Why the changes to the British Airways Premium Plus Amex could be better than we thought

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

• Jon says:

  2 Jun2 June 05:34

  Redeeming for I class seats – would they stay in I class or be issued into U fare bucket? Could have interesting implications if the former… 😉

  • BJ says:

    2 Jun2 June 05:57

    I am sure they have thought of that and the answer is likely no or it would probably have been heralded yesterday. Unless they are saving that for another day.

    • Rob says:

      2 Jun2 June 09:20

      They will be pivoted into U, almost certainly.

  • QFFlyer says:

    2 Jun2 June 06:00

    I was thinking that, they’d be coded as revenue flights. Limited additional cost though I imagine, a few points and status credits, even if credited to a partner FFP.

  • DT says:

    2 Jun2 June 06:06

    Seems extremely unlikely they’d let you earn TP and Avios on a redemption. Would be an amazing benefit if they did though.

    • Jon says:

      2 Jun2 June 06:21

      It used to happen quite regularly on another OneWorld airline… 😉 But yes, I’m inclined to agree that they wouldn’t do it intentionally. Although it would be a brilliant perk and perhaps a very good reason to justify the increased cost of the BAPP. A good way to reward brand-loyal customers even if they’re not the most frequent flyers or highest spenders on flights. And of course they could just increase the redemption rates to offset the rebate – which would penalise everyone else but perhaps drive more to the BAPP as a result?

    • QFFlyer says:

      2 Jun2 June 06:59

      QF provide status credits on classic flight rewards to Points Club members (those who’ve earned at least 150k QF points in the prior year). Not at the revenue rate, but they soon add up.

  • ChrisC says:

    2 Jun2 June 06:43

    They will likely find a way to turn the I fare into a reward fare as part of the booking process.

    Possibly as part of the same way of them offering the extra avios seats to premium plus card holders that won’t be available to non voucher avios searchers.

    You would likely need to be in your BAEC account, select “use voucher” or some such option and it then displays all the reward and I inventory seats together as one figure.

  • pauldb says:

    2 Jun2 June 06:48

    They already let Gold and GGL customers book revenue seats with avios – V class, double avios and Jokers – so I pretty certain they have this under control. Plenty of us also have Covid rebooking in revenue classes too, even full J.

    • QFFlyer says:

      2 Jun2 June 07:00

      Might work with partners then – my rebooked Avios flight from the strikes in 2019 was put into full fare J on QR. I earned points and SCs with QF as a result.

      • TGLoyalty says:

        2 Jun2 June 08:33

        Yeah this happens on reroutings.

        However, remember 2-4-1 can only be used for BA metal.

• Amy carpenter says:

  2 Jun2 June 05:35

  Here’s me thinking since yesterday I needed to trigger by September to get the best value. Now it looks like I need to hold off but I don’t know why 😖

  • DT says:

    2 Jun2 June 05:40

    There’s no reason to trigger before September. The new 241 will have greater flexibility by not having to book exUK.

    Even if the addition of I class availability for redemption is a damn squib, a post September 1st 241 is still better than one today.

    I guess you should only trigger before September if you’re on the free card and aren’t going to upgrade to BAPP before triggering or if you need to use the upcoming 241 with an existing 241

    • Jon says:

      2 Jun2 June 05:47

      There is possibly one other reason, perhaps – if you want to book hard-to-get seats for June/July/August next year the moment they’re released, you might be better to trigger your voucher asap – although in theory the pressure might be reduced given the (presumed) extra seats available to the new voucher after September – but I can imagine that might be a risk some prefer not to take.

      • BJ says:

        2 Jun2 June 06:12

        Many dates in June also moving to peak next year hence use of a voucher even more attractive.

  • BJ says:

    2 Jun2 June 06:09

    My partner is in the same boat. It is very frustrating. In such cases the card is a dead duck and unfortunately it remains a half dead duck if you trigger the voucher early in your qualifying year. Thus the upgrade downgrade drama will just continue unless they stop it. It is a pity they did not take the opportunity yesterday to launch changes rendering the card more attractive after the voucher is triggered. As things stand, post 1st September the card still offers little to make it a keeper.

    • Jon says:

      2 Jun2 June 06:27

      I wonder what the economics would be of, say, doubling the Avios-per-£ earning rate for all spend after the voucher has been triggered? I.e. what portion of BAPP holders stop spending on it entirely after hitting the £10k, and how many of them would continue if the earning rate was higher…

      • BJ says:

        2 Jun2 June 07:01

        Something has to be better for them than losing fess to cancellations and downgrades which I imagine must be a significant number.

      • David S says:

        2 Jun2 June 09:20

        I get my 241 voucher then put all my spend on another card until my new earning year starts

  • Memesweeper says:

    2 Jun2 June 08:35

    Unless you have an unused companion voucher *and* a desire to travel as a group of four, I can’t see a reason not to hold off until sept.

    • chris1922 says:

      2 Jun2 June 09:24

      I’m a family of four, and have three 2 4 1 vouchers in my account at present, with another about to trigger. If I want to book 4 pax and 2x 2 4 1, they need to be the same type of voucher, so post September terms is a pain.

• Chris Heyes says:

  2 Jun2 June 06:09

  I Would expect sometime next year Amex will introduce (enforce)
  The rule they keep telling us that “you must pay with the same Amex”
  It’s there in black and white in t&c just never been enforced ?
  Now that will be devastating ?

  • BJ says:

    2 Jun2 June 06:18

    That’s my worry I expressed yesterday, and if they tighten up on upgrades downgrades too then the whole thing becomes much less attractive. If they go down this route then they really should do something to make card use more attractive after the voucher is triggered as I’ve just discussed àbove.

    • Dwb1873 says:

      2 Jun2 June 06:33

      So you want them to make playing the card levels to your advantage more attractive? Not sure they might see it the same way!

      • BJ says:

        2 Jun2 June 07:09

        No, you have misunderstood my point I think. That is what happens now, I am saying that if they close that door they need to make BAPP even more attractive to hold onto. For example, higher earning rates as Jon suggested. The incentive to use BAPP after triggering the voucher falls a bit flat.

  • Dwb1873 says:

    2 Jun2 June 06:32

    Devastating – why?

    • The Savage Squirrel says:

      2 Jun2 June 06:55

      Because a lot of people get the 2 for 1 by only holding the paid card for 1 month and the free card at all other times, so barely pay any card fees.

    • Bazza says:

      2 Jun2 June 07:30

      You should read more of robs articles in detail and you will start to understand these things.

      • DWB1873 says:

        2 Jun2 June 07:35

        Oh nice and patronising. Thanks.

        I read all the articles. What I notice is some people get very worked up at perceived loss of benefits where I, in my simply silly world, see them manipulating the cards to their benefit, then feeling wronged when those routes get adjusted.

        Devastating is a pretty strong word to use for tightening up of air miles! It’s annoying, frustrating – but devastating?

        Maybe we just have different perspectives.

        • BJ says:

          2 Jun2 June 08:12

          If the rules permit it then it is hardly manipulation. I think what you are getting at is that it doesn’t seem in the spirit of the agreement, gaming if you prefer? But that works both ways, most of us have been legged over at one timed or another by company X, Y and Z failing to honour the spirit of agreements too.

        • JDB says:

          2 Jun2 June 08:44

          @BJ when you say “if the rules permit it then it is hardly manipulation” do you feel the same way about multinationals who use the rules to avoid paying much tax here? In reality is just degrees of the same thing. Neither passes the ‘sniff test’ and it isn’t the sort of morality I would like my children to have.

