MSE News: Avios and BA to slash points earned on cheap economy flights

PeacefulWaters

EssexExile wrote: »

I'm on my 3rd different frequent flyer program now & never found any use for any of them ... it's back to BA ... I go on holiday for an easy life, for a relaxing time. For the last several years it's been America, relaxing & easy going. To that end I make the journey as pleasant as possible, direct flights, front of the plane. That's what we like, it's not for everyone but it is for us.

If you can't extract useable value out of Avios sitting in the posh seats of a BA transatlantic booking you're missing a trick.

ayayay

Whilst you might earn more points for flying certain business class tickets, the cost of using miles to book business class has increased so in reality if you travel and book business class you're probably no better off. The only winners are those who travel business class for work but exchange for economy seats.

What annoys me about this is that this is clearly a cost saving measure but they've badged it as benefiting customers by saying it is so they can offer more seats (I only want one).

PeacefulWaters

ayayay wrote: »

What annoys me about this is that this is clearly a cost saving measure but they've badged it as benefiting customers by saying it is so they can offer more seats (I only want one).

While I'm mighty irritated by the changes, they hit me every which way and I've gone from loyal customer and advocate to plane tart overnight, it did always seem exceptionally generous to provide me with a £35 return flight to Europe after flying cattle class to USA.

It did seem odd to sell me very cheap Business class flights out of Dublin and give me two £35 return flights to Europe and double Avios on the next 18 months of bookings along with free lounge access - all for one booking that was effectively discounted by €3,000.

The global economy is stronger. They can fill their seats without having to give them away. They also have the problem of millions of unused Avios points sitting as a liability on their balance sheet and want them spent without having to top them up to those of us who usually seek out the cheapest fare.

Hopefully the much wider availability of economy (and other) reward seats will soon become worthwhile with a reduction in fuel surcharges. We'll see.

budgetflyer

The millions of Avios liability is the real reason. They have started a booking frenzy b4 the end of April . Once they get the numbers down I see a sell off

richardw

budgetflyer wrote: »

....Once they get the numbers down I see a sell off

Sell off of the scheme to a 3rd party?

pollypenny

Btw: the thread title is a bit of a misnomer.

Our regular flights are to the USA, where DS lives. Our flights are never cheap.

Maybe if someone is prepared to take indirect flights and hang around in some place for six hours, they'd get cheapest flights, but never direct flights.

Of course, if you can get to Heathrow easily..........

bagand96

British Airways are only a useful airline if you live in, or can easily access London anyway. For a massive proportion of the UK, foreign airlines provide much better service and options.

I'll continue to choose my airline based on price and convenience.

richardw

bagand96 wrote: »

British Airways are only a useful airline if you live in, or can easily access London anyway. For a massive proportion of the UK, foreign airlines provide much better service and options.

I'll continue to choose my airline based on price and convenience.

You can spend avios on flybe and monarch flights at avios.com, you can transfer avios instantly between BA Exec club and avios.com as long as you are a member of both schemes.

budgetflyer

richardw wrote: »

Sell off of the scheme to a 3rd party?

Yes, why not? Avios are like a currency. As long as they can sell them to partners for more than it costs to redeem then there is potentially profit to be made. Works for Nectar.

richardw

BA have said

"As part of an IAG group reorganisation involving British Airways Plc and Avios Group (AGL) Limited, British Airways has agreed that Avios Group (AGL) Limited will now be responsible for issuing Avios points to Executive Club Members. British Airways will continue to be in control of the operation and management of the Executive Club and these structural changes will have no direct impact to you as a Member and your relationship with the Executive Club as it is today.

As a result of this change Avios Group (AGL) Limited will receive, store and otherwise process Members’ Data in connection with administering aspects of the Executive Club. Avios Group (AGL) Limited will therefore become a Data Controller under the Data Protection Act 1998, along with, but independently to British Airways. Both British Airways and Avios Group (AGL) Limited will have their own responsibilities for separate aspects of the data processing involved in administering the Executive Club. These changes will come into effect on 28 April 2015 and will be reflected in the revised Terms and Conditions https://www.britishairways.com/en-gb/executive-club/club-changes/terms-and-conditions "