It’s that time again – two airlines have devalued their mileage programs.
British Airways
BA sent out a mass email a couple of days ago, and you can refer to this webpage for the devaluation details. They no longer have an official award chart. This time, all routes have increased in cost, but the webpage only provides two examples (departing London):
| Geneva (old) | Geneva (new) | New York (old) | New York (new) | |
| Economy off-peak | 9,250+£0.5 | 10,000+£0.5 | 50,000+£100 | 55,000+£120 |
| Economy peak | 9,750+£0.5 | 10,750+£0.5 | 60,000+£100 | 66,000+£120 |
| Premium off-peak | – | – | 85,000+£305 | 93,500+£350 |
| Premium peak | – | – | 120,000+£305 | 132,000+£350 |
| Business off-peak | 15,000+£12.5 | 16,500+£15 | 160,000+£375 | 176,000+£399 |
| Business peak | 16,250+£12.5 | 18,000+£15 | 180,000+£375 | 198,000+£399 |
| First off-peak | – | – | 136,000+fees | 150,000+fees |
| First peak | – | – | 160,000+fees | 176,000+fees |
Note that the Geneva example is one-way, while the New York example is round-trip. First class uses a different pricing system with variable surcharges, so exact figures aren’t shown. In terms of mileage pricing, long-haul awards increase by 10% across all cabins, while short-haul awards rise by a smaller margin; taxes and fees also increase to some extend.
To be honest, a 10% increase isn’t outrageous, considering the inflation in recent years, and we should be thankful that things haven’t gone dynamic! The new pricing takes effect on December 15, so if you need to book, act soon.
If you book before December 15 and later need to change the date, you won’t need to pay the difference so long as you aren’t switching between off-peak and peak dates (the usual £35 / $50 change fee still applies).
By the way, the Shanghai route has recently released many seats around Christmas and New Year – worth checking out if you are looking for a last-minute trip to China or Asia.
Here’s what I estimate for Shanghai’s new off-peak/peak round-trip prices after December 15:
- Economy: 77,000 / 88,000 + £240
- Premium Economy: 110,000 / 170,500 + £450
- Business: 220,000 / 242,000 + £600
Turkish Airlines
We briefly discussed Turkish Airlines’ mileage program last year, and one of its highlights was redeeming domestic flights, great for large countries such as China and the US. Now the sheep has been over fleeced and prices are going up:
- Economy: 10,000 → 15,000
- Business: 15,000 → 22,500
- First: 20,000 → 30,000
All three cabins are going up by 50%, and U.S. mainland – Hawaii has even been split into their own category: 25,000 / 40,000 / 50,000. Turkish miles were already not easy to earn and it’s almost game over.
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