        • BJ says:

          2 Jun2 June 15:34

          I would hope that my morality and that of your children could withstand greater and wider scrutiny than whether we adhere to rules and indeed the spirit (if there is one) of minor financial products 🙂

    • Chris Heyes says:

      2 Jun2 June 07:34

      Dwb1873 Devastating because if you have a 241 Voucher valid for two years
      It means you “MUST” keep the exact card that you earned the voucher with ?
      No downgrading card or even changing card for a differant Amex like you can now
      You would as will most people with a voucher you cant use because no longer having the earned card
      Devastating for most HFPs

      • DWB1873 says:

        2 Jun2 June 07:38

        Well I’m one of those mugs who doesn’t churn their card (because I can’t be bothered and earn enough miles without needing the hassle – so by choice) – so, for me, not devastating at all. 🤷‍♀️

        • Mikeact says:

          2 Jun2 June 08:07

          I agree…churning has its risks, and quite right too. And if it is implicit that the same card has to be used then so be it….and why should Amex or any other card issuer change their rules just to suit high spenders.

        • Chris Heyes says:

          2 Jun2 June 08:34

          DWB1873 Sorry but yes in that case I’M in total agreement with you but I’m sure you are not the only mug on here though !
          We have two 241 vouchers to use but haven’t got the Amex cards anymore that we got the 241s with so if we needed the card we wouldn’t be able to use any of them so devastating for us ?

        • CarpalTravel says:

          2 Jun2 June 10:25

          Dwb1873 – I keep the same card but not out of laziness, but more because upgrading for one month to then downgrade again seems like taking the extreme mickey – whether it is allowable or not. It is similar to a certain well known deals site where people where signing up to a streaming music service, getting a free smart assistant device and then immediately cancelling the service and requesting full refunds. Such abuses (theoretically permissible or not) will only go to hurt future offers and jeopardise schemes for the rest of us.

        • Erico1875 says:

          2 Jun2 June 16:33

          Me too.
          The wife and I generate about 50K avios and 2x 2 4 1 vouchers off our cards + various offers thst help towards the fees
          I couldnt be bothered with down snd upgrading continually

      • Mark says:

        2 Jun2 June 09:43

        I doubt that would stand up to challenge as a fair contract term, especially if not made clear in the promotional material. The offer is to earn a voucher by spending £10K on the card in a year, the voucher being valid for two years. If you were to give up the card at some point after earning the voucher, I would argue it would be unfair for that to effectively invalidate the voucher especially if it means you have to incur potentially another two annual fees. I get there is an element of that already in insisting on payment by Amex. I wonder if anyone has tried to challenge that, but at least it doesn’t require further spend and can be worked around so long as the holder is aware of it in sufficient time before the voucher expires.

        Of course that doesn’t mean they couldn’t tighten up on the upgrade/downgrade trick in other ways which, in my view, is gaming the system. Doesn’t mean I wouldn’t be tempted (though in this case I never have….).

        • JDB says:

          2 Jun2 June 10:14

          The terms are made clear and are provided at the application stage. I don’t see what a court could find unfair (in its legal sense) about the terms not only freely entered into, provided in advance but also ones which are both reasonable and logical.

      • Lady London says:

        2 Jun2 June 13:58

        I don’t think retaining a paid card for that sort of potentially lengthy period would turn out to be legally enforceable.

  • MattB says:

    2 Jun2 June 07:42

    The response to that will always be Amex/BA may not want to test the legality of selling a £250 product that offers a 241 voucher that would in reality could cost the consumer up to £750 if they kept the card open for the earning period and subsequent 2yr voucher window.

    • JDB says:

      2 Jun2 June 08:31

      The point is the terms and conditions are quite clear when you take out the card and earn the voucher. Like Brexit, you cannot expect that all the benefits to remain open to you if you leave. The majority of cardholders aren’t switching / churning between the cards and it is actually quite galling to see people, in polite terms, taking advantage of the system. These are presumably the same people moaning about the new card fee who don’t realise that all this churning, welcome bonus and fake retention bonuses have to be paid for, so higher fees are inevitable. Ultimately, these cannot be the cardholders Amex wants/needs to retain, so they will eventually restrain these marginal clients by putting a stop to dodgy stuff.

