British Airways starts to cut long-haul fuel surcharges on Avios redemptions

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

• richie says:

  28 Jan28 January 10:20

  silver bonus down from 100% to 50% is bad news though

• Melvin says:

  28 Jan28 January 10:46

  I drafted this long (sorry) message yesterday but did not where to post it. This thread seems appropriate as it may have an impact on any replies to my questions. Here goes…

  I am planning a family trip in March/April 2016 which will involve long haul travel (Caribbean or Mexico) and I would like some advice on the best use of my BAEC Avios points. My family comprises two adults, one child and two infants. There’s no way that my wife and I are prepared to travel WT with an 18 month old (each) plus a 5 year old and therefore I am looking at the most appropriate entry into CW – either by booking WT+ and upgrading or a straight redemption. I currently do not have the full 320,000 Avios required for the CW redemption however I believe I will by the end of March (in a HH account), in time for the 355 day booking window.

  Other factors which will affect the best course of action are:

  1) The trip will fall within the Easter school holidays (either part of it or possibly all of it) and there is no flexibility there.
  2) I am not currently set on any one destination or hotel.
  3) I plan on obtaining Amex Platinum so that I can reserve our seats (via CX Gold) well in advance.
  4) I am looking at direct flights with BA only.
  5) If booking redemption tickets I will book the return leg for the same day, at the same time, so not to lose out waiting for the return leg to become available.
  6) I do not have a 2-4-1 companion voucher nor the capacity to spend the £10k withing the next two months.

  My current thinking, from reading this forum and others, is that I will be better off with a straight redemption (based on my circumstances). The advantages seem to be that I can cancel/reschedule without too much trouble. An advantage would appear to be that I’ll spend less cash as the taxes and fees in CW than the WT+ fare + taxes and fees.The disadvantage would appear to be that it uses more points and I would not earn any further rewards from taking the flights.

  The other option(s) open to me seem to be:

  a) Book WT+ with cash via BA MMB and upgrade at the time of booking.
  b) Book a package holiday inc. WT+ seats and then use MMB to upgrade.

  Option (b) sounds risky because there is no guarantee of an upgrade being available for the dates booked and trying to liaise with the TA whilst searching for available seats appears complicated for the size of my party and the limited dates.

  I would be very grateful if my assumptions above could be confirmed or disputed and for any further suggestions not stated here.

  Thanks

  • nick says:

    28 Jan28 January 11:21

    I am certain there will be a post on here which discusses the significant changes to redemption prices. These come for bookings made after 28 April 2015. It will almost certainly mean an increase in the amount of avios you need for a CW redemption, so you will want to book it before the changes come in.

    You can book your flights up to 355 days in advance, so you should just about be able to get it booked in time, but whether you can find availability for all of you in the same cabin is probably going to be an issue. You might also have a problem as you will be trying to book flights at the same time as everyone else as people try to burn through their Avios mountains before the 28 April 2015 devaluation hits.

    • Melvin says:

      28 Jan28 January 11:56

      I will definitely be booking before 28th April. BA say that bookings before this date will receive today’s benefits even if flying after this date. I wonder if this will work to my advantage as the additional seats that they are promising may be available at the time of my booking?

  • goglobalnz says:

    28 Jan28 January 10:50

    Cathay Gold with Amex Platinum is no longer an option.

    Booking with a baby gives you free seat selection on BA though

    • goglobalnz says:

      28 Jan28 January 10:54

      Although you might like to try a dummy booking as 18 months will be too old for bassinets (Which seem to trigger the free seat selection).

      Follow the flyertalk link above, everything’s changing as of April and quite a bit to digest there

    • Melvin says:

      28 Jan28 January 11:04

      I flew CW to Orlando last March with a large family group and one of party was able to somehow ‘port’ his Cathy Gold through the Finnair website in order to reserve all of our seats (he learnt about it from FlyerTalk). It this not an option any more?

      • goglobalnz says:

        28 Jan28 January 12:29

        Hi – it’s just that CX Gold is not a benefit for new AMEX Plat applications. That horse has bolted

        • nick says:

          28 Jan28 January 13:13

          Amex are confused too. There are still parts of the UK website that tell you that you get elite frequent flyer status with the plat card, as do the welcome packs. But it is absolutely the case that you do not. Not even sure that Centurion cardholders get it any more either.

