Avios pricing explainedPeak and off-peak, Reward Flight Saver and Avios + money options

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What we'd do first: log in to ba.com, open the Reward Flight Finder, and search your route across a range of dates. Write down the Avios and cash price for the same cabin on three or four nearby dates. The lowest Avios figure is the cheaper date; that is usually how you'll spot off-peak pricing, because BA doesn't publish a single peak/off-peak calendar on the pages we checked.

The three ways to pay with Avios

BA's Reward Flights page sets out three options:

• Reward Flight: "a fixed cash cost, inclusive of taxes, fees and carrier charges plus an Avios amount". BA's examples, "correct as of May 2026", are Europe, the UK and Ireland "from 10,000 Avios + £2.50 each-way", further afield "from just 55,000 Avios + £150 return" and a Club World business seat "from 154,000 Avios + £350 return".
• Avios & Money: "The fewer Avios used, the more you will pay in cash. At checkout, you will be presented with a range of Avios & Money payment options, where available."
• Avios part payment: a normal cash fare that you "reduce… with as little as 1,000 Avios". BA's Conditions of Use set a minimum cash payment of £1 and say Avios and tier points are earned as for the cash ticket (BA Club Conditions of Use, Avios part payment clauses 2 and 9, checked 13 Nov 2026).

These are "from" prices. Your route, cabin and date will usually cost more, and seats are subject to availability. Partner flights are different: BA says the cash for taxes, fees and carrier charges on partners "is variable rather than fixed", and the Avios "may vary from British Airways".

Peak and off-peak: how the date sets the price

BA's wording is short: "Your chosen date of travel will dictate if you pay a peak or off-peak Avios amount." Two things follow.

1. Each direction is priced on its own date. BA says "you can choose all peak dates, all off-peak dates or a mixture of the two". If your outbound is off-peak and your return falls on a peak date, you pay one of each.
2. Moving one date can change the price. A return that starts a day earlier or later may drop out of a peak period. That's why the first step is a flexible-date search, not a single date.

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Worked example (hypothetical numbers, not BA prices): suppose a route costs 10,000 Avios off-peak and 12,500 Avios peak each way, one person.

• Off-peak both ways: 10,000 + 10,000 = 20,000 Avios
• One peak, one off-peak: 10,000 + 12,500 = 22,500 Avios
• Peak both ways: 12,500 + 12,500 = 25,000 Avios

Moving both dates out of peak saves 5,000 Avios in this illustration. On BA, the real figures show on ba.com when you search; school holidays and bank holidays are the dates to check first if you're travelling as a family (see Avios for a family holiday in the school holidays).

If you've already booked: BA says "When changing from a peak to off-peak date, we'll refund any difference in Avios price", but for Avios part payment bookings "we'll be unable to refund any difference in the money portion". Going the other way, from off-peak to peak, "may require additional Avios".

Reward Flight Saver: what's fixed and what isn't

Reward Flight Saver (RFS) is the rule behind the fixed cash amount on BA flights. From BA's Conditions of Use (Reward Flight Saver clauses, checked 13 Nov 2026):

• It's available to members "who have earned at least one Avios in the 12 months prior to booking". If your account has been quiet for a year, earn a single Avios before you book.
• You pay "a flat cash price in respect of taxes, fees and charges… in place of the actual taxes".
• It applies to "selected British Airways-operated flights in selected cabin classes", not to franchise, codeshare or partner flights, and every sector in the booking must qualify.
• "The RFS Flat cash price payable is based on a booking for a return flight, and for one-way flights will be 50% of the stated RFS flat cash price."
• A connecting trip that isn't domestic pays two RFS flat prices.
• If the actual taxes are lower than the RFS price, you pay the actual taxes.
• "RFS Avios and cash prices may vary by date."
• Changes are allowed for a fee; there's no refund within 24 hours of departure, and name changes aren't allowed. BA may restrict combining RFS with Companion Vouchers and similar offers.