  • sayling says:

    2 Jun2 June 10:04

    Can someone post a link and reference to the T&C where it states you must pay with the same AmEx, please?

    I’m fairly sure I looked myself some time ago and the requirement was more about being able to produce the card at the time of travel, to prove identity…

    • JDB says:

      2 Jun2 June 10:17

      It is at terms 1 and 15 of the T&Cs applicable to both BA Amex cards. The requirement to use “the card” for payment and also to remain eligible for the promotion at the time of travel.

      • Genghis says:

        2 Jun2 June 11:00

        There need to be some more lawyers as commentators on HfP.

        Some questions if there are any:

        1) Does the fact that Amex doesn’t not apply such terms de facto render the de jure contractual terms unenforceable?

        2) To say that terms are documented in advance does not make them “fair”. As @Mark mentioned, you’re paying your fee and spending £10k to get the 241. That’s the deal. Is the requirement to hold the card and pay for two more years’ fees until you’ve actually travelled “fair”? Any thoughts of actual lawyers?

        • Will says:

          2 Jun2 June 14:35

          I’m not a lawyer but a bit of context may determine the decision.

          – take care for 1 month, spend and cancel once voucher issued perhaps not much sympathy,

          – hood card for 13 months, generate 1 voucher through supermarket spend monthly in year 1. Perhaps looked at more favourably

        • sayling says:

          2 Jun2 June 20:17

          @Genghis – the T&Cs are nothing to do with AmEx – these are BA’s T&Cs

      • JDB says:

        2 Jun2 June 15:20

        @Will – you are absolutely right. Both the Court and the Ombudsman would consider the context and their concern is usually for terms that are not made clear and/or unexpected consequences. They will also be more concerned where potentially unfair terms affect a large number of people, especially more ‘vulnerable’ consumers. The FOS has a different view of ‘unfair’ terms on free cards vs paid or reward cards.

        When any ombudsman / judge sees the full context of applying & cancelling etc. there is no prospect of a cardholder winning a case. If Amex did think it a problem to enforce, they could also simply cease their generous pro-rata refund policy.

        • Genghis says:

          2 Jun2 June 16:18

          @Will. Personally I do not see the difference. Like I said, the deal on the BAPP is spend £10k to get the 241. Whether that is done in one month or twelve, the customer has still satisfied the requirements to earn the 241.

          Obviously cancelling after 12 months earns Amex much more revenue than after one due to them giving prorata refunds (defined in terms), but that’s not relevant for the argument as to whether it’s “fair” for Amex to require the customer to hold the card significantly more than after the voucher has been earned.

      • BJ says:

        2 Jun2 June 15:43

        Are you mot missing the point: amex themselves do not adhere to their own T&C in practice? Why ignore that whilst taking issues with customers who adhere to the T&C?

      • Ed says:

        2 Jun2 June 18:46

        The wording in term 1 is clear “ You can only receive a Companion Voucher if you are a Member of the British Airways Executive Club and are the main Account holder within a British Airways American Express Card Account (a “Cardmember”).” this cardmember term is used elsewhere I think it would be deemed reasonable that if you hold a ba blue you are a cardmember even if you’ve trigger the voucher on the bapp

      • sayling says:

        2 Jun2 June 20:15

        So we’re talking here about BA’s T&Cs for the Companion Voucher, which are nothing to do with AmEx – they’ll give you a voucher once you have reached the spend target. After that, AmEx pretty much don’t care and aren’t involved.
        I believe that the particular terms JDB is referring to are in the section of the T&Cs headed ‘Rules and Restrictions’.
        1. The Cardmember is responsible for paying any Taxes, Fees and Charges relating to their Companion Voucher booking. Taxes, Fees and Charges apply per person. All Taxes, Fees and Charges must be paid for using the British Airways American Express Card.
        This suggests that you should not cancel the card until after you’ve booked your flights using the voucher; anecdotal evidence suggests any old AmEx will do, but to be on the safe side, don’t cancel the card until after you have *booked*, not earned, your companion voucher. All the costs are paid at the time of booking
        15. Cardmembers must remain eligible for use of the Companion Voucher in accordance with these Terms and Conditions and the British Airways Executive Club Terms and Conditions at the time of travel. British Airways and American Express reserve the right to refuse to issue or honour any Companion Voucher in the event that the Cardmember is in breach of the terms of the British Airways American Express Card or the British Airways Executive Club Membership.
        There is no section in the T&Cs that mentions eligibility per se, but there is a section that refers to ‘Using the Voucher’ – it could, therefore, be inferred that this particular section is the only pertinent part relating to “must remain eligible for use of the Companion Voucher” – and no term in that section refers to any condition that – at the time of travel – you need to have an active BA AmEx or a BAPP AmEx.

        That’s my take on it, IANAL though. Pandemic aside, if you’re waiting until near the end date of your voucher on a regular basis, you’re probably already keeping the BAPP or BA AmEx anyway. If you’re not keeping it, caveat emptor.

        Any dissent of this view?

        BTW – I’ve kept my previously cancelled BAPP AmEx, just in case I’m asked to provide some form of proof at check in or at the gate, in the unlikely event of being asked for ‘the card the booking was originally made with’. I very much doubt any BA employee will then use it to check the account is current…

• Ed says:

  2 Jun2 June 06:18

  They’ve updated the text in that page overnight, but I still don’t their para 12 still makes little sense. I assume that is the para regarding ‘I’ bucket fares, but not particularly clear without the HFP accompanying wording.

  • pauldb says:

    2 Jun2 June 07:18

    Yes it has been rewritten, and seems like they’ve removed the “additional I class” provision. Ouch if so!

    • meta says:

      2 Jun2 June 08:00

      There was nothing about I class provision in T&C yesterday. Para 12 is still the same. I’ve just done comparison and just cosmetic changes to T&C.

      • pauldb says:

        2 Jun2 June 08:07

        Ah ok, thanks

  • FatherOfFour says:

    2 Jun2 June 10:48

    That paragraph also only refers to Club World. It doesn’t mention First, World Traveller + or Club Europe. I thought it could be used in all cabins?

    • Rob says:

      2 Jun2 June 10:56

      I believe that line relates to the extra seats and is just badly written.

      • FatherOfFour says:

        2 Jun2 June 11:21

        Thx

• Stu says:

  2 Jun2 June 07:10

  I might be playing the game all wrong then … my anniversary date is in August and invariably we’ve triggered the 2-4-1 by November and just keep spending for 1.5 Avios per £. Current year spend has just tipped £30K as we put everything on the card and pay it off. Should I be doing something differently?

  • Jonathan says:

    2 Jun2 June 07:25

    If you’re spending a lot then favours keeping BAPP. You’ve earned an extra 10k Avios (£100) by putting the £10-30k spend on BAPP vs free. If you spend £5k/year with BA then that’s an additional 10k Avios for the 3 vs 1 rate.

    20k Avios is basically your fee covered currently.

    HfP is clearly a bubble but it’s still only a minority of readers who do the regular up/downgrade cycle. If it was a significant number then AmEx would introduce restrictions on it.

    • Stu says:

      2 Jun2 June 07:43

      Thanks Jonathan, that at least ratifies I’m not playing the game wrong after all. And we defo do have at least one big spend with BA per annum, so we definitely trigger plenty of additional Avios that way …

  • Alison says:

    2 Jun2 June 07:31

    Stu, I do exactly the same so would be interested in what others recommend. Although my husband also has his own BAPP card so we trigger another 241 too. 2 x membership fees though!

    • Stu says:

      2 Jun2 June 07:45

      2 x £250 is nearly the Amex platinum fee and all the membership benefits with that. We’ve never been able to justify that but it might be a consideration for some, I just wish they’d give 1.5 per £ on the platinum card, then we might be tempted!

