Are The British Airways Reward Saver Changes Good Or Bad? Comparison Chart Of Mileage Requirements To Fly BA Between NYC And London And How To Save More On Fuel Surcharges

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Program changes

Several mileage programs made some major changes without any prior announcements while I was jumping around Hawaii last week.

One of the biggest changes was done by British Airways. They have massively increased the Avios cost of BA flights, while massively reducing the fuel surcharges if you have Reward Flight Saver status. That fuel surcharge discount only applies if you have earned Avios in the past year, otherwise this is just a massive devaluation.

All of this only applies to BA flights. Most of the best uses of BA Avios are on partner airline flights, such as 7.5K short-haul awards on American that aren’t subject to any fuel surcharges. Nothing has changed for partner award flights. Personally, I only use BA Avios for those partner award flights, so these changes don’t have any major effect on my typical Avios usage.

Reward Flight Saver

In the past, discounts on fuel surcharges via Reward Flight Saver only applied to select short-haul flights in Economy, but now it applies to all BA flights in all classes except First.

That change has made first class awards less expensive than business class for accounts without Reward Saver access! I’m not sure if BA has fully thought that through…

I transferred in Qatar Avios earlier this year, so my account has access to Reward Flight Saver discounts. It’s not clear which activities count for having Reward Flight Saver status, but transferring in points should count. If you try redeeming and redepositing an award ticket, let us know if that opens up Reward Saver flights for you.

You can tell if you have access to Reward Saver by searching for a BA flight and locating the Reward Flight Saver symbol, as in the screenshot below:

If you do not qualify, you won’t see that symbol above the calendar or listed next to the flight:

Is this good or bad?

Some coverage of these changes have been absurdly positive. In reality, it’s not that simple.

It depends on where you live and what routes you redeem for. In this post, I’ll compare the rates for JFK to/from London, but the equation will certainly vary on other routes.

It’s disappointing that BA provided no advance warning to better take stock of all the changes they have made here.

BA has opened options to redeem tickets with fewer fuel surcharges, though that comes at a cost of Avios. When Air Canada eliminated fuel surcharges, they slightly raised mileage rates. BA is increasing mileage rates by significant amounts if you want to lower fuel surcharges, but there are also options for using fewer Avios and paying more surcharges.

BA does still have options to use fewer Avios and pay more surcharges, though some of those options appear to cost even more than they did before.

Fuel surcharges have continued to increase in the 2 years since I last did a comparison of costs for BA flights to London, which makes it hard to compare to what exactly BA did with this change.

Of note, you used to be able to book one-way tickets to save off the price of a round-trip. However BA has now equalized the cost of the flights in both directions based on where your BA account’s address is instead of based on where the flight originates.

If you don’t have access to Reward Saver flights, then this is certainly a massive devaluation to what was charged in the past.

Hacking the changes

These changes appear to be good for UK based accounts and worse off for US based accounts, but you can always change the address in your BA account profile. Or you can have a BA account based in the US and an account based on the UK and transfer points on demand to the account where it’s cheaper to book the ticket you want.

BA now charges more for BA flights on accounts registered in the US instead of the UK. You can switch your account to the UK, though I’m not yet sure of potential issues that may cause and it appears that once you switch countries, you can’t switch back for 6 months. You may also be able to save by registering your account in other countries, though for this post I only tested US and UK based accounts with and without Reward Saver access. If you need to book a ticket on BA, switching to a UK address before booking seems to be a no-brainer.

Fuel surcharges and fees

When you book an award ticket with miles, the miles, taxes, and fees required can vary greatly depending on which miles you use.

Flying long-haul from London incurs the priciest fees of just about any airport on Earth. You used to be able to save money by flying long-haul from other airports or by connecting in London, but with these changes, BA has eliminated those savings.

However that also opens up the possibility to fly one-way to London on an airline without fuel surcharges and then to fly back from London on BA.

Chase BA cardholders will get a rebate on taxes and fees up to $100 in economy/premium economy or up to $200 in business/first class on your first 3 one-way or round-trip award bookings from the US on BA flights annually. The credit is per reservation, so you’ll want to book passengers on separate reservations to maximize the benefit. The charts below do not account for this rebate, but they will substantially change the math for BA flights using BA miles if you have the BA card.

