British Airways Holidays has just launched a fresh Avios part-payment promotion, and on paper it looks like the most generous version of this offer we have seen so far. From today (13 May) until 18 May 2026, Avios will stretch 33% further when used towards eligible holiday package bookings, with the travel window running all the way through to 27 March 2027. You can see the full offer at ba.com/aviosoffer.
This is a clear step up from BA's previous run at the same promo in January 2026, which capped out at 25% extra value and ended travel on 31 December 2026. So we have got a bigger bonus and a longer travel window, which is a rare combination of "actually better than last time" in the loyalty world.
What is on offer
If you are a member of The British Airways Club, you can use Avios to part-pay for any eligible holiday package - flight + hotel, flight + car, or flight + hotel + car - and during this six-day window, those Avios will deliver around a third more cash value than they normally would.
BA's worked example: a four-night economy holiday to New York that would usually need around 56,275 Avios to save £242 will need just 42,206 Avios for the same £242 saving during the promo. That is roughly 14,000 fewer Avios out of your balance for the same outcome.
Let us run the maths
This is where things get interesting, and where I would urge a bit of caution before getting carried away.
Normal Avios part-payment value: £242 / 56,275 = around 0.43p per Avios.
Promotional value (this week only): £242 / 42,206 = around 0.57p per Avios.
A 0.57p-per-Avios redemption is solid for cash-equivalent value, but it is still a fair way below what you would typically expect from a flight redemption, particularly in premium cabins. As a rough yardstick, a return Club World seat to New York at 160,000 Avios off-peak plus around £375 in taxes, set against cash fares that frequently sit in the £3,000-£4,000 range, lands you somewhere around 1.5-2p per Avios. Even economy reward redemptions on the right routes can comfortably beat 0.7p per Avios. We have got a wider piece on what an Avios point is actually worth if you want to dig deeper into the benchmarks.
In other words: this offer does not change the underlying rule that flight redemptions, particularly in premium cabins, are still typically a better use of Avios than holiday packages. The recent December 2025 BA devaluation nudged that bar a touch lower, but premium award flights still win on paper for most routes.
When the BA Holidays route makes sense
Despite the maths, there are still scenarios where I would genuinely consider this offer.
The first is when you simply cannot find award availability. BA reward seat availability for families or peak dates can be brutal, and that has only got worse after the latest devaluation. Booking via BA Holidays means any seat on any flight is fair game, and you can pay the lot in cash + Avios if you want. No frantic refreshing of Award Travel Finder at midnight to grab the two business class seats that just opened up.
The second is when you would be booking the holiday in cash anyway. If you have already decided on a flight + hotel package and want to chip away at the cash cost, this offer is essentially a 33%-boosted discount voucher on something you are buying regardless. That is harder to argue against.
The third is the tier points angle. Award redemptions earn no Avios and no tier points. BA Holidays bookings still earn both, which is meaningful if you are chasing or maintaining BA status. You can plug your fare class into our British Airways tier point calculator to see exactly how much you would bank.
The fourth is balance management. After two BA devaluations in eighteen months, sitting on a huge Avios stockpile is genuinely risky. Cashing some out into a holiday at 0.57p per Avios is a defensible way of locking in value rather than waiting for the next devaluation to chip away at it.
When to give it a miss
If you have a healthy Avios balance and your travel plans are flexible enough to chase reward availability, you will almost always extract more value from a straight redemption, particularly in Club World. Sanity-check what your route would cost first using our how many Avios for a flight tool before you commit any Avios to a holiday package.
Likewise, if you are considering topping up your Avios balance specifically to take advantage of this offer, the maths almost never works. Buying Avios at around 1p each only to spend them at 0.57p is a guaranteed loss. Our Avios Balance Booster calculator will quickly show you whether buying Avios from BA, Qatar Airways or Finnair makes sense for any other goal you have in mind.
My verdict
This is the best version of BA's Avios part-payment offer we have seen to date: a bigger bonus than January's 25%, a longer travel window, and you keep earning Avios and tier points on the trip. But the underlying truth has not changed. Avios are still worth more on a Club World seat than on a holiday package.
If you have already got a BA Holidays booking in mind and a balance you actively want to deploy, six days at 33% extra value is a fair window to act on it. Just do not let the headline number convince you to use Avios for a holiday when a flight redemption is sitting there as a meaningfully better option.
The offer runs until 23:59 on 18 May 2026, with travel to be completed by 27 March 2027.
Until next time, keep reaching for those redemption sweet spots.
Jack