  • Ian McDowall says:

    2 Jun2 June 07:31

    Well most of the aviosites here would downgrade to the free card and get a pro rata refund of the fees. I don’t but only because I only trigger about 9 months in. So the refund amount would be relatively small.
    If you have a partner then obviously you would get them their own account and spend on their card only until they trigger the comp voucher too.

    • Stu says:

      2 Jun2 June 07:40

      My partner does have a card on my account but to be honest, we’ve been struggling to use our existing 2-4-1 vouchers, let alone triggering more. We find BA long-haul biz quite sub-par so had only ever used our 2-4-1 for First to Japan or KL. Now those are off the table, it’s likely we’ll end up using our vouchers for biz to Greece or similar. I definitely don’t think it would pay for us to have a second paid account at the mo.

      • Doug M says:

        2 Jun2 June 09:28

        Stu. Maybe consider getting cross referee gold cards with partner. At £15K spend additional 10K MR awarded putting earning rate at 1.6MR per £. Free for first year but does require paying about £20 of second year fee to get the bonus. The MR could transfer to non BA schemes if you don’t rate BA. If you and partner alternated years on who was holder and who was sup it may work quite nicely.

  • BJ says:

    2 Jun2 June 08:21

    It’s very personal and fluid. Depends what other cards you have or are willing to get, what incentives they have and how those change over time. That said I have always cancelled or downgraded BAPP after triggering the voucher because those alternate incentives are generally always too seductive.

  • Rob says:

    2 Jun2 June 09:17

    If I was spending £30k I would a) get my partner a card and put £10k on that so we get a 2nd 241 voucher and b) put the final £10k somewhere else where I could get a bonus that year.

  • Harry T says:

    2 Jun2 June 09:18

    You’d be better off spending 10k on the BAPP, cancelling or downgrading it, and then spending 15k on the Gold card to earn 25k MR. If you could spend another 10k after that, then consider hitting a BAPP spend on a partner’s card.

    • Joe says:

      2 Jun2 June 09:45

      Apart from that would scupper the sign up bonus for the Platinum!

    • PJJ says:

      2 Jun2 June 14:31

      So going back to an earlier comment suggesting Amex make an incentive to keep BAPP, how about them doing something like with Gold
      Spend 10k and get your 2-4-1, spend another 10k = 20k get a BONUS 10k Avios Points
      So spending 20k you would end up with a 2-4-1 and a total of 40k Avios
      Just a thought to make you keep the BAPP

  • Mouse says:

    2 Jun2 June 16:28

    Don’t forget about the amex offers, at the moment they make BAPP and Plat pay for themselves without even thinking about points

• Jon says:

  2 Jun2 June 07:16

  It makes the 241 less valuable for a number of locations with decent sale fares – PUJ or NYC for instance. Assuming there are still going to be decent sale fares.

  2 seats at £1100 taxes plus £960 worth of avios plus £250 card fee = £2310, or 2 cash fares in a decent sale at £2598 (and I got PUJ for £1830 last year) with TP’s and Avios.

• Michael C says:

  2 Jun2 June 07:23

  I could envisage a scenario whereby we, say, fly one way to Asia on an offer with another airline (heretic! throw him into the pond!) to then fly back under the new rules with a lovely HKG-LHR Avios one way for the three of us!

  • meta says:

    2 Jun2 June 08:04

    I hope they allow open-jaws like TYO-LHR / LHR-SFO. Then add other legs either on another airline or with another 241 voucher.

    • BJ says:

      2 Jun2 June 08:28

      Last night I was pondering the opportunities to combine the likes of that with Virgin and/or BA partner redemptions to create a RTW itinerary. Long time since I did one, and something about them feels special 🙂

      • Michael C says:

        2 Jun2 June 08:33

        BJ; I was thinking the one-way back from Asia could be built around the fact that direct BKK flights have stopped Apr-Oct!

