MSE News: Airmiles becomes Avios: hurry to beat the cost hike

the_crazy

What about if I have paper air miles?

Yes, I know, I should have sorted them out long ago! But I've got a pile (maybe 10,000?) air miles sitting in a file somewhere...

Is it worth my while digging them out and trying to get them added to Avios? Or should I just throw them away?

thelawnet

thelawnet wrote: »

Regional airports that BA serves:

Edinburgh - to Gatwick and Heathrow
Glasgow - to Gatwick and Heathrow
Aberdeen - to Heathrow
Newcastle - Heathrow
Manchester - Heathrow and Gatwick
Jersey - Gatwick

(There are also codeshares on Flybe, Loganair, etc.)

You can book something like Aberdeen-Heathrow, road transfer to Gatwick - Tunis (BA fly to most places from Heathrow, but some only from Gatwick)

Distances from London:

Manchester 245km
Jersey 301km
Newcastle 399km
Edinburgh 551km
Glasgow 555km
Aberdeen 642km

I believe the plan is to charge for the total distance flown, so it's possible a regional flight to somewhere in Europe/North Africa/Turkey will be in a higher zone than one direct from London. However flights in Zone 3 won't go into Zone 4, because Zone 4 is for World flights, not Euro flights. So basically everything in Zone 3 will also be in Zone 3 even from Scotland.

Just checked this out and regional flights are FREE.

Aberdeen-London-Turin costs the same as London-Turin (For example).

When you choose the Reward Flight Saver option, you pay the Avios and flat cash price even if you are connecting on a UK domestic flight, or on a domestic mainland Spain flight with Iberia. For example, if you are travelling Glasgow to London, London to Rome return, the domestic flights are included in the price.

So even better.

thelawnet

the_crazy wrote: »

What about if I have paper air miles?

Yes, I know, I should have sorted them out long ago! But I've got a pile (maybe 10,000?) air miles sitting in a file somewhere...

Is it worth my while digging them out and trying to get them added to Avios? Or should I just throw them away?

They are worth about £1000!

After November 30th they are worthless.

http://avios.faq-help.com/?label=bg214

ElmerFudd

Silly question probably - this doesn't effect Virgin airmiles does it?

thelawnet

ElmerFudd wrote: »

Silly question probably - this doesn't effect Virgin airmiles does it?

No, only the International Airlines Group - BA and Iberia, plus the 'Airmiles' brand. Virgin miles are not part of the 'Airmiles' brand (which is confusingly generic, perhaps why they have dumped it).

inflationbusting

Great post.

I appear to have got over 1,000 BA miles from my last Airmiles flight. That isn't to be sniffed at seeing as 1,000 Avios cost £31 to buy.

Am I able to transfer these into my Airmiles (now Avios) account?

I was looking for some kind of breakdown on what was the cheapest places to go to and this really hits the spot.

How about a good way to collect Avios points cheaply? They seem to have really expanded the range of affiliates.

gobbo

This article is misleading , as a long time airmiles collector , airmiles used to charge taxes on all flights , and then a few years ago they included them , so its hardly something new

Mr_Crunch

Air Miles - or Avios - are only of use if there are actually convenient flights available which are bookable with them. Having 6000 miles, before the changeover I was looking to book to Rome or Naples for September 2012 but there were very few Airmiles flights available, and all involved a stonking great cash payment (£140 to £226 per person) on top of the miles. So I'll be going with BMI Baby for £75 per person return. Including taxes.

bettiehough

allyjm wrote: »

I tried to make a booking earlier this morning on BA.com to that exact destination, but i was still quoted the 9000 miles plus around £80 in taxes???

I take it i am just too early and they havent updated the site yet

I was 3 hours on the phone today. This morning after 2 hours I was promised a ticket under the old Airmiles scheme and there were enough tickets availble on different dates. It would have been 2500 airmiles + £420. Because of their systems not working, they promised to call me back after 2 pm. They did not, so I spent some more time and money on the phone calling them back. First I was told there were no tickets to Johannesburg for November and December. I checked on the new Avios website who was running at last, which informed me that on the dates I have provisionally booked there were 9 tickets left, I accused the company of not honoring their agreement with me and customers that we can still book under the old airmiles agreement until 15 December. Under the new system my ticket would cost 30000 avios + £508 pounds which amounts to 5000 avios more and £88 more. After talking to 3 people the second time, another hour I still do not have an answer and am waiting to hear if they are going to honour the booking I made this morning which they admit was made but could not be paid due to the shambles they were experiencing. I just feel that the comany are now actively discouraging customers to book under the old system as they are scoring more with the new system and is really angry and dissapointed. The people trying to help me were friendly and I could sense their discomfort with the situation so I feel really sorry for employees who have to put up with upset customers due to ineffiency or maybe dishonesty from top management?:mad:

thelawnet

inflationbusting wrote: »

Great post.

