Wobbles in Crawley? Unprecedented 50% bonus for buying Avios launches tomorrow

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• Rich says:

  22 Feb22 February 10:55

  There is still value for me in the scheme… I have been one of those that has used the “free” domestic add-on a few times, usually LCY-ABZ (route closed last year) so the changes from April are not welcome.
  ET redemptions as previously mentioned can still be good. Flights to TLS for dates I need are around £150 but still available with Avios for 4.5K and £17.50

• James says:

  22 Feb22 February 11:09

  I was considering buying via the iberia 25% bonus which ends today for an imminent redemption however it seems this is a better deal at 1.09p per avios as opposed to 1.13p.

  On the other hand the price difference between the £493 for 35000 base iberia avios and £575 for the same via BAECis quite stark. Has BAEC always been more expensive or is the difference due to the movement in the Euro?

  • Rob says:

    22 Feb22 February 11:15

    All down to Euro weakening

• Imbruce says:

  22 Feb22 February 11:51

  I am just wondering if it is worth it to stop collecting Avios and go for AAdvantage instead?
  Virgin points are no good for me as they have stopped flying to Sydney which I’d the reason I started to collect Avios as I want to go in business class but not on BA, and certainly not on one of the middle Eastern carriers.
  I wonder after AA completes the merger with US Airways would they change the name of
  their FF program to Avios? Is there any benefit to AA if they did this?

  • Rob says:

    22 Feb22 February 12:15

    The AA chart is very generous vs Delta and United. Post merger there is likely to be a devaluation although not necessarily worse than BA. Ironically you are likely to end up on Etihad or Qatar to Oz with AA miles!

• Joe says:

  22 Feb22 February 12:34

  I’m tempted at 1.09p. Whenever I redeem I always look at the comparative cash cash for economy redemption (normally my alternative) and if less than 1p per mile will use avios normally justifying a higher class at 1p (I.e I compare the cash cost on economy and then the upgrade cost using the mileage differences; it helps convince the oh that the premium classes are worth it). The per mile Raffles’ own use at 1p per mile analysis included some fairly economically stupid things to do and I don’t have those kind of avios to burn, I also think we materially under value the flexibility of avios redemptions versus a cash ticket. This really came into play for me in December when I was planning to go to geneva for a quick ski weekend and there was no snow so on the Thursday I just rebooked to somewhere where there was snow (it was also the air traffic control problem weekend but that’s another story)….I currently have 300k avios so don’t need any so might not buy.

  This is interesting as would suggest ba is looking for support to devalue the avios on its balance sheet. Raffles – What’s the percentage reduction compared to other buy avios offers we’ve seen in the last three years?

  Interestingly believe this is around the same value as the buyAAmiles over Christmas which have cheaper redemption rates than ba but even less availability and flexibility (for the saver fares)

  • Rob says:

    22 Feb22 February 15:01

    BA bonuses are generally 20%-25%.

    The American airlines have always offered silly bonuses (100% or more) but generally from a higher starting price than BA asks.

• Lady London says:

  22 Feb22 February 13:23

  If it’s true that lots of BAPP cardholders are advising Amex they’re dumping their cards as a result of the Avios devaluation then I would expect an MR bonus in the next 3 months or so. Amex customers tend to be wealthier and therefore match the type of customer BA’s devaluations in Avios and OB have made quite clear are the only customers they wish to keep. Other than large corporate customers of course who will receive even better deals now if they threaten to defect as BA makes clear these are the flyers they are relying on.

  So I’d expect an MR transfer bonus much quicker than a Tesco transfer bonus. Let’s face it Tesco customers add to the Avios in circulation and are far more likelythan Amex MR to be earned by customers with a lower percentage of their flying on revenue tickets.

  For anyone that travels to the US it looks like AA is now the best Oneworld program. But they will devalue in some way in April or so this year. I’ll evaluate AA then with a view to switching to AA, or just switching 100% back into *A instead of 75% as now.

• Max says:

  22 Feb22 February 13:57

  I read a lot of negativity on the posts here and maybe I really am missing something. But for us (2 adults) who fly solely for leisure, never fly at peak school holidays, collect most Avios via Tesco and credit cards, fly from LHR/ LGW and use 241 vouchers to upgrade from Economy to Business or better still, First, collecting Avios still seem like a decent deal to us overall.

