Bits: 50% bonus miles with Kaligo, see Sunny Afternoon and earn Avios, BA cancellation fees

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

• Bruce says:

  25 Jun25 June 07:46

  It’s not per segment, it’s per fare component. There is a difference. Your flight from Amsterdam to London to New York would have 2 segments, but if it’s a through fare from Amsterdam to New York, it’s just one fare component. Hence a return ticket, again using a through fare, would have 4 segments (AMS-LHR-JFK-LHR-AMS), and 2 fare components (AMS-NYC, NYC-AMS). So 2 cancellation penalties. Now if the fare was broken at London, and your ticket was calculated using separate fares AMS-LHR, LHR-NYC, NYC-LHR, LHR-AMS, then you would be assessed 4 penalities. The combined sum of each individual penalty per fare component, which in this case would be the same as the number of segments.

• harry says:

  25 Jun25 June 08:08

  Virgin competition a HFP reader might as well win 🙂
  Win the new HP EliteBook Folio G1
  Enter our exclusive Well Red competition for your chance to win the HP EliteBook Folio G1 worth over £1,000.
  Exquisite craftsmanship and exceptional performance are united in the HP EliteBook Folio G1. With hand-selected materials and premium features optimised for collaboration, it’s the choice for those who value a flawless experience.
  To enter this great competition please email ukflyingclubevents@fly.virgin.com with the subject line ‘HP EliteBook’ along with your name, Flying Club membership number and answer to the below question by 30 June 2016:
  How much is the starting weight for a HP EliteBook Folio?
  ***
  harry: 1.2kg

  • harry says:

    25 Jun25 June 19:00

    I won an iPad last year 🙂

• Tilly71 says:

  25 Jun25 June 09:15

  OT:
  if you turn off auto convert in your clubcard account for VA miles redemptions after getting your 1000mile bonus, if you turn it back on just before the next Q end, do you get another bonus or do you need to leave auto convert off for a while?

  • mark2 says:

    25 Jun25 June 09:28

    I have just turned mine off after receiving the fourth bonus and will turn it back on at the very beginning of the next quarter. This gives me flexibility although I might actually go via Virgin (to Hilton) this quarter.

    • Tilly71 says:

      25 Jun25 June 10:46

      Great, thanks.

• harry says:

  25 Jun25 June 09:46

  O/T I suppose there might be one upside for points hounds: the interchange cap might disappear! It’s only a regulation, not a law, so it doesn’t figure in UK legislation.

  • Steve says:

    25 Jun25 June 11:16

    This is an interesting point, hope you are right.

    • Raffles says:

      25 Jun25 June 11:26

      That won’t happen. Who is going to unpick consumer friendly legislation? In any event, it is an FCA regulation and doesn’t need to be legislated to be binding on regulated firms.

      • Oyster says:

        25 Jun25 June 14:34

        In what way is the interchange cap vonsumer friendly? The price of goods has not gone down at all.

        More consumers have lost out than have gained.

        It’s surely retail friendly rather than customer friendly.

        • Rob says:

          25 Jun25 June 16:58

          That is a simplistic view though. On that basis shops should reprice each time petrol, electricity, rent etc changes. In reality you look at all your costs every 6 months then decide, if they are up overall, to raise prices.

          Changes prices also costs money (new catalogues, staff time, relabelling) – firms try to avoid doing it.

        • whiskerxx says:

          25 Jun25 June 23:11

          Most retailers revel in it

  • Mr Dee says:

    25 Jun25 June 22:24

    Perhaps in the distant future there maybe changes but I can’t see anything being done anytime soon, the only people who really benefits are going to be the credit card companies who will make larger margins at the cost of the retailer.

    Sadly for us the interchange fee reduction is actually of benefit to the retailers so they are not likely to welcome any higher fee changes now that they have been reduced.

• Michael says:

  25 Jun25 June 11:54

  O/T – BA Credit Card Fee: I booked 3 domestic flights yesterday – one BA, one Easyjet and one Ryanair – chosen because of routes and times.
  HOW can BA justify a £5 credit card fee? The flight cost £66 so £5 in fees seems absurd…best of all I used the BA Amex which offers no discounted fee. As a comparison, Easyjet’s cc fee was about 50p and Ryanair was 74p.
  This fee cannot be reflective of the fees BA are charged. Other airlines adjusted their cc fees over a year ago, how is BA still getting away this?
  p.s. before anyone comments I realise no one forced me to book BA or pay with a cc

  • Rob says:

    25 Jun25 June 13:35

    Different fare system. Virgin is 1.5% but that means £45 on a £3k booking – hardly fair either.

