British Airways just launched a limited-time promotion that lets you boost eligible transactions by up to 500%. But here’s the thing: the math on this offer isn’t immediately obvious, and whether it’s worth it depends entirely on what you’re planning to do with those Avios.

Let me break down the actual numbers and show you when this makes sense versus when you should skip it entirely.

What’s the Offer?

If you’ve earned Avios from eligible transactions since January 1, 2025, British Airways is now letting you pay to multiply those earnings by 100%, 200%, 300%, 400%, or 500%. The 400% and 500% multipliers are limited-time offers that expire in about six days. The best part is that you can boost Avios transferred from your credit cards in 2025 as well!

The Math

Let’s use a real example. I have 288,500 Avios worth of eligible transactions in my account. Here’s what British Airways charges to boost them at each tier:

300% boost: Pay $16,606.50 to boost by 865,500 Avios. That’s 1.92 cents per boosted Avios.

400% boost: Pay $23,242 to boost by 1,154,000 Avios. That’s 2.01 cents per boosted Avios.

500% boost: Pay $29,877.50 to boost by 1,442,500 Avios. That works out to 2.07 cents per boosted Avios.

Here’s what jumped out at me immediately: the 300% boost is actually the cheapest way to acquire Avios in this offer. At 1.92 cents per Avios, you’re beating British Airways’ regular purchase price of around 2.31 cents. All three tiers beat buying Avios directly, but 300% gives you the best value per Avios.

So why would anyone choose 400% or 500%? It comes down to how many total Avios you need. If you’re planning a big redemption and the 300% boost doesn’t get you there, you might need to pay slightly more per Avios to access the higher totals. It’s a trade-off between efficiency and volume.

Here’s What Most People Are Missing

British Airways limits you to buying 200,000 Avios per year through their regular purchase program.

But this boost promotion lets you access an additional a seemingly infinite number of Avios. I’m sure there’s a cap, but I haven’t found it yet!

The real question becomes: do you have eligible transactions to work with, and how many total Avios do you actually need?

It’s also worth nothing this promotion usually comes back every year, meaning you can plan ahead by transferring miles into your BA account in 2026, and buy a huge chunk of points in 2027.

When This Offer Actually Makes Sense

Even though the 300% tier offers the best per-Avios value, the reason to use this promotion at all comes down to whether you’re planning high-value redemptions. Let me show you what I mean with some examples.

JAL First Class to Tokyo: 125,000 Avios one-way. If you value that flight at $15,000+, you’re extracting 12 cents of value per Avios. Paying 1.92 cents to boost those Avios give you a crazy ROI!

Qatar Qsuites: 70,000 Avios one-way in business class. Price out a revenue business class ticket from the US to Doha and you’re looking at $4,000-6,000. Even at the low end, that’s 5.7 cents per Avios. Your 1.92 cent cost means you’re getting nearly 3x value back.

Aer Lingus Business to Dublin: 50,000 Avios one-way. Business class revenue fares to Europe typically run $2,000-3,000. At the midpoint, you’re getting 6.5 cents per Avios in value. Again, paying 1.92 cents to access those Avios is an absolute steal.

The pattern here is when you’re planning premium cabin redemptions where Avios deliver outsized value, paying 1.92-2.07 cents to acquire them is a no-brainer. The math gets even better when you consider that you’re accessing Avios beyond the normal annual purchase cap.

If you want to dive deeper into the math of when buying (or in this case, boosting) points makes sense for your specific situation, I built a calculator to help.

When You Should Skip This Offer

Even with better-than-purchase pricing, not every situation calls for boosting Avios.

You don’t have eligible transactions. This seems obvious, but I’m seeing people get excited about the offer before checking whether they actually have transactions to boost. Log in first, see what you’re working with, then decide.

You’re topping up speculatively. If you don’t have a specific redemption in mind or you’re just generally accumulating Avios for someday travel, this might not be the move. Even at 1.92 cents per Avios, you’re still prepaying for travel. Make sure you have a plan for using them.

Your planned redemptions are economy. If you’re booking economy awards where you might only get 1.5-2 cents per Avios in value, the math starts getting tight. You’re not necessarily losing money at 1.92 cents, but your margin gets thin. This offer really shines for premium cabin redemptions where value per Avios is 4+ cents.

The Bottom Line

This is actually a pretty solid offer if you’re planning premium cabin redemptions and you have eligible transactions sitting in your account. The 300% tier at 1.92 cents per Avios beats regular purchase pricing, and all three promotional tiers come in under the 2.31 cent standard rate.

The trick is choosing the right multiplier for your situation. Don’t get seduced by the “500% BOOST!” marketing if 300% gets you where you need to go. You’re paying a premium for volume at the higher tiers, and while it’s still a decent rate, efficiency matters.

If you’re sitting on eligible transactions and you’re planning redemptions like JAL first class, Qatar Qsuites, or Aer Lingus business class where you’re getting 5-12 cents of value per Avios, this is a no-brainer. You’re essentially buying premium cabin flights at a 60-90% discount to cash prices.

But if you don’t have transactions to boost, or you’re accumulating speculatively without a clear redemption plan, this isn’t the offer for you. The math only works when you’re actually using those Avios for high-value redemptions, not just stockpiling them for future someday travel.

Run your own numbers. Figure out what you need, what you have to work with, and whether the multiplier math gets you there efficiently. British Airways is betting most people will just see “LIMITED TIME 500%!” and click through without thinking. Don’t be that person.

Calculate your cost per Avios, figure out your redemption value, and make the decision based on whether the numbers actually work for your specific situation.