British Airways new Club Suite business class added to Washington, Philadelphia & Dallas

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• Shoestring says:

  13 Dec13 December 06:29

  Iberia regularly run 50% discount on Avios required, so no surprise to me! Worth checking out ex EU as well to save on taxes.

  • Harry T says:

    13 Dec13 December 08:07

    @Harry anyway to keep an eye out for these other than manually checking?

    • Shoestring says:

      13 Dec13 December 08:13

      no – they’re official & not mistakes, it just took time for BigSi to find the link/ page

      Iberia run the 50% off Avios redemptions quite regularly, including in Business – which are thus EXTREMELY cheap for ex-EU eg Madrid-USA

      they obvs consider them successful (and the mainly IB FF people (on FT & the IB ‘HFP’) seem to love them) – so it could be this is a promotion on BA we’ll see more of in the coming months

      it’s a nice & easy one to run and you’d have thought *cheap* with whatever internal value they put on Avios

      • Shoestring says:

        13 Dec13 December 08:16

        or @ Harry T did you mean: know when the IB promos come up? that’s easy, sign up to the Iberia HfP

        • Harry T says:

          13 Dec13 December 12:51

          @Shoestring
          I will pounce on one of those Iberia promotions when they come up, for sure.

          Do you mean just read HFP to keep track of promotions?

• Shoestring says:

  13 Dec13 December 06:32

  GBP held its move from last night so should all be in the price for now with the election sealed: EUR3601 = £2985

  so you can buy 300K or 150K Avios for under 1p/ point at Iberia until Dec 20th. 75K come out slightly more expensive (or any other smaller amount) – but still the cheapest they’ve been to buy in such quantity ‘the lazy but comfortable way’ for several years.

  • Shoestring says:

    13 Dec13 December 07:37

    @ Harry T – entirely up to you, but markets move in anticipation of the fact so you might think it’s all baked into GBP:EUR now & could even get worse before Dec 20th

    or ask yourself: what new thing/s or news do I see happening over the next few days that will make prospects for the UK economy better than those for the EU?

    • Shoestring says:

      13 Dec13 December 07:39

      [A 50-plus Tory majority would be seen as increasing the chances of an extension to the Article 50 transition period beyond the end of 2020, and a closer future trading arrangement, further helping the pound.
      Any bounce could, however, be temporary. Richard Falkenhäll, senior foreign exchange strategist at SEB, the Nordic corporate bank, warns that a Tory majority will not remove hard-Brexit fears. As he puts it: “This is likely to weigh on the UK economy and the pound in 2020 just like it did this year. Essentially, this suggests that the strengthening of the pound in the past months and any additional appreciation on the back of a Conservative majority in the elections can turn out to be quite short-lived.”]

      • sloth says:

        13 Dec13 December 09:18

        there will be downward pressure on the £ again as all focus switches back to brexit…

    • Harry T says:

      13 Dec13 December 08:20

      Thanks, I’ll take a look. Don’t have an immediate need for the Avios but it does look like a good deal. Are you buying them for something specifically or just in anticipation of need at some point in the future?

      • Shoestring says:

        13 Dec13 December 08:26

        my Avios bank is showing a good balance – if I were not running a healthy total, ie enough for 2 years’ anticipated Avios needs, I’d definitely be a buyer at under 1p

        you can’t do anything without a big chunk of Avios in the bank

        the savings on flights are so obvious & the ability to move when opps come up so important, that there are very few legitimate reasons not to consider maintaining a good Avios balance as part of your points strategy

        possibles:
        – poor personal cashflow/ problems
        – fear there will be a significant devaluation
        – already got plenty Amex MR points stashed away waiting to be converted
        – er, that’s it

        • Mikeact says:

          13 Dec13 December 10:01

          You need a big stash in any program nowadays, what with dynamic pricing. . Even my six figure stash of Avios can be easily depleted, with a couple of decent longhauls for two.

      • BJ says:

        13 Dec13 December 10:30

        Don’t buy avios now unless you have a use for them now ig you have a ise for them now, that also means you have the opportunity to 3xplore whether paying cash is a better option so do that first. Best strategy in the game has always been earn and burn, holding huge stack of reward currencies like avios is always risky although many of us take that risk.

        • Harry T says:

          13 Dec13 December 10:55

          @BJ @Shoestring
          I have about 250k Avios and a 241. With a recent referral bonus and paying for a BA holidays bill, I should have enough for a long haul 241 in First plus some spare change for a couple of RFS flights from Edinburgh. Perhaps I should just buy some if I run out in a year or two and have another 241? Not planning to use my current 241 until 2020.

        • Harry T says:

          13 Dec13 December 10:56

          The extra referral bonus and a couple of anticipated referral bonuses plus Avios for BA holidays spend will likely push me to 300k or above, is what I should say. 241 in First looks to be 200-220k at most.

        • BJ says:

          13 Dec13 December 11:42

          @Harry T, I always try to maintain a 2-3 year surplus based on my redemption plans. Thus far, I have been able to do so without purchasing miles or points. The most I have ever paid indirectly for avios is about 0.42ppa IARC in the recent Tesco mobile promotion. Most of my avios have cost me close to nothing. Personally, I would never buy avios at 1p but understand the rationale from Shoestring and others that it can be worthwhile. All depends on how we use them. I am contemplating paying 0.8ppa for some from the Economist offer, but only because the option to depart INV with a 241 and my need for Xmas redemptions eases the decision.

