Reward Flight Saver is now available on all flights with British Airways, with lower fuel surcharges.

There is now a fix if you've gasped at the exorbitant fees, taxes, and fuel surcharges for Avios redemptions on lengthy British Airways flights.

Following a trial on some long-haul routes in economy class, British Airways is launching its Reward Flight Saver offer on all BA-operated long-haul and short-haul flights starting on Wednesday in all cabins save first.

The well-known promotion for short-haul travel has long been a terrific deal; it calls for few Avios and cheap fixed fees, taxes, and surcharges for redemptions throughout the airline's extensive European network.

Executive Club members now have the option to redeem more Avios for a smaller cash cost as a means to combat the rising surcharges that travelers must pay on long-haul flights offered by British Airways.

This new Reward Flight Saver long-haul option allows members to redeem 160,000 Avios and pay only $700 in fees, taxes, and surcharges for a round-trip business class ticket from New York to London using Club Suite as an example.
With standard rates, you would need to redeem 100,000 Avios plus $1,900 in fees, taxes, and surcharges for the same trip.
In order to pay for taxes and fees, you could choose to redeem less Avios instead of as much cash – down to 50,000 Avios instead of $3,360. 

How to get the best value from new long-haul Reward Flight Savers

The new Avios/Surcharges pricing options will be particularly helpful for redeeming Travel Together vouchers.
This is due to the fact that both passengers must still pay the fees, taxes, and surcharges when using one of these vouchers, which involves paying Avios for the additional passenger on your reservation.

For a New York to London redemption at the standard rates, you would need to spend 100,000 Avios plus around $1,900 in fees, taxes, and surcharges per person.
This amounts to a staggering $3,800 for the two passengers.

When combined with a Travel Together voucher, the new Reward Flight Saver option would dramatically lower this cash need, allowing you to pay an additional 60,000 Avios while saving $2,400 in surcharges for both passengers. This is a terrific use of Avios. 

Here are two popular itineraries from the United States to Europe with return flights on off-peak days that illustrate how the new Reward Flight Saver fare works. 

In conclusion 

This is a great way to save money on your subsequent redemption if you have a sizable amount of Avios sitting in your account, particularly if you acquired them effortlessly through regular shopping.
There is never a reason to avoid giving someone else a choice.

Keep in mind that the standard rates for redeeming your Avios still apply.
For Executive Club members, this is merely an additional choice.