British Airways Reward Flight Saver

British Airways Executive Club is the most used Air Miles scheme in the UK. British Airways offers very reasonable redemptions for premium classes on long haul routes, even though in most cases taxes are extremely high. There are a handful of ways to get around the high taxes, but that’s not the subject of today’s article… Today, we are looking at how you could fly to some amazing destinations in Europe for only 8,000 Avios + £35 return! Let’s have a look at how booking with this scheme (British Airways Reward Flight Saver), could be a smart use of Avios.

British Airways 787 by @josephtakingpics on Instagram

First of all, European short haul redemptions aren’t always regarded as good value… If you look at booking European flights through Lufthansa’s Miles & More, short hops around Europe could set you back at least 30,000 miles return, which is quite poor value… Furthermore, the taxes on those flights may even be higher than buying a cash ticket!! Personally, I would rather save up those miles, and fly one-way to North America from Europe, in business class for only 51,000 Lufthansa miles. Secondly, over the years, the cost of travelling is only going one way and that’s down. Miles are constantly losing value in spite of the lower than ever cash alternatives.

British Airways A320 by @anto.spotting on Instagram

Reward Flight Saver tickets have capped taxes no matter the destination under 2,000 miles. This RFS (Reward Flight Saver) pricing applies automatically when searching/booking a reward flight through the British Airways portal, only if you are eligible.

Eligibility & Conditions

A few conditions apply in order to be able to purchase a RFS ticket:

- You must have earned at least 1 Avios in the past 12 months.

-You can’t fly on any partner airlines (Iberia, Finnair…), you can only fly on BA or a BA franchise (such as Comair or Sun-AIR).

-Contrary to long haul trips beginning somewhere outside London, domestic flights are not free. If you want to fly EDI-LHR-GVA, you will be charged the RFS pricing twice. With EDI-LHR-JFK, the EDI-LHR segment is free of charge (when booking with Avios).

Distance flown/ flight segment	(off peak/peak) Economy	(off peak/peak) Premium Economy	(off peak/peak) Business	(off peak/peak) First
Zone 1 (0-650 miles)	4,000/4,500 Avios	5,750/6,750 Avios	7,750/9,000 Avios	15,500/18,000 Avios
Zone 2 (651-1,150 miles)	6,500/7,500 Avios	9,500/11,250 Avios	12,750/15,000 Avios	25,500/30,000 Avios
Zone 3 (1,150-2000 miles)	8,500/10,000 Avios	12,750/15,000 Avios	17,000/20,000 Avios	34,000/40,000 Avios
Taxes	£17.50 / 21€	£20/24€	£25 / 31€	£27.50 / 33€

Reward chart for mobile users (photo)

One way RFS business fare from Heathrow to Geneva highlited in yellow

You can purchase a RFS ticket when the highlited icon shows

One way RFS economy fare highlited in yellow

You can also purchase upgrades with RFS pricing (3,750 Avios + £7.50 per one way upgrade from economy to business)

2 one-way fares are often cheaper than a return ticket

Indeed, British Airways has dropped their fuel surcharges on many European destinations. This may lead to your inbound £17.50 flight costing more in fees than it really should.

With the example of Dublin in zone 1, a return Euro traveller ticket off peak would cost 8,000 Avios + £35 in taxes. If you book this trip as 2 one-way flights, the outbound leg from Heathrow to Dublin will cost 4,000 Avios + £17.50. However, the one-way inbound ticket will only cost 4,000 Avios + £11. You could potentially save with this example £6.50!!

British Airways 747 by @josephtakingpics on Instagram

Comair flights in South Africa (BA Franchise) & fifth freedom routes

If you wish to use your Avios on a flight to Cape Town, you will have a hard time finding availability with BA’s monopoly on this route. Instead, you could fly to Johannesburg and use Comair to Cape Town. RFS pricing is also used on these routes. The taxes are higher than normal though, with a business return ticket costing £140 in taxes and £80 for return economy tickets. Always check cash ticket prices because they will most probably end up cheaper and will save you a few hard-earned Avios. If looking for flights between the UK and Scandinavia, you can fly there for 9,000 Avios and £35 in economy return to Billund! These flights are served by Sun-AIR from Manchester and London City. You can also use RFS from Germany to Scandinavia with Sun-AIR.

You can also purchase a RFS ticket on fifth freedom routes in the Caribbean! Club World is 15,500 to 18,000 Avios + £50 return. Turks & Caicos is a longer flight from Antigua (where most BA fifth freedom routes start from) and costs 25,500 – 30,000 Avios + £50 in Club World, return, depending on dates.

G-EUOH landing at Geneva. Picture by @flyswiss001 on Instagram

Flights to Moscow

LHR-DME is often operated by a long-haul aircraft (787). Moscow sits in zone 3, therefore, you can purchase a RFS First class ticket! If you want to get your hands on a first-class experience and not spend all of your Avios, why not fly to Russia? Redemptions are available for 34,000 Avios + £27.50! Why not try out a Club World lie flat bed? That’s also possible! Club World lie flat beds are also available on a daily flight to Madrid from Heathrow.

Final Thoughts

Is it worth it? Well, in most scenarios, YES! With this pricing, you can experience a First Class and Business Class product without blowing all of your Avios savings. The scheme is also beneficial for last minute bookings during peak seasons, like Geneva in the ski season. But beware… on some occasions, booking cash tickets on other carriers (especially low cost carriers like EasyJet) or even BA, may work out a lot cheaper. I would value Avios at 1.1p/Avios which means that, if you find a cash return ticket on another airline for less than £123 (1.1 x 8,000 + 3500) less than 650 miles from London, then RFS does not make much sense.

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