Back in early December, we reported on news of a relatively short notice British Airways Avios devaluation, which has now taken effect this week for new bookings, allowing us to update the award charts and assess the full impact on popular redemptions from Singapore.

As expected, British Airways has implemented approximately 10% increases across the board for flights on BA metal and those of partner airlines. This includes Cathay Pacific and JAL, which operate under their own “special” partner award charts when redeeming BA Avios – charts that were already more expensive than the standard partner pricing.

The good news: Qatar and Finnair untouched

The silver lining in this devaluation is significant for many of our readers: redemptions from Singapore on Qatar Airways and Finnair remain completely unchanged. Both airlines continue to use their respective Qatar and Finnair award charts, meaning two of the programme’s best sweet spots to and from the Lion City remain intact:

• Singapore to Europe on Qatar Airways Qsuite: 70,000 – 75,000 Avios in Business Class
• Singapore to Helsinki on Finnair AirLounge: 62,500 Avios in Business Class

These routes represent great value and remain among the best uses of Avios for Singapore-based members.

How it affects Asia Pacific redemptions

Here’s how the new BA Avios award pricing will affect some of the ‘sweet spot’ and good value redemptions many of our readers take advantage of to and from Singapore and across the region.

British Airways (BA)
Off-peak dates

Distance (miles)	Economy	Premium Economy	Business	Example Routes
Zone 5 3,001 4,000	25,000 27,500 10%	42,500 46,750 10%	80,000 88,000 10%	SIN-SYD
Zone 7 5,501 6,500	35,000 38,500 10%	50,000 55,000 10%	100,000 110,000 10%	BKK-LGW HKG-LHR
Zone 8 6,501 7,000	40,000 44,000 10%	55,000 60,500 10%	110,000 121,000 10%	SIN-LHR KUL-LHR
Zone 9 7,001	50,000 55,000 10%	80,000 88,000 10%	145,000 159,500 10%	SYD-LHR

Redeeming Avios on BA’s own flights in the region isn’t great value, because the Avios award chart is better for shorter redemptions.

BA’s Singapore – London pricing in Business Class, for example, is now 159,500 Avios one-way on off-peak dates, while Singapore – Sydney is 88,000 Avios, both well in excess of KrisFlyer Business Saver rates on Singapore Airlines flights.

Nonetheless the carrier does still provide a decent-value Economy Class option between Singapore and Sydney at 27,500 Avios, 10% more than before but still slightly cheaper than SIA’s 29,000 KrisFlyer miles Economy Saver option – useful if you have Avios to burn or SIA is only offering Advantage rates (60,500 KrisFlyer miles) on your preferred date.

BA’s Premium Economy award pricing is also significantly lower than SIA’s – 60,500 Avios to London on an off-peak date, compared to 74,500 KrisFlyer miles, though whether this cabin is ever a great redemption option is questionable – frankly it’s not a product we rate on any airline!

Cathay Pacific (CX)

Here’s the devaluation damage for shorter Cathay Pacific flights using BA Avios.

Cathay Pacific Award Rate Changes

Distance (miles)	Economy	Business	Example Routes
Zone 1 1 650	9,750 11,000 13%	20,800 23,000 11%	HKG-TPE
Zone 2 651 1,151	12,000 13,500 13%	30,000 33,000 10%	HKG-PVG
Zone 3 1,152 2,000	14,300 16,000 12%	32,500 36,000 11%	SIN-HKG HKG-NRT
Zone 4 2,001 3,000	15,600 17,500 12%	46,500 51,500 11%	CGK-HKG DPS-HKG

A one-way BA Avios Business Class award from Singapore to Hong Kong (or vice-versa) on Cathay Pacific, which was just 20,000 points in Business Class prior to the 2019 devaluation, before a few hikes to the CX chart then hit, most recently priced at 32,500 Avios, will now set you back a whopping 36,000 points.

That’s practically KrisFlyer Business Saver pricing for SIA flights on this route (35,500 miles), but thankfully there’s a silver lining here.

You can still book this routing using Qatar Airways Privilege Club at 22,000 Avios, online with no fuel surcharge, and indeed this has been the preferred method to do so since April 2024.

Some other regional Cathay flights can also be booked via QRPC, though this seems a little hit-and-miss – sadly it’s not always possible to replicate BA Avios award space on the Qatar portal in our experience.

Japan Airlines (JL)

JAL is another carrier that has its own “special” BA Avios award chart, with higher pricing for shorter flights, and these have also increased by 11-14%.

JAL Award Rate Changes

Distance (miles)	Economy	Business	Example Routes
Zone 1 1 650	10,500 12,000 14%	17,500 19,500 11%	HND-ITM HND-CTS
Zone 2 651 1,151	11,000 12,500 14%	26,400 29,500 12%	FUK-CTS HND-PVG
Zone 3 1,152 2,000	14,300 16,000 12%	31,200 34,500 11%	NRT-TPE NRT-HKG
Zone 4 2,001 3,000	15,600 17,500 12%	46,500 51,500 11%	BKK-KIX
Zone 5 3,001 4,000	20,750 23,000 11%	62,000 68,500 10%	SIN-HND

For JAL the big hit over the years has been for flights of 650 miles or less, originally just 4,500 Avios for most domestic and shorter international flights, like Tokyo to Osaka.

Now with the latest increase, these are priced at 12,000 miles one-way (Zone 1), or 12,500 Avios for longer domestic flights (Zone 2).

That certainly kills off any former ‘sweet spot’ on these flights, though it does still come in better than redeeming KrisFlyer miles on ANA, at 13,500 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 dates.

Note that Zone 5 redemptions follow the standard BA Avios partner award pricing chart on JAL (as they do on Cathay Pacific), and it is included above only to show the Singapore – Japan award example.

