British Airways Changing Partner Award Chart – Book Your Awards Soon

April 30, 2019 By Meghan Hunter

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INSIDER SECRET: As of now, the Aer Lingus and Iberia award charts aren’t changing and you can transfer British Airways Avios points to both programs. So the British Airways partner award chart changes won’t impact sweet spots with these other programs.

British Airways has announced it is making changes to its partner award chart effective May 30, 2019. We won’t officially know what all of the new prices will be until the 30th, but the new award chart has been pieced together by The Points Guy.

This is a devaluation, but not total Armageddon. The British Airways sweet spot to Hawaii isn’t changing much and many American Airlines flights will still be cheaper when you book with British Airways Avios points.

Team member Meghan likes to use British Airways points to book short-haul American Airlines flights from Missoula

British Airways Award Changes

While British Airways hasn’t officially confirmed what its new partner award chart will look like, The Points Guy has pieced together the new partner chart through a series of test bookings.

All British Airways partner award bookings are increasing in price. But keep in mind, the award prices for flights and upgrades on British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus, and Vueling aren’t changing.

British Airways operates a distance-based award chart. Here are what some of the old prices are compared to the new prices for one-way coach awards:

Flights up to 650 miles increasing from 4,500 points to 6,000 points (currently not available for US domestic awards)
Flights from 651-1,151 miles are increasing from 7,500 points to 9,000 points
Flights from 1,152-2,000 miles are increasing from 10,000 points to 11,000 points
Flights from 2,001-3,000 miles are increasing from 12,500 points to 13,000 points

These prices are charged per segment, so if you have a connection you’ll pay more. Flights over 3,000 miles are increasing by 3%-4%. You can see the full award chart, including the new premium economy, business class, and first class prices over at The Points Guy.

The good news about these changes is that round-trip flights from the West Coast to Hawaii will only be increasing from 25,000 points to 26,000 points. And even though flights under 1,152 miles are going up 1,500 points each way, that’s still cheaper than the 12,500 miles American airlines charges for the same flight.

The coming changes will apply to partner redemptions with these airlines:

Alaska Airlines
Air Italy
American Airlines
Cathay Pacific
Finnair
Japan Airlines
LATAM
Malaysia Airlines
Qantas
Qatar Airways
S7
Sri Lankan
Royal Jordanian Airlines

With the price increases coming to the British Airways partner award chart, you might want to consider using Iberia or Aer Lingus to make partner booking with your Avios points. This guide shows you how to transfer points between British Airways and Iberia. Just remember that Iberia does have different routing rules, but if you have to book any connections you can end up saving with Iberia because you’ll be charged based on the total distance of the flight, not per segment.

And don’t forget that right now there is a 30% Chase Ultimate Rewards points transfer bonus to British Airways. So you can lock in the current award prices at a big discount.

For the latest tips and tricks on traveling big without spending a fortune, please subscribe to the Million Mile Secrets daily email newsletter.

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