Airline CC

InsideInsurance

blindman wrote: »

Almost exactly what I said in post #5 :cool:

Keyword underlined for you :beer:

steve2005

PeacefulWaters wrote: »

Most airline reward schemes are not good value for purchasing long haul economy flights out of Great Britain,

Avios are a particularly good example of this, in part because BA have high "taxes" on flights out of Britain.

So I'd suggest you would be better off focusing on saving up the air fare rather than expecting magic points to get you across the pond.

Where Avios come into their own are:

1. Shorthaul flights to Europe.
2. Upgrading a class on long haul flights.
3. Internal flights within the USA via BA partners.

There are one or two oddities as well like flying Aer Lingus from Ireland to Boston or using Air Berlin where paying in Avios can be cheap.

Don't forget you can top up Avios with Tesco points, TopCashback and Shell.

Extra Avios available from filling in surveys too. Google eRewards.

Agree with 99% of this.
It's the APD which is the highest tax, hence Ex-EU flights are cheaper.
Also, Never Ever use Avios, VS miles etc to purchase an economy ticket - it's a complete waste of time. Pay cash for the economy ticket and use the miles to upgrade to Business.

zerog

steve2005 wrote: »

Agree with 99% of this.
It's the APD which is the highest tax, hence Ex-EU flights are cheaper.
Also, Never Ever use Avios, VS miles etc to purchase an economy ticket - it's a complete waste of time. Pay cash for the economy ticket and use the miles to upgrade to Business.

APD is the highest tax, but fuel surcharge may be higher

This is not FT. The UK is in the EU.

Avios can be a good deal for long-haul economy flights starting outside the UK. Reward flight saver in economy is also a good deal, if you don't get 100000 avios per year from your job.

steve2005

zerog wrote: »

APD is the highest tax, but fuel surcharge may be higher

This is not FT. The UK is in the EU.

Avios can be a good deal for long-haul economy flights starting outside the UK. Reward flight saver in economy is also a good deal, if you don't get 100000 avios per year from your job.

I'm not a newspaper groupie so not sure what the FT's stance is on this.
I meant Ex EU as there is no APD on Ex EU flights.

zerog

steve2005 wrote: »

I'm not a newspaper groupie so not sure what the FT's stance is on this.
I meant Ex EU as there is no APD on Ex EU flights.

The UK is in the EU. APD exists on flights from most EU countries, although it is known by other names. UK APD is higher than the equivalent tax from other countries in the EU.

FT referred to Flyertalk, where it is commonly understood that "ex-EU" is a shorthand for "flights on BA where the ticket originates in a continental European country (which may not be in the EU) and involves London as a transit point to a long haul destination". This is not common terminology on MSE

While UK APD is not due on these tickets, APD may be due from the originating country. The saving from not needing to pay UK APD is usually minor. Such flights are cheaper than direct flights from London because BA wants to capture the market from other European carriers.

Example in BA business class:
London to Hong Kong - £2000. UK APD is £166
Paris to Hong Kong via London, on the same long-haul flights - €1500. French APD is €4, plus €40 tax on airline tickets for UNITAID (the UK contributes to this out of general taxation)

Saving by departing France is £750 minus cost of getting to Paris; APD saving is £130 (but you will still pay Band 1 UK APD if you fly to Paris)