Credit Cards Airline Credit Cards

Avios Award Chart: How to Piece Together the Value of Your Points

It can be difficult to sort out what you need to know from the Avios Award chart — here’s how to do it.

avios award chart
Updated Sept. 12, 2024
Fact checked

We receive compensation from the products and services mentioned in this story, but the opinions are the author's own. Compensation may impact where offers appear. We have not included all available products or offers. Learn more about how we make money and our editorial policies.

If you fly British Airways or decide to book on Oneworld partner airlines (or non-Oneworld partners like Alaska Airlines and Aer Lingus), you might be able to benefit from the Avios program.

However, it’s important to note that getting straightforward answers about how much your Avios are worth, as well as using an awards chart, can be challenging because British Airways doesn’t make their charts public. However, it’s possible to get a basic idea of how to maximize your Avios when booking travel.

Here’s everything you need to know about the (official and unofficial) Avios award chart to make your travels a success.

In this article

What are Avios?

Avios are the loyalty program awards earned when you fly British Airways. It’s also possible to earn Avios from spending using a British Airways co-branded credit card. Depending on the credit cards you use, you can boost the number of Avios you have and use them to purchase awards flights. You can also earn Avios by staying at partner hotels, using certain car rental companies or engaging in other activities designated by British Airways.

It’s also worth noting that British Airways is a transfer partner with American Express and Chase. That means you can transfer your Membership Rewards and Ultimate Rewards to use for British Airways redemptions. As a result, it’s possible to build up Avios more quickly if you need more rewards in order to book a certain flight.

In turn, Avios can be used to book award flights with Oneworld Alliance airline partners such as Cathay Pacific, Iberia, and many others.

How does British Airways determine the redemption value of their flights?

There is no one set redemption rate for Avios, and trying to figure out exactly how to price out a flight can be difficult. However, there is a British Airways Avios calculator that can help you figure out how much an award flight “costs.” Additionally, when you use their tools to find and book award travel, the results often include options for paying with a combination of cash and Avios. Here are a few things to know about British Airways redemptions.

How BA redemptions are calculated

When calculating redemptions, the following items are used to determine the cost of Avios:

  • Distance: The miles included in your trip matter. The distance of your destination will be considered for redemption rates.
  • Peak and off-peak times of the year: British Airways also considers the time of year when calculating the value of your Avios. According to their website, two-thirds of the year is considered off-peak. When using the tool to book your travel, you can indicate whether you only want to see off-peak times, if you want to see peak, or if you want to see a mix of the two.
  • Class of airfare: Finally, British Airways redemptions account for the cabin you’re booking. Whether you’re in economy or first class makes a difference in how many Avios you need to book an award flight.

Also, be aware that you’ll probably have to pay taxes, fees, and carrier charges, based on the route you fly and the carrier. You’ll see the charges displayed when you go to book, so you’ll be able to see the costs.

Unofficial Avios award chart for British Airways, Aer Lingus and Iberia

Because British Airways doesn’t publish an Avios award chart anymore, your best bet is to use the British Airways calculator or one of the other booking tools to get the most accurate cost of your flight in Avios.

Here are some basic insights into what you might expect, although you’ll have to actually attempt to book a flight to get the true cost. This chart is based on announcements from British Airways mentioning changes to its program, as well as past published charts.

Zone Economy Premium economy Business First
Off-peak Peak Off-peak Peak Off-peak Peak Off-peak Peak
Zone 1

