The peak and off-peak Avios redemption calendars for 2019

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• Chris says:

  15 Jun15 June 07:12

  What a strange calendar.

  Weekends in May/Sep are off peak even though availability for short breaks disappears as soon as seats are released.

  Midweeks during school holidays tend to have cheaper cash fares yet are priced as peak.

  JFK in August is cheap- why is this peak? And AUH/DXB??????!!!! Who travels there in August?

  • TripRep says:

    15 Jun15 June 07:18

    Maldives in March is also off peak, one of the best times to go IMHO.

    Also what’s with the colour coding, why green of peak? I’d of thought green would be more appropriate for off peak???

    • TripRep says:

      15 Jun15 June 07:19

      *of = for

      • pauldb says:

        15 Jun15 June 09:44

        *of(ii) = have 😉

        I think it just shows BA think of avios redemptions as a cost more than a revenue mgmt option. They’ve committed to provide 2J/4Y seats, and they can more surely sell those seats in the school holidays so their pricing can be higher. It’s too complicated to nuance that by have different calendars by destination.

      • TripRep says:

        15 Jun15 June 12:52

        pauldb – good point, typed too early this am…

        btw – did you see my reply to your car hire comment on still wanting to use Advantage?
        https://headforpoints.com/2018/06/13/club-aspire-lounge-gatwick-north-opens/comment-page-1/#comment-262358

      • pauldb says:

        16 Jun16 June 08:15

        I have now :). AFAIK from their website Advantage are on airport at MCO but take your point on the possible wait. Still, for a £100+ saving I might take a chance.

    • anikaanika99 says:

      15 Jun15 June 10:54

      I know!!! They changed it from last year’s calendar where blue was peak and for about 15 minutes I was trying to figure out why Summer would be off peak 🙂

  • Sussex Bantam says:

    15 Jun15 June 09:39

    I would suggest you just overlay the school holiday calendar – that will answer your question !

    • RussellH says:

      15 Jun15 June 17:42

      Which school holiday calendar is that?

      Apart from English half-terms, which are not the same throughout the country, it takes no account of Scottish school holidays, which start in around two weeks time.

      • Barry cutters says:

        15 Jun15 June 19:22

        Population of England = 53million,
        Population of Scotland = 5.3million.

        This is probably why .
        Oh and probably some of the reason why Scotland doesn’t have as many flight options.

        -apologies if you feel hard done by.

      • RussellH says:

        15 Jun15 June 20:35

        Tour operators inflate their ex EDI / GLA / ABZ prices massively at the end of June and drop them again in mid August.

        I would have thought it worth BA’s while to do the same.

      • Lady London says:

        16 Jun16 June 16:59

        Lucky you. I guess that’s one advantage of not being in London!

  • AndyR says:

    15 Jun15 June 09:44

    It’s a single calendar for the whole BA network so obviously wouldn’t make sense for all destinations!

  • Anna says:

    15 Jun15 June 10:04

    Anything in August is priced to gouge the parents of school age children, regardless of whether the destination is actually in its peak season!

    • Doug M says:

      15 Jun15 June 10:32

      Exactly. It’s not peak or off peak for a particular destination, it’s the time most people want, or have to travel. I’d imagine much more complicated dynamic pricing is on the way at some point.

    • Doug M says:

      15 Jun15 June 10:43

      Random Thinking: Another thing on this which is odd, and obviously this is not a study, just anecdotal. But lots of people like a Summer holiday because they always have done. Their children are often grown, but they continue with the July/August holiday as if it’s in their DNA. They visit places where they could go for half the price in June or September, with equally nice weather, and without the drama of all the extra people clogging the airports without a clue how to prepare for security and that sort of thing. Airports in Summer don’t just have more people, they have the wrong sort of people, especially if you’re a entitled solo traveller with little patience for other people’s dramas.
      Don’t get too irate, part of this is intended as mildly humorous.

      • Kathy says:

        15 Jun15 June 11:26

        It’s mostly habit, but partly how you want your holidays to break up your working year and where the bank holidays fall. I’ve booked time off following the August bank holiday because that way I have a clear 9 days without work but only have to use 4 days’ annual leave. I couldn’t do that in September or June.

  • Dominic says:

    15 Jun15 June 12:02

    Having been there for a few August’s running, families flock there, much to my displeasure 😉

• Spurs Debs says:

  15 Jun15 June 07:30

  Lucky me i just scrapped in on off peak dates, I booked 4 club class tickets for 4 April 2019 off peak to JFK and used my 241 voucher. I think it cost me 235,796 in points and approx £2200 in taxes,

  • Alex Sm says:

    15 Jun15 June 18:40

    Still sounds quite expensive, init?

  • JK says:

    18 Jun18 June 09:23

    Why the odd number of Avios? Aren’t redemptions always round numbers?

