Published: 3 August 2026
This page is part of our British Airways Club Hub which pulls together all our articles on BA & Avios
How to Upgrade British Airways Flights with Avios
One of the best ways of using Avios in the British Airways Club is of course for reward flights. However, if you have already booked a cash ticket, or don’t yet have enough points for a full reward flight, you may be able to upgrade your flight to the next cabin using your Avios.
In this guide we explain exactly how Avios upgrades work, how much they cost, the additional taxes and charges you’ll pay, and whether upgrading actually represents good value for money.
Can you upgrade British Airways flights with Avios?
- ✈️ You can upgrade all tickets, apart from the cheapest Economy booking classes
- ☝️ Can only upgrade by one cabin class
- 🎁 Requires Avios Reward Flight availability in the desired cabin, pay the difference in Avios
- 💷 Additional taxes & charges payable
You have two options with British Airways:
- Use Avios to upgrade an existing flight booking, or;
- Buy a standard flight ticket and, as part of the same transaction, use your Avios to upgrade to the next cabin up.
The Golden Rules for Upgrading a BA flight with Avios
Whether you have an existing booking or are looking to book a new flight, there are Three Golden Rules when it comes to upgrading with Avios on BA:
- There must be Reward Flight availability in the cabin you want to upgrade to
- You can only upgrade one cabin class
- On short-haul (ie single aisle) flights this means you can upgrade from Economy to Business class
- On long-haul (ie twin aisle) flights you can either upgrade from Economy to Premium Economy, or Premium Economy to Business, or from Business to First class. To be clear, you cannot upgrade more than one class – ie from Economy to Business.
- You cannot use Avios to upgrade the cheapest Economy fares (in fare classes Q, O and G)
How do I upgrade an existing booking with Avios?
- Go to the BA website, log into your BA account and select Manage My Booking.
- You should see an option “Upgrade this flight with Avios”.
- You will then be presented with the additional Avios and cash required to upgrade
- If this does not work and you are sure that there is reward availability in the cabin you want to upgrade to, call BA to do this over the phone.
How Many Avios Does it Cost to Upgrade a British Airways Flight?
Officially, BA say that you work out the number of Avios you need for a reward flight in the cabin you want to upgrade to and then deduct the number of Avios required for the cabin you are travelling in. However, in practice this is not always 100% correct.
Here are some examples of upgrading return flights (ie both ways):
✈️ Heathrow to Manchester return flight (off-peak, Economy to Business):
- Off peak Economy requires: 20,000 Avios
- Off peak Business Class (aka Club Europe) requires: 33,000 Avios
- Difference: 13,000 Avios
✈️ Heathrow to Santorini return flight (peak, Economy to Business):
- Peak Economy requires: 33,500 Avios
- Peak Business Class (aka Club Europe) requires: 60,000 Avios
- Difference: 26,500 Avios
✈️ Gatwick to Orlando return flight (peak, Economy to Premium Economy):
- Peak Economy requires: 71,500 Avios
- Peak Premium Economy Class requires: 126,500 Avios
- Difference: 55,000 Avios
✈️ Heathrow to New York JFK (off-peak, Premium Economy to Business Class):
- Off peak Premium Economy requires: 93,500 Avios
- Off peak Business Class (aka Club World) requires: 176,000 Avios Difference: 82,500 Avios (although the BA website only wants for 52,800 Avios to upgrade)
We did a few other dummy bookings and it appears that the cost of avios to upgrade long-haul, business class flights does appear to be less than the official guidance from BA. It appears that this difference goes back to when BA introduced Reward Flight Saver for long-haul flights and the calculations have not been updated in the back-end systems.
So some good news here if you are looking at a long haul flight but experienced points collectors will know that when it comes to using your miles, there is always the thorny issue of taxes & airline charges to consider…
What about taxes & fees?
Some taxes such as UK Air Passenger Duty (paid on UK departures) attract a higher rate for premium cabins – so you can expect to pay more if, for example, you upgrade from Economy to Premium Economy.
Looking at our four examples, the additional cost of upgrading a ticket varies significantly by route, cabin class and time of year:
- Heathrow to Manchester (off-peak, Economy > Business): 13,000 Avios + £75
- Heathrow to Santorini (peak, Economy > Business): 26,500 Avios + £34
- Gatwick to Orlando (peak, Economy > Premium Economy): 55,000 + £428 (£146 of this is extra Air Passenger Duty)
- Heathrow to New York (off-peak, Premium Economy > Business): 52,800 Avios + £1,012
If your employer has paid for your ticket then these costs are the relevant ones for you, although take them as a guide. If you are upgrading a very cheap economy/premium economy ticket to a very expensive business class seat, the charges may differ considerably.
Note that the additional charge for the London-New York flight is largely driven by the extra “Carrier Imposed Charge” that BA adds on to all their long-haul tickets. . In our example, this charge was just over £1,000 extra for a business class return ticket compared to premium economy. This element has been creeping up over recent years, partly due to rises in the cost of aviation fuel.
Is using Avios to upgrade the cheapest way to fly in a better cabin?