1-650 miles

4,000 4,500 5,750 6,750 7,750 9,000 15,500 18,000
Zone 2

651 - 1,151

6,500 7,500 9,500 11,250 12,750 15,000 25,500 30,000
Zone 3

1,152 - 2000

8,500 10,000 12,750 15,000 17,000 20,000 34,000 40,000
Zone 4

2,001 - 3,000

10,000 12,500 20,000 25,000 31,250 37,500 42,500 50,000
Zone 5

3,001 - 4,000

13,000 20,000 26,000 40,000 50,000 60,000 68,000 80,000
Zone 6

4,001 - 5,500

16,250 25,000 32,500 50,000 62,500 75,000 85,000 100,000
Zone 7

5,501 - 6,500

19,500 30,000 39,000 60,000 75,000 90,000 102,000 120,000
Zone 8

6,501 - 7,000

22,750 35,000 45,500 70,000 87,500 105,000 119,000 140,000
Zone 9

7,001 +

32,500 50,000 65,000 100,000 125,000 150,000 170,000 200,000

Redemptions are for one-way on a per-flight basis

It’s important to understand that redemptions are for one-way trips, on a per-flight basis. While this can make the situation a little more complicated, it also provides you with a great deal of freedom, including the ability to schedule stop-overs or open-jaw trips, which allow you to fly into one city and out of another city.

If you want to get the most out of your Avios redemption, consider looking for flights that fall within the lower-numbered zones in the chart above and arranging for city hops. When combined with other modes of travel (such as trains), especially using cities that might be close together, it’s possible to put together a trip that offers you amazing opportunities to really get to see the sights.

Mixed class trips are charged at the higher class rate

If you take a trip that involves flying in different cabin classes, you’re going to be charged at the higher class rate. Additionally, realize that some flights might be in different zones, despite the flight miles. For example, the Boston to Dublin flight is actually in Zone 5, even though, technically, it should be considered in zone 4.

This is one of the reasons that relying on a crowd-sourced or previously published Avios reward chart might not give you the full picture. Only by using the British Airways calculator, or attempting to make the booking, can you actually see exactly how much an award flight will cost in Avios.

A few more notes on booking flights with Avios

There are a few other things to keep in mind when booking flights with Avios, including:

  • In some cases, redeeming Avios for flights in the U.S. can be less expensive than using another Oneworld partner, like American Airlines AAdvantage miles. This might be especially true in first class. Consider comparing your AAdvantage miles cost with the cost of using Avios before you commit to your redemption. In short, if you want to fly another airline, it's often a good idea to investigate the best airline credit card for that carrier. 
  • There can be a lot of fees when booking British Airways flights. These fees include fuel surcharges, taxes, and other costs. If you’re flying Iberia or Aer Lingus, it might be better to transfer points to their loyalty program rather than book through British Airways, which, in some cases, could save your on both Avios and fees, especially on long-haul flights. As always, doing your research and comparing options will get you the most value for your awards.

How to search for and book your flight with Avios

In order to search for and book your flight with Avios, you need to be a member of the British Airways Executive Club program. Go to the website and login. Once you’ve done that, you should be able to use the tools available.

Use the Flight Finder to see what your Avios will get you. It’s an interactive tool that provides some insight into what’s possible, based on the Avios you have. Once you’ve done that, you can use the “Book a reward flight” option to choose your flight and then use your Avios to make the purchase.

The Avios award chart for British Airways partner airlines

Again, since British Airways does not publish an official chart, finding the value of your Avios in terms of what you can get with partner airlines can be challenging. The following crowd-sourced chart takes a look at the approximate number of Avios it takes to book a reward flight on a single carrier. Note also that these are Avios amounts for peak travel. As always, for more accurate information, you will need to log into your British Airways account and see what’s available.

Zone Economy Premium Economy Business First
Zone 1

1-650 miles

6,000 9,000 12,500 24,000
Zone 2

651-1,151

9,000 12,500 16,500 33,000
Zone 3

1,152-2,000

11,000 16,500 22,000 44,000
Zone 4

2,001-3,000

13,000 25,250 38,750 51,500
Zone 5

3,001-4,000

20,750 41,250 62,000 82,500
Zone 6

4,001-5,500

25,750 51,500 77,250 103,000
Zone 7

5,501-6,500

31,000 62,000 92,750 123,750
Zone 8

6,501-7,000

36,250 72,250 108,250 144,250
Zone 9

7,000+

51,500 103,000 154,500 206,000

Another consideration is that Zone 1 flights from or within North America cost a little bit more than what’s listed. Instead, you can expect to pay right around 7,500 for a one-way flight in economy and about 15,000 Avios for a first-class flight.