BA flights are pricey, though availability is typically excellent. However there are often better options as I’ll show below.

Comparison charts

The charts below compare the cost depending on whether you use BA miles with Reward Saver access from a US account, BA miles without Reward Saver access from a US account, BA miles with Reward Saver access from a UK account, BA miles without Reward Saver access from a UK account, and a variety of other OneWorld partner carriers. All of these awards can be booked directly on each mileage program’s website. You can view how to transfer miles into those airlines in this chart.

British Airways offers numerous pricing options based on how many Avios or dollars you want to use, and those have been included in the charts below. In general, the best values will be when you redeem the most number of Avios, though there are exceptions. A good way to calculate that would be to calculate the cost per incremental Avios redeemed. In other words if you have a US based account, you can pay 19K Avios+$195 or you can redeem 6K more Avios to save $95 in coach from JFK to London, a healthy value of 1.58 cents per Avios redeemed. In premium using 9.5K Avios saves $105, a less impressive 1.1 cents per Avios. But in business, you’ll save $300 by redeeming 15K more Avios, a very impressive 2 cents per Avios.

While saver mileage rates typically stay the same regardless of the cost of a paid ticket, the paid rates for the flights on the dates above are also given to compare the value of using miles versus paying for a flight. Chase Sapphire Reserve points on the other hand directly correlate to the paid price of a flight at a value of 1.5 cents per point. The cost of a paid flight is also broken down to show what the actual taxes and fuel surcharges are on the paid flight compared to the fees on an award ticket.

Flights to London are a notoriously poor award option due to fuel surcharges and the UK’s hefty taxes on long-haul flights from London. But is there value to be had?

I took a look at rates for JFK to London one-way, London to JFK one-way, and JFK to London round-trip.

Tax rates in the charts below have been converted into USD, so the exact amount may vary based on currency fluctuations.

Chart 1: Flying one-way on BA from JFK to London

• Notes:
  • Economy: Using BA miles from an account with a UK address and access to Reward saver is the clear winner here. The sweet spot is likely 19K Avios+$112 as redeeming 6K more Avios only saves you $50, a poor value of 0.83 cents per Avios redeemed.
  • Premium: Using BA miles from an account with a UK address and access to Reward saver is the winner here. The sweet spot is likely 33K Avios+$236 as redeeming 9.5K more Avios only saves you $62, a poor value of 0.65 cents per Avios redeemed. JAL miles are a good deal, though only Marriott transfers to JAL.
  • Business: Using JAL is the winner here, though Cathay Pacific miles are also a great deal and those miles are easier to obtain. Using 80K Avios+$217 with a BA UK account is a decent price, though consider that you are essentially redeeming 30K Avios to save $311, a value of only 1.04 cents per Avios over the 50K+$528 redemption.
  • First: Using JAL is the winner here, though Cathay Pacific miles are also a great deal and those miles are easier to obtain. There are no Reward Saver flights in first class and you can really see how wonky Reward Saver has made things as first class is now fewer miles than business class and taxes are the same! Interestingly, BA US accounts pay lower taxes in this case.
  • Consider flying another airline that doesn’t have fuel surcharges on flights to London.

Chart 2: Flying one-way on BA from London to JFK

• Notes:
  • Economy: Using BA miles from an account with a UK address and access to Reward saver is the clear winner here. The sweet spot is likely 19K Avios+$112 as redeeming 6K more Avios only saves you $50, a poor value of 0.83 cents per Avios redeemed.
  • Premium: Using BA miles from an account with a UK address and access to Reward saver is the winner here. The sweet spot is likely 33K Avios+$236 as redeeming 9.5K more Avios only saves you $62, a poor value of 0.65 cents per Avios redeemed.
  • Business: Book with Using JAL is the winner here, though Cathay Pacific miles are decent and those miles are easier to obtain. Using 80K Avios+$217 with a BA UK account is a good price, though consider that you are essentially redeeming 30K Avios to save $311, a value of only 1.04 cents per Avios over the 50K+$528 redemption.
  • First: Using JAL is the winner here, though only Marriott transfers to JAL. There are no Reward Saver flights in first class and you can really see how wonky Reward Saver has made things as first class is now fewer miles than business class and taxes are the same! Interestingly, BA US accounts pay lower taxes in this case.

