It’s never good news when an airline sends out an important announcement at the end of the day on a Friday, but that’s exactly what British airlines has just done so, sending emails to customers informing them that it will increase prize ticket rates starting next Wednesday, May 27.
The airline is already known for imposing some of the highest surcharges on award tickets, where flights to and from its hub at London Heathrow Airport (LHR) can incur hundreds or even thousands of dollars in fees. And that’s on top of the Tackle brochures are exchanged for tickets.
It’s about to get worse, though.
British Airways emailed its Executive Club members the following message.
Although the email did not contain details of the price changes, it did direct readers to this page on the airline’s website. There, the exact amounts of the new surcharges were established as follows (the amounts indicated in US dollars were added by TPG):
- A round trip on Club World from London Heathrow to New York JFK will require 176,000 Avios + £499 ($671).
- A round trip on World Traveler from London Heathrow to Cape Town will require 66,000 Avios + £190 ($255).
- A one-way trip on Club Europa from London Heathrow to Rome will require 22,000 Avios + £20 ($27).
- A one-way trip on Euro Traveler from London Heathrow to Amsterdam will require 10,000 Avios + £2.50 ($3.40).
The airline noted that those Avios prices reflected off-peak dates.
How bad is this? Of course, a $3.40 surcharge on a short flight from London to Amsterdam doesn’t sound like much. But it does represent an increase over a single pound each way.
That round-trip flight from London to New York that generates almost $700 in expenses is pretty bad. This is an increase of $134, or 25%, over the base level of taxes and fees we currently see.
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That said, taxes and surcharges on these flights can already be much higher. Take, for example, this round-trip off-peak business class award from London to New York. It costs 176,000 Avios and a whopping $759.90 including taxes and fees.
So in reality, passengers are already paying much higher taxes and fees in some cases for British Airways award tickets.
Also note that this comes after British Airways. the cost has already gone up in Avios and award flight surcharges in December.
Higher rates may be here to stay
Unfortunately, British Airways is far from alone in increasing award fares, trend that has only accelerated with the current conflict in the Middle East.
Among the other airlines that have been cutting passengers, Air France/KLM increased its fuel surcharges to 50 euros (about $57) for round-trip flights, including paid and award tickets.
Another SkyTeam airline, Scandinavian Airlines, has also said it has increased fuel-related surcharges, and in March, Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific raised additional fees from $149 to $200.
Both Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways also now charge more on flights between the continental US and Japan; just under $170.
In short, passengers will be increasingly squeezed as fuel prices continue to rise.
In a nutshell
British Airways is increasing its already high surcharges on award tickets. That’s bad news, but considering how much the airline charges for these tickets, some passengers may not notice it much. However, if you have an upcoming award ticket that you need to reserve, please do so before these changes go into effect on May 27.
In the meantime, you may want to compare the fares paid with the cost of award tickets with Avios, as those taxes and fees may mean paying cash is the best option for you. After all, if a round-trip bus ticket costs $600 but fares for an award ticket are $400, you’d be better off saving your Avios for other redemptions and just eating the extra $200 in taxes and fees.
