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One of the most frustrating things you can encounter when booking an award flight is finding out that your “free” flight isn't really all that free. Discovering that an award redemption requires you to pay hundreds or even thousands in “carrier-imposed surcharges” can be a true punch to the gut.
You can talk with any frequent flyer and they'll consistently bring up one airline in particular when it comes to outrageous fuel surcharges: British Airways. When redeeming Avios through the British Airways Club frequent flyer program, it's common to come across fuel surcharges of up to $1,000 each way. Requiring both Avios and cash to cover fuel surcharges makes premium cabin redemptions with Avios significantly less appealing.
Thankfully, there are a few ways to avoid these costly carrier-imposed fees and surcharges. This guide includes the most effective and up-to-date strategies that allow you to avoid British Airways' fuel surcharges when redeeming Avios.
Page Contents
- Just How Bad Are British Airways Fuel Surcharges?
- How to Avoid British Airways Fuel Surcharges When Redeeming Avios
- Use the statement credits on the British Airways Visa Signature® Card
- Redeem Avios for transatlantic flights on Aer Lingus
- Redeem Avios for transatlantic awards on Iberia
- Redeem Avios for British Airways flights within Europe for a flat fee
- Completely avoid fuel surcharges within the Americas (including Hawaii)
- Redeem Avios for Qantas flights within Australia
- Book domestic awards within Japan on JAL
- Depart from a destination that limits fuel surcharges
- Getting to London Without Paying British Airways Surcharges
- Earning Avios
- Final Thoughts
Just How Bad Are British Airways Fuel Surcharges?
The UK's flag carrier – British Airways — is notorious for its hefty carrier-imposed surcharges on award travel. These high fees are especially common on flights across the Atlantic. While British Airways reduced fuel surcharges on some partner awards, fuel surcharges on its own routes remain quite high.
British Airways recently raised Avios across the board. Currently, you'll have to pay $508 out-of-pocket for a one-way business class award to London from the West Coast of the United States. That's on top of the already steep 99,000 Avios you need to book this 0ff-peak award flight.
Booking British Airways business class award flights through BA, you'll pay at least $1,000 roundtrip in carrier-imposed surcharges and fees, in addition to the Avios cost.
There are a few additional solutions to avoid fuel surcharges when booking with Avios. As a founding partner of the oneworld Alliance, British Airways partners with numerous airlines that don't pass along these atrocious fees. When redeeming Avios with certain partner airlines, award tickets come with significantly lower surcharges. In some cases, British Airways partners levy no surcharges whatsoever.
Related: The Ultimate Guide to Booking British Airways Avios Award Flights
How to Avoid British Airways Fuel Surcharges When Redeeming Avios
Here are some of the top ways to reduce the out-of-pocket costs or avoid fuel surcharges entirely (also known as “carrier-imposed surcharges”) when redeeming Avios.
Use the statement credits on the British Airways Visa Signature® Card
The British Airways Visa Signature® Card offers one of the only tools that directly offsets the airline's high surcharges. Cardholders can receive up to $600 each year in statement credits to help cover taxes, fees, and fuel surcharges on flights operated by British Airways. This is one of the card's best benefits as these statement credits can significantly reduce the out-of-pocket expenses that come with the card year-over-year.
Cardholders can take advantage of this benefit on up to three bookings per year. The amount a cardholder receives in statement credits on a booking depends on the cabin booked. Here's how the British Airways Visa Signature® Card awards this statement credit by cabin:
- Get a $100 credit for economy (World Traveler).
- Get a $100 credit for premium economy (World Traveler Plus).
- Get a $200 credit for business class (Club World).
- Get a $200 credit for First Class.
You can learn more about this cardholder benefit in our detailed guide here.
In addition to offering cardholders up to $600 in statement credits annually, the British Airways Visa Card also comes with a solid welcome bonus and additional benefits.
- Earn 75,000 Avios after you spend $5,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening.
- Earn 3 Avios per $1 spent on purchases with British Airways, Aer Lingus, Iberia, and LEVEL.
- Earn 2 Avios per $1 spent on hotel accommodations when purchased directly with the hotel.
- 10% off British Airways flights starting in the US when you book through the website provided in your welcome materials.
- Every calendar year you make $30,000 in purchases on your British Airways Visa card, you'll earn a Travel Together Ticket good for two years.