While Qatar Airways Privilege Club does not offer JAL awards between Singapore and Japan online, you can book via the Finnair Plus programme for 15,500 Avios in Economy Class or 41,500 Avios in Business Class one-way, which are decent rates – much better than BA’s latest 23,000 and 68,500 respectively.

Sadly it can’t be done wholly online – check partner award availability first via the American Airlines portal, then call or use Finnair’s online chat function to book, once you’ve moved sufficient Avios 1:1 into the Finnair programme.

SriLankan (UL)

SriLankan Award Rate Changes

Flights between Singapore and Colombo on SriLankan Airlines fall into the Avios Zone 3 partner award rate, which has always been quite attractive and still remains so, despite increases of 11-14%.

Distance (miles)	Economy	Business	Example Routes
Zone 3 1,152 2,000	11,000 12,500 14%	22,000 24,500 11%	SIN-CMB

Once again though, this one remains available via the Qatar Airways Privilege Club for the pre-devaluation rates of 11,000 / 22,000 Avios + S$65 taxes, fully bookable online, so there’s no need to use BA Avios anymore since you can transfer your points into Qatar 1:1.

Finnair Plus isn’t much help here – with pricing of 14,000 Avios and 24,000 Avios respectively for this route, plus you need to call or use the online chat function to book – so simply use QRPC.

Qantas (QF) and Malaysia Airlines (MH)

There are increases of 8-14% in the Zones 1-4 partner award rates affecting shorter Qantas flights and Malaysia Airlines’ regional hops.

Distance (miles)	Economy	Business	Example Routes
Zone 1 1 650	6,000 6,500 8%	12,500 14,000 12%	SIN-KUL SYD-MEL
Zone 2 651 1,151	9,000 10,000 11%	16,500 18,500 12%	BNE-MEL
Zone 3 1,152 2,000	11,000 12,500 14%	22,000 24,500 11%	KUL-MLE MEL-PER SYD-AKL
Zone 4 2,001 3,000	13,000 14,500 12%	38,750 43,000 11%	KUL-ICN SIN-PER SYD-PER

Qantas in particular is tricky, because Qatar Airways Privilege Club does not display any Qantas awards online (only Virgin Australia ones), so the easiest way to book is actually using BA Avios, meaning there’s no avoiding the rate increases.

In some cases Asia Miles are now a cheaper option for Qantas flights – like Zone 4 in Business Class (33,000 Asia Miles vs. 43,000 Avios). That applies to routes like Singapore – Perth and Sydney – Perth.

On longer domestic and trans-Tasman flights falling into Zone 3 and Zone 4, like Melbourne – Perth, Sydney – Auckland and Sydney – Perth, you can also tap a 22,500 Avios award rate using the Finnair Plus programme, fully searchable and redeemable online in this case.

That’s a small saving on BA’s 24,500 Avios rate for Zone 3 but a big saving against BA’s 43,000 Avios rate for Zone 4, though do note Finnair passes on around S$100 more in fees than BA does for the example above.

For Malaysia Airlines between Singapore and KL, you can still lock in awards via QRPC at original rates – which is now the way forward for those using Avios in this case, for a Oneworld lounge safari at Changi!

Have a linked Qatar and Finnair account

These award rate increases for BA Avios members make it more essential than ever to have frequent flyer accounts with all three of the primary Avios airlines – British Airways, Qatar Airways and Finnair.

Your accounts can then be linked and Avios transferred between them for free, instantly, at a 1:1 ratio, however often you like, via the BA Avios ‘hub’ programme.

Changes to existing bookings

While the increased BA Avios pricing will apply to all bookings made from 15th December 2025, here’s what the impact is if you booked at previous rates and wish to make changes:

• Changes to the time or date of your BA Avios booking from 15th December 2025 onwards will not require additional Avios
• Changes to the destination or cabin class of your BA Avios booking from 15th December 2025 onwards will require additional Avios

This means if you’ve already locked in an award at the old pricing, you can modify your dates without penalty, but any routing or cabin changes will incur the new, higher rates.

Will Qatar and Finnair follow suit?

The elephant in the room is whether Qatar Airways and Finnair will implement their own devaluations in the coming months. Qatar Airways in particular has a history of implementing changes without much fanfare, as longtime members will recall from its significant 2018 devaluation, plus a couple of other tweaks since then.

For now, our fingers remain crossed. The fact that these changes are only targeted at redemptions using BA Avios on BA’s own flights and selected partner routings suggests this may just be a BA-specific adjustment, rather than a programme-wide overhaul.

However, given the interconnected nature of the Avios ecosystem, you should consider locking in any planned Qatar or Finnair awards sooner rather than later, just in case any sneaky rate hikes are in the pipeline!

While no devaluation is welcome news, BA’s 10%-across-the-board increase could have been significantly worse. The preservation of Qatar Airways and Finnair pricing means two of the programme’s most valuable redemptions from Singapore remain great value, despite high carrier fees in the Qatar case.

For most popular partner redemptions, the 10% increase still keeps awards within reasonable territory, though you will need to earn or transfer slightly more points to achieve the same trips if you’re sticking to the BA scheme when you redeem.

In many cases, however, just using Qatar Airways Privilege Club to redeem means you can still access former pricing – from years ago in the Cathay Pacific case, and pre-December 2025 in the case of Malaysia Airlines and SriLankan.

With no moves made yet by Qatar Airways and Finnair on their award charts, it’s a good plan to book awards sooner rather than later if you have concrete travel plans, as further devaluations to keep the Avios ecosystem ‘harmonious’ certainly aren’t out of the question.

(Cover Photo: Shutterstock)