Avios Points Boosting guide discussion

gld73

I have enough Avios for a "free" flight to Delhi. I know taxes and charges are extra, but was stunned that they came to £398 ..... so I can use all my Avios and pay £398, or I can fly with Etihad for £399 on the same dates just as a normal booking.

When I looked at the breakdown of the BA costs, the taxes and fees were the same as the breakdown for the other airlines, but BA also had a £220 fuel surcharge. Seems crazy having to pay for the fuel separately - when I buy a bus ticket I don't have to pay the fuel separately!!

Does anyone use Avios for longhaul economy flights??? (rhetorical question!)

Think I'll use my points to get 36 bottles of wine instead :beer:

callum9999

gld73 wrote: »

I have enough Avios for a "free" flight to Delhi. I know taxes and charges are extra, but was stunned that they came to £398 ..... so I can use all my Avios and pay £398, or I can fly with Etihad for £399 on the same dates just as a normal booking.

When I looked at the breakdown of the BA costs, the taxes and fees were the same as the breakdown for the other airlines, but BA also had a £220 fuel surcharge. Seems crazy having to pay for the fuel separately - when I buy a bus ticket I don't have to pay the fuel separately!!

Does anyone use Avios for longhaul economy flights??? (rhetorical question!)

Think I'll use my points to get 36 bottles of wine instead :beer:

Yes. Just not on BA unless you're going to Brazil.

Though I personally find them more useful on short-haul routes that are expensive with cash. US to Mexico/Caribbean being my latest redemptions.

Caz3121

The main difference you will find with your Etihad ticket v's the Avios ticket is refundability...The Avios ticket will be refundable up to 24 hours before departure with everything back minus £35 fee. To compare that to the Etihad ticket you would need to look at the economy freedom fare to get an apples v's apples view
Long Haul economy is very poor value (as you have found out) due to most of the fare being made up of the taxes..one exception would be one-way flights which tend to be expensive in £s

callum9999

Caz3121 wrote: »

The main difference you will find with your Etihad ticket v's the Avios ticket is refundability...The Avios ticket will be refundable up to 24 hours before departure with everything back minus £35 fee. To compare that to the Etihad ticket you would need to look at the economy freedom fare to get an apples v's apples view
Long Haul economy is very poor value (as you have found out) due to most of the fare being made up of the taxes..one exception would be one-way flights which tend to be expensive in £s

I'm sure you already know this, but for clarity most of that will be a dodgy surcharge from BA - not taxes.

Caz3121

callum9999 wrote: »

I'm sure you already know this, but for clarity most of that will be a dodgy surcharge from BA - not taxes.

You are correct - should have said "taxes & fees"...pesky "airline surcharges", "fuel surcharges" etc...

budgetflyer

With Etihad, Qatar and Turkish all competing for Asia routes from Edinburgh now, and Easter economy prices @ just over £400, business class from around £1400 and thats without a sale, its pretty hard to justify using Avios for flights.
As most of my Avios are earned via Tesco, maybe only 20% via Amex, I think most of my club card points will be going on accommodation deals from now on.

wulfruna72

A question re Avios / BA Exec Club. Apologies if this has been answered elsewhere.

I have had a BA Frequent Flyer card for a while and have recently opened an Avios account for Flybe flights. On my manage my booking option on BA, my FF account is already stored on my flight booking but the page now gives me the option of entering my AVIOS member ID number. Presumably, I can only earn miles/points on my BA FF account and not points on the Avios ID as well?

Is this correct? Thanks for any advice.

Fletchasketch

I've us received the email for the new Avios sale.....no mention of flights which could mean it's a pretty disappointing sale!

silvercar

wulfruna72 wrote: »

A question re Avios / BA Exec Club. Apologies if this has been answered elsewhere.

I have had a BA Frequent Flyer card for a while and have recently opened an Avios account for Flybe flights. On my manage my booking option on BA, my FF account is already stored on my flight booking but the page now gives me the option of entering my AVIOS member ID number. Presumably, I can only earn miles/points on my BA FF account and not points on the Avios ID as well?

Is this correct? Thanks for any advice.

Yes, you can only credit flights to one frequent flyer programme.

blindman

silvercar wrote: »

Yes, you can only credit flights to one frequent flyer programme.

But with AVIOS you can transfer them between an IBERIA account, a BE Exec account and an AVIOS account.