British Airways devalues Avios awards on Cathay Pacific and JAL (again!)

For the second time in only two years, British Airways has imposed an unannounced devaluation for two popular redemption options in this part of the world – shorter flights on Cathay Pacific and Japan Airlines – with increases of up to 40% in the number of Avios points needed to redeem in some cases.

Thanks to eagle-eyed Head for Points readers we were alerted to this change yesterday and, sadly like the same devaluation in 2021, these awards do indeed appear to have been re-priced in the booking system.

Our analysis shows that Avios rates on these two carriers have increased by between 10% and 40%, though the good news is that other Oneworld partners are once again unaffected by the changes.

The devaluation

Here’s the crux of the devaluation, based on our award searches:

• These award changes are carrier-specific, as they were in 2021. They only apply when you redeem Avios points on Cathay Pacific or Japan Airlines.
• Increased rates solely apply to shorter routes, but unlike the 2021 devaluation where only routes of up to 3,000 miles were affected, this time BA has chipped away at the 2,001 – 3,000 miles award zone too.
• JAL Redemptions in the < 650 miles zone bear the brunt of the devaluation, hiked by 40%, on top of the 25% increase they saw in 2021 and the 33% increase in 2019. This raises the Economy Class award rate for many domestic Japan flights like Tokyo to Osaka from 4,500 Avios in early 2019 to 6,000 Avios in 2020 to 7,500 Avios in 2021 to 10,500 Avios now.
• A 30% increase Business Class redemptions in the 1,151 – 2,000 mile zone for both carriers hikes redemptions rates on routes like Singapore to Hong Kong (CX) in Business Class from 25,000 Avios to 32,500 Avios, and Tokyo to Taipei (JL) from 24,000 Avios to 31,200 Avios.
• A 20% hike in the 2,001 – 3,000 mile zone increases rates in this zone for the first time since 2019, affecting both of these carriers on routes like Bangkok to Tokyo (JL) and Hong Kong to Bali (CX).

The good news is that our searches for Malaysia Airlines, SriLankan Airlines and Qantas redemptions all turned up the usual award pricing, in accordance with the Avios rates that have applied since 2019.

It’s only sub-3,000-miles Cathay Pacific and JAL itineraries that have been bumped up this time round.

Here’s a more detailed look at the completely unannounced rate changes.

Cathay Pacific (CX)

Cathay Pacific Award Rate Changes

Distance (miles)	Economy	Business	Example Routes
1 – 650	7,500 9,750 ( 30%)	16,000 20,800 ( 30%)	HKG-TPE
651 – 1,150	10,000 12,000 ( 20%)	25,000 30,000 ( 20%)	SIN-BKK HKG-PVG
1,151 – 2,000	11,000 14,300 ( 30%)	25,000 32,500 ( 30%)	SIN-HKG HKG-PEK HKG-NRT
2,001 – 3,000	13,000 15,600 ( 20%)	38,750 46,500 ( 20%)	DPS-HKG

An Avios award from Singapore to Hong Kong (or vice-versa) on Cathay Pacific, which was 20,000 points in Business Class prior to the 2019 devaluation, then 22,000 points between 2019 and 2021, then 25,000 points between 2021 and 2023, now costs a whopping 32,500 points.

That’s a 63% hike in the last five years, and is no longer significantly less than redeeming Business Class on Singapore Airlines at 34,000 KrisFlyer miles, especially given that the latter redemption doesn’t come with fuel surcharges attached.

While the route has not yet been reinstated post-COVID, a Singapore to Bangkok award in Business Class on Cathay Pacific have also been hiked by 20% – now costing an unattractive 30,000 Avios points each way, double the 15,000 Avios being charged in 2018 and frankly a joke against SIA’s own 24,000 KrisFlyer miles rate.

Cathay Pacific is loading its former SIN-BKK-HKG routing from late March 2024, but is not selling any seats on the flights or making any awards available at this stage.

Japan Airlines (JL)

JAL Award Rate Changes

Distance (miles)	Economy	Business	Example Routes
1 – 650	7,500 10,500 ( 40%)	12,500 17,500 ( 40%)	HND-ITM CTS-HND
651 – 1,150	10,000 11,000 ( 10%)	24,000 26,400 ( 10%)	FUK-CTS HND-GMP PVG-HND
1,151 – 2,000	11,000 14,300 ( 30%)	24,000 31,200 ( 30%)	NRT-TPE HKG-NRT
2,001 – 3,000	13,000 15,600 ( 20%)	38,750 46,500 ( 20%)	BKK-NRT

For JAL the big hit is for flights of 650 miles or less, which hammers a final nail in the coffin for the intra-Japan ‘sweet spot’ – originally 4,500 miles for most one-way routings in Economy Class.

