What is a BA Reward Flight Saver?

Even some of the most seasoned Avios collectors may not know that it’s actually possible to reduce taxes on some flights. BA has a program called “Reward Flight Saver” whereby BA subsidizes the taxes and fees. You pay Avios and a flat cash fee and in return for more or fewer Avios, you can choose to pay less or more cash.

This is a great way to use your Avios, offering you flexibility when you don’t have enough Avios but are happy to pay more cash, or when you’d rather use Avios if you’re short of cash.

Reward Flight Savers in Europe start from just £1 + 18,500 Avios, with long-haul destinations like the Middle East starting from as little as £100 + 50,000 Avios. The European flights are among the best value reward flights available. Less so, for the long-haul destinations as there are often good cash deals to be found.

Understanding the value of a Reward Flight Saver

A rule of thumb: We consider Avios to be worth about 1p each. Using this you can calculate the overall cash value of a Reward Flight Saver by adding the cash fee to the value of the Avios.

Using the Reward Flight Finder Calendar view

Looking at future flights from London to Tokyo, you can discover the number of Avios required using the Reward Flight Finder Calendar view. This is very helpful as it gives the available seats for the next 355 days.

You can see that a one-way Business Class ticket would cost 75,000 Avios. Logging into the BA Executive Club Reward Flights section to get the full cost, you see:

Moving down the payment funnel, you can see that the calculated cost of a return Reward Flight Saver from London to Tokyo amounts to 150000 Avios and £ 582.17 in taxes. Equating a single Avios to 1p, the cash value of the return flights is £2082.17.

Compare with the cash price of tickets to the same destination

When logged into your BA Executive Club account, select “Pay with Cash” to pull up your flight options and their costs. Selecting the same flights from London to Tokyo the return price amounts to a whopping £3,682.52, £1,500 more than the value of your Reward Flight Saver.

In this case, you should pick the Reward Flight Saver option to receive the best deal on the ticket. If the Reward Flight Saver option had totalled more than £3,682.52, you would have been better off paying cash.

Which price you choose will depend on your individual circumstances but this is a useful way to calculate the trade-offs.

Best use of Reward Flight Saver

The best use of a Reward Flight Saver is for last-minute travel bookings when the Reward Flight Saver proves its worth.

Say you want to jet to Paris tomorrow. This would cost 6,200 Avios plus £90for a one-way flight. This is good value for money when compared to the equivalent cash price of £300. Using our rule of thumb, 6,200 Avios plus £90 = only £152 cash value.Pretty much half what you would pay with just cash.

Reward Flight Savers are also a fantastic way for those new to collecting Avios to use the small number of Avios they have, especially for short-haul routes.

Important points to note:

• You must have earned at least one Avios in the previous 12 months to be eligible.
• Reward Flight Savers are priced per flight, not per journey.
• Only flights operated by British Airways are eligible
• Always compare the cash price of a ticket to ensure you are getting the best value from your Avios.
• It’s worth mentioning that Avios tickets are typically more flexible than cash tickets, so any comparison to a cash ticket isn’t totally accurate if you expect to amend your plans. For example, passengers can cancel or amend an Avios ticket for a charge of £35 per person up to 24 hours before departure.
• Typically short-haul routes and last-minute flights are the best options when utilizing Reward Flight Savers.

Original Source — https://rewardflightfinder.com/news-and-advice/what-is-a-ba-reward-flight-saver