We’d like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum.
This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are – or become – political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.
📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!
The Forum now has a brand new text editor, adding a bunch of handy features to use when creating posts. Read more in our how-to guide
BA Avios redemption fees (almost) overcharged
Ballard
Posts: 3,002 Forumite
I'm not sure whether I'm posting this to get it off my chest or a warning to others but I booked an Avios return flight to South America yesterday. Ideally I wanted to fly in and out of Buenos Aires but there wasn't availability to get to Buenos Aires. I looked at Montevideo instead which was around 75,000 Avios and £550 (I can't remember exactly). I then learned that it's possible to book open-jaw tickets if you telephone.
I spoke with a very helpful guy at BA who booked me into MVD and back out of EZE. I've had to go for 3 weeks rather than my intended 2 1/2 but I can live with that. He then said that the fees came to £1,350-ish. Being as I knew that the fees in and out of MVD were much lower I queried it and he put me on hold for 10 minutes. Whilst waiting I came to the conclusion that it must be different for open-jaw and I'd simply book in and out of MVD and save quite a lot of cash.
When he came back, the fees were now calculated at £478 with the same number of Avios. I should probably point out that I booked business with Iberia using an Amex 2-4-1 voucher (although paying half rather than getting one free) and economy cash fares are in the region of £1,300, I believe so I'm pretty happy with the outcome but I could quite easily have paid c£900 extra.
I spoke with a very helpful guy at BA who booked me into MVD and back out of EZE. I've had to go for 3 weeks rather than my intended 2 1/2 but I can live with that. He then said that the fees came to £1,350-ish. Being as I knew that the fees in and out of MVD were much lower I queried it and he put me on hold for 10 minutes. Whilst waiting I came to the conclusion that it must be different for open-jaw and I'd simply book in and out of MVD and save quite a lot of cash.
When he came back, the fees were now calculated at £478 with the same number of Avios. I should probably point out that I booked business with Iberia using an Amex 2-4-1 voucher (although paying half rather than getting one free) and economy cash fares are in the region of £1,300, I believe so I'm pretty happy with the outcome but I could quite easily have paid c£900 extra.
1
Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply
Categories
- All Categories
- 353.6K Banking & Borrowing
- 254.2K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 455.1K Spending & Discounts
- 246.7K Work, Benefits & Business
- 603.1K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 178.1K Life & Family
- 260.7K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 16K Discuss & Feedback
- 37.7K Read-Only Boards