Get 2,000 free Avios if you fly British Airways over Christmas

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• Clive says:

  11 Dec11 December 10:00

  OT: sorry for the basic question, but I don’t know the answer, so… We fly out of Gatwick on BA next week in the evening. How early are we allowed to drop off cases to go airside and make the most of lounges – is it a particular number of hours before flight?

  • Anna says:

    11 Dec11 December 10:08

    Apparently there’s a facility in the MMB section which tells you when your bag drop opens – unless you have a really early flight I would guess you have at least the 3 hours they recommend you arrive before your flight and probably more.

    • Lady London says:

      11 Dec11 December 13:26

      Last week going through the boarding pass barriers for an early flight at Gatwick the machine beeped, gates did mot automatically open, and threw up an error message ‘more than 5 hours before flight’. It was actually a chunk less than 5 hours before flight. Security came over, checked the boarding pass and let me through.

      Maybe this is a hint it’s 5hrs?

  • John says:

    11 Dec11 December 12:31

    If you are referring to the BA lounge, then this means you are in J/F or have status, and you can drop your bags at any time on the same day.

    If you are referring to some other lounges and are in Y/W without BA status, then it’s 3 hours before scheduled departure time.

    You said your flight is in the evening, but for future reference if your flight departs before 3pm, all passengers can check bags starting from 4pm on the day before (but not until 3 hours before on the same day unless in J/F or status holders).

    • Lady London says:

      11 Dec11 December 13:28

      @John is the rule same for Heathrow?

      • John says:

        11 Dec11 December 14:51

        Yes except that LHR doesn’t offer the “day before” bag drop.

      • Clive says:

        11 Dec11 December 15:47

        Thanks for the info – yes, silver status.

• Richard G says:

  11 Dec11 December 10:31

  Can’t argue with free. I’ll take those. 🙂

• Harj says:

  11 Dec11 December 11:09

  OT: Have both a platinum and BA Premium, if i refer my wife for the BA Premium using the Platinum referral link will I get 18,000 points or best to go for the BA referral link?

  • Polly says:

    11 Dec11 December 15:18

    Yes you will..make sure the correct card is chosen..as soon as the card is mailed they post..good luck..

• Vand says:

  11 Dec11 December 11:25

  Go on BA, make it per segment. I promise to help up the NPS.

• Peter K says:

  11 Dec11 December 11:32

  OT
  Hilton redemptions have gone very peculiar since the changes earlier this year.
  I have just booked a 3day redemption that came up as 24k points per night for 3 nights but instead of 72k points out came up as 77k points.
  I then checked reach night separately and got 22k, 30k, 20k. So the 72k I expected.
  I then tried the first two nights together and it was only 48k, not 52k!
  That meant the total points cost ended up only 68k. What a crazy system! I know the 5 for 4 redemptions had gone weird but this is crazy!

  • John says:

    11 Dec11 December 12:20

    I suspect that you were getting different combinations of rooms for each of the combinations you tried.

    Hilton redemptions are now based on the flexible paid rates. So if the paid rates are also doing something odd like this, you will see a similar pattern if trying to redeem.

    • Tom says:

      11 Dec11 December 23:11

      Hilton related – can I combine three reward points nights with a free weekend night (from Hilton credit card) to trigger a 5th night free?

      Or even better can I combine 2 rewards points nights with two free weekend nights (on different Hilton accounts) for the 5th night..?

      (I think I know the a deer..)

      • Rob says:

        11 Dec11 December 23:22

        No, because it prices automatically when you book 5 nights and you won’t be doing that – you will need 3 separate bookings.

• BlueThroughCrimp says:

  11 Dec11 December 12:12

  I like your Sheffield example, used it recently for a midweek redemption. Was cheaper than a (non-sale price) Premier Inn or Travelodge, with breakfast included.
  The Hampton used to be Police Headquarters, and has a few old photos of it in the previous guise dotted about the building.

  • Cate says:

    11 Dec11 December 12:21

    We’re down for Hampton at Liverpool John Lennon booked on 10,000 points per night and thought buying through this would be cheaper. But at 84GBP a night it works out roughly the same price so giving it a miss.

• Will says:

  11 Dec11 December 12:49

  Quick question on the BA Avios giveaway. If you booked flights on BA but they are being operated by Aer Lingus, would you still get the Avios? Thanks

  • Rob says:

    11 Dec11 December 12:55

    We need to wait for the official announcement in a day or so.

• George says:

  11 Dec11 December 15:39

  OT: With regard to Miles&More, is there any value in continuing to maintain a small balance using the now dead MBNA credit card? I assume the offer will be pulled for customers and there no obvious way it will return, which means preventing expiry is no longer possible?

  • Rob says:

    11 Dec11 December 16:11

    I would keep it going for now …. there is a chance the card keeps going for a year or so if no new card is announced. Best to do what you can to keep them alive.

    • George says:

      11 Dec11 December 16:39

      Thanks, appreciated!

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