One of the most lucrative domestic award options currently is redeeming British Airways Avios for travel on American Airlines flights within the US. The great part is it’s a distance based award structure meaning awards on short-haul flights are only 4,500 Avios each-way.

However, starting February 2, 2016, British Airways will be upping the amount for their short-distance awards to 7,500 Avios per-way which is a huge negative in my opinion.

Per British Airways,

We’re going to be making a change to the Executive Club pricing structure for shorter reward flights originating or terminating within the United States of America. From 2 February 2016, reward flights will start from 7,500 Avios, instead of 4,500 Avios, plus taxes, fees and carrier charges (“TFCsâ€) from $5.60 USD.

Only those reward flights that currently cost 4,500 Avios for a one way flight in Economy, 9,000 Avios for Business Class and 18,000 Avios for First Class plus TFCs will increase; to 7,500 Avios, 15,000 Avios and 30,000 Avios plus TFCs respectively. All other Avios reward flight pricing will remain the same as it is today.

Bottom Line

It’s disappointing to see this change being made to the British Airways Executive Club award chart, however they are providing several months notice, which I do appreciate, unlike some airlines who like to make changes overnight without any notice.

What do you think about this latest change to the British Airways Executive Club award charts? Feel free to share your thoughts below.