I appear to have got over 1,000 BA miles from my last Airmiles flight. That isn't to be sniffed at seeing as 1,000 Avios cost £31 to buy.

You'd be mad to pay that much. 1000 Avios is worth ~£10. You won't get this any more though, one disadvantage of the new scheme.

Am I able to transfer these into my Airmiles (now Avios) account?

https://www.avios.com/my-account/combine-my-avios

How about a good way to collect Avios points cheaply? They seem to have really expanded the range of affiliates.

Credit Cards:
Tesco World Finest mastercard (closed to new accounts) = 1p per £2 spent, so £500 spend = £2.50 voucher = 1000 Avios. 2 avios per £1 spend

Tesco Clubcard Credit Card = 1p per £4 spend = 1 avios per £1 spend.

American Express Platinum card, 42,000 point signup bonus if you go through 'refer a friend' https://www.americanexpress.com/uk/mgm/referafriendplatinumcharge.cgi?sourcecode=M00200XA03&om_rid=Niy5YH&om_mid=_BMker5B8UnRlhr&om_lid=amex4 (thread: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/british-airways-executive-club/1127063-42-000-ba-miles-300-new-amex-plat-promo-active.html). £300 fee! http://www.prioritypass.com/ lounge access. Free family travel insurance. 1 Reward Point per £1, 1 Avios per per Reward Point, so 1 Avios per £1.

American Express Prefrerred Rewards, 20,000 point signup bonus, £60 quidco, £93 fee first year, £125 following years, 1 Reward point = 1 avios per £1

British Airways American Express Premium Plus, 1.5 avios per £1 spend, £150 fee, 18,000 avios signup bonus , £45 quidco cashback

BA American Express 1 avios per £1 spend, 9,000 avios signup bonus, no annual feee

Starwood Preferred Guest American Express 1 starpoint per £1. 20,000 sign up bonus if you spend £1k in 3 months. £75 fee. Transfer 20,000 and get 5,000 bonus: http://www.starwoodhotels.com/preferredguest/account/starpoints/transfer/airline/detail.html?PartnerCode=BRITISH&IndustryType=AIRLINE So £1 = 1.25 avios

Lloyds Tsb Premier Duo Amex, £1 = 1.25 avios. £50 fee. 10 avios per £1 - with no spending limit - for first 3 months after opening. Free compainion ticket voucher if you spend £15k within a year.

Regular Duo Amex is free but only 1 avios per £1, and 5 avios per £1 for first 3 months.

Lloyds Tsb Premier Duo Mastercard = £1 = 0.25 avios, £50 fee, or Duo no fee £1=0.2 avios

Spending in Tesco using Clubcard = 1 point per £1 spent, so £250 spend = 1000 airmiles = 4 avios per £1 spent in Tesco

Avios Cash Passport - this pays 1 point per £1 loaded, but the charges are absolutely outrageous, 5.75% currency loading and 2% reload fee, versus 1.5% and 0% respectively on a standard Cash Passport Globe.

Currency with Travelex - very uncompetitive rates, try here instead: http://travelmoney.moneysavingexpert.com/holiday-money/#results


Online shopping - varies, mostly uncompetitive, but some e.g., 2 avios per £1 at Currys beat Quidco at 1.5%. Probably easiest to stick with Quidco on the whole.

Overall none of the cards are hugely compelling for long-term spending (the closed Tesco World Finest card has for years been the best non-cash rewards card around), when compared with cash, however:

• the Lloyds Amex Premier is worth it for free companion ticket (if you know how to use it) is a good deal plus 1.25 Avios per £1.
• the Amex Platinum Card is very expensive but has some worthwhile benefits if you travel a lot, plus the 42,000 Avios signup bonus is worth over £300. Probably not worth it past year 1 for most people though.
• Starwood Amex is a good deal for the 20,000 bonus also.

Transferring Clubcard points to Avios at 1000 avios per £2.50 is a good use of Clubcard points.