• Corin says:

  15 Jun15 June 08:10

  ok, I’m probably asking something that’s already obvious here (sorry). I’ve always used my VFC and AV points on long haul family trips.
  I’m now looking to book May half-term next year (25th May – 3rd June) LHR to Athens and Mykonos – LHR. Am I right in thinking I should transfer my miles to Iberia and book from there ? as May half term is not peak ? or does it not work like that?
  Sorry … total newbie at RFS/Short haul redemptions !
  thank you for any help 🙂

  • Genghis says:

    15 Jun15 June 08:13

    It doesn’t work like that as you would actually be flying on BA, not IB

    • Corin says:

      15 Jun15 June 08:21

      ok, that’s fine, saves me the hassle of transferring etc… just thought I’d check incase I was wasting some avios ! thank you

      • the real harry1 says:

        15 Jun15 June 08:29

        yep don’t miss the essential point ‘on a route served by both by BA and Iberia’

        IB doesn’t fly LHR—> Athens direct so isn’t bookable on the IB timetable, I guess you can book it on the IB portal but it would be using BA’s peak/ off-peak timetable, ie no ‘arbitrage’

        • Rob says:

          15 Jun15 June 08:39

          That was more to do with long haul, eg if you want to go to Barbados you’re using BA regardless, but if you are off to Tokyo then the IB flight is an alternative.

• @alastairtravel says:

  15 Jun15 June 08:54

  I see for 2019 BA have adjusted October half-term to cover more weekends but opened up the midweek dates as off-peak at the same time.
  Broadly negative for me, but perhaps opens some opportunities for others

• Anna says:

  15 Jun15 June 10:06

  Beat the system! My son’s Easter holidays begin on March 30th next year so for once we have managed to get an off-peak short break to Rome – looking forward to trying out the new lounge at FCO as well.

  • Stuart says:

    15 Jun15 June 12:51

    Was in the new lounge at FCO on Sunday. First impressions were good, the bar was very much like the Aberdeen bar that was featured on here. Power sockets everywhere and loved the tables at the seats that had a space to hide your carry on under. The alcohol selection was ok, but the food was very disappointing. We were on the 17.30 flight back and there was some bread, salad (no cheese or meat to go with), pastries and a chickpea soup which literally was chickpeas in rosemary flavoured water. The lounge also doesn’t have its own toilets, you have to venture back into the terminal to use them.

• Nigel Williams says:

  15 Jun15 June 10:23

  OT – Will Amex Plat get me into the Lounges in LYS?

  • the_real_a says:

    15 Jun15 June 13:07

    I don’t think there are any Priority Pass or Plaza Premium lounges at Lyon, sadly.

• Andrew says:

  15 Jun15 June 10:41

  OT no bits: any advice for cheap car hire from LHR for a weekend? Trying to avoid the likes of Easirent, and checked out the £1 Eurocar deals but sadly nothing works. Any Avis discounts/referrals etc?

  • Relaxo says:

    15 Jun15 June 15:36

    Whats wrong with Easirent?

    • Andrew says:

      15 Jun15 June 16:26

      The reviews look awful. Personally I would risk it but it’s my incredibly risk averse mum I’m making the booking for.

  • Lady London says:

    16 Jun16 June 17:04

    It’s all likely to be overpriced at this time of year.
    A key point would be to work out which terminal she’s wanting to pick up from, and which car hire companies actually have a desk in the terminal and whose cars are nearby (not some long bus ride).

    I found Avis T5 to be OK.

    Remember weekends can begin as early as Thursday evening for some car hire companies or end Monday. Certainly a Friday pickup would still get you weekend pricing. Just make sure you keep it for a Saturday night that will keep the price down. (well… relatively, at this time of year).

    IHG had a 35% off code for car hire, you might find it on their site if you are logged in.

  • Andrew (Different One) says:

    16 Jun16 June 22:16

    Perhaps take a coach or train somewhere cheaper than Heathrow to pick up/drop off the hire car?

    When I visit Edinburgh, I’ve given up on hiring at the Airport, I now take the tram to Edinburgh Park and pick up my booking from one of the based on the Sighthill industrial estate. Saves me a fortune.

• Duncan says:

  15 Jun15 June 11:57

  Slightly O/T. I’ve enough points (using my two for one voucher) for two business class returns Lhr to Sydney. However when ever I check there is no availability for business class. Does anyone have any tips on how to do this?
  Thanks

  • Doug M says:

    15 Jun15 June 12:23

    I believe this is one of the destinations where you have to phone up just after midnight (1AM BST) exactly 355 days before you want the flight. You then do the same x days later for the return. 2 CW seats will be released, but they go very quickly because the experienced Avios users know you have to do this. Given the taxes and amount of Avios required some say Sydney is a bad use of Avios, have you considered one of the Ex-EU sales on the ME3.

  • Darren says:

    15 Jun15 June 12:24

    This route is the most popular and sought after as you would expect, the availabilty opens up 355 in advance, this link covers all aspects of the process.

    https://headforpoints.com/2018/01/15/how-to-use-a-british-airways-american-express-241-companion-voucher/

    Alternatively, if you miss out you could travel BA CW to Hong Kong or Singapore and a cash fare to Aus.

    • TripRep says:

      15 Jun15 June 12:46

      How do you know its the most popular? Are their stats on that? CW Maldives (no F) must be up there in a Top 10 list..

      • Darren says:

        15 Jun15 June 17:23

        Well I don’t, but this question is often asked and yes I would think Maldives is another.

        The stats I can see is that there is rarely any seats available on either route SYD/MLE but this may be due to the number of seats available for redemption v the number of people wanting them, i.e. sought after.

        I suppose the most ‘popular’ route would be to New York as there are more flights/redemptions available and booked, again I don’t have Stats but would be interested to see any.

  • DavidK says:

    15 Jun15 June 19:45

    baredemptionfinder.com is the easiest way to find if you are not using it already but that is a very popular redemption so you may struggle.

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