- Pay no foreign transaction fees when you travel abroad.
- Simply tap to pay with your contactless British Airways Visa Signature Card. Just look for the contactless symbol at checkout. It's fast, easy and secure!
- Member FDIC
- 3X Avios per $1 spent on purchases with British Airways, Aer Lingus, Iberia, and LEVEL
- 2X Avios per $1 spent on hotel accommodations
- 1X Avios for every $1 spent on all other purchases
Related: Best Credit Cards for Travel Purchases
Redeem Avios for transatlantic flights on Aer Lingus
Aer Lingus offers one of the easiest ways to cross the Atlantic using Avios without British Airways-level surcharges.
Flights operated by Aer Lingus still incur fees and surcharges but they are significantly less than those found on flights operated by British Airways. Take this Aer Lingus business class flight
The key to avoiding the higher fees surcharges is to book through Aer Lingus, not British Airways. The airlines share the same Avios mileage currency, and you can freely transfer Avios between all the Avios-earning programs – incuding Aer Lingus, Finnair, Iberia, Qatar — at a 1:1 ratio. So you can easily move your British Airways Avios into your Aer Lingus AerClub account to book these awards with fewer fees.
For more information on how to book Aer Lingus flights with Avios, check out AwardWallet's detailed guide in our post on how to find and book Avios awards.
Redeem Avios for transatlantic awards on Iberia
Spanish flag carrier Iberia is another Avios-earning airline that offers great redemption rates and significantly lower surcharges compared to British Airways. But using your Avios for flights with Iberia will take a bit more forethought and planning.
You can transfer Avios from your British Airways or another airline in the Avios family like Aer Lingus, Finnair, or Qatar to Iberia at a 1:1 ratio. Just keep in mind that your Iberia Club account needs to be open for at least 90 days to be eligible for transfers between accounts and have some kind of account activity on it.
Iberia operates nonstop flights between Madrid (MAD) and multiple major U.S. cities, including New York (JFK), Miami (MIA), and Chicago (ORD), among others. After recent devaluations, long-haul flights between the U.S. East Coast and Spain now cost 16,000 Avios each way in economy and 40,500 Avios each way in business class on off-peak dates.
Surcharges for business class on Iberia are typically less than a third of what you’ll need to cough up to fly business on British Airways metal. Currently, Avios fees are around $92 each way from the U.S. in economy, and $127 each way in business.
It ends up being a win-win: Not only are the surcharges reduced but the award is also less expensive than booking a similar flight through BA – even with the recent devaluation.
Redeem Avios for British Airways flights within Europe for a flat fee
Instead of the sky-high — and sometimes variable — carrier-imposed fees and surcharges found on British Airways' transatlantic Avios redemptions, intra-European award flights incur a flat fee. Surcharges for intra-European award flights on British Airways start as low as $2.
If flying British Airways, you'll also have the ability to choose just how much you want to pay in cash and Avios. For example, an economy award from London (LHR) to Paris (CDG) is available for 10,000 Avios + $2. However, that same flight is also available at the following rates:
- 9,400 Avios + $12 USD
- 8,000 Avios + $22 USD
- 5,250 Avios + $37 USD — generally the best balance of Avios and cash
- 4,150 Avios + $67 USD
- 3,250 Avios + $82 USD
Utilizing your Avios for flights throughout Europe operated by British Airways can be a great way to reposition for another flight or to explore the continent. Additionally, intra-European Avios awards are quite cheap with plenty of availability.
Completely avoid fuel surcharges within the Americas (including Hawaii)
Despite devaluations over the years, redeeming British Airways Avios for flights within the Americas remains one of the best ways to redeem these points. If you book flights operated by American Airlines or Alaska Airlines within the Americas — including flights to Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, Central and South America, and even Hawaii — you'll completely avoid fuel surcharges using Avios.
You’ll pay 22,000 Avios and $5.60 to fly on Alaska Airlines from San Francisco (SFO) to Honolulu (HNL). You also can redeem Avios on flights to Hawaii operated by American Airlines and eventually Hawaiian Airlines as the airline is set to join the Oneworld alliance April 2026.
Another solid Avios redemption in the Americas is flying from Miami (MIA) to South America, including as far south as Buenos Aires, Argentina (EZE), on American Airlines for 28,500 Avios and just $5.60 in fees and charges.
