Today Head for Points obtained the unreleased calendar of 2024 dates when British Airways are charging top dollar (Avios) for redemptions.
This has a big impact - for example an off peak redemption from London to Innsbruck is 4,750 avios (plus fees), whilst the same redemption on a peak day costs 5,250 avios (plus fees).
The first key take away is that the number of peak days in 2024 is identical to 2023 - so in that respect we're not getting screwed over by BA !
2020 138
2021 138
2022 140
2023 139
2024 139
For 2022 redemptions BA made a shift into reducing the number of peak days in Summer months, and this carrier through to 2023 redemptions. This has mostly held for 2024 redemptions apart from a noticeable increase in August - back up to 27 peak days.
The other big change for 2024 is October - now just 5 days are classified as peak - the first time it's been in single digits. April is also now a better time to redeem your avios, with just 11 peak dates.
For 2022 redemptions British Airways reduced the number of peak Wednesdays throughout the whole year, with Tuesdays gradually reducing across 2022 and 2023. For 2024 there seems to have been a change of heart about Wednesdays - with a big jump in peak dates from 5 to 15. Tuesdays are now the better time to use your avios - with just 5 peak Tuesdays throughout 2024.
You also have four more off peak Fridays in 2024 compared with 2023 redemptions.
Conclusion
The clear winner for 2024 are people who can redeem their Avios on a Tuesday and those redeeming during October.
The big loser for 2024 are people who want to redeem their Avios in August.
Caveat
Whilst this calendar applies to British Airways redemption flights, Aer Lingus and Iberia have their own calendars. This causes problems for British Airways' shoddy IT on routes where both BA and EI fly - for example London to Dublin.
For example Friday 9th February is a BA peak date (school half term), but in the redemption screen under the date BA claim it's an off peak day - but the off peak badge is missing from the individual BA flights, and if you click through, you need 5,250 peak avios (instead of 4,750 off peak).
On routes which are only flown by Aer Lingus the off peak sticker is missing from the dates, but is correctly displayed on the individual flights.
On the London to Madrid route the 9th February does have an off peak sticker - but both BA and IB are charging peak avios.
So for these routes, you need to ignore the claim under the date, and just look at the individual flights. Your mileage may (literally) vary!
1 comment:
Saw a link to your blog on Head for Points today. Like what you have been doing - just wish there was away of subscribing to it and receiving updates via email.
(unless I have missed something?)
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