The British Airways Executive Club program began selling Avios subscriptions in October 2022. These subscriptions offer Executive Club members a way to buy the program’s reward currency in monthly instalments, at discounted prices.
British Airways Avios are popular with many Australian frequent flyers because redemptions on Qantas domestic flights are relatively good value.
Avios redemptions for Qatar Airways Business Class from Australia to Europe are also great value. Plus, British Airways Executive Club members can access Qatar Airways award availability before Velocity Frequent Flyer members – and well before Qantas members.
You can read more about buying and redeeming British Airways Avios here.
Currently, an Avios subscription is the cheapest way to buy Avios directly from British Airways Executive Club. You can also buy Avios individually, and British Airways does regularly offer a 50% bonus on individual Avios purchases. But the purchase rates available as part of an Avios subscription are even better than you’d get buying with a 50% bonus.
Note that Avios subscription prices vary depending on the country you’ve registered your British Airways Executive Club account in – and therefore, which currency you’re charged in.
Australian accounts are charged in US Dollars. Subscriptions processed in US Dollars are currently more expensive than paying in Euros or British Pounds. But from next month, the cost of some subscriptions processed in USD will actually be reduced.
(Keep in mind that you don’t necessarily need to register your account in Australia.)
Avios subscription price changes from 1 May 2023
Unfortunately, from 1 May 2023, British Airways will increase the price of most Avios subscriptions. But the good news is that some people paying in USD may actually be able to get a better rate under the new pricing structure.
Here are the old and new prices, according to the British Airways website:
If you subscribe before 1 May 2023 (at 0:01 British Summer Time, which is 09:01 AEST), you should be able to lock in the old pricing – at least until your current subscription period ends, anyway. The BA website’s subscription page currently says:
Planning on subscribing? If you do it before 1 May 00:01 BST, the price will stay the same throughout your subscription. The price change depends on the currency.
General Avios prices are also changing
From 1 May 2023, the cost of one-off Avios purchases in Euros and British Pounds is also increasing. But the USD cost of buying Avios is coming down. This brings USD purchases more in line with current exchange rates, ending a discrepancy where people buying Avios in USD would pay substantially more.
The price change doesn’t just impact British Airways customers. It affects the cost of buying, gifting and sharing Avios in the British Airways Executive Club, Iberia Plus and Aer Lingus AerClub programs.
Avios is the shared currency of the British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus, Vueling and Qatar Airways frequent flyer programs.
Thankfully, these price increases aren’t too drastic. For example, the cost of buying 10,000 British Airways Avios in GBP will increase from £175 to £195, and the Euro price goes up from €201 to €235. Pleasingly, the USD cost of buying 10,000 Avios will reduce from $300 to $255.
You can see the new rates for British Airways Avios in full on the BA website.
