Avios Peak & Off-Peak Dates 2026/27: BA, Iberia & Aer Lingus
· 2026-08-01
A working calendar rather than a list of dates: pick a programme and a year and see every peak day shaded across twelve months. Covers British Airways, Iberia and Aer Lingus, and states plainly which Oneworld programmes have no peak/off-peak pricing at all.
Avios Peak & Off-Peak
Calendar
Pick a programme and a year. Every peak day is shaded, everything else is off-peak, and the source for each calendar is stated underneath.
Peak & off-peak calendar
| Peak period | From | To |
|---|---|---|
| New Year | 1 Jan 2026 | 4 Jan 2026 |
| February half-term (week 1) | 13 Feb 2026 | 15 Feb 2026 |
| February half-term (week 2) | 20 Feb 2026 | 22 Feb 2026 |
| Easter / spring half-term | 27 Mar 2026 | 30 Mar 2026 |
| May Day bank holiday | 1 May 2026 | 4 May 2026 |
| Spring bank holiday / half-term | 22 May 2026 | 31 May 2026 |
| June weekends (early summer) | 6 Jun 2026 | 7 Jun 2026 |
| June weekends (early summer) | 12 Jun 2026 | 14 Jun 2026 |
| June weekends (early summer) | 19 Jun 2026 | 21 Jun 2026 |
| June weekends (early summer) | 26 Jun 2026 | 28 Jun 2026 |
| Summer holidays | 3 Jul 2026 | 31 Jul 2026 |
| Summer holidays | 1 Aug 2026 | 31 Aug 2026 |
| September weekends | 1 Sep 2026 | 1 Sep 2026 |
| September weekends | 4 Sep 2026 | 6 Sep 2026 |
| September weekends | 11 Sep 2026 | 13 Sep 2026 |
| September weekends | 18 Sep 2026 | 20 Sep 2026 |
| September weekends | 25 Sep 2026 | 27 Sep 2026 |
| October half-term | 23 Oct 2026 | 25 Oct 2026 |
| October half-term | 30 Oct 2026 | 31 Oct 2026 |
| November weekends | 1 Nov 2026 | 1 Nov 2026 |
| November weekends | 21 Nov 2026 | 21 Nov 2026 |
| November weekends | 29 Nov 2026 | 29 Nov 2026 |
| December weekend | 12 Dec 2026 | 13 Dec 2026 |
| Christmas & New Year | 18 Dec 2026 | 24 Dec 2026 |
| Christmas & New Year | 26 Dec 2026 | 31 Dec 2026 |
Everything outside these windows is Off-Peak — the best stretches are January (after the 4th), most of February (outside half-term), all of March (outside Easter), April, most of May, June (outside the listed weekends), and November (outside the three listed dates). Peak covers roughly a third of the year, but it's concentrated in specific weekends and school-holiday blocks rather than whole months, except August, which is peak in its entirety. BA publishes the exact calendar on ba.com about 12 months ahead — always confirm the specific date there before booking.
Verified 13 July 2026
Which programmes actually have peak dates
Three: British Airways Club, Iberia Plus and Aer Lingus AerClub. Each publishes its own calendar and the dates do not match each other. Qatar Airways Privilege Club moved Avios redemptions to dynamic pricing in 2024 and no longer publishes a fixed calendar. Qatar's own Avios calculator does label some dates as Off-peak, though, so check its date picker before you book. Japan Airlines, Cathay, American and the rest do not use Avios at all, so the concept does not apply to them.
Peak and off-peak decide what a reward seat costs, not what a flight earns — those are two separate calculations, and mixing them up is why people are surprised by their statement. For the earning side of the trip, run the route through the Avios calculator.
Now price the reward
You know when to fly. Work out what the seat actually costs in Avios, across every Oneworld programme that publishes a chart.
Open the reward calculator ↗Peak and off-peak — frequently asked questions
Which Oneworld programmes have peak and off-peak dates?
Three: British Airways Club, Iberia Plus and Aer Lingus AerClub. Each publishes its own calendar and the dates do not match each other. Qatar Airways Privilege Club moved Avios redemptions to dynamic pricing in 2024 and no longer publishes a fixed calendar. Qatar's own Avios calculator does label some dates as Off-peak, though, so check its date picker before you book. Japan Airlines, Cathay, American and the rest do not use Avios at all, so the concept does not apply to them.
Are the 2027 dates published yet?
British Airways and Aer Lingus have released 2027 calendars. Iberia has not. BA has changed its published dates after first release in previous years, so treat 2027 as provisional until closer to travel.
Does Qatar Airways have off-peak Avios dates?
Not as a published calendar. Privilege Club moved to dynamic Avios pricing in 2024. The Avios cost floats with the cash fare bucket Qatar releases, so there is no fixed calendar to check.
How much do off-peak dates actually save?
On British Airways short-haul, off-peak reward pricing is meaningfully cheaper than peak for the same seat. The saving is larger in premium cabins and on longer routes. Use the reward calculator to price a specific route rather than relying on a rule of thumb.
Do peak dates depend on when I book or when I fly?
When you fly. The calendar applies to the date of the flight itself, not the date you make the booking.
Is off-peak just anything that is not peak?
Yes. British Airways publishes the peak windows, and everything outside them is off-peak. That is why the calendar above shades peak days and leaves the rest green.
Do Iberia and British Airways share the same calendar?
No, and this catches people out. Iberia Plus runs its own peak calendar with different dates, even though both programmes use Avios and balances move 1:1 between them.
Peak and off-peak dates are set by each airline and have been revised after publication before. Confirm on the airline’s own site before booking. Sources and check dates are shown beneath each calendar.
The calculators mentioned here are free and live on Avios Intelligence, the project behind Sixth Freedom.