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Worked example (hypothetical prices, not BA quotes): suppose a European return shows 24,000 Avios + £20 for one person. One-way on the same route would be 12,000 Avios + £10, because the one-way RFS price is half the return (the 50% rule in action). Two people on the return pay 48,000 Avios + £40. BA's own published examples are dated ("correct as of May 2026") and may have changed, so check the price ba.com shows for your dates. Regional departures follow the same rules; our guide to Reward Flight Saver from regional airports covers connections through London.

Avios & Money: choosing the right mix

At checkout BA may offer several Avios & Money combinations. BA doesn't publish the ladder, so here's how to judge whatever it shows you.

The test: for each step down in Avios, divide the extra cash by the Avios you save. That's what you're paying per Avios. Compare it with what an Avios is worth to you. In this article we assume 1p per Avios; that's a Credit Club working figure, not a BA value. For context, buying Avios outright costs about 1.75p each at the best advertised rate ("up to 57 Avios / £1", avios.com, checked 13 Nov 2026; 100 ÷ 57 = 1.75p).

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Worked example (hypothetical options, one return, one person):

On a 1p assumption, steps A to B and B to C are worth taking (you pay 0.70p to keep an Avios you value at 1p). C to D isn't (1.10p). So C is the best mix here. If you value Avios more highly, say because you're saving for a long-haul business trip, you'd step further down; if you value them less, stay at A.

Two rules to know before you click: Avios & Money is limited to BA and a named list of partner airlines, codeshares excluded, and "it is not possible to change the price option chosen once a booking has been made" (Conditions of Use, Avios & Money clauses 2 and 6). Cancelling more than 24 hours ahead refunds the cash and taxes and re-credits the Avios, less the standard charges; within 24 hours there's no refund (clauses 8 and 9).

Avios part payment: when it fits

Part payment is a cash booking. You pick a fare, then use Avios to cut the price, from 1,000 Avios. Because it's a cash ticket, it earns Avios and tier points as the commercial ticket does, and the Avios are refundable only where the fare is refundable (Conditions of Use, part payment clauses 9 and 10). It's the fallback when there's no reward seat at all, because any seat BA sells for cash can be part-paid. BA doesn't publish a fixed rate, so check the pence per Avios before you accept: (cash fare − cash you still pay) ÷ Avios used. Our guide to when cash beats Avios walks through that sum.

Timing a booking for off-peak dates

• Search a range of dates, not one. The Reward Flight Finder lets you search up to three destinations across a date range; BA's reward availability page explains its tools.
• Book each direction on its cheapest date. Mixing is allowed.
• Know the minimums. BA says flights to and from Heathrow and Gatwick carry at least 8 economy, 2 premium economy and 4 business reward seats, and London City at least 2 Club Europe and 2 Euro Traveller. That's a floor when the flight is loaded, not a promise that seats are left when you search. Our guide on how to find BA reward seats covers search tactics.
• Keep the Avios account active. BA's Reward Flight Saver needs one Avios earned in the previous 12 months.

If the first option fails

1. No off-peak seat? Price a peak date in one direction only; a mixed return can still be cheaper than peak both ways.
2. No BA reward seat at all? Try another London airport, or a partner flight booked through BA (charges are variable, so compare the total). Some partner programmes price the same flights differently: see lower fees on Avios redemptions through Iberia, Qatar or Aer Lingus.
3. Not enough Avios? Use Avios & Money, pool Avios in a BA household account, or have a friend or family member share Avios; BA lists all three. Buying the shortfall can work too: see buying Avios: when a sale makes sense. If you hold Amex Membership Rewards, transfers to BA are 1:1 and instant (see where Amex Membership Rewards points transfer in the UK).
4. Seat shows but won't book, or the price jumps at checkout? See what to do when a BA reward seat won't book.
5. Still nothing? Pay cash and use Avios part payment, from 1,000 Avios.

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Avios pricing FAQs