Finding and booking Avios awards for flights with American Airlines and Alaska Airlines can be done through The British Airways Club website with ease. If you can't find a flight but see award availability on a partner's website, you can still call British Airways to check whether that flight can be booked with Avios.
Redeem Avios for Qantas flights within Australia
Australia is one of the more expensive destinations to reach from the U.S. and Europe. Even domestic travel within Australia can be quite costly. However, domestic travel on Qantas when booked using Avios is a relatively cheap and effective way of getting around the country.
Qantas is the largest domestic carrier in Australia and using Avios can open up fantastic domestic award rates. These Avios award rates are also much better than those found when redeemping Qantas points for the same flights. All you’ll pay are the government taxes and fees, avoiding fuel surcharges entirely.
Redeeming Avios for an economy award from Sydney (SYD) to Melbourne (MEL) will set you back just 6,500 Avios and around $38 in taxes and fees. There is typically plenty of Avios award availability in economy and even some in business class.
Book domestic awards within Japan on JAL
Similar to domestic travel within Australia, booking domestic awards within Japan on Japan Airlines (JAL) often delivers solid value. Flights between Tokyo (HND) and Osaka (ITM) start at 12,000 Avios. Award travel within Japan comes with the tiniest of fees, if any and you'll fully avoid fuel surcharges.
Just make sure you check cash prices before booking with Avios. Although domestic flights in Japan aren't always cheap, the award rates were hiked last year on these short routes. However, since Japan is such a small country, Avios’ distance-based award chart makes traveling throughout the nation quite affordable.
You can travel in both J Class (business class) or economy class on flights that make up JAL's robust domestic network. However, award space is usually only plentiful in economy.
Depart from a destination that limits fuel surcharges
A few countries have prohibited or significantly limited an airline's ability to impose fuel surcharges. These limitations on fuel surcharges also apply to award travel. However, these limitations only apply to flights departing these destinations. Flights to these destinations will still incur any applicable carrier-imposed fees and surcharges from your origin.
As of writing, the following countries have restrictions or bans on carrier-imposed surcharges:
- Australia
- Brazil
- New Zealand
- Turkey
- Vietnam
If you redeem Avios for a flight departing from one of the countries listed above, you'll be able to avoid costly fees and fuel surcharges. While Hong Kong is one of these countries on the list above, British Airways carrier surcharges on Avios redemptions for flights operated by Cathay Pacific are still similar to (but a bit less) than booking with Asia Miles, the currency of Hong Kong's flag carrier.
American Airlines business class from New Zealand is a great example of an award flight you can book with Avios from these destinations.
Getting to London Without Paying British Airways Surcharges
You might have noticed that none of these alternatives provide a clear solution to redeeming Avios for flights between the U.S. and the United Kingdom So what do you do if you want to redeem Avios for a flight from New York City to London, but also want to avoid those hefty carrier-imposed fees and surcharges?
Unfortunately, there isn't a great way to do this. British Airways levies surcharges not only on the carrier's own flights but also on flights operated by American Airlines. Here's one potential way to book flights between the U.S. and the U.K. using Avios without incurring pricey carrier-imposed surcharges.
Step 1: Book an award flight to a non-U.K. destination
To book a flight from the U.S. to Europe without incurring high carrier-imposed fees and surcharges, find an award flight to any destination outside of the U.K. through a partner airline.
There are a few other countries within Europe that you may also want to avoid as a result of high taxes on air travel including award flights. France recently hiked its “Solidarity Tax” which applies to all passengers on flights departing the country. So, while your inbound flights to France wouldn't see significant taxes or fees, your departing flight to U.K. would.
For step one, you could book an Aer Lingus flight to Dublin, an Iberia flight to Madrid, a Finnair flight to Helsinki (HEL), or an American Airlines flight to anywhere on the continent, to name a few. The key is that this flight cannot be operated by British Airways or fly through London.
Sample Itinerary:
- New York (JFK) to Madrid (MAD) in business class, booked through and operated by Iberia
- Avios required: 59,000 (peak season rates)
- Current fees and surcharges: $127
Once you've found a flight from the U.S. to a gateway in Europe, you can move on to step two.
