Originally Posted by
Globaliser
They're not free by any stretch of the imagination. As you've discovered; and the airline hasn't marketed award flights as "free" for a very long time.
This is why the usual advice here is that redeeming for economy awards is usually (although not always) a very bad idea.
The "carrier imposed charge" is the item formerly known as the "fuel surcharge".
hmm ... I think this is why I keep on racking up Avios and never spending any! Business class flights are better value ... but are never available when I want them ... and economy flights are poor value.
ps .. fuel surcharge ?? With oil plummeting ... admittedly up off the super lows, but still ...