If you are paying your own way, you should consider the cost of buying the ticket in the first place as well as the upgrade. This cost should be compared with the cost of a straight reward flight redemption in business class, and also with the cost of buying a business class seat outright. For the purposes of this comparison, we have assumed that Avios are valued at 1p each:
Heathrow to Manchester (off-peak, Economy > Business)
- Buy an Economy Ticket & Upgrade: £349 (£133 ticket + 13,000 Avios + £75 taxes & charges)
- Book a Business Class Reward flight: £370 (33,000 Avios + £40 taxes & charges)
- Buy a Business Class Ticket: £295
Cheapest option: Buy a Business Class ticket for cash
Heathrow to Santorini (peak, Economy > Business)
- Buy an Economy Ticket & Upgrade: £960 (£661 ticket + 26,500 Avios + £34 taxes & charges)
- Book a Business Class Reward flight: £640 (60,000 Avios + £40 taxes & charges)
- Buy a Business Class Ticket: £1,261
Cheapest option: Book a Reward Flight in Business Class
Gatwick to Orlando (peak, Economy > Premium Economy)
- Buy an Economy Ticket & Upgrade: £1,708 (£730 ticket + 55,000 Avios + £428 taxes & charges)
- Book a Premium Economy Reward flight: £1,945 (148,500 Avios + £460 taxes & charges)
- Buy a Premium Economy Ticket: £1,396
Cheapest option: Buy a Premium Economy ticket for cash
Heathrow to New York (off-peak, Premium Economy > Business)
- Buy a Premium Economy Ticket & Upgrade: £2,586 (£1,046 ticket + 52,800 Avios + £1,012 taxes & charges)
- Book a Business Class Reward flight: £2,259 (176,000 Avios + £499 taxes & charges)
- Buy a Business Class Ticket: £2,842
Cheapest option: Book a Reward Flight in Business Class
Is upgrading with Avios ever the best value option?
We struggled to find an example where it was cheaper to use Avios to upgrade a cash booking. However, there are actually some situations where using Avios to upgrade may be a viable option compared to booking a reward flight:
- If you do not have enough Avios to make a standard reward flight booking
- If you value Avios at a lot less than 1p each (ie if you earn a lot with your work travel)
- If you are desperate for the Tier Points to earn/retain your BA status
Do I earn Tier Points and Avios on upgraded bookings?
Yes, but only the number of Tier Points and Avios you would have earned for the cabin you would have originally been booked in (ie before the upgrade). You do not earn any additional Tier Points or Avios on the upgrade value.
Can just upgrade one flight segment?
Yes, for direct flights you can usually upgrade either the outbound or inbound flight (or both) on the BA website. Despite many attempts, I have never managed to use the website to upgrade a booking that involves a connecting flight through Heathrow so my advice would be to do this over the phone.
Can I upgrade a flight that involves a connection?
Yes but in my experience, you will struggle to upgrade a booking online that involves a connection in London. If there is Avios availability in both legs, you should call BA and upgrade over the phone
Can I upgrade a holidays booking?
Yes, but the BA website struggles to manage this – my recommendation would be to do this over the telephone.
How do I book a flight and upgrade with Avios at the same time?
Go to the BA website, log into your BA account and select “Book a flight with Avios”. When the booking page comes up, click the “Book and upgrade“ tab on the top of the form. You can choose to upgrade one or both legs of your booking.
Can I use Avios to upgrade on other Airlines?
Yes. If you have booked your flight with British Airways, you can upgrade flights operated by American Airlines or Iberia as long as there is BA reward availability in the cabin you want to upgrade to, you are only upgrading one cabin class and your flight is in an eligible booking class (see here, note that eligible booking classes can be quite restrictive). AA and Iberia flights that have a BA flight number are not available for upgrade with Avios.
Alternatively, you can use your points to upgrade a flight on Iberia, Aer Lingus, Finnair or Qatar Airways. All these airlines use Avios as their loyalty currency and reports are that neither Aer Lingus or Finnair add any carrier surcharges to upgrades.
Any Other Options?
You can also use Avios in part-payment for a cash flight, although the value you get for your avios does vary. Read more here.
Our Take
Upgrading with Avios can still be a useful option, but it’s no longer the outstanding value it was a few years ago.
In particular, upgrading from Premium Economy to Business Class used to be regarded as one of the best sweet spots in the British Airways Club. However, the introduction of higher carrier surcharges means the additional cash payment can now be substantial, significantly reducing the overall value of using your Avios in this way.
Our research found that purchasing a cash ticket and upgrading it was generally not the cheapest overall option. In many cases, either buying a Business Class ticket outright or booking a full Avios reward flight worked out better value once the extra taxes and carrier charges were taken into account.
That said, Avios upgrades still have an important place. For some people, they can be an excellent solution if you don’t have enough Avios for a reward flight, your employer has paid for your original ticket, or you’re keen to earn Tier Points while enjoying a better cabin.
Alternatively, you could upgrade a short-haul economy booking to create your own business class experience as we demonstrate in this article.
Before committing your Avios, it’s always worth comparing all three options:
- Buying a cash ticket in the higher cabin outright
- Booking a reward flight with Avios
- Upgrading a paid ticket with Avios
Spending a few of minutes comparing the total cost could save you both cash and Avios.