Step 2: Book a flight from mainland Europe to the United Kingdom
Next, find a flight from your arrival city in step one to your desired destination in the U.K. You can book a relatively inexpensive award flight from mainland Europe to the U.K. through any of the following Avios-earning airlines: Aer Lingus, British Airways, Finnair, Loganair, Qatar Airways, or Vueling.
Sample Itinerary:
- Madrid (MAD) to London (LHR) in business class, booked through British Airways, operated by Iberia
- Avios required: 16,500
- Current fees and surcharges: $33.40
Once you've found availability for both flights, book both award flights. Keep in mind that this workaround results in you having two separate itineraries. If something goes wrong on the first itinerary (from the U.S. to Europe), you may incur change fees or end up forfeiting your second itinerary. So it's best to leave plenty of time between flights.
Step 3: Calculate your savings
All said and done, the out-of-pocket cost of these two itineraries is just $161 one-way. The total number of Avios required is 75,500. And that's for business class the entire length of the journey. You can save even more by booking the intra-Europe flight in economy.
To compare, let's see what this itinerary would cost if we redeemed Avios for a flight operated by British Airways around the same dates:
- New York (JFK) to London (LHR) in business class operated by British Airways
- Total Avios required: 88,000
- Current fees and surcharges: $408
By following the above formula, you'll spend fewer Avios and pay significantly fewer taxes and carrier-imposed fees.
Earning Avios
If you're still a bit short on Avios and need a few more for your next award flight, it’s worth looking at the latest offer on the British Airways Visa Signature® Card, which could land you 75,000 bonus Avios after you spend $5,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening.
The card's current welcome offer is a great way to kickstart your Avios balance for your next big trip — hopefully using one of the methods to avoid fuel surcharges.
Additional travel rewards credit cards that offer Avios via welcome bonuses include the Aer Lingus Visa Signature® Card and Iberia Visa Signature® Card.
While not always a great value, you can always buy additional Avios. Be sure to keep an eye out for offers that allow you to buy Avios with a bonus or discount. During promotional periods, purchasing Avios can become a feasible and lucrative way of topping off your account.
If you have a travel rewards credit card that earns transferrable points, there's a good chance you can transfer those points to British Airways or another airline that uses Avios.
Final Thoughts
British Airways is notorious for imposing hefty fuel surcharges which can sometimes approach $1,000 one-way for flights in First Class. That said, if you take the time to learn which airlines don’t add outrageous carrier-imposed surcharges when booking with Avios, and which regions those rules apply to, you’ll save yourself hundreds — possibly thousands — of dollars over time.
If you have any questions on how to avoid fuel surcharges, or if we’ve missed any airlines or regions, please let us know in the comments below.
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: British Airways Visa Signature® Card (Rates & Fees)
The comments on this page are not provided, reviewed, or otherwise approved by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
Could someone confirm if AerLingus is now charging fuel surcharge on avios bookings. I just called into BA Executive Club and tried to book two business class tickets (yyz to dub) one way for 60000 avios points each for next summer. When the BA person confirmed it, it was going to cost over $575.91 cdn per person in fees which seems high. When asked about the fees.. BA could not divulge the breakdown and said to call AerLingus.
I have done tickets to the above previously via Executive Club and into AerLingus to get a break on the fuel surcharge. This is one of the remaining sweet spots in using avios to get across the ocean without large fees to pay. Fees were never as high as what they are saying today.
I cancelled the transaction as I want further clarification of what the new charges are via AerLingus and BA using Avios.
Any insight by anyone is greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance and Happy Holidays to my fellow travelers.
I transferred my small BA Avios balance to Qatar Airways earlier this year to avoid expiration and also take advantage of a bonus Qatar Privilege Club was offering for new signups.
Can BA New York to London award be booked without fuel surcharges by booking through Qatar Privilege Club, or are there other ways to use BA Avios transferred to Qatar Privilege Club Avios without incurring fuel surcharges?
Qatar’s partner award chart is quite miserable. The best use of Qatar Avios is on its own flights. If that doesn’t work, you can transfer all of your Avios back to BA if you want.
If we are using a companion ticket on BA is it possible to use another airline to avoid the surcharges?
Unfortunately not. That’s the “catch” with the BA companion offer.
Good insight – never realised the lower QF charges intra-Oz using Avios.
