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Offers for the Iberia
British Airways Avios aren't just for flights to the United Kingdom or Europe. You can also redeem them for award flights on dozens of partner airlines, including
Here's how to search for award availability, book flights using British Airways Avios, and navigate the program's award pricing.
How To Book a British Airways Avios Award Flight
The easiest way to book an award flight using British Airways Avios is through the British Airways website. If you haven't already, you'll need to join the British Airways Club program, then log in to search for award availability.
To get started, hover over “Book” on the British Airways homepage and click on “Book a flight with Avios.”
Next, enter your departure and arrival airports, travel dates, cabin class, and number of passengers. You can search for either one-way or round-trip flights.
In this example, we're searching for a one-way economy flight from St. Louis (STL) to Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) on American Airlines.
British Airways will display the available award flights that match your search, including eligible partner flights. You may also see availability in other cabin classes, even if you selected economy.
Select a flight that works for you to view its award pricing.
You'll then see the number of Avios required, along with any applicable taxes, fees, and carrier-imposed surcharges.
You'll have to pay the $5.60 in taxes and fees. But if everything looks good, click “Continue.” On the next pages, follow the steps to enter your payment information and complete your booking.
Be sure to save your confirmation number. When booking partner flights, you may receive a separate confirmation number for the operating airline, which you'll often need to select seats or manage your reservation directly with that airline.
Finding British Airways and partner award availability
Most British Airways Oneworld partner awards can be searched and booked through the British Airways website. However, finding availability can take some patience, especially if your travel dates aren't flexible.
British Airways offers two tools for finding award space:
- Reward Flight Finder: Lets you search across dates and destinations, but only shows British Airways-operated flights.
- Search and book: Displays award availability on British Airways and its partners, including connecting itineraries, but requires searching specific travel dates.
If you're struggling to find partner award availability, third-party tools like Seats.aero can help you identify available award seats without searching each date individually.
You can also cross-check award availability through other partner airline websites, such as American Airlines or Alaska Airlines. Keep in mind that award space isn't always identical across
If you find partner award space elsewhere that isn't showing on British Airways, call the airline to see if an agent can book it. If the award can't be booked online, it's also worth asking whether any telephone booking fee can be waived.
Related: How To Avoid Paying High Fuel Surcharges When Booking Flights With Avios
British Airways Award Pricing
British Airways doesn't publish a traditional award chart for most flights, which can make figuring out how many Avios you'll need a little tricky. Pricing depends on several factors, including the airline operating your flight, the distance traveled, your cabin class, and, in some cases, whether you're flying during peak or off-peak dates.
To make things easier, we've reconstructed the Avios award chart using the most recent publicly available data and itineraries recently booked by AwardWallet members.
Award chart for British Airways-operated flights
British Airways uses distance-based pricing for its own award flights.
| Zone (Distance) | Economy (Off-Peak) | Economy (Peak) | Premium Economy (Off-Peak) | Premium Economy (Peak) | Business (Off-Peak) | Business (Peak) | First Class (Off-Peak) | First Class (Peak) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zone 1 (up to 650 miles) | 4,750 | 5,250 | Not Offered | Not Offered | 8,500 | 9,750 | Not Offered | Not Offered |
| Zone 2 (651 to 1,151 miles) | 7,250 | 8,250 | Not Offered | Not Offered | 13,500 | 15,750 | Not Offered | Not Offered |
| Zone 3 (1,152 to 2,000 miles) | 9,250 | 10,750 | Not Offered | Not Offered | 17,750 | 20,750 | Not Offered | Not Offered |
| Zone 4 (2,001 to 3,000 miles) | 10,000 | 12,500 | 20,000 | 25,000 | 31,250 | 37,500 | 42,500 | 50,000 |
| Zone 5 (3,001 to 4,000 miles) | 13,000 | 20,000 | 26,000 | 40,000 | 50,000 | 60,000 | 68,000 | 80,000 |
| Zone 6 (4,001 to 5,500 miles) | 16,250 | 25,000 | 32,500 | 50,000 | 62,500 | 75,000 | 85,000 | 100,000 |
| Zone 7 (5,501 to 6,500 miles) | 19,500 | 30,000 | 39,000 | 60,000 | 75,000 | 90,000 | 102,000 | 120,000 |
| Zone 8 (6,501 to 7,000 miles) | 22,750 | 35,000 | 45,500 | 70,000 | 87,500 | 105,000 | 119,000 | 140,000 |
| Zone 9 (7,001+ miles) | 32,500 | 50,000 | 65,000 | 100,000 | 125,000 | 150,000 | 170,000 | 200,000 |
For connecting itineraries, British Airways generally prices each flight segment separately rather than using the total distance traveled. You can use a tool like Great Circle Mapper to estimate the distance between airports, then reference the chart above to estimate how many Avios you'll need.
