Great deal: book £1,050 British Airways Club World business class flights to Durban

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• Michael says:

  26 Feb26 February 08:52

  As mentioned by Peter, the SPG amex will be an easy 10,000 Avios/Virgin/Pretty much anything, for you as you seem to be a high spender.

• Dominic says:

  26 Feb26 February 08:54

  Pleased to hear of the Marriott Global promo. Just about to turn platinum, plus a guaranteed stay each week.

• Andrew says:

  26 Feb26 February 09:05

  Disappointed. When I saw the Double Points promotion, I was rather hoping it was the option to buy some BonBon and get 100% free.

  There seems to be regular Hilton & IHG offers, but it’s Marriott that I could do with at the moment.

• fivebobbill says:

  26 Feb26 February 09:12

  On Hilton 5 for 4 on points.
  I’m looking at 5 nights in Abu Dhabi / Dubai, 19th – 24th of April. The reward total is indeed coming up as 5th night free in a standard room, but when I look at an Exec room the 5th night points are being charged – an extra 50,000 points.
  Can I assume the 5 for 4 only works for standard rooms?
  Also, I’m a Gold member and trying to balance the best value v cash, but would like lounge access if possible, so what are the chances of an Exec room upgrade in the UAE if I was to pay cash for a standard room?
  Grateful for any suggestions – also Gold with Marriott and Radisson as well btw, via Amex Plat, so doesn’t have to be Hilton.

  • Peter K says:

    26 Feb26 February 09:29

    5 for 4 is only on standard rooms with Hilton, you are correct.

  • Adam says:

    26 Feb26 February 09:55

    Yes. It is only for standard rooms. I almost always got upgrades to exec level or higher with hilton in the UAE. Gold as well. You mention other chains – could you be more specific as to what your needs are so that we could help you further? Marriott and Radissin will not upgrade you to lounge access with gold sadly.

  • Rob says:

    26 Feb26 February 09:58

    It works on ‘Standard Room Redemptions’. The Exec Room will be a ‘premium room redemption’ which is where Hilton pays the hotel the full cash rate and simply charges you the cash rates x 0.3p, give or take, in points.

  • fivebobbill says:

    26 Feb26 February 22:12

    Thanks guys for all the replies, decided to have a splurge and book the Jumeirah Etihad Towers in Abu Dhabi, £200 back on the Amex Plat made it almost reasonable…
    Treat the missus and keep all the points for next time.
    Thanks again

    • Rob says:

      26 Feb26 February 22:53

      Nice hotel (reviewed it a couple of years ago) in great shape and with a decent little beach and pool for a city centre hotel.

    • Steve says:

      26 Feb26 February 23:43

      Is this the £200 off £600 amex travel offer? If so does this mean you have prepaid for the hotel?

      • fivebobbill says:

        27 Feb27 February 00:33

        Yes the £200 off £600 offer. My card was charged in full immediately (needed to be as the offer ends 28th Feb).
        However my reading of cancellation is that it can be made up to 3pm local time the day before arrival, whereby you will be charged a 1 night fee, After that you are charged a 1 night fee plus taxes & fees – roughly another 20 – 25%

• lammy52 says:

  26 Feb26 February 09:17

  O/T I have seen mention of booking internal US flights using Avios. Is this only through the BA website? When searched yesterday the amount of Avios seemed high in comparison to what I thought I had previously read.

  • Anna says:

    26 Feb26 February 09:25

    It may be possible via American Airlines if you have an account with them, I’ve only ever booked via BA. Don’t forget flights are charged by sector so short trips might appear relatively avios-heavy.

    • Stu N says:

      26 Feb26 February 09:43

      You can book AA flights with Avios. Easiest to find availability via AA.com – you are looking for Mile SAAver flights – then book via BA. Min is 7,500 Avios for shorter economy flights (don’t look at the AA miles, the miles needed are usually different). It can be very good value as the taxes are so low and they are genuinely taxes and government agency charges. We paid 7,500 Avios and about £5 for internal flights that were selling for >$250 per person so all good.