        • Harry T says:

          13 Dec13 December 12:49

          @BJ
          I understand the rationale, though I agree it is risky to sit on a pile of points that could be devalued at any point.

          I bought the economist Avios (just 15,000) and paid about 0.8p. I was reasonably happy with that because I also use the subscription. I’m not sure about topping up at 1p unless I had an immediate redemption planned.

          I wish I’d taken more advantage of that Tesco offer now!

        • Harry T says:

          13 Dec13 December 12:50

          @BJ
          I also have a lot of leave flexibility because I don’t need to travel at peak times and I don’t have kids. So the Avios value proposition is more limited for me, especially living in the North.

• Alan says:

  13 Dec13 December 07:36

  787-10 (shows as 781 on MMB) is showing for my Seattle flight in October received the seat change notification yesterday.

  • Liz says:

    13 Dec13 December 08:09

    We will miss out as we are flying to Seattle to May 🙁

  • Chris says:

    13 Dec13 December 08:36

    Yeah, me too. We are outbound to Seattle Aug and inbound Sept, now showing as 781 on MMB. Outbound in First, so looking forward to small cabin, but inbound in Club so now looking forward to club suites and no longer looking for an upgrade 😉.

    I would be worried though, if our (paid for) Outbound in First had been a 2-4-1, since with the smaller cabin, surely there’s a high chance of being downgraded, even up until the last minute.

  • Andrew says:

    13 Dec13 December 09:10

    Curious for regular Seattle fliers.

    I’m in in the cheap seats on an inward flight in May 2020 departing on the 13:50, arriving in London at 07:10

    It’s a 9h20m flight, so technically it’s arriving into Heathrow at 23:10 Seattle time. I’m undecided whether to bother trying to sleep on the plane or not.

    • Rhys says:

      13 Dec13 December 09:47

      Presumably it depends on whether you need to be productive the day you land or not!

    • Alex M says:

      13 Dec13 December 12:50

      Since you are going to be in London what time it is in Seattle is not relevant anymore, quicker you switch to the UK time is better for you, so try to sleep on the plane as much as possible.

• Anna says:

  13 Dec13 December 07:52

  ATL is a very convenient airport for connecting with other US cities (or Hawaii) and the Caribbean, this could definitely be a good deal at peak periods.

• AspirationalFlyer says:

  13 Dec13 December 09:12

  The Avios discounts are listed on the home screen of the BA rewards app.

• Liz says:

  13 Dec13 December 09:19

  @Shoestring – thanks for posting that Tesco code last night. 2 bottles of whisky for hubby with the £25 off and £10 off Amex offer – and it’s my birthday today and not his!!! 🎂🥃

  • alan young says:

    13 Dec13 December 09:34

    Where is that post exactly, sounds good!!!!!

    • Shoestring says:

      13 Dec13 December 09:36

      New customers at Tesco (=new email address) can stack the Amex £10 off £50 with Tesco’s code XXHTFL (which is £25 off £70). The good old days are back!

      So, for example you could get 7 cases of 20 (140 bottles) of Budweiser for £35, or 4x 1L bottles of Jack Daniels for £45 etc etc

      • Shoestring says:

        13 Dec13 December 09:37

        Happy birthday, Liz!

        Ether Bucks Fizz to you 🙂

        • Shoestring says:

          13 Dec13 December 09:59

          there’s another £6.90 discount I should have mentioned 🙂

        • Liz says:

          13 Dec13 December 16:01

          Thanks Shoestring – forgot about the extra bit!

        • Shoestring says:

          13 Dec13 December 16:03

          so did I, but won’t make the same mistake twice

        • Scott says:

          13 Dec13 December 17:44

          @Shoestring – as usual, Tesco won’t pay out to the other site if a discount code has been used. Folk can certainly try, but in my experience, it always gets picked up and is rejected.

      • Anna says:

        13 Dec13 December 10:04

        Is that new members for Clubcard?

      • alan young says:

        13 Dec13 December 10:08

        T&C’s mentions Excludes Alcohol !!!

        • Shoestring says:

          13 Dec13 December 10:09

          piffle!

        • fivebobbill says:

          13 Dec13 December 13:54

          Nonsense, I have availed of the offer 4 times now and there’s now more alcohol in my house than T5 Galleries North! 😜

      • Anna says:

        13 Dec13 December 12:32

        Thanks Harry – I opened a new account and should get £35 in total off my shop. I thought Tesco IT might refuse to allow 2 accounts at the same address but it seems to have worked.

  • BJ says:

    13 Dec13 December 10:39

    Many Happy Returns Liz, very apt phrase in more ways than one in your case, especially with shop small on at the moment 🙂

  • Anna says:

    13 Dec13 December 12:34

    Happy Birthday!

    • Liz says:

      13 Dec13 December 18:33

      Thank you both. Another busy day Small Shopping! Now completed 65 out of 70 transactions with 32 credited already. Having to cram all my SS into the first week as MIL going in for a knee op next week and need to take care of FIL so lots of running around next week.

• Andy says:

  13 Dec13 December 09:42

  Not sure if covered previously but new club suite on 777 out of BOS back to LHR in April. Change of config from 787, received a seat change notification yesterday

  • Rhys says:

    13 Dec13 December 09:50

    Good to know! It’s slightly harder to keep track of the Club Suite 777s….

• Kai says:

  13 Dec13 December 09:45

  Expedia Activities Discount: US site $40 off $100, UK site £50 off £120. Use code MYSTERY50, valid once per account.

  Can use to purchase tourist passes, HEX tickets and airport lounge access.

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