Airmiles, BA miles and Iberia Plus points are merging to become 'Avois' and free flights will be a thing of the past. Find out why and what you can do about it.
From November this year you'll no longer be able to cash in Airmiles to book free flights.
Instead, you'll need to pay airport taxes, charges and all other fees upfront and in cash when you redeem your points- this means flights that would previously have been completely free could end up costing you £100s.
So, to maximise the value of your Airmiles you should consider using them to book flights, holidays or one of the other Airmiles perks before 16th November when the changes take effect.
Avios: new travel reward scheme
On this date the popular travel reward scheme will be rebranded as 'Avois', a new travel rewards currency that will also be used by the frequent flier schemes for BA and Iberia airlines.
The reward schemes themselves aren't being merged (so the newly named Avois scheme, the BA Executive Club and Iberia Plus will still exist in their own right), but from November Avois points will replace Airmiles, BA miles and Iberia Plus points.
A little jiggery pokery will be necessary to bring the three schemes in line, so:
- Airmiles balances will be multiplied by 10 as 1 Airmiles = 0.1 Avois
- Iberia Plus point balances will be multipled by 15 as 1 Iberia Plus point = 0.15 Avois
- BA Mile balances will remain the same as 1 BA Mile = 1 Avois
Once this has happened Avois will have the same value whichever scheme you belong to, however the way you earn and redeem them will be slightly different - just as the three schemes differ now.
Unfortunately, this change doesn't increase the purchase power of your poings as you'll be redeeming Avios instead of Airmiles or Iberia Plus points.
What else is changing?
Other changes will be introduced as part of the rebranding - you'll be able to make one way flights, fly into and out of different airports and amend bookings up to 24 hours before you fly for instance.
The flight zones will also be changing, there will be 9 instead of 7, and the number of Avois it 'costs' you to fly will be based on the distance of your destination from your nearest airport.
There will also be a £27 cap on the cost of taxes and charges for European flights (providing you've earned or redeemed Avois in the preceding 12 months) but unfortunately no such limit will exist for flights outside of Europe which is where it's likely to get expensive.
We've had confirmation that you will be able to merge your Avois to increase your balance if you currently belong to more than one of the travel reward schemes. You will also be able to choose which scheme you use to redeem your Avois, so you can choose the option that will be most profitable for you.
That said, you will still need to pay taxes and charges whichever scheme you book through, so leaving it too late could be incredibly costly.
If you don't book before 16th November you will get a grace period of 1 month - until 16th December - during when you'll be able to choose whether to redeem your points as Airmiles, BA miles, Iberia Plus points or Avois, but after this date you'll have no choice.