If you missed the memo in years gone by, Avios points were a great way to redeem domestic (and shorter international) Japan Airlines flights, because only 4,500 points were needed on routes like Tokyo to Osaka and 7,500 points on journeys like Fukuoka to Sapporo, with little or no taxes to pay.

Unfortunately these rates got hiked to 6,000 points and 9,000 points respectively in the Avios 2019 partner devaluation, then another increase to 7,500 points and 12,500 points respectively in 2021.

What we’re seeing this time is a 40% increase to 10,500 points and 17,500 points.

That certainly kills off the ‘sweet spot’ on these flights, though it does still come in better than redeeming KrisFlyer miles on ANA, at 12,500 miles on one-way domestic Japan flights in Economy Class, and may therefore still make sense if there is Avios award space with JAL on particularly expensive days.

Asia Miles awards are getting more expensive

A good fallback for Oneworld redemptions when British Airways rolls out stealth no-notice Avios devaluations like these has always been Asia Miles.

The Cathay Pacific award currency started to boast almost the same rates as BA Avios on several itineraries following the 2021 CX and JL Avios devaluation, simply because their own rates hadn’t budged!

Sadly, however, that scheme too is facing an award price hike for bookings locked in from 1st October 2023, though at least Cathay gave us good notice of that change, unlike British Airways with this second consecutive Avios devaluation.

This Avios devaluation puts the new award rates mostly on par with those of Asia Miles from 1st October 2023 on these routes, though KrisFlyer still offers a cheaper Business Class redemption option to and from Bangkok (and remember, Cathay is still to reinstate that “fifth freedom” route).

Avios vs. others from Singapore

Route	Avios (CX)	Asia Miles (CX)	KrisFlyer (SQ)
Singapore – Bangkok (Economy)	9,000 10,000	10,000	13,500
Singapore – Bangkok (Business)	25,000 30,000	28,000	24,000
Singapore – Hong Kong (Economy)	11,000 14,300	12,500 (from 1 Oct)	16,500
Singapore – Hong Kong (Business)	25,000 32,500	28,000 (from 1 Oct)	34,000

As you can see there is no longer any benefit to redeeming Avios on these Cathay Pacific routes from Singapore, since they now mostly match or exceed the Asia Miles rate, and the latter programme opens up more award space to its own members than it does to partners.

Is there still any value in Avios?

There’s no doubt that this second unannounced devaluation of Avios points in as many years on shorter Cathay Pacific and JAL flights has further dented the attractiveness of the frequent flyer currency in this part of the world, but there are still some decent redemption options with other Oneworld carriers.

Here’s a few examples where we’d still aim to use Avios points:

• Japan Airlines Economy SIN-HND 20,750 Avios (KrisFlyer 27,000 miles)
• Malaysia Airlines Economy SIN-KUL 6,000 Avios (KrisFlyer 8,500 miles)
• Malaysia Airlines Business SIN-KUL 12,500 Avios (KrisFlyer 21,000 miles)
  Pro-tip: This is your “cheap key” to the excellent Qatar SIN lounge
• Qantas Economy SIN-PER 13,000 Avios (KrisFlyer 21,500 miles)
• Qantas Economy SYD-PER 13,000 Avios (KrisFlyer VA 21,500 miles)
• Qantas Economy SIN-SYD/MEL/BNE 20,750 Avios (KrisFlyer 30,500 miles)
• Qatar Airways Business SIN-LHR 70,000 Avios (KrisFlyer 103,500 miles)
• Sri Lankan Economy SIN-CMB 11,000 Avios (KrisFlyer 20,000 miles)

Intra-Europe flights on Aer Lingus, British Airways, Iberia and Vueling are also good value using Avios points, almost always coming in cheaper than using KrisFlyer miles to fly on Star Alliance carriers like Lufthansa.

Therefore if you still have some Avios – don’t despair. Remember that Avios points remain valid for 36 months (3 years), and your entire balance gets a fresh 3-year validity period whenever you earn or redeem at least one point, under the programme’s activity-based system.

Avios points have been a great way to redeem short-haul intra-Asia flights, even in Economy Class at times, plus there is the option to transfer credit card points from American Express, Citi, HSBC T1 and OCBC cards in Singapore into the programme.

Sadly this latest devaluation, the second in two years, is bad news for most of our readers redeeming Avios points on Cathay Pacific flights and on those (formerly) great intra-Japan routings with JAL.

On the plus side, there are still some other ways to get good value from Avios points, so not all is lost.

(Cover Photo: MainlyMiles)