British Airways launches new route to Charleston, South Carolina – bookable now with Avios

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• Nigel the pensioner says:

  19 Oct19 October 06:26

  Charleston (SC) is beautiful. Very similar to the rebuilt and much improved New Orleans. However the flight slots are rubbish and frankly will probably continue to enter via Houston rather than Atlanta as its way way cheaper with more avios redemptions available.

• Jonathan says:

  19 Oct19 October 06:35

  It’s a lovely part of the States with great history & southern charm. I’m always surprised how little awareness Brits have of this part of the states as much nicer IMHO than Florida. I wouldn’t be rushing to visit in the summer though, hot & humid is an understatement! I can only hope that this doesn’t flop due to being introduced in the wrong season as would love to grab some Avios seats for November/December (unless this has been launched with a view to surviving predominantly off ex US passengers over the Summer).

• Alan says:

  19 Oct19 October 07:36

  News also out on the US blogs re this new route – just as well BA have put up the YQ ex-US vs ex-UK given how many Avios they get for sign-up and transfer bonuses there!

  I’m off to Charleston next month although very poor Avios availability to anywhere nearby so having to opt for the reliable JFK route then Delta direct to Charleston. AA schedule for direct flights from JFK is dreadful, about one a week!

  • Rob says:

    19 Oct19 October 08:23

    Press release landed at 6.58pm last night which is weird even by BA standards.

    • Lady London says:

      19 Oct19 October 12:06

      I think I saw it by accident earlier in the day on one of the US blogs when I was searching for tips on how to make the Iberia booking engine work. So perhaps BA was forced to release it at that odd time as word was getting out.

• Liz says:

  19 Oct19 October 07:52

  Can also confirm Charleston is a beautiful place as is Savannah. Almost every building is a historic one. Last Aug/Sept we drove right out up the coast and out on to the Outer Banks – the whole area is beautiful. Well worth a wee road trip. Also very hot even late Aug.

• Wivus says:

  19 Oct19 October 08:33

  Good news if you travel often to Raleigh NC. A 4 hour drive or hour flight away. Sounds daft as there is a direct flight but if you have seen the prices AA charge for LHR to RDU it will definitely be a big saving.

  • Polly says:

    19 Oct19 October 12:23

    Agree, my OH paid well over 1k for a Y seat on AA. Wasn’t allowed to be in PE. Used our own aa miles to ug him on way home overnight. So yes, a pricey route.

• Anna says:

  19 Oct19 October 09:00

  A welcome addition if it continues. Which zone does it fall into for avios purposes?

  • pauldb says:

    19 Oct19 October 09:30

    Unfortunately, at 4077 miles, it just falls into the more expensive US band: 75k e/w peak J.

• Dace says:

  19 Oct19 October 09:08

  Just out of interest does anyone know why BA are now charging £614 in taxes and fees for a J flight?

  • Steve says:

    19 Oct19 October 09:16

    Because they can?

  • Adrian says:

    19 Oct19 October 09:41

    Yes, it’s too much. This was highlighted when I upgraded to F on my last flight, it was a few more Avios and I was expecting the taxes etc. to be higher, they were but only 40p! I now look for J that I can upgrade to F as I feel that’s the best value, it’s not always possible, but for the same money, it’s a no-brainer.

    • Lady London says:

      19 Oct19 October 12:12

      Yes. APD is the same for Premium Economy, Business and First. So if you’re already booked in one of these classes you should not pay any more “taxes” to upgrade.

      This is why Economy is mostly such bad value for redemptions. Between the greed surcharge er… sorry, ‘taxes’ charged by British Airways as well as having to pay the avios for your award ticket, and the cash price of regularly available cash fares, there’s often no daylight at all on Economy fares especially on routes where there is high volume or competition.

  • Anna says:

    19 Oct19 October 09:48

    I know! I’ve just paid £1289 in taxes for 2 x J redemption to the Caribbean next summer, £100 more than I’ve paid for a trip to NYC in May flying out in F and back in J!

    • Lady London says:

      19 Oct19 October 12:13

      Ouch.

  • PointsChaser says:

    19 Oct19 October 10:09

    The amount BA charge for a redemption is making me question is it worth playing this points game for anything less than a 2 4 1 first class long haul redemption? For single business class tickets you can normally pick up some good deals in sales.

    • Anna says:

      19 Oct19 October 10:58

      Me too, and if the points game is still active when the OH and I are back to travelling as a couple I will be doing this. With this in mind, an article on routes you can fly to in First would be very interesting!

      • Lady London says:

        19 Oct19 October 12:24

        A note of caution that we may be about to go into a massive ‘up’ cycle in the price of oil. This may mean that the nice cash fares including for J that we’ve been seeing in very recent years, will rapidly disappear.

        So points/miles/avios may become worth collecting again.

  • marcw says:

    19 Oct19 October 11:25

    Someone has to subsidise the 241 right?

    • Rob says:

      19 Oct19 October 12:12

      Surcharges have been whacked up following the oil price rise.

