I am hearing lots of chatter and seeing lots of posts on other sites that outside of the U.S. and U.K. the British Airways changes we detailed a few days ago are a major devaluation. Well, Canada falls into ‘outside of the U.S. and U.K.’ but luckily we get the same Reward Flight Saver pricing as the U.S. and U.K.. That being said, the same pricing means we pay the same amount in Avios and in fees as the U.S.. However the fees are in Canadian dollars, which we all know are worth less than the US dollar. So when you think about it, we may have fared better in this update!
Economy Class 25,000 Avios + $100 each way
Flying from Toronto or Montreal to London Heathrow will run 25,000 Avios + C$100 in fees each way, or 50,000 Avios + C$200 for a round trip.
Convert those fees to US$ and they work out to US$73.50 each way or US$147.00 round trip.
If you fly from New York to London in Economy it is also 25,000 Avios and also $100 but US$100! Round trip is 50,000 Avios and US$200:
So as you can see us Canadians will require the same amount of Avios but only pay the equivalent of US$147 in fees.
Business Class 80,000 Avios + $350 each way
Business Class works exactly the same way. The Reward Flight Saver rates are 80,000 Avios each way + $350 in fees. Here’s Toronto to London Heathrow at 160,000 Avios + C$700 round trip:
And business class between New York and LHR:
Here again, the Avios required and fees paid are the same however it is C$ vs US$ so us Canadians are paying the equivalent of US$515 in fees on these awards.
Wrapping it up
The recent changes to British Airways Reward Flight Savers have been mentioned as a devaluation to the program for anyone outside of the U.S. and the U.K.. I want our readers and all Canadians to know that Canada should not be lumped into the outside of the U.S. and the U.K. as we also get the Reward Flight Savers with lower fees. And in the case of comparing us to the U.S. we actually seem to come out better!
Learn more about the Reward Flight Saver changes for Canadians here.
Title image via British Airways