Important dates for your diary – offers about to close which you shouldn’t miss (Aug ’16)

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• will says:

  6 Aug6 August 10:49

  Just to add, the BA sale to the middle east CAN be combined with a lloyds avios voucher – I can price up an off peak business class return to dubai for 52k avios + £461.25 off peak using the lloyds voucher.

  Current Qatar sale to Dubai makes that a lot less attractive if you don’t mind going through Stockholm/Helsinki and would like a slug of TP’s.

• Philip says:

  6 Aug6 August 10:51

  One of my IHG Accelerate goals was to download & log into my account from the app which I did some weeks ago but it is still not showing in the account. It is only 500 points but the completion 15,000 points would be very nice. Since then i’ve bought miles which have shown & got the HFPs double points from a recent visit, how long does it take them for this? I’ve rang them and got the usual it can take 30 days etc which it is now within a few days of.

  • chris says:

    6 Aug6 August 18:31

    It can take a few weeks and sometimes upto a month to appear. It usually tracks OK, mine did

• Joe says:

  6 Aug6 August 18:01

  OT- Begginer question here:
  I have over £100 in tesco vouchers to convert. I want to take my partner to the USA next year. To date, i have been accumulating avios (over 130k so far). So, with the virgin bonus going on, I am now wondering whether generally Virgin offers better value for money than BA for US Bound flights? I know its a very general question, but, should i convert to virgin and save avios for EU flights?
  Thanks!

  • mark2 says:

    6 Aug6 August 18:17

    Will you get enough Virgin points by next year?
    If you already have so many Avios that seems to me like the way to go.

    • Liz says:

      6 Aug6 August 19:21

      Also depends where you want to go in the USA as Virgin fly to less destinations than BA

      • TGLoyalty says:

        6 Aug6 August 19:46

        But do usually cost less miles and have lower taxes/charges than BA

        • Rob says:

          6 Aug6 August 22:54

          It’s and/or! Economy is same miles, lower taxes whilst Business is fewer miles, same taxes (give or take).

  • Genghis says:

    6 Aug6 August 20:26

    £100 would get you 30k in the current bonus and IIRC it’s 40k one way / person in Upper Class to NYC. It could be an alternative.

    • will merrett says:

      6 Aug6 August 23:38

      One way tickets to the USA are a bit odd. Let me illustrate in upper/club world to London-New York:

      Virgin:
      Return = 80k miles + £453.35 (40k each way, £324 out, £128 in)
      One way. OUT 40k +£324 / IN 40k + USD 419 (approx £322)

      So 2 x one way tickets works out £193 more expensive.

      BA:
      Return (peak) = 120k miles + £483
      One way. OUT 60k +£338 / IN 60k + £336

      So 2 x one way tickets work out £191 more expensive.

      If it were me then I’d be aiming to use avios to go either on Aer Lingus through Dublin / Shannon or Air Berlin via Dusseldorf as the tax will be almost nothing.

      Having an Amex companion voucher would change that position significantly though.

      • will merrett says:

        6 Aug6 August 23:41

        I’ll also add (personal preference here) that the II find Virgin upper class quite tacky, think the seats are awful if travelling with partner and the fact that the seat flips to a bed instead of reclining down to a bed means I’m not comfortable.

        Perhaps its just me but even on long haul day flights I spend the flight half way between upright and flat and often snooze in this position. This is not possible in upper class. If I wanted to sit upright I’d save the cash and book economy.

        • Joe says:

          7 Aug7 August 01:36

          Oh.
          Wow.
          What can I say?

          Thanks – What a wealth of feedback! Just to give a bit more details, We want to travel around the west coast next april, so happy to fly to LA, SFA, Vegas, San Diego (wherever we get a better deal). And ideally business or premium eco/ world traveller.

          Seems like i need to investigate a bit more before deciding. Virgin seems to score slightly better miles/ taxes- wise ( including the current bonus) but BA has a broader selection to choose from. Any other tip will be appreciated. Will defo check the aerlingus/ air berlin option! As i might struggle to get enough virgin points before april, Will it be silly to do one way with virgin, and return with oneworld??

        • Lady London says:

          7 Aug7 August 12:37

          Returning with a European One World airline such as BA (not AA) will give you the valuable protection of EU261 on the return leg. Basically in case of serious delay or cancellation of that leg you would be entitled to better help and possibly compensation if you choose the European based airline to fly back into Europe on.

          Departing from Europe, you’re covered on EU261 for that leg even if it’s not a European airline (such as AA).

          So from those destinations I’d come back with BA especially as there is a wide choice of locations to start from on the West Coast. San Diego is relatively recently added so you might have better luck finding seats there.

        • Will says:

          7 Aug7 August 12:38

          It will cost you around £190 more in taxes.

          If going west coast A380’s go to LA and San Fran, but are like hens teeth to find seats on.

          787 to San Jose (v.close to San Fran) which would be my pick the try and snag a first class ticket on as I’ve never flown one and the 747 to San Diego seems really easy to get space on – if you do try to get upper deck for the best seats.

          The most value you’ll get is by using an Amex 2-4-1 voucher, booking both on BA then you’ll just pay one set of avios although each person will have to pay the tax. Clearly most value would then be in first.

        • Leo says:

          7 Aug7 August 18:01

          And just to even things up – though I fly more often with BA, I much prefer Virgin UC when flying to the States – it’s a lot more fun for a start with and the Clubhouses are great if you are on holiday!

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