Maxime Nadeau, British Airways’ Executive Club programme lead, answers your questions on how to make best use of your Avios

I’ve managed to collect lots of Avios. What can I use them for?
How about your next holiday? You can use them to book flights, upgrade to a higher cabin class, pay for car rental, book hotel stays, or spend them on travel experiences around the world.

Flights booked using Avios are called reward flights. You pay a peak or an off-peak amount of Avios plus a cash amount for the taxes, fees and carrier charges.

What is included when you buy a reward flight?
You will get a flexible ticket with no hidden onboard charges. It will entitle you to a generous free baggage allowance according to the cabin you are travelling in, as well as free drinks and snacks.

The date or time of travel can be changed up to 24 hours before departure for £35. If you switch from an off peak to a peak ticket, then the difference in Avios will also be needed. If you change from peak to off peak, you will get a refund of Avios. You do not earn Avios or Tier Points on reward flights.

What is Reward Flight Saver?
These are our best value reward flight tickets and can be used on return flights into and out of Europe and in southern Africa on Comair.

For a return economy class ticket you pay Avios plus a low flat fee of £35. In business class it’s Avios plus £50. We pay the taxes, fees and carrier charges for you.

If the Reward Flight Saver fare is available you will see the symbol above when you do a search – just make sure you have collected at least one Avios in the past 12 months to be eligible.

How do I know if it is better to get a Reward Flight Saver or pay the taxes, fees and charges?
The system will automatically calculate the taxes, fees and carrier charges, and if the total amount is more than the Reward Flight Saver, you will be charged the latter instead. If the Reward Flight Saver is more, then you will be charged the taxes, fees and carrier charges.

How do I see a comparison of Reward Flight Saver versus taxes, fees and charges?
You can use the redemption calculator to see what the applicable costs are, and how much you have saved.

What is the difference between a Reward Flight and a Reward Flight Saver?
Reward Flight Saver is an additional benefit applied to a Reward Flight to discount the taxes, fees and carrier charges.

Is it cheaper to get a Reward Flight Saver than an off peak Reward Flight?
No. Reward Flight Saver applies to both peak and off peak flights. Reward Flight Saver deals with the taxes, fees and carrier charges only, whereas peak and off peak apply to the Avios. So off peak with Reward Flight Saver will provide the cheapest flight.

What if taxes, fees and charges are lower than Reward Flight Saver?
Then taxes, fees and carrier charges will be charged as the proposition will always be to the benefit of the customer.

How do I figure out on which flights I can redeem the Avios?
There are some really useful tools on ba.com which will make things easy for you. The first place to look is the reward availability page. On here you will find the reward flight calculator. It will help you work out the cost of a one-way or return flight on BA and partner airlines.

You can also use the reward flight finder tool to see what availability is like to the city, country or continent you want to visit. It’ll then give you all the available options.

For example, you can ask it to show you availability for flights to Asia in 2016, or for travel to New York in April, returning on a specific date in August. This only works for BA flights and you can search up to one year in advance.

Any tips for finding reward flight availability?
The further ahead you plan your trip the better, as BA releases most of the reward seats 355 days in advance. We add additional reward seats closer to departure on some flights, so if you’re set on a particular destination, check again.

If I’m looking for last minute availability, where should I go?
Check out the last-minute ideas page. This will show you our pick of last-minute reward flights which are leaving London over the next couple of weeks. This page is updated monthly.

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This article has been tagged BA, Travel Tips