British Airways increase reward flight prices – but why?

British Airways have decided to increase reward flight prices from 15 December 2025. That means the price of an Avios reward flight will now cost you more than it did previously, both in points and taxes.

It’s remarkable how BA continue to give their frequent flyers Christmas presents like this. As you probably know, last year they destroyed their BA Executive Club and introduced the bland “British Airways Club” in its place. That sent a whole load of people off to other airlines, me included.

New Reward Flight Pricing

For those wondering, there is information on the British Airways website that shows the new rates. To save you the trouble, I have included a screenshot of the page below.

European redemptions are going up by just a shade, which is generally fine. It’s a different story for long haul flights, which is what you really want to save up the Avios for. These have gone up by more, and have increased taxes to boot.

British Airways has its reasons…

Why would BA decide to increase reward flight prices? Well, they tell you. And I quote, “We’ve kept our Reward Flight prices at the same level for some time, but we’re having to make these changes as a result of increasing Air Passenger Duty and third-party charges, as well as changing market conditions and ongoing inflation.”

Poor British Airways. They must not be making very much money. Obviously they need to cover their costs a little better. Well, I delved into the latest IAG Annual Report for 2024 to see how much they are struggling.

It turns out they made a profit before exceptional items of €2,048,000,000. Yes, that’s two billion Euros. Or, almost two point four billion American dollars. Or three point six billion Australian dollars.

An airline that is printing money has decided to nickle and dime their frequent flyers out of their hard earned Avios, because of “Air Passenger Duty”, “third-party charges”, “changing market conditions”, and “inflation”. Yep, they just want to make more money, and you’re it.

Overall Thoughts

The hits just keep on coming for British Airways frequent flyers. Some people believe this is a sure sign that are not going to dynamic redemption pricing, but I wouldn’t be so sure.

When a massively profitable enterprise continues to turn the screws on their customers, you can guarantee nothing is off the table. Luckily I jumped ship as soon as they let me know what they thought of my loyalty.

What do you think of the changes to the BA reward flight prices? Justifiable in this climate? Will it impact your spending? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.

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Featured image via One Mile At A Time.