BOOK NOW: Wide open Avios seats to The Maldives, Las Vegas, Vancouver, Buenos Aires

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• Will says:

  24 Aug24 August 21:34

  Surcharges to MLE on a business ticket are more than £500 per person more than an economy ticket, plus 90K additional avios.

  Still much cheaper than the £4.5k cash price but not for me at those levels.

  Happy to slum it up in economy and basically pay for the accommodation for a week with the difference in the avios fare.

  Conversely £325 and 32000 avios is brilliant in economy compared to £1200 cash.

  • meandthekids says:

    24 Aug24 August 21:59

    I saw the base economy @ 32,500 and £390. Not sure why that was different to what you got. But yes, we used more avios and did 240k avios plus £750 for 5 of us vs the cash rate of over £6.5k

    • Will says:

      24 Aug24 August 23:55

      For dates next April it’s showing me £321 tax/surcharