09 April 2025

British Airways Avios Peak date analysis - 2025 & 2026 edition

British Airways charge a different number of Avios frequent flyer points for reward flights to encourage members to use their points during Off Peak times.

Each year they tweak the mix of Peak and Off Peak dates slightly - so after Head for Points recently published the 2025 and 2026 calendars, it's time to dive in and have a look.

First off - the headline number of peak days - holding steady in 2025, but increasing by 3% in 2026.

2023  139 days
2024  139 days
2025  139 days
2026  143 days

Let's take a look at the month by month breakdown of Peak days

Between January and April there aren't any big changes for 2025 and 2026, but May sees some inflation in Peak days both in 2025 and in 2026.  July and August also see inflation with the former gaining 6 days over two years, and the latter becoming an Off Peak free zone in 2026.

Whilst September and October are largely in line with prior years, November gains some Peak days whilst December loses some Peak days.

Next let's take a look at a breakdown by weekday of the Peak days


Mondays are a good day to travel in 2026 - with the lowest ever number of Peak days.
BA are now reversing the trend of recent years and doubling the number of Peak Tuesdays between 2024 and 2026.
Wednesdays and Thursdays see a slight reduction in Peak days.
Fridays are a bad day to travel in 2026 - with the highest ever number of Peak days.
Saturdays and Sunday continue the 2024 trend with nearly two thirds of each treated as Peak.

Conclusion

Whilst 2025 generally follows the pattern from 2024 - there are some big changes in 2026.

2026 Losers - Tuesday & Friday travellers and July & August travellers

2026 Winners - Monday travellers and January & April travellers - so plan your weekend breaks to travel on a Monday!


Don't Forget

This analysis only applies to British Airways - Aer Lingus and Iberia each have different dates - check Head for Points for each of their Peak calendars.

And if you book an Aer Lingus or Iberia redemption on the British Airways website - don't expect BA.com Off Peak badges to be correct.



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