I came to the board this morning expecting to see a thread about this, but can't find anything, so maybe I'm missing something, but...

I know BA allow part-cash, part-Avios bookings today. I've never used it, but from what I understand, you pay cash to top up you Avios balance so you can book the flight, but it is still a full Avios booking, so no Avios or TPs will be earned.

Effectively, you are buying Avios from BA as part of the booking process, and using them for the booking.

However, I got an email last night from BA about a new kind of part-cash, part Avios booking, called Avios Part Payment, where you can use your Avios to get a discount off the price of cash flight, but still earn full Avios and TPs.

There are limitations on how many you can use, and they vary by cabin/route:





The feature is available for a fixed period of time:
Booking period: 15 October - 15 November 2014.
Travel period: 15 October 2014 - 30 June 2015.

I wonder if this is BA trying to reduce their Avios liability in the short term (assuming they have such a thing) or whether this is a trial that they may roll out further in future.

The interesting thing is that, in every case, BA is "buying" your Avios off you for 0.67p each. Personally, I'm not tempted at that price.

I know that some people value their Avios at 1p - I've always been a bit more conservative and would only "pay" up to 0.7p to top up my balance via the usual earning routes, but I wonder if this will change how people value their own balances, or how they earn Avios.

Full details here:

https://www.britishairways.com/en-gb...s-part-payment