      You can also book Alaska flights which gives you good options for the West Coast; Rob has written “how to” articles for that but its all offline.

    • Alan says:

      26 Feb26 February 12:11

      You can only book using Avios via BA. AA website can be handy to search for ‘SAAver’ availability though.

  • Lady London says:

    26 Feb26 February 14:39

    Look online but don’t hesitate to call BA to book. For routings not showing on BA site. Done it many times. You can still check availability of saver tix on AA website before calling BA to use your avios to book. Don’t forget you can also use AS with avios that way. Can be very useful some routes. You can request waiver of phone booking fee if something you booked couldn’t be booked online.

    • Clive says:

      26 Feb26 February 21:26

      If I remember correctly some US dom routes are cheaper with Iberia. Might be worth checking

  • Alex W says:

    26 Feb26 February 22:26

    Problem in US is that First class redemptions are 4x the Avios price for coach.

• Will says:

  26 Feb26 February 09:19

  OT: BAPP – earnt the 26,000 bonus avios for spending £3,000. My first statement hasn’t been generated yet. However, the ‘avios to be transferred’ is literally 26,650 (£650 was the last transaction that hit the £3,000 bonus) The other base avios was taken away. On the BA Amex avios statement it says ‘Avios (-)5400’ which is all the base avios and ‘(-) 3000’ for the supp card. Is there any reason for this? The avios hasn’t been transferred yet and don’t think it should have as my first statement hasn’t been generated?

  • Genghis says:

    26 Feb26 February 09:26

    They’ve transferred across to BA (your statement will be generated in a few days). All perfectly normal.

  • Peter K says:

    26 Feb26 February 09:37

    Avios get transferred a few days before the statement date. You did not spend the £650 to hit the target and get the bonus avios in time for this sweep. They will go across next month.

  • Will says:

    26 Feb26 February 09:42

    Fair enough, thanks guys, will look at my avios balance in the next few days. How long does it normally take to reach the BAEC avios account once transferred?

    • Genghis says:

      26 Feb26 February 09:50

      Day after

• jeremy i says:

  26 Feb26 February 09:22

  O/T – what would people recommend for x4 nights over Easter in Berlin? The Pullman? The Hilton? Wardolf AstoriaA? So difficult as there seems to be lots of choice. We’d like a nice large pool and hopefully breakfast included (Hilton Gold and an unused 200 off 600 amex travel voucher).

  • Adam says:

    26 Feb26 February 09:59

    I was very disappointed with hilton. No upgrade as gold at all but still tried to upsell me. Breakfast average, dumpy tiny room. Location excellent though. Consider Sofitel K-dam. Excellent upgrade as gold.

  • Brian says:

    26 Feb26 February 11:40

    Unlike Adam, I’ve only ever had a great experience at the Hilton. Lovely large rooms overlooking Gendarmenmarkt, excellent breakfast and a really good, spacious lounge with decent food options. Don’t know if there’s a pool, though.

    If you use Amex Travel, you may not get status benefits at any of the chains, though.

    • Leo says:

      26 Feb26 February 14:47

      +1

  • Alan says:

    26 Feb26 February 12:14

    I’ve enjoyed the IC, Waldorf, Hotel Indigo and Hilton in Berlin! All good in different ways. Be aware if using Amex Travel offer you’re very unlikely to receive status benefits or points though (you might get lucky but can’t bet on it) so may be worth looking at a highly rated non-chain option that includes breakfast?

    • Jeremy I says:

      26 Feb26 February 12:48

      Thanks all. Yes I was thinking I’d use the amex travel if not booking a hilton (ie, the only chain i have status in).

• James says:

  26 Feb26 February 10:21

  These 2-4-1 deals are quite irritating for those of us who need to travel alone 🙁

  Those of you in pairs, enjoy though 🙂
  Good fare.

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