Top QF redemption SYD-LDH (Lord Howe Island). Often $1500+ because tourist visitors per day coming in are capped. Paradise and all for a handful of Avios!
I like using Avios to the Caribe on AA metal, low fees and redemptions from Florida
Now that (UK) Avios Travel Rewards is being wound down it will be interesting to see if these little workarounds to save taxes and fees will still be possible.
I am surprised you didn’t mention the option of transferring Avios to Iberia’s program, who also has considerably lower surcharges for flights to and ex-MAD.
Great point. Avios for flights on Iberia definitely provides a better value than through BA!
How ironic and shameful that flights on BA metal represent one of the worst uses of Avios
“This region also includes a bunch of BA fifth-freedom flights within the Caribbean which island hop between the likes of Antigua, Tobago, St Kitts, Grenada, and St Lucia.”
Interested in this option, but don’t understand what you are referencing (?). Which airline, and whre do I search?
BA offers these flights — Search BA.com within the Caribbean. A great resource is this FlyerTalk thread/wiki: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/british-airways-executive-club/1691770-ba-fifth-freedom-flights-caribbean.html
Basically: avoid using on BA
Great post, thanks for the breakdown! Avios can be frustrating to use.
Another great use of Avios is short LAM flights in South America at 4500 miles.
I’ve done 3 or 4 domestic flights with LAM Peru for 4500 miles and 4£ of taxes.
Almost doesn’t ever make sense to use Avios on BA. So many partners that you could absolutely avoid high fees. Intra-Europe is one logical use since they have so many destinations. How available are the flights to Hawaii I wonder?
Great article….if you can save on the charges then AVIOS becomes pretty valuable points to have
This is useful guide for maximizing Avios. Taxes are annoying.
Yeah I was very shocked when I looked on their website and saw the amount I would have to pay to use miles with BA! Good to know that maybe I should really just use them intra Europe, GB, etc. I see the benefit to using their partners but I’m very wary about using one airline to book another. If there is a problem, often you run into issues to be able to rebook.
How often has anyone had issues booking from one freq flier account with an airline’s partner?
Great article. I know that many flights departing from Hong Kong are with minimal charges. Other departure cities with very low charges are Kuwait, Tokyo and Rio de Janeiro. Definitely worth using Avios on those routes!
Some great tips to have as knowledge when trying to pay minimal taxes onbredemptiin flights. BA are one of the worse for charging out there.
flying with avios out of london was expensive!
It would be nice if the BA certificate from Chase was good on other airlines. Unfortunately it is only good on BA with their high fuel charges.
Thanks. This chart is helpful and I’ll use this to figure out when to use avios vs aadvantage
I just flew from LHR to JFK last week, award flight with AA miles, still over $500 in taxes and fees with BA. I find going out of Dublin is much cheaper than England, and I love Irelands airport with USA customs right at the gate, Best way to go! Love Dublin Airport.
There are some very good avios redemptions mentioned in the article that show real value. They make a lot more sense than British Airways flights between US and UK.
There was something about flying to europe from to south america as well to avoid the surchages
Fuel costs go down. Fuel surcharges go up. Fuel costs go up. Fuel surcharges go up. Fuel costs do nothing. Fuel surcharges go up. Pretty standard pattern in my view.
Great information!! I didn’t realize there was a way around this. Thanks so much!
This is a fantastic article! I typically avoid Avios as I’m not interested in paying their ridiculous fuel surcharges. I’ll definitely have to bookmark this!
For Avios transfers between BA and IB accounts, don’t you also need to have at least one qualifying activity in your IB account before you can start transferring miles?
Maybe I’m wrong, but just wanted to check as I think I heard about this requirement somewhere before.
JL, great point that we forgot. I added a note about it.
Glad I could contribute something! 🙂
Fantastic. It is certainly a very large economy. Charging the fuel rate is a device to hurt consumers. Thanks for the tip.
When redeeming Avios, the only tine it’s even close to being worth paying BA’s fuel surcharges is when flying a Premium cabin & using the Travel Together Ticket.
so long as you can keep the charges down it’s worth using your AVIOS
Good to know that there are ways to avoid paying high fuel surcharges.
I can’t tell you how many times I thought I scored an awesome BA awards trip, only to get deflated when seeing the fees. This is an awesome alternative.
Thanks!