The Avios changes are live – post your ba.com comments and observations here

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• Cheshire Pete says:

  28 Apr28 April 14:25

  Well what did we do the last few days to make the most of our trips from Manchester where we live.

  1) Pre Christmas flight to Warsaw via LHR using the 2 legs under old rules.
  2) February flight to Tenerife via LGW using 2 legs under old rules
  3) Amex 2-1 CW via LHR to Atlanta next Easter break for 2 weeks. Actually we would still have got our MAN leg in this long haul but I dare say more than the 100,000 avios I used under old rules.

  Atlanta had lots of availability in CW and close to Florida, hence the reason for this route! Not far to Florida, hopefully BA will alter my flight times in their September changes and as Atlanta is less than 500 miles from Orlando I just might get a destination change under the rules concerning a changed flight time and an alternative allowed within 590 miles.. Here’s hoping! But not the end of the world as just a domestic or drive down anyhow!

  Thanks BA for screwing the regions anyhow,

• James67 says:

  28 Apr28 April 14:40

  Despite all the discussion over past coup,e of months I had totally forgot about the devaluation until I saw this post. Probably because I am booked up to April 16 and have only few hundred avios left. Focus now on Etihad and whether to transfer SPG points to AA or wait for BA hotels conversion bonys. AA pricing remains attractive but the cancellation and change terms are dreadful.

  • Jason says:

    28 Apr28 April 15:14

    Got an email yesterday with 60,000 AA bonus if you buy 100,000 miles.

    • James67 says:

      28 Apr28 April 18:12

      It is the buy 30k get 15k for about £600 i am pondering. I can make it up to 52.5k with spg points for a one way J from se asia. CX or MH would be just an extra few £ in taxes. But then I could have a return with QR exEurope for not much more!

• Justin says:

  28 Apr28 April 14:48

  Quite clearly even after the devaluation it is still worth it when travelling in premium cabins. Anyone dissagree, even if you buy the miles with a 241 its a good deal?

  • Think Square says:

    28 Apr28 April 16:43

    I might disagree – not because of the devaluation itself, but because of the recurring sales.

    There I was, chuffed with myself getting two J seats out to KUL, back from HKG, when along come QR with yet another sale…

    • Polly says:

      28 Apr28 April 20:17

      Wait until you get into the First lounge in HKG The Wing, it’s just about the best lounge in the world! JFK getting there though. It’s a great experience and will change your travel expectations forever. Tnx to. Rob…. But really great to have this hobby . We do that HKG, CX, KUL HKT DPS a lot, all on avios, usually J within Asia, but always F on our 241. That’s why I alerted Rob to huge availability in F to and from KUL this coming Oct, if anyone still wants to spend their avios, for a pre winter break!
      Def takes a lot of focus to generate those avios, but referring each other for the major cards annually helps and tesco for as much as possible double dipping, as we call it. Plus prepaying all your bills etc on either amex or your tesco mc. We just cannot quite believe how quickly those avios roll in.

• Djozef says:

  28 Apr28 April 15:02

  Availability on short haul e.g. to LHR – > PRG exactly the same as before = bad.

  I was under impression that there should be a few AVIOS fare seats guaranteed now on each flight but when they get released to be booked is the question… :/

  • Justin says:

    28 Apr28 April 15:31

    355 days before is the norm

    • Mikeact says:

      1 May1 May 18:09

      And then, only up until 45 days before, when any ‘unused’ Avios seats are put back for revenue.

  • pauldb says:

    28 Apr28 April 16:48

    The flush of extra availability you are expecting happened in January, not today, and has been eaten up. Going forward it’s just the new date window (T-355) where the guarantee will offer you seats.

• Cosmicboi says:

  28 Apr28 April 16:13

  So silver members can no longer choose their seat if booking a hand luggage only Eurotraveller fare… they kept that quiet. Seems less and less reasons to maintain Silver especially when other airlines are offering flat bed business fares for so much less.

  • Paul says:

    28 Apr28 April 16:23

    Not even Golds can select seats for free – been that way for almost 2 months now

    http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/british-airways-executive-club/1659529-hbo-fares-have-pay-select-seat-advance-even-gch-sch-bchs.html

• John says:

  28 Apr28 April 16:51

  tried to book first flights to Tokyo for April 2016 at the weekend. There was very little availability outbound or inbound. Very disappointed. Looking at the whole of March and April 2016 I think there was availability for only 3 dates out and about 5 days inbound.

  • Jason says:

    28 Apr28 April 17:20

    I’ve found BA tend to release seats, during school holidays, a bit later.
    Probably just to make planning a holiday, with kids, even more difficult and expensive 🙁
    355 days ahead is in the middle of school holidays next year.

• Adam says:

  28 Apr28 April 17:22

  I’ve got about 80,000 MR points. I’m due to cancel the gold card as i’ve referred my girlfriend, so i’m at a bit of a junction given the devaluation. I’ve just spent the 2-4-1 with BA for this year, so do i move the points to another airline? I’m just not sure 80,000 would get that much elsewhere.

  Has anyone got any ideas?

  • jason says:

    28 Apr28 April 17:30

    got to be worth waiting for a bonus i would have thought?
    is your card in the first year and did your girlfriend’s card get issued pre gold card changes?

  • Dom says:

    28 Apr28 April 17:43

    I’m in a similar situation. It all depends on what your travel plans are, i.e. long/short haul, economy/business class etc. TBH, i’ve looked at other airlines and hotels and not found much better post BA changes. Therefore my plan is to stick with BA and just accept that in some instances I won’t get as much for my points.

  • Polly says:

    28 Apr28 April 19:52

    I would suggest keep them in your family BAEC, so then with all your referral bonus MRs pooled together, you can then make another 241 maybe later in the year. Presume you plan to refer each other every year, plus the BAPP referrals, that’s almost enough avios even without tesco added in for decent long haul. Plenty of places to visit!

    • Adam says:

      29 Apr29 April 09:36

      Thanks – mine is just coming to the end of year one (ends next week), and my girlfriend was referred after the changes to the Gold Card. Am i right in saying you only get a bit of time to transfer the points out of your MR account after you cancel the card?

      The family BA account is probably the best option. With another 2-4-1 next year for long haul it’ll mean we still get more bang for the points than transferring it to another airline.

      • Rob says:

        29 Apr29 April 10:11

        Yes, there is a window. I think you get more leeway if you have another Amex card but the agents don’t seem to understand how this works and I would be looking to move them out ASAP just in case.

• Chris says:

  28 Apr28 April 19:04

  EZE-MAD off peak Business on Iberia now 51000. It’s actually a reduction on the previous BA/Iberia price. At least that’s one sweet spot.

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