions, British Airways reserves the right at any time in its absolute discretion to terminate the Membership of any Member and may cancel all accrued and accruing Avios of the Member and any Reward booking.