BA Miles to be rebranded 'Avios'
British Airways has announced that it is rebranding its existing rewards programme and currency, BA Miles, as 'Avios' in order to create a common loyalty currency for all reward programmes owned by British Airways' parent company, International Airlines Group (IAG).
Although Avios will be a common currency that is used to reward members in the Executive Club, Iberia Plus, and the Airmiles programme, these three schemes will effectively remain separate.
Members of the Executive Club, for example, are not being automatically registered in the Airmiles programme, even though the currency unit is the same.
The value of member's existing BA Miles will remain the same, with the most significant change being in the name and the increased ways in which members can spend Avios points (compared to BA Miles).
British Airways says that the change in the currency's name will not affect the name of the airline's own loyalty programme, so the British Airways Executive Club will not be renamed 'Avios Club', as has been incorrectly suggested in some reports.
However, Avios will become the new name for Airmiles in the UK (for which the rebranding will begin in November 2011). The company has confirmed that the programmes will remain separate, in the same way that the Executive Club and Airmiles are at the moment.
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