        • BJ says:

          2 Jun2 June 15:51

          I hope that does not become permanent. I was disappointed to see nothing has been loaded next summer either. I wonder if Qatar is behind in. BA had no problem filling planes year round in normal times.

    • Michael C says:

      2 Jun2 June 08:34

      @Meta: looks valid to me! Complies with the “distance between points B and C” rule…

• M says:

  2 Jun2 June 07:28

  I was hoping for an article highlighting some interesting redemptions from outside UK.

  • MariaJ says:

    2 Jun2 June 09:08

    I’d like that too

    • Rob says:

      2 Jun2 June 09:12

      There are none. The cost of flying to Dublin, plus the extra Avios needed for a Dublin-Heathrow-XXXX ticket, virtually wipes out the APD saving as well as introducing misconnect risks.

      There are 3 countries where one way taxes are low – HK, Brazil, Japan. If you go to those countries once every 6 months or so, you could nest. Go down on a one way and book your return as an outbound, eg HKG-LON (6 month gap) LON-HKG. You then book a series of these, year in and year out.

      That’s your lot.

      If you don’t have family or friends in those 3 countries there is nothing in it for you.

      • Michael C says:

        2 Jun2 June 09:16

        Rob, BA now add a “surcharge” ex Brazil..on the page AFTER the “all taxes included”price…I thinkkk it was around GBP300 in Dec.?

        • meta says:

          2 Jun2 June 10:29

          I am just wondering whether there would be any surcharges on TYO-LHR/LHR-SFO scenario as that adds US to the mix. Also with Hong Kong and Japan you have any other Asian countries in the mix.

        • pauldb says:

          2 Jun2 June 11:29

          Yes, ITA will price this up for you and reveals a £215 YQ. BA voluntarily charge £0 YQ ex HKG but only on the HKGLON and LONHKG legs, and similarly from TYO only lower YQ on the near-legs.

          But ITA will also reveal that TYO-LON(st)-SFO is a oneway not an open jaw (it prices in cash terms as a oneway fare, not two half-returns). The question is whether on a 241 in fact you can book something like HKG-LON-SFO // LAX-LON-PVG – which is a simple return (even though double-open-jaw) on ITA priced as two half-returns.

          Interested to know if Rob thinks the rules somehow exclude this?

      • David says:

        2 Jun2 June 10:40

        There will be some other circumstances it will be a benefit for work for. For instance someone who lives in Northern Ireland may find it’s worth driving to Dublin to catch their connecting flight to London, rather than driving to Belfast to do the same.

        There may be others that I’ve not thought of, but I expect they’ll all be edge cases that don’t apply to many people, just like the NI->Dublin one and the HK/Brazil/Japan one you mention.

      • xcalx says:

        2 Jun2 June 11:19

        Just priced up DUB-LHR-MIA return off peak for 1 pax 155000 plus £310 taxes and fees. Compare this to MAN-LHR-MIA return off peak for 1 pax 125000 plus £730 T&Fs.
        £840 for a couple is some saving.

        I know the uk internal flight is Avios free but how com the DUB-LHR sectors return is 30000 avios. I thought it would price up at 18000.

        New to BA 241, now that non uk start is required it has grabbed my attention

        • Rob says:

          2 Jun2 June 11:28

          They charge the £1 taxes Avios cost, not the RFS cost. This switch happened last year but we didn’t cover it as only a problem for those not in U.K.

        • xcalx says:

          2 Jun2 June 11:31

          Thanks Rob. I did wonder if it had something to do with the £1 tax option

        • pauldb says:

          2 Jun2 June 11:32

          On the phone you’d be able to book DUB-LHR-MIA-LHR-MAN so only paying the extra DUB avios once. And you can book the DUB leg in Y: no reason to book J.

      • Mark says:

        2 Jun2 June 17:52

        Am I right in thinking if you “nest”, it leaves you with a non-flexible outbound booking for your next trip as returns become non-flexible once the outbound is taken?

        • John says:

          3 Jun3 June 07:45

          No

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.