Chart 3: Flying round-trip on BA from JFK to London

• Notes:
  • Booking a round-trip award for a BA flight to London used to always incur an effective tax penalty over booking 2 one-way tickets. However with these changes, if you have Reward Saver access you can book round-trip for the same price as 2 one-ways. However if you are booking BA First Class or using partner miles you will want to book as 2 one-ways to save on taxes, though note that JAL charges slightly fewer miles as a round-trip.
  • Economy: Using BA miles from an account with a UK address and access to Reward saver is the clear winner here. The sweet spot is likely 38K Avios+$224 as redeeming 12K more Avios only saves you $100, a poor value of 0.83 cents per Avios redeemed.
  • Premium: Using BA miles from an account with a UK address and access to Reward saver is the winner here. The sweet spot is likely 66K Avios+$472 as redeeming 19K more Avios only saves you $124, a poor value of 0.65 cents per Avios redeemed.
  • Business: Using JAL is the winner here, though Cathay Pacific miles are decent and those miles are easier to obtain. Using 160K Avios+$434 with a BA UK account is a good price, though consider that you are essentially redeeming 60K Avios to save $622, a value of only 1.04 cents per Avios over the 100K+$1,056 redemption.
  • First: Using JAL is the winner here, though Cathay Pacific miles are decent and those miles are easier to obtain. There are no Reward Saver flights in first class and you can really see how wonky Reward Saver has made things as first class is now fewer miles than business class and taxes are the same! Interestingly, BA US accounts pay lower taxes in this case.

Cheaper mileage options to London

If you don’t need to fly BA, you can save a lot with other airlines. For example, a United saver award flight from Newark to London can be had for 27.9K miles in coach, 45K miles in premium, or 60K miles in business, plus $5.60 tax.

The UK APD taxes will still bite you on the return though, at $188.95 in economy or $312.85 in premium cabins.

Or you can book with a United partner and save even more.

Turkish charges just 45K miles in business each way:

And ANA charges just 88K miles in business class round-trip:

Mileage transfer options for the airlines above

• American (AA):
  • Transfer from Marriott at 60K:20K ratio
  • The CitiBusiness AAdvantage Platinum World Mastercard is offering 65,000 AA miles for opening the card and spending $4,000 in 4 months.
  • The Citi AAdvantage Platinum World Elite Consumer Mastercard is offering 50,000 AA miles for opening the card and spending $2,500 in 3 months.
  • The Citi AAdvantage Executive World Elite Consumer Mastercard is offering 50,000 AA miles for opening the card and spending $5,000 in 3 months.
  • The Citi AAdvantage MileUp Consumer Mastercard is offering 10,000 AA miles and a $50 statement credit for opening the card and spending $500 in 3 months.
• Alaska:
  • Transfer from Marriott at 60K:25K ratio
• British Airways (BA):
  • Transfer from AMEX instantly at 1K:1K ratio
  • Transfer from Capital One instantly at 1K:1K ratio
  • Transfer from Chase instantly at 1K:1K ratio
  • Transfer from Citi via Qatar (1-2 day transfer time) at 1K:1K ratio
  • Transfer from Marriott at 60K:25K ratio
  • Earn up to 100,000 Avios with the Chase BA card.
  • Chase BA cardholders will get a rebate on taxes and fees up to $100 in economy/premium economy or up to $200 in business/first class on your first 3 one-way or round-trip award bookings from the US on BA flights annually. The credit is per reservation, so you’ll want to book passengers on separate reservations to maximize the benefit. The charts below do not account for this rebate, but they will substantially change the math for BA flights using BA miles if you have the BA card.
  • Chase BA cardholders will get a companion pass valid for a BOGO award in any class on BA if they spend $30K in a calendar year.
  • For a limited time, the Capital One Venture Card is offering 75,000 points for opening the card and spending $4,000 in 3 months, transferrable to BA.
  • The Capital One Venture X Card is offering 75,000 points for opening the card and spending $4,000 in 3 months, transferrable to BA.
  • For a limited time, the Chase Ink Business Cash Card is offering 90,000 miles for opening the card and spending $6,000 in 3 months, transferable to BA.
  • For a limited time, the Chase Ink Business Unlimited Card is offering 90,000 miles for opening the card and spending $6,000 in 3 months, transferable to BA.
  • For a limited time, the Citi Premier Card is offering 80,000 points for opening the card and spending $4,000 in 3 months, transferrable to BA via Qatar.
• Cathay Pacific Asia Miles:
  • Transfer from AMEX instantly at 1K:1K ratio
  • Transfer from Capital One (1-5 day transfer time) at 1K:1K ratio
  • Transfer from Citi instantly at 1K:1K ratio
  • Transfer from Marriott at 60K:25K ratio
  • For a limited time, the Capital One Venture Card is offering 75,000 points for opening the card and spending $4,000 in 3 months, transferrable to Cathay.
  • The Capital One Venture X Card is offering 75,000 points for opening the card and spending $4,000 in 3 months, transferrable to Cathay.
  • For a limited time, the Chase Ink Business Cash Card is offering 90,000 miles for opening the card and spending $6,000 in 3 months, transferable to Cathay.
  • For a limited time, the Chase Ink Business Unlimited Card is offering 90,000 miles for opening the card and spending $6,000 in 3 months, transferable to Cathay.
• Iberia:
  • Transfer from AMEX instantly at 1K:1K ratio
  • Transfer from Chase instantly at 1K:1K ratio
  • Transfer from Marriott at 60K:25K ratio
  • Earn up to 100,000 Avios with the Chase Iberia card.
• JAL:
  • Transfer from Marriott at 60K:25K ratio
• Qantas:
  • Transfer from AMEX instantly at 500:500 ratio
  • Transfer from Capital One instantly at 1K:1K ratio
  • Transfer from Citi (1-2 day transfer time) at 1K:1K ratio
  • Transfer from Marriott at 60K:25K ratio
  • For a limited time, the Capital One Venture Card is offering 75,000 points for opening the card and spending $4,000 in 3 months, transferrable to Qantas.
  • The Capital One Venture X Card is offering 75,000 points for opening the card and spending $4,000 in 3 months, transferrable to Qantas.
  • For a limited time, the Chase Ink Business Cash Card is offering 90,000 miles for opening the card and spending $6,000 in 3 months, transferable to Qantas.
  • For a limited time, the Chase Ink Business Unlimited Card is offering 90,000 miles for opening the card and spending $6,000 in 3 months, transferable to Qantas.
• Turkish:
  • Transfer from Capital One instantly at 1K:1K ratio
  • Transfer from Citi (1 day transfer time) at 1K:1K ratio
  • Transfer from Marriott at 60K:25K ratio
  • For a limited time, the Citi Premier Card is offering 80,000 points for opening the card and spending $4,000 in 3 months, transferrable to Turkish.
  • For a limited time, the Capital One Venture Card is offering 75,000 points for opening the card and spending $4,000 in 3 months, transferrable to Turkish.
  • The Capital One Venture X Card is offering 75,000 points for opening the card and spending $4,000 in 3 months, transferrable to Turkish.
• ANA:
  • Transfer from AMEX (1-2 day transfer time) at 1K:1K ratio
  • Transfer from Marriott at 60K:25K ratio
• United:
  • Transfer from Chase instantly at 1K:1K ratio
  • Transfer from Marriott at 60K:27.5K ratio
  • For a limited time, the Chase United Club Infinite Card Card is offering 100,000 miles for opening the card and spending $5,000 in 3 months.
  • For a limited time, the Chase United Quest Card is offering 80,000 miles for opening the card and spending $5,000 in 3 months.
  • For a limited time, the Chase Ink Business Cash Card is offering 90,000 miles for opening the card and spending $6,000 in 3 months, transferable to United.
  • For a limited time, the Chase Ink Business Unlimited Card is offering 90,000 miles for opening the card and spending $6,000 in 3 months, transferable to United.

What do you think of these BA changes?