Originally Posted by
corporate-wage-slave
The Avios bands are pretty much fixed by distance, so see the relevant Avios sticky to see how that works. So for Avios it's standardised RFS and no route will stick out. Whereas market forces work on commercial tickets. BCN is an example where BA has very little true competition so fares there can be higher than for places like AGP or PMI. There again out of season and out of convention time, BCN can be relatively inexpensive. Redemptions will always stay the same (other than Peak and Off peak rates), so sometimes it's a good option, sometimes not. If booking in advance (but under 6 months) commercial fares should generally be lower, and therefore there is a bias to cash. Close up to travel, Avios may well be the answer.
100% true, especially for BCN, which I obviously track quite closely.
When booking in advance, you will always receive better value paying cash than using Avios - unless you have specific event-based dates. Note that there is a LCY flight now that alternates between super cheap and relatively expensive for somewhat opaque reasons.
But for last minute trips, crossing your fingers and hoping for award space is the answer. Booking Plus fare and same-day-changing can also be a big saver...