British Airways also offers several combinations of Avios and cash when booking award flights. Using more Avios lowers your out-of-pocket cost, but it doesn't necessarily provide the best redemption value. You'll want to compare the options before booking so you know which offers the best value for your Avios.
Related: British Airways Avios Plus Cash: Which Redemption Option Should You Pick?
Peak vs. off-peak pricing
Depending on your travel dates, you may see either off-peak or peak award prices for your trip. There's no published award calendar, so you'll need to perform an award search to check off-peak dates. You'll see these dates labeled in the date bar.
You can see up to a month of peak vs. off-peak pricing by clicking “Find availability with British Airways on other dates” or “Show peak and off-peak periods for British Airways” above the search results.
Generally, peak dates are during popular travel periods, including summer, the winter holidays and spring break.
Award chart for British Airways partner-operated flights
If your itinerary includes flights operated by British Airways partners, the number of Avios you'll need will depend on the airline you're flying. Unlike British Airways-operated flights, partner awards don't have peak or off-peak rates.
Here are links to our guides for pricing on some of the most popular British Airways partners:
- Alaska Airlines and American Airlines for flights within North America
- Use British Airways Avios on Qatar Airways
- Qantas for flights in Australia and the Pacific
- LATAM for flights in South America
You can find other partner award charts in our complete guide to British Airways partners.
British Airways also publishes a separate multi-carrier reward flights chart for itineraries that include two or more Oneworld partner airlines, with or without British Airways flights.
How To Redeem Avios for Maximum Value
Now that you know how to search and book Avios award flights, here are a few of the sweet spots for redeeming Avios:
- Fly to Hawaii using Avios on American Airlines or Alaska Airlines for as few as 22,000 Avios.
- Fly to Mexico or the Caribbean on American Airlines for as few as 13,500 Avios one-way in economy, including routes from Miami to Cancun and Grand Cayman.
- Book short-haul flights outside the U.S. for as few as 4,000 Avios one-way in economy, including Aer Lingus flights from London to Shannon.
- Boston to Dublin in Aer Lingus economy for as few as 13,000 Avios (Zone 5)
Earning British Airways Avios
British Airways Club members can earn Avios in many ways, with paid flights being the most obvious.
However, there are even better ways to boost your Avios balance. For instance, you can accrue points by making purchases with the British Airways Visa Signature® Card.
- 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
Currently, new cardholders can earn 75,000 bonus Avios after you spend $5,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening.
You can also transfer Avios between the seven airline programs that share the currency at a 1:1 ratio. For example, if you have some Avios in your Qatar Airways account, you can transfer these instantly, at no cost, to your British Airways Club account.
Or even better, you can transfer miles or points from other programs. The most common transfer partners are
Bottom Line
Despite a few drawbacks, British Airways Avios still hold solid value. Given that they can be used for flights on dozens of partner airlines across the globe, you have plenty of options for using your points.
And now that you know how to search for award availability and book flights using Avios, you can make the most of those opportunities.
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: British Airways Visa Signature® Card (Rates & Fees)
