British Airways’ frequent flyer program is called “British Airways Club,” and Avios is its miles currency. Everyone in the field knows how notorious British Airways is for charging “Fuel Surcharges”; add the “UK Airport Passenger Duty”, and you will be paying a lot of money for an award flight. Yes, there are ways to reduce “UK Airport Passenger Duty“, and you can also pay less fuel surcharges on British Airways Award Flights with “Reward Flight Saver”.
British Airways Regular Reward Flight
You can book a British Airways Regular Reward Flight by simply logging in and using Avios. The pricing in Avios depends on peak and off-peak periods, and also incurs high Fuel Surcharges.
For example, during the peak period for travel between New York and London, you will usually need to pay 90000 Avios plus £ in taxes. If this is a regular British Airways reward flight, you will pay huge taxes.
Difference Between BA Regular Reward Flight & Reward Flight Saver
Both British Airways Regular Reward Flight & Reward Saver flights are the same except for the fact that you pay less tax on Reward Saver flights and more avios.
The main difference is that British Airways Reward Flight Saver has “fixed surcharge and taxes” depending upon the airport combination, which are usually lower than the amount you pay on British Airways Regular Reward Flight.
Things to Know About British Airways Reward Flight Saver (RFS)
- Firstly, British Airways Reward Flight Saver (RFS) is not available for First Class flights.
- Also, to be eligible for RFS, you need to have earned at least one Avios in the past 12 months.
- Reward Flight Saver is applied automatically if you have earned at least one Avios in the past 12 months. You don’t need to do anything differently.
- RFS is not available on Partner flights or Franchise flights.
- If booking round-trip flights, both flights should be Reward Flight Saver flights; otherwise, book them separately.
British Airways Reward Flight Saver
The British Airways Reward Flight Saver is now available across a broader range of dates, including flights up to six months in advance. Earlier, it was a little restrictive. However, that may change anytime.
To know whether you are booking a reward flight saver, check for the blue note sign on the award flight as shown below.
If you are travelling between Delhi & London, you can pay £75 for economy class, £155 for premium economy, and £238 for Business Class. These charges are also applicable for flights from London, saving you not only taxes but also “Air Passenger Duty”. Recently, I travelled from London to Delhi and booked the reward flight saver, paying just £75 in taxes, which could have cost me at least double on any other airline’s award ticket.
If you are travelling from London to outside Europe, you usually pay hefty taxes & surcharges when flying Business Class. However, if you secure a British Airways Reward Flight Saver, you pay a fixed fee of £237.50, which is a great deal.
Should you use British Airways Reward Flight Saver?
So, British Airways Reward Flight Saver does save you taxes; however, you save them by paying more Avios. For example, if you are planning to book a flight that costs 100,000 Avios and £237.50 in taxes, you can still choose to pay more taxes and fewer Avios.
However, using RFS also depends on how easily you have earned your Avios. If you can easily earn Avios, it makes all sense to use more Avios and pay less taxes. Otherwise, you need to see how much it saves you compared to the cost of buying Avios.
Bottomline
British Airways Reward Flight Saver (RFS) is a great way to save on huge taxes that you may pay. If you are flying from the UK to a non-European destination, you still pay a fixed amount of charges, which also saves you on the UK Air Passenger Duty. However, you can still choose to pay more taxes for fewer Avios.