  • Mr(s) Entitled says:

    25 Jun25 June 20:15

    I bought two adult MAN-LHR tickets yesterday. I part-paid with Avios and ended up with a final bill of £68. BA wanted £10 off me to use a cc. I declined.

    I then booked an all Avios LHR-MAN and was not charged to use a cc to pay the tax etc.

    Why?

    • harry says:

      25 Jun25 June 20:32

      1. Next time, you might remember you live in Ukraine, which is free

      2. No CC fee for Avios tickets

      • Mr Dee says:

        25 Jun25 June 22:28

        The fee does seem over the top and an expensive way of earning some points, they will probably won’t adjust anytime soon.

        Interesting Ukraine is free of charges!

        • Brian W says:

          25 Jun25 June 23:59

          I’ve been moving home for quite a while now when booking on BA flights and usually live in Ukraine also, however, I have been known to live in Uzbekistan equally fee free as well.

          I could be wrong on this front but I think everywhere but the United Kingdom is credit card fee free!

        • Michael says:

          26 Jun26 June 12:12

          All very interesting. I guess I’m perplexed as to why BA can continue to charge these extortionate fees when the budget airlines were forced to lower their fees to reflect the actual costs to them. I’m moving to the Ukraine.

• James67 says:

  25 Jun25 June 12:24

  OT Bit: My SPG transfer to my BA account credited this morning complete with the 35% bonus, whisch was applied to the 5k bonus too as usual.

  • Matthew says:

    25 Jun25 June 21:07

    That’s correct, as SPG adds the bonus 5k their side before sending it to BA. This happens with all of their transfers irrespective of a particular airline running a specific promotion.

    • James67 says:

      25 Jun25 June 21:54

      Just commented for the benefit of those asking earlier this week if 35% bonus would post immediately.

      • Leo says:

        25 Jun25 June 22:39

        Cheers James67 – I was glad of the confirmation. I’ve got 25K Star points to send over to BA and was thinking of doing it in 2 batches, 20K to get the extra 5K and then 5K separately. I think the minimum you can transfer without status is 2500. Happy to be corrected.

• lucinda says:

  25 Jun25 June 19:29

  O/t: feature in this weekend’s FT money on “how to make your air miles stretch much further”.
  Seems a poorly researched and basic article, no mention of Rob unfortunately, and just a few edge case anecdotes quoted by some odd eccentrics!

  • Rob says:

    25 Jun25 June 20:38

    Was on the website earlier in the week, not sure who wrote it but clearly they did no research. I know everyone mentioned in it I think.

    • Genghis says:

      26 Jun26 June 09:37

      I read it this morning. I thought it was poorly written – chopping and changing between different alliances which have fundamentally different rules – and very badly researched with a number of inaccuracies – mileage runs to Hawaii on Oneworld? Erm, more of a tier point run. No mention that Amex Gold is free for first year. Raffles – I’m surprised as the authority on UK points collecting you weren’t asked to not only contribute but to be a guest writer

      • Rob says:

        26 Jun26 June 10:30

        The article was ‘placed’ I believe, ie given to the FT as a package. All the people quoted are friends of each other. One who claims to be a passenger is actually a blogger. Article may even have been written by a PR firm and given to the FT.

• worldisyouroyster says:

  25 Jun25 June 19:55

  hi Raffles, any comment on the British Airways profit warning ?

  • Rob says:

    25 Jun25 June 20:37

    Wait until BA is told they have to give up most of their EU flights due to the need for bilateral agreements route by route. It will end the 3rd runway debate anyway.

    • harry says:

      25 Jun25 June 20:52

      BA has more than 1 European licence…

    • mark2 says:

      25 Jun25 June 23:15

      Won’t the EU airlines want to fly to UK?

      • Tilly71 says:

        26 Jun26 June 06:28

        No, everyone in the world suddenly won’t want to sell to us, fly to us or even talk to us!
        Overnight, according to some we have fallen off this planet with no return.
        We’re all doomed! (Sigh)…

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