If booking with multiple carriers

Here is a chart for economy class if you book a multi-carrier flight. This is based on numbers officially published by British Airways. As you can see, you’ll have to pay extra in taxes, fees, and carrier charges.

Miles Avios
0-1,500 30,000 Avios + up to $168.05 in taxes, fees, and carrier charges
1,501-4,000 35,000 Avios + up to $602.96 in taxes, fees, and carrier charges
4,001-9,000 60,000 Avios + up to $756.29 in taxes, fees, and carrier charges
9,001-10,000 70,000 Avios + up to $907.19 in taxes, fees, and carrier charges
10,0001-14,000 90,000 Avios + up to $935.50 in taxes, fees, and carrier charges
14,001-20,000 100,000 Avios + up to $863.86 in taxes, fees, and carrier charges
20,001-25,000 120,000 Avios + up to $1,035.86 in taxes, fees, and carrier charges
25,001-35,000 140,000 Avios + up to $274.55 in taxes, fees, and carrier charges

The Avios award chart above is for economy travel, and British Airways doesn’t provide pricing information for flight miles on trips beyond 35,000 miles. For other classes, you would see the following increase in the amount of Avios needed:

  • Premium economy = 1.5X
  • Business class = 2X
  • First class - 3X

The fees paid would also increase on a sliding scale, and the amount of those fees would be presented to you upon booking, before you make the final decision to check out.

Are partner redemptions worth it?

Depending on the situation, it might be worth it to use these partner redemptions to book free flights or even upgrade.

For most partners, you can book directly online with other Oneworld carriers. This makes it a little easier to book your flights or determine whether it’s better to use Avios or loyalty points. British Airways partners Alaska Airlines and Aer Lingus are not Oneworld alliance members, so you have to call customer service if you want to use your Avios. When going this route, it’s best to look for flights ahead of time and come prepared with options.

The bottom line on how to read the Avios award chart

Even though British Airways no longer publishes its official awards charts, there are a lot of different charts that can be used to determine their value, mainly because there are so many options for Avios redemptions with partners. Still, because British Airways has different redemption rates depending on destination, origin, time of year, and other factors, it can be difficult to get completely accurate information from award charts.

However, because of the tools provided by British Airways, it’s possible to try out different redemption scenarios to see what might work best. In some cases, long flights might not provide the best value due to the associated high fees and charges. You might be better off putting together an itinerary that includes short to medium legs (and enjoying the scenery while you’re at those stops).

You can boost your rewards by using one of the best travel credit cards. If you decide to use Avios so you can book flights on British Airways and its partners, you can earn them quickly, and improve flexibility, by using a card that earns Chase Ultimate Rewards points or getting a card that offers American Express Membership points. Because these points can be transferred to Avios, you have a great deal of flexibility.

The bottom line is: Use awards charts to get a rough idea of what you need to get what you want, but realize you’ll need to actually try out some different flights and combinations on the British Airways website in order to see the final results.

Earn Avios & Fly the World

British Airways Visa Signature® Card
4.4
info

British Airways Visa Signature® Card

Current Offer

Earn 85,000 Avios after you spend $5,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening

Annual Fee

$95

Rewards Rate

3X Avios on purchases with British Airways, Aer Lingus, Iberia, and LEVEL; 2X Avios on hotel accommodations (when booked directly with the hotel); and 1X Avios on all other purchases

Benefits and Drawbacks
Card Details

Author Details

Miranda Marquit

Miranda Marquit has covered personal finance for more than a decade and is a nationally-recognized financial expert and journalist, appearing on CNBC, NPR, Forbes, Yahoo! Finance, FOX Business, and numerous other outlets.