Unfortunately, British Airways Executive Club benefits on Alaska Airlines and American Airlines are becoming more expensive, as flagged below. award wallet…
BA Executive Club reduces the value of Alaska and America awards
British Airways Executive Club has award prices based on distance, but award tables are not currently published. The pricing was attractive and considering that his two airlines, Alaska Airlines and American Airlines, are part of the Oneworld alliance, the Avios were worth it for both trips.
So far, I’ve paid the following Avios for a one-way nonstop award ticket on Alaska Airlines or American Airlines:
- Flights up to 650 miles cost 7,500 Avios in economy and 12,500 Avios in business.
- Flights between 651 and 1,150 miles cost 9,000 Avios in economy and 16,500 Avios in business.
- Flights between 1,151 and 2,000 miles were 11,000 Avio in economy and 22,000 Avio in business.
- Flights between 2,001 and 3,000 miles cost 13,000 Avios in economy and 38,750 Avios in business.
British Airways Executive Club appears to have increased the award costs for these benefits without prior notice, and they are now as follows:
- Flights of up to 650 miles cost 8,250 Avios (750 Avios, or a 10% increase) in Economy or 16,500 Avios (4,000 Avios, or a 32% increase) in Business.
- Flights between 651 and 1,150 miles cost 11,000 Avios (2,000 Avios, or a 12% increase) in economy or 20,500 Avios (4,000 Avios, or a 24% increase) in business.
- Flights between 1,151 and 2,000 miles cost 14,500 Avios (3,500 Avios, or a 32% increase) in Economy or 29,000 Avios (7,000 Avios, or a 32% increase) in Business.
- Flights between 2,001 and 3,000 miles cost 16,000 Avios (3,000 Avios, or an increase of 23%) in Economy or 42,000 Avios (3,250 Avios, or an 11% increase) in Business.
Prices for awards covering distances of 3,001 miles or more do not appear to have increased, but again, these benefits are not where Executive Club offers the most value on its partner airlines.
Viewed as a percentage, these increases are very significant. In terms of the absolute Avios required, the increase probably doesn’t seem that big, as there is a difference of up to 3,500 Avios in Economy and up to 7,000 Avios in Business. However, it is true that the program has become less attractive in terms of the competitive advantages that existed previously.
British Airways partner award prices are crazy
Historically, I’ve appreciated that the British Airways Executive Club has a simple(ish) distance-based award table. We pay the same price to all partners within each distance zone, making the program easier to understand.
However, Executive Club is becoming increasingly complex and partner benefit pricing is inconsistent. For now, the Executive Club can be described as a dynamic awards program with no published charts. Because there is no other way to understand this logically.
Can we blame this change on the Executive Club? On the other hand, I think it’s clear that these different redemption rates reflect the cost of benefits in the program. So I think it’s reasonable for programs to charge members based on that. On the other hand, this sort of thing detracts from the program’s general appeal.
British Airways Executive Club is still a good value considering:
conclusion
British Airways Executive Club just increased its redemption rates on Alaska Airlines and American Airlines. Historically, British Airways’ distance-based pricing has appealed to short-haul award tickets within North America, but the same award tickets now cost 10-32% more than before.
I think my main conclusion is that it’s currently difficult to track the price of Executive Club Partner Benefits because the price is so inconsistent with previous distance bands.
What do you think about these Executive Club changes?