Boost Your Airmiles Discussion Area

Ecky-thump · 22 December 2011 at 11:37PM

Thanks for your tips on how to spend my 4000 Avios, 4140 to be exact, but the venues aren't for me, sorry to say. Hubby and I cannot use them so they will go to waste. I looked at the wines and they want many more Avios than I've got. I'll contact them and tell them I will not be collecting any more and to ask what I can do with the remaining points, and see what they say.

Your further story about your uncle is very sad. It is a bad outcome. I was sorry when I read it.

My hubby has 'flown' over the isle of Mallorca on the similator, so he can do foreign!

All the best for the festive season and new year.
:beer:

stayathomedad_2 · 23 December 2011 at 12:17AM

Started to collect airmiles end Aug and have now got 9,000, enough for a £27 short haul return flight.

I originally started collecting to do flights to and from Australia but I am assuming this is pointless now. Taxes are over £500 and cash flights can be found for less than £700 so it's not worth it to save less than £200 for 100,000 avios. It could be worth it if I used them for premium economy/business but getting a family of four in these seats is impossible due to poor availablility.

Is this correct?

Will probably still collect on credit card but not bother converting clubcard vouchers.

ecudat · 23 December 2011 at 11:51AM

I'm in a similar situation to 'stayathomedad' in that I now actually have quite a few AVIOS points - nigh on 30,000, but the cost of taxes means that there is very little benefit to using it for long-haul flights.

Does anyone know where I can find some info on the range of surcharges - i.e. where they are reasonably low (outside of Europe)? Trying to weigh up whether its worth continuing to collect, or if I'd be better off with getting a different credit card with something more useful like e.g. 1% cashback.

Really disappointed that they have done this (and that you can't just pay with more miles for the taxes).

stayathomedad_2 · 23 December 2011 at 12:21PM

Not sure I've got this 100% correct but read on another forum about booking through ba exec club and then using avios to upgrade to business. So if I saved my 400,000 avios for 4 tickets to Australia and traded them for the flights I would pay about £2100 in taxes. However, if I pay cash for flight 4x£700 so £2800 I could then upgrade to business using my 400,000 avios. So paying an extra £700 for business class. I can't remember how much they wanted last time but this seems excellent value for money. Is this correct?

Am I right in thinking I could do a flight to Perth instead of having to go to sydney via avios booker?

I am assuming availability will be better aswell as you are booking from all flights instead of just those on avios booker?

imposter · 23 December 2011 at 1:00PM

ecudat wrote: »

I'm in a similar situation to 'stayathomedad' in that I now actually have quite a few AVIOS points - nigh on 30,000, but the cost of taxes means that there is very little benefit to using it for long-haul flights.

Does anyone know where I can find some info on the range of surcharges - i.e. where they are reasonably low (outside of Europe)? Trying to weigh up whether its worth continuing to collect, or if I'd be better off with getting a different credit card with something more useful like e.g. 1% cashback.

Check out the reward flight options - it can take you as far as Moscow. Listed in full here: http://www.travelforum.org/thailand/6243-avios-reward-flight-saver.html

NonGeographicalMan · 23 December 2011 at 1:48PM

stayathomedad wrote: »

So if I saved my 400,000 avios for 4 tickets to Australia and traded them for the flights I would pay about £2100 in taxes. However, if I pay cash for flight 4x£700 so £2800 I could then upgrade to business using my 400,000 avios. So paying an extra £700 for business class.

Your understanding is correct as in principle Avios is now great value for Club flights long haul but terrible value for Economy. This is because the upgrade route on a cash fare always available to BA Miles holders is now available to Avios holders collecting through the ex Air Miles operation as well as to Avios holders who collected them through BA Exec Club as BA Miles. Also Club flights are now only 2 x and not 3 x the regular mileage as they were latterly (after World Traveller Plus was introduced) with Air Miles. Its worth mentioning that First Class is also now only 3 x rather than 4 x the standard mileage.

Your issue will be availability of seats as availability is already bad in Economy on Avios flights to Sydney and it is much, much worse in Club. However availability is now generally significantly better in First Class than in Club as most businesses have cut back on travel and stopped flying Execs in First Class thus leaving more unsold seats to be transferred for use by Avios holders but less seats in Club.

Sydney is a very bad route for availability most of the year. You might therefore want to also consider Cape Town and buying cash fares to go there and upgrading them as the base economy mileage to Cape Town is now only 50,000 Avios equivalent to 5,000 Air Miles, whereas it used to be 8,000 Air Miles under the old scheme. So you only need 200,000 Avios to upgrade four Economy tickets to Club to Cape Town and availability is a lot better too than to Sydney.

Am I right in thinking I could do a flight to Perth instead of having to go to sydney via avios booker?

I am assuming availability will be better aswell as you are booking from all flights instead of just those on avios booker?

No Avios airline choice is worse than Air Miles as Air Miles was offering some seats to Australia on Virgin at one stage but Avios mileage seats will be strictly only with BA and this means that you can only fly to Sydney in Australia as BA does not operate flights to any other airports. A code share does not help. You can only travel on an actual BA flight or on some Monarch routes under Avios.

merchcon55 · 24 December 2011 at 8:03PM

NonGeographicalMan wrote: »

So you only need 200,000 Avios to upgrade four Economy tickets to Club to Cape Town and availability is a lot better too than to Sydney.

.

I believe you can only upgrade Full Fare Economy tickets with Avios - discounted economy (like T class) are not eligible for upgrades.

One can consider buying WT+ (economy plus) cash seats - most are eligible for Avios upgrade to Clubworld.

Cabin

Multiple of base mileage

World Traveller (Y, B, H) to Club World

x1

rachelandgromit · 30 December 2011 at 11:57AM

So can I just check something, I can book a cash flight to Sydney with BA and then upgrade one class only with Avios. So, if I wanted to ultimately fly Business class I would have to book a Premium Economy (World Traveller Plus) flight with BA and pay cash, getting Avios back on my purchase. I then ring Avios/Airmiles to ask if I can use my Avios to upgrade 50,000 Avios each to upgrade to Business - ensuring I check with both availability first to make sure they both have availability so would need to book them both at the same time. Is this right, and to confirm it's only on BA flights so the London to Sydney route (nothing for us oop North).

I was using Lloyds Credit Card to collect, but I think the BA American Express Card is better value for money 1 Avios for each £1.

rachelandgromit · 30 December 2011 at 12:20PM

And you can't upgrade Economy to Business, you can only upgrade one class, so economy to premium economy, premium economy to business. Checked all availability for 2012 for business class and there is about 2 flights!!!

[Deleted User] · 6 January 2012 at 10:57PM

Just booked two flights to Europe - one for OH with Avios from the BAEC site and the other for me with cash. £27 fees for the Avios flight but can't upgrade - to quote BA website "because it's a reward flight". Checked the Avios website - booking with them I could have upgraded ... lesson learnt is that if I want to upgrade use the Avios site. If I want to book with cash, BAEC might be better ... :beer: