Head for Points recently published the Peak / Off Peak dates for 2022, so I thought it would be interesting to see how things have changed over the last few years.
This analysis is just based on the British Airways Peak / Off Peak calendar - there are different calendars for Iberia and Aer Lingus
Firstly the total number of Peak days in each of the three years
2020 137
2021 138
2022 140
Only a small increase in the number of Peak days each year - but as always, the devil is in the detail.
If you’re able to fly midweek, the number of peak days has reduced (2020, 2021, 2022)
Tuesday 12, 13, 11
Wednesday 15, 15, 5
Thursday 17, 15, 17
If you’re looking to have a long weekend, then Fridays and Mondays are pretty similar too
Friday 22, 24, 23
Monday 21, 23, 19
The big change is on weekends with a jump in the number of Peak days
64% of Saturdays and 60% of Sundays in 2022 counted as Peak
Saturday 25, 23, 34
Sunday 25, 25, 31
The other way the changes can impact you is if you like to use your Avios in particular months. As Easter changes date each year, there’s often a shift between March and April, but this is how the whole year pans out across 2020, 2021, 2022
January 5, 6, 11
February 8, 8, 10
March 5, 6, 6
April 18, 18, 13
May 10, 5, 5
June 0, 3, 13
July 27, 27, 20
August 29, 29, 19
September 6, 6, 12
October 10, 11, 11
November 0, 0, 0
December 19, 19, 20
The months with the big increase in Peak dates are June (from 0 to 13), September (from 6 to 12) and January (from 5 to 11)
The big winners are July (from 27 to 20) and August (from 29 to 19)
CORRECTION: November has ZERO peak dates. "Nov" is actually December in this table! Apologies.
So if you can fly midweek in the Summer, you should be happy with the 2022 British Airways Avios calendar
But if you like weekend flights, or getting away in June, then you need to budget for some extra Avios in 2022.