      • Lady London says:

        19 Oct19 October 12:14

        You mean some of the “Fuel Surcharge” was actually fuel?
        🙂

      • Mark says:

        19 Oct19 October 13:11

        Of course they went down significantly when the price of oil went down, right….?

        • Rob says:

          19 Oct19 October 13:24

          They did a bit, to be fair. Not a huge amount …

      • marcw says:

        19 Oct19 October 13:13

        Total BS. How come can you then explain BA charges different taxes and fees between revenue and Avios tickets? (being only the fuel surcharge variable, as all others are fixed). Do Avios tickets have a greater fuel consumption?

  • Lady London says:

    19 Oct19 October 12:09

    Really? not sure even Lufthansa would have the brass neck to be that outrageous.
    That’s only about £200 sort of the occasional cash offer for business on the shorter East Coast routes. Why give them the avios as well?

    • Anna says:

      19 Oct19 October 12:31

      Yes…pick your routes carefully. However, the cash price on my half term (and Memorial weekend) NYC flights is currently just over £10k so I was happy to hand over 140,000 avios plus just under £1200 “fees”.

      • Lady London says:

        19 Oct19 October 13:08

        Wow. This is when using points (if you’re early enough to book while the seats are still there) can really pay off. You’re an example to all of us @Anna! 🙂

      • Anna says:

        19 Oct19 October 13:36

        All thanks to HFP!

• Clarence says:

  19 Oct19 October 09:13

  We flew to ATL in F on a 241 in August and had a lovely week in Charleston before going to Florida to visit friends for another week. Charleston is not very big but has loads of great places to eat. The free trolleys are excellent value but we found the history the high point.
  Coming back from ATL the only lounge is the Club at ATL. Should have stayed in the main concourse as the food was terrible, our dog would even have had second thoughts and he isn’t fussy about what he eats.
  A week after coming home Avis sent us a bill for $150 for cleaning what they said was excess dirt in the back of the car, strange as we had nothing in the back. I queried the bill but they wouldn’t reduce it or cancel it so we will go to Charleston again but will probably not use Avis again even though the extra Avios through BA are good.

  • Chuckstar says:

    19 Oct19 October 09:25

    @clarence … ask for photos from Avis
    sounds odd, had a similar experience.

  • Anna says:

    19 Oct19 October 09:51

    Thanks for this – we are using Avis for the first time next year as part of a BA holiday, I will be sure to take pictures before we give the car back!

  • Jill (Kinkell) says:

    19 Oct19 October 11:03

    Use Alamo. . Rented with them twice for road trips in the USA. Will do it again for next years visit

  • Lady London says:

    19 Oct19 October 12:19

    Yes. This is something to be aware of. If you take out excess car hire insurance (Questor, insurance4carhire, bettersafe, etc.) these cover most forms of ‘damage’ a rental car company could try to blame you for. they include cover for things like roof and tyres, and sometimes misfuelling, that even the rental car company’s own daily insurance would not actually cover you for.

    However a very big ‘but’ with all of these is that they do not cover the interior of the car.

    So always be careful to check the interior of the car as well as the outside, when you pick up a rental car. You don’t want to be blamed for a cigarette burn and find not even the excess car hire insurance you took out, would cover you,

    I wish you luck in protesting this fraudulent claim by Avis.

    • Dale says:

      19 Oct19 October 17:53

      Allegedly fraudulent

  • the_real_a says:

    19 Oct19 October 13:33

    Yup take photos yourself on pick up and drop off – even if you make yourself look like an a** is the best protection for these “mistakes”.

    • Lady London says:

      19 Oct19 October 14:49

      I have been known to sometimes casually mention that I have done this when dropping off the car. Especially at a chaotic Firefly location in MXP T2. the one time I dared to try Firefly.

      I’ve scurried back mostly to Hertz since. But constant caution is the word for any car hire. I’m not sure if car hire companies, or estate agents, should have the prize for most dishonest companies!

  • Doug M says:

    20 Oct20 October 10:23

    I don’t think it’s Avis in particular, it’s car rental in general, and moody behaviour more likely linked to branch than company. Responses of I always use X they’re honest, suggest that person hasn’t used X often enough.
    But in general my own view is in the US big players like Hertz, Budget, Avis, National are generally all OK, and I’m yet to have a post rental claim made by them. Had a few scratch disputes on return, or fuel disputes, but always by remaining firm and calm they’ve been resolved properly, i.e. them accepting I’m right 🙂
    I guess mostly my rentals have been in large operations, and cars always seem to be collected and returned to artificially lit multi-storey locations where minor damage is very hard to see. I always wait with the car and get the closing receipt, that immediately gives you a starting point in any dispute as they do a walk around and check the boot etc.

    • Alan says:

      21 Oct21 October 15:24

      Agree, a lot comes down to rental location.

      Recent collection at Rochester – location shut before my (delayed) flight arrived, had to get taxi to hotel and back the following morning. They were immediately apologetic, upgraded me from a standard to a premium (Chrysler) and waived the $120 one-way fees so it ended up just costing my some Hertz points – pretty impressed with the customer service TBH. Did chuckle when I heard her on the phone to her manager about the “President’s Circle member” needing special treatment – shows worth collecting any free status that’s available 😀

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