You’re not crazy, this confuses a lot of people at first.
On long haul routes like LHR to BOM, BA adds big surcharges on reward tickets. So when cash fares are already relatively cheap, using a small amount of Avios plus a big cash copay often makes zero sense.
In your example, spending 19k Avios and paying £100 more than a normal cash ticket is obviously bad value. You’d basically be paying BA to take your points.
Avios usually make more sense when:
Cash prices are high but Avios pricing stays fixed
You book short haul where taxes are lower
You find business or first seats where the cash fare is crazy expensive
With only 25k Avios, you’ll probably get better value on short haul Europe flights or by saving up more.
Reward flights aren’t automatically cheaper. They’re just another pricing option, and sometimes it’s a terrible deal.
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