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British Airways: Book with cash and upgrade with Avios
heer84
Posts: 4 Newbie
Hi all,
I wanted to put across a point about how British Airways have completely lost the plot when it comes down to yielding their flights. As well as discussing the various options of booking with Avios miles, booking with cash and upgrading with Avios miles, I will also discuss the cost of placing a simple booking for cash on the British Airways website. Although this applies to many routes and flights I have used one particular example of the following itinerary below which is correct as of Tuesday 22nd November 2011:
BA0882 departing LHR at 08:00 on Monday 20th February, with the return flight from Kiev departing at 14:10 on Wednesday 22nd February
Option A
Book Club Europe using Avios miles will cost you £34 + 40,000 avios miles
This I have to admit, if you have the Avios Miles is a very good deal.
Option B
Book Euro Traveler (lowest fare) with cash and upgrade to Club Europe using Avios Miles will cost you £1109.93 + 20,000 Avios points
As you could imagine, I find this ridiculous. I would be paying more then if I had paid for a fully Flexible Club World ticket plus I need to sacrifice 20,000 of my hard earned Avios miles. Surely you only pay the difference in the tax (which is only around £20) if you are paying cash and upgrading with your Avios Miles
Option C
Book Euro Traveler (flexible fare) with cash and upgrade to Club Europe using Avios Miles will cost you £1775.93 + 20,000 Avios points
Just as stupendous as Option B seeing as I now need to pay even more cash to have the flexibility then if I just paid for a fully flexible Club Europe ticket, except that again I need to sacrafice 20,000 of my hard earned Avios Miles
Option D
Paying full price for a Club Europe (lowest fare) ticket will cost you £1008.93
Fair enough it's the price you pay to fly Club World, however what is the justification for charging less then options B and C?
Option E
Paying full price for a Club Europe (flexible fare) ticket will cost you £1008.93
Again, same opinion as Option D, except you would expect there to be a premium for the flexibility. More to the point, why would it cost more then option F!!!
Option F
Paying full price for a Euro Traveler (flexible fare) ticket will cost you £1757.93
Which by the way is £749 more expensive then a Club Europe Ticket. Even more worrying, when you get to the price quote page (providing you are daft enough to pay for the Euro Traveler ticket in the first place), British Airway have the nerve to then offer you an upgrade to Club Europe for a supplement of £293.
If you could make sense of what I have written, you would see that British Airways tried to charge me an additional £293 to upgrade from Euro Traveler to Club Europe even though Club Europe is actually cheaper on that particular flight by £749
Option F
You by a Euro Traveler (lowest fare) ticket for £253.93
Unfortunately unless you have 40,000 Avios miles this is the next best option for you. Nothing of course wrong with the price, just a shame that as a rational person this makes more sence then options B-E.
I am by no means cheap and don't like to sound like I am an old fart trying to pick an argument. But I do hope you see the difference for your self. If this example is anything to go by (which is not rear one off example, there are many more on BA.com), British Airways revenue management is not only out of touch, but in some cases a pure con.
Feel free to check for your self and contribute to this post.
I wanted to put across a point about how British Airways have completely lost the plot when it comes down to yielding their flights. As well as discussing the various options of booking with Avios miles, booking with cash and upgrading with Avios miles, I will also discuss the cost of placing a simple booking for cash on the British Airways website. Although this applies to many routes and flights I have used one particular example of the following itinerary below which is correct as of Tuesday 22nd November 2011:
BA0882 departing LHR at 08:00 on Monday 20th February, with the return flight from Kiev departing at 14:10 on Wednesday 22nd February
Option A
Book Club Europe using Avios miles will cost you £34 + 40,000 avios miles
This I have to admit, if you have the Avios Miles is a very good deal.
Option B
Book Euro Traveler (lowest fare) with cash and upgrade to Club Europe using Avios Miles will cost you £1109.93 + 20,000 Avios points
As you could imagine, I find this ridiculous. I would be paying more then if I had paid for a fully Flexible Club World ticket plus I need to sacrifice 20,000 of my hard earned Avios miles. Surely you only pay the difference in the tax (which is only around £20) if you are paying cash and upgrading with your Avios Miles
Option C
Book Euro Traveler (flexible fare) with cash and upgrade to Club Europe using Avios Miles will cost you £1775.93 + 20,000 Avios points
Just as stupendous as Option B seeing as I now need to pay even more cash to have the flexibility then if I just paid for a fully flexible Club Europe ticket, except that again I need to sacrafice 20,000 of my hard earned Avios Miles
Option D
Paying full price for a Club Europe (lowest fare) ticket will cost you £1008.93
Fair enough it's the price you pay to fly Club World, however what is the justification for charging less then options B and C?
Option E
Paying full price for a Club Europe (flexible fare) ticket will cost you £1008.93
Again, same opinion as Option D, except you would expect there to be a premium for the flexibility. More to the point, why would it cost more then option F!!!
Option F
Paying full price for a Euro Traveler (flexible fare) ticket will cost you £1757.93
Which by the way is £749 more expensive then a Club Europe Ticket. Even more worrying, when you get to the price quote page (providing you are daft enough to pay for the Euro Traveler ticket in the first place), British Airway have the nerve to then offer you an upgrade to Club Europe for a supplement of £293.
If you could make sense of what I have written, you would see that British Airways tried to charge me an additional £293 to upgrade from Euro Traveler to Club Europe even though Club Europe is actually cheaper on that particular flight by £749
Option F
You by a Euro Traveler (lowest fare) ticket for £253.93
Unfortunately unless you have 40,000 Avios miles this is the next best option for you. Nothing of course wrong with the price, just a shame that as a rational person this makes more sence then options B-E.
I am by no means cheap and don't like to sound like I am an old fart trying to pick an argument. But I do hope you see the difference for your self. If this example is anything to go by (which is not rear one off example, there are many more on BA.com), British Airways revenue management is not only out of touch, but in some cases a pure con.
Feel free to check for your self and contribute to this post.
0
Comments
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How many companies have travel policies that say economy flexable fares only?0
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