        • Melvin says:

          28 Jan28 January 12:48

          I’m confused then? Am I misinterpreting this:

          https://www.americanexpress.com/india/microsite/plat_rcp/cathaypacific_2.html

        • Alan says:

          28 Jan28 January 12:56

          That’s the Amex Plat in India though, so probably not relevant to most HfP readers 😉 Each country has slightly different benefits, CX Gold is no longer one of them in the UK.

• Chris says:

  28 Jan28 January 11:35

  Basically (from 28 April), the changes to Avios redemptions mean (that for long haul) you’ll pay Business rates for WT+ and First rates for Business redemption during peak times.

  Off peak is a bit less (but still more than current).

  Just hope Tesco -> Avios conversion doesn’t change.

  • richie says:

    28 Jan28 January 11:46

    wtpluss rates are 13% less for off peak and 7% more for peak
    business is 50% more
    first 50%more
    the option to upgade economy is now a good thing

  • SingingDwarf says:

    28 Jan28 January 11:48

    I wouldn’t be surprised, not with all the surplus currency HP readers have been generating at Tesco with the gift card purchases. If they are printing more money, there is bound to be a devaluation in the pipeline.

  • nick says:

    28 Jan28 January 13:09

    BA are telling us that the amount of avios needed will go down for 2/3 of the year so presumably they will strongly deny that there has been a devaluation here. That being the case, I don’t really see the justification for changing the Tesco conversion rate. They’ve already effectively done this by ending the bonus conversion periods.

    I stopped converting clubcard in to avios ages ago anyway – there is better value to be had.

    • Mike says:

      28 Jan28 January 17:34

      It’s a devaluation for people who only book J+F – though if availability is increased significantly then I wouldn’t be too upset about that. After all, Avios that I can’t use aren’t worth very much anyway!

• Aeronaut says:

  28 Jan28 January 11:49

  For all the criticism that Ryanair used to get (of late FR has got rid of most of the nonsense and is also upfront about its extra charges), one could say they weren’t so different to BA et al with their fuel / ‘carrier imposed’ surcharges malarkey. A fare should be a fare – otherwise you might as well have staffing surcharges, cleaning surcharges, refreshment surcharges etc etc.

  The way that airlines still manage to get people thinking and talking about “taxes” when most of the supposed “tax” is nothing of the sort is equally ludicrous and misleading. Afraid Raffles is often guilty of perpetuating this too!

  • Cheshire Pete says:

    28 Jan28 January 12:02

    Manchester stabbed in the back after BA promised we wouldn’t be disadvantaged when they pulled their Euro services. No more free connections to short haul.

    Quite nasty reslly

    • M says:

      28 Jan28 January 12:21

      Totally agree.

    • czechoslovakia says:

      28 Jan28 January 13:07

      Couldn’t agree more. so now its going to cost 18,000 avios + (presumably) £70 RFS on my monthly MAN-XXX-PRG trip, or just £130 cash with LH/LX. Factor in via BA its usually 6 to 7 hours including the stop off in/around/above LHR, or just 4 hours via ZHR/MUC/FRA – no point grabbing avios anymore. Had planned on getting BA Silver this year booking 4x CE, but since the seat enhancements, cancelled them too.
      I have earnt my *A FTL status, and as long as Lufty continues to look after me, from today onwards they get all my business. Actively looking to burn my avios stash now – as I`m sure the masses are doing also.
      Luckily I have not converted my stash of MR points to avios. And Avios bonus or no-bonus, whats in my Clubcard account will be converted into Goldsmiths/Hotel vouchers instead.
      Bye Bye BA! That really was the last nail. And I`m sure most of north agrees with me.

      • nick says:

        28 Jan28 January 13:11

        yeah, I do feel for those in the north and northern ireland. It’s a staggeringly biased change.

        Unless you live in London, BA don’t want your business.

• Gordon says:

  28 Jan28 January 12:07

  Yet again the regions suffer at the expense of london with BA. Connecting flights no longer free for europe. Effectively doubles the cost of a european redemtion. thanks a bunch BA

  • Brendan says:

    28 Jan28 January 12:13

    Exactly…why could they not just even remove the free stopover part but still allow a free transfer? That would have been a much fairer compromise in my opinion!

  • richie says:

    28 Jan28 January 13:28

    i dont agree with this, its not the airlines fault they dont fly from where you live.
    why should you get a free flight. i could say well ba dont fly direct to hawaii so why cant i get a free flight to hawaii when i book a direct flight to lax

    • Brendan says:

      28 Jan28 January 13:44

      Yes, but nobody flies direct to Hawaii.

      BA dont offer any direct flights therefore we are forced to take a connecting flight to go anywhere. I don’t see that as a ‘free flight’, I see it as a wasted few hours in an airport to connect to another flight. Now, BA are asking me to pay an extra £75 (£80 during peak) valuing avios at 0.5p each (they are most certainly worth closer to that than the 1p each many used before now) for the privilege.

    • Susan says:

      28 Jan28 January 16:25

      But then they’re not called Hawaiian Airlines! The oft used “London Airways” looks truer all the time.

      • richie says:

        28 Jan28 January 20:50

        who cares what their name is. Alaskan air are based in Seattle.

        all i am saying is they are a private company , they can operate wherever they like.
        i am sure if it made business sense they would offer flights from manchester/newcastle/carlisle wherever .

        for you to expect you should get a free transfer to their hub is ridiculous. it was a nice perk while it lasted for those in the north, however unfortunately now its over. you now have 3 choices, pay for the connection, fly with someone else, or move closer to london.

        • Brendan says:

          28 Jan28 January 21:12

          Richie you are not getting the point at all.

          Do you ever notice how direct flights are so much dearer than flights to the same destination with a connection in the middle? Its because its a premium for convenience. People rather their time spent at the destination and not on the way to it. They are not giving us a ‘free’ flight – they are making us connect and waste our time. Its for that reason why they should be making it more attractive to fly from the regions – but they are doing the opposite.

          But you are right that we have 3 choices and I’m sure that 90% of people will choose option 2. Maybe thats what BA want, time will tell.

• Janeyferr says:

  28 Jan28 January 12:08

  FYI, Received this email from Avios at 11:26 today:

  We’d like you to know about upcoming changes to Avios and how they affect you.

  We’re making them to open up more opportunities for you to spend Avios, as well as to ensure that your reward programme remains as competitive as possible.

  The changes are outlined below and will take effect from 28 April 2015. For more detailed information, please click here.

  All bookings made before 28 April 2015 are not affected.

  1. Changes to how Avios are collected on British Airways and Iberia flights

  You can currently collect Avios for the distance you fly. From 28 April, you’ll still collect them based on the distance you fly and cabin class but also on fare type. To find out more please click here.

  2. Many flights will cost fewer Avios

  From 28 April, we will introduce peak and off-peak Avios pricing for British Airways and Iberia flights depending on the time of year, the cabin and destination.

  So for off-peak periods, which are two thirds of the year, you will need even less Avios than now to fly in economy.

  3. Improved flight availability

  From 28 April, there will be more than 9 million reward seats available on British Airways flights, with a minimum of two Club World/Club Europe and four World Traveller/Euro Traveller reward seats on all British Airways operated flights.

  This means there will be over half a million extra reward seats available throughout the year, so you have even more flights to choose from*.

  4. Upgrade with Avios

  By the end of the year, you will be able to upgrade more British Airways World Traveller and Euro Traveller cash tickets using Avios, except on the lowest priced seats.

  5. Changes to UK domestic connecting flights on short haul flights

  From 28 April, you’ll be required to pay cash or Avios along with Reward Flight Saver for any UK connecting flight to and from your final European destination.

  British Airways long haul flights are unaffected, so if you’re travelling further afield you can still benefit from a free connecting reward flight in the UK.

  There are now also more options when flying direct to international destinations from a UK regional airport.

  • Jamie says:

    28 Jan28 January 12:26

    This is terrible news for me. I spend a lot of time in Europe for work (self employed) and often use Avios to travel home. The loss of the free domestic connection will hit me hard. Does anyone know if that will only be via avios.com or on BA exec club also?

• cmcbugg says:

  28 Jan28 January 12:17

  Hopefully no one here is redeeming for economy.

  • Richard says:

    28 Jan28 January 12:33

    I redeem for economy all the time – but only on short-haul. I use Avios if I’m getting >1p value, and cash otherwise. Availability on the routes I usually travel is pretty good, so it all works out quite nicely. (Rather less nicely now they’re ending free domestic connections, but it’ll still be worth doing a lot of the time).

    Of course I realise I could get more out of them flying long-laul in premium cabins. But this way, I end up at the place I actually want to go to 😉

• M says:

  28 Jan28 January 12:42

  Looks like it’s goodbye to cheap redemptions on AB and EI.

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.