British Airways Executive Club Devalues Avios Redemptions On Cathay Pacific & Japan Airlines Without Notice
British Airways Executive Club has proven once again that it can’t be trusted, going live with a significant devaluation of partner awards on Cathay Pacific and Japan Airlines without giving customers any notice.
This increase will affect the first four distance-based zones up to a range of 3,000 miles and represents on average, a ~ 25% price increase charged to members wishing to redeem for awards.
It isn’t the first time that British Airways has increased the pricing massively, in the summer of 2021 the program did the same and suddenly a Business Class ticket on JAL from Bangkok to Tokyo for example went from 25,000 miles to 38,750.
Now they are increasing the prices again and what is the worst of all, without giving members any notice whatsoever.
I was made aware of this by a reader’s comment yesterday as I wrote about Cathay Pacific and he mentioned this devaluation which to my surprise didn’t make a lot of waves as of yet. Most likely as this mainly affects members who travel within Asia on Cathay/JAL and it was able to fly more or less under the radar.
Upon research, I found this Flyertalk Thread where members are discussing the impact of the devaluation.
BAEC Avios applies distance-based zones to their redemptions, and for this particular case, these are:
- 1 – 650 miles
- 651 – 1150 miles
- 1151 – 2000 miles
- 2001 – 3000 miles
There are separate prices for each of these zones depending on the distance between the city pairs (BAEC charges by segment) and as mentioned above, this is now the second devaluation within a short period.
What has changed?
- 1 – 650 miles ; OLD: Y 7,500 miles C 16,000 miles – NEW: Y 9,750 miles C 20,800 miles
- 651 – 1150 miles ; OLD: Y 10,000 miles C 25,000 miles – NEW: Y 12,000 miles C 30,000 miles
- 1151 – 2000 miles ; OLD: Y 11,00 miles C 25,000 miles – NEW: Y 14,300 miles C 32,500 miles
- 2001 – 3000 miles ; OLD: Y 13,000 miles C 38,750 miles – NEW: Y 15,600 miles C 46,500 miles
Keep in mind that this goes together with the rather high airline surcharges levied by JAL/BAEC that come on top of these tickets. Cathay’s charges are still moderate.
To have such changes pushed through without announcement is unacceptable and, simply put a betrayal by BAEC of their members. There should be a proper announcement, not just an overnight update.
For the time being, it’s possible to transfer out your BAEC Avios to other programs such as Qatar Airways Privilege Club (same Avios currency) and then book the awards at better pricing levels than through the Executive Club, basically the same principle in reverse as booking Qatar Flights through BAEC which is better priced than Privilege Club.
We’re used to such antics from airlines like GOL and Avianca, but now it seems that British Airways has stooped to the same low levels and has no problems with screwing their members over. A very sad state of affairs!
Conclusion
British Airways Executive Club has – without warning and practically overnight – devalued awards on Cathay Pacific and Japan Airlines for flights up to 3,000 miles in distance. The increases are quite substantial percentage-wise, especially in Business Class.
This is especially dishonest as British Airways continuously offers miles for sale just to then devalue them overnight after members have given the company their cash. I encourage everyone upset about this to complain to British Airways Executive Club and, in case you purchased miles for such a redemption, demand either compensation or a refund of your purchase.
