If you have purchased your ticket, you should check your receipt and deduct government and airport imposed charges from the total cost of your ticket to arrive at your Eligible Fare. Usually, any charges relating to seat selection, carbon offsetting and baggage will be included in your Eligible Fare, but you should check the relevant airline’s terms and conditions to be sure. If you haven’t purchased your ticket yet, see our FAQ “How do I calculate the Eligible Fare if I haven’t bought my ticket yet?”

This is difficult to determine accurately if you haven’t purchased your ticket yet. Doh! However, some rough rules of thumb are as follows:

For short haul flights: deduct 30% of the total fare

For long haul flights in economy: deduct 40% of the total fare

For long haul flights in premium economy: deduct 25% of the total fare

For long haul flights in business/first class: deduct 20% of the total fare

Bear in mind this is only a guide and should not be relied upon

We calculate miles flown using a measure known as “great circle distance”, this is the technical term for “as the crow flies”. Airlines tend not to disclose how they calculate distance flown, but we think (and have verified) that this is a close approximation.

Not yet, but we have plans to introduce new functionality to help you max out your Tier Points too! Watch this space…

Some programmes award miles at different rates depending on the currency you book in. Here is how you should determine the currency you use:

1. Use the same currency you paid in (£, $, € or Canadian Dollar “CAD”) 2. If you paid in a different currency, please convert it to and select your airline’s local currency (£ for BA, € for Iberia, Aer Lingus and Finnair, use $ for Qatar Airways).

You should select the Carrier that issues your ticket, which is not always the airline that flies you to your destination. Confusing, right? Never fear.

If you check your flight number, the letters at the start will usually correspond to the Carrier that issues your ticket. For example, it is possible that you fly on an Iberia aircraft with a BA flight number, such as BA1234. In this case, you should select BA as your Carrier as BA issued your ticket (even though Iberia whisked you off into the skies!)

Some frequent flyer schemes specify that the flight must also be operated by that Carrier, or in some cases a OneWorld Carrier, but this is less common and you should check the respective scheme rules to be sure.

First thing’s first, your cabin of travel (economy, business etc) is not the same as your class of travel. Each cabin has multiple classes of travel which are represented by a letter e.g. A, J or Y. They vary depending on a whole host of factors, but Avios earning rates can vary dramatically even within the same cabin, so knowing your Travel Class (the letter) is important!

You might find it on your booking confirmation, in your airline’s online booking management portal or alongside the cabin class when making a booking. You can also contact your airline or travel agent, and they should be able to share this with you. If you’re struggling to find your Travel Class, you can try the following industry norms, but please do not rely on these to be accurate!

Economy: Y  /  Premium Economy: W  /  Business: J  /  First: F

While we have plans to expand our reach soon, we currently cover the main airlines that use Avios as their frequent flyer currency, including:

1. British Airways
2. Iberia
3. Aer Lingus
4. Qatar Airways
5. Finnair