  We prefer direct flights, would probably not fly long-haul in anything less than business. Avios still seem an easy way to get couple of decent upgrades for us both each year. Our recently attained First tickets to LAS cost just shy of £10k but we got them for just under £1k. Sure it’s not a saving really as we would never have bought cash first tickets, but for the outlay the points accumalation cost us (very little over a few months) it seems like a bloomin’ bargain to me.

  But as I say, this is not the vibe I am picking up. What am I missing? Or am I a pot half full amongst lots of pots half empties?

  • Rob says:

    22 Feb22 February 14:59

    Your Premium Economy to Business upgrade is going to get a lot more expensive. Apart from that, you are looking at a 25% increase in the cost of Club World seats at off-peak vs the standard cost now. Assuming fuel charges drop down this year, you will probably find you are not substantially worse off I agree.

    If Tesco and Amex suddenly start offering big conversion bonuses, you may even better off.

• Adam W says:

  22 Feb22 February 14:20

  “Anyone who does not read Head for Points – and so is not clued up on how to get the best deals”

  Wow! Is this not discussed ad nauseam on FT or numerous other superior blogs??? I guess the hoodwinked will suggest that I am lucky I check in here or else I wouldn’t have known!!!

  Rafflles – Isn’t it about time that you admit that you deliberately dumb down your posts here to keep the masses at bay and in blissful ignorance of the real value available???? Or do I need to start quoting your posts from other “secret” places????

  • Kip says:

    22 Feb22 February 14:52

    Oooh… ‘secret places’!!!

    The masses are intrigued.

    • Rob says:

      22 Feb22 February 15:03

      As you would expect, there are a few ‘invitation only’ sites online where ideas are bounced around without them getting excessive exposure. Whilst I was invited to be a member of a couple of these groups, I am obviously obliged to respect the confidentiality of anything I find there – if I didn’t, I would be kicked out anyway.

      • nick says:

        23 Feb23 February 09:51

        Wow – a bit like Centurion, but not crap. That does sound exciting. How does one get an invite?!

        • Andy says:

          23 Feb23 February 20:31

          This is why I like this site so much as Rob always responds in and honest and genuine way even when people try it on with provoking posts.

  • Rob says:

    22 Feb22 February 14:55

    I was, as you well know, making a distinction between the 98% of Avios collectors who never look at any frequent flyer website vs the 2% who do.

    This site is read by a huge audience – 140,000 unique visitors in January. Schemes which are excessively complex, require substantial upfront investment with a risk of devaluation or loss, which I have not personally tried out myself or which require in-depth knowledge to use them do not make the cut. Neither does anything which would collapse if 140,000 people tried it. Neither does anything which would be considered ‘excessive abuse’ since I do not want the site associated with that. I would be personally gutted if any HFP reader took a financial loss because they had tried something which went wrong.

    • Thomas says:

      22 Feb22 February 19:11

      Well done.

      • danksy says:

        23 Feb23 February 14:37

        Ditto 😀

    • Adam W says:

      23 Feb23 February 06:44

      Humble apologies! My initial post didn’t deserve a response but thanks anyway.

      I’ll try to avoid PUTI when I’m in a bad mood in future.

• Paul says:

  22 Feb22 February 14:59

  The problem with this site and others is that you can get the impression that we matter to BA. The fact is readers of this site and others are a very tiny minority of passengers and the bulk of BA customers never read anything posted here.
  I have done 4 sectors on domestic and EU routes in recent weeks and the devaluation of Avios is the least of BA’s problems. The new cabins on shorthaul are awful. Just how bad was demonstrated last night when I got the old cabin. No numb derrière after 70 mins, no hand baggage storage issues. Crew were poor on everyone of these 4 flights with little or no interaction with passengers and the cabin announcement last night I thought was a joke as English was clearly not a first or even second language. It was shocking!
  I have for some reason been sent text surveys after each flight and have slammed every aspect of the experience other than the fact that last night it left on time and the seat was comfortable.
  I am a 30 year veteran of BA but stopped flying long haul premium 3 years ago on a paid basis when I discovered AA and CX cirrus seats. Short haul is predominately Avios and I only fly First on amex 241 which gives me value.
  I think those who say you need to start again and devise new strategies are correct. VS will follow shortly though perhaps they will try to exploit thing briefly. The fact is BA and VS have a strangle hold on LHR and the commercial agreements that exist means that things will only get worse in terms of product and rewards. For me I will stick with BAEC but only because I have s free amex BAPP card. My wife cancelled hers last year and sent print outs from BA . Com showing almost 20 routes that did not have a single premium seat available for full year year let alone 2.

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