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

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

• JamesW says:

  23 Feb23 February 11:49

  I had been intending to blow most of my Avios at some point on two or three first class returns somewhere making use of a 2-4-1 voucher. I have spent also Avios along the way on European trips every year whilst saving the bulk up for a fancy first class trip.

  However the more I’ve thought about biting the bullet and blowing all my airmiles on some premium long haul flights before April 28th, the more I’ve come to realise how much I actually value using Avios for european redemptions. Pretty often when I’ve used avios rather than paying for European flights I’ve been doing so at fairly last minute prices. So whilst its true that I could have flown from x-y with Ryanair if I’d booked the flights 3 months earlier for the same as I’d pay in the RFS fee with Avios, the fact is those same flights when I book them are well over £100 and even as much as £300 each. Then the few Avios plus £35 / £50 saves me an absolute fortune.
  Just yesterday my parents & I have an urgent need (not life threatening or anything) to visit family in Dublin. We can go in a couple of days time for 9,000Avios + £35 each whereas Ryanair is currently costing £100 each (from a far less convenient airport). Infact we had dates we initiually HAD to fly on to be there for a specific time & date (not just ASAP) and those initial dateswere over £270 EACH on the losest cost airlines at the time (Ryanair & Aer Lingus) !! With Avios again being just the RFS charge. So if that need hadn’t changed we’d have been paying £105 for three flights using Avios instead of a shocking £810. That’s a bloody good saving and a cracking Avios value, so its not only premium cabin long-haul which can prove incredible value.
  As someone who is pretty poor at planning little breaks way in advance I do find the RFS routes an absolute bargain.

  Therefore I’m thinking that I’m going to let the ‘dream’ of flying around the world in BA’s First Class for £500 pretty much die off and keep enjoying the ability to save hundreds & hundreds on short-haul last minute flights. Besides, having flown BA club world to a few places with work and Emirates business class (A380s mostly) when paying my own money I think that Emirates club class looks the same, if not better, than BA’s first class hard product. Sure food & wine might be a bit better but in terms of comfort it doesn’t look to me like BA F is any better than EK J.
  Of course I haven’t actually flown BA F !! And there will be people who disagree.
  But when I look at Emirates business class with 4 seats across an A380 and compare it to BA’s F its very, very similar. It certainly is far better than BA’s J at 8 seats across !!!!!!!!!!!

  So I’m happy paying for EK J when I want long haul luxury and burning avios for short-haul last minute flights, which are an absolute bargain & save hundreds.

  When I want a BA first class long haul flight, I’ll pay for an Emirates business class flight & get 95% of the service for a fraction of the price 🙂

  Let the arguments commence 🙂

  • John says:

    23 Feb23 February 12:29

    Agree with you, except for the bit about BA’s food and wine being a bit better…

  • Rob says:

    23 Feb23 February 15:14

    Not a massive difference between Emirates J and BA First – in fact I flew that exact combination last Easter down to Dubai and back. For a solo traveller the single seats in BA First make a difference as does the privacy and quiet of the smaller cabin. Emirates has far better IFE, bigger screens, food is on a par and of course they have their bar on the A380’s.

    If Emirates would get a decent lounge at Heathrow all would be perfect ….

• thesaver79 says:

  23 Feb23 February 13:46

  Am I right to say that that I would get much more than 1p per Avios if I use the Lloyds upgrade voucher?

  • Rob says:

    23 Feb23 February 15:07

    Not necessarily. Let’s take New York as an example. At peak times after April 28th, Club World is 120k return and World Traveller Plus is 80k. The voucher lets you travel in CW for the WTP price of 80,000 Avios + £500 taxes.

    Valuing an Avios at 1p gets you to £1,300. In a sale, especially if you weren’t bothered who you fly with, you can get business class to New York for £1,300. £1,500 would get you BA in a sale. That is 1p / 1.2p even with the Lloyds voucher.

    Without the Lloyds voucher, Club World to New York would get you under 1p per Avios on peak dates after April 28th.

• Alan says:

  23 Feb23 February 17:26

  I am going to get 2 lots of the maximum for me and the Mrs,as that’s 105k odd points for £1125, Makes collecting the other 75k for GTW – BGI in 1st to use with our yearly 2-4-1 easier and means we can fly 1st again for round about £2500 spend with much less effort than other years

  Anyone know if it shows as BA spend (ie. 3x on the BAPP card…)

  • Max says:

    25 Feb25 February 05:19

    Apparently not.

• Don says:

  23 Feb23 February 18:11

  Raffles thanks for your suggestions regarding using LH miles and the fact they don’t expire for 3 years.

  My FB Silver status lapses end of March and I think this means by miles expire forthwith. I’ve got 36k to use. Any good suggestions? I’d probably bite on a 50% EU redemption in J class but the o/w J awards are a pain cos I wouldn’t be able to get back cost effectively. I know you don’t bother with FB for obvious reasons so perhaps anyone can give me some tips.

  Cheers to all.

  • Rob says:

    23 Feb23 February 20:22

    NO! I looked this up last week because my wife is in the same boat. When you lose status THE THREE YEARS STARTS FROM THE DAY YOU LOSE STATUS.

    • Don says:

      24 Feb24 February 01:13

      Thanks Raffles. So got a good while for both my useless M&M and slightly less useless FB miles!

• Iain2012 says:

  23 Feb23 February 19:34

  Slightly off topic and no doubt many are aware but qatar have a few bargains on. Amsterdam to bangkok via Doha business is €1275/£935 with 560 tier points and 15,000 miles (skyscanner shows Eva £720, ba £850 both Econ and £2500 business). I booked in August. Note the return has a long layer over in Doha. Happy hunting

  • Rob says:

    23 Feb23 February 20:20

    Tougher jobs in the world than knocking back glass after glass of Krug in the Doha lounge!

  • Don says:

    24 Feb24 February 01:15

    £720 in biz for Eva via TPE? Stopovers? I don’t see the fare.

    • Don says:

      24 Feb24 February 01:21

      Oh direct…but even so!

• David Taylor says:

  24 Feb24 February 12:46

  if you buy say £300 worth of avois on a BA platinum amex will you then get the bonus points on your amex spend at 4 per £1 I think isn’t it?

  • Polly says:

    24 Feb24 February 13:29

    No it’s just the normal pts you get per £ whichever card you use. It’s points.com, so a normal shop.

• mikeact says:

  24 Feb24 February 18:19

  According to the thread on FT, the equivalent Euro cost is £489, which I’d be happy to go for and spend straight away. But where can I pay in Euros to get this price or thereabouts ?

  • Matthew says:

    24 Feb24 February 19:28

    Change your country of residence in your address details of your executive club account to ‘Ireland’ and then re login. Hey presto 😉

    • Roger says:

      24 Feb24 February 20:11

      But if you do, bang goes the crediting of Avios and 2-4-1 redemptions while you are ‘away’.

      • Matthew says:

        24 Feb24 February 20:52

        That’s ok for me. I never fly BA nor do I have a BAPP!

    • Rob says:

      24 Feb24 February 21:25

      Do NOT do this. No Tesco conversions, no BA Amex.

      • Mikeact says:

        24 Feb24 February 21:59

        So I guess I need somebody to ‘gift’ them to me, and me to repay them through their bank account immediately.

      • Matthew says:

        24 Feb24 February 22:42

        Ok thanks for heads up. Not actually bought any…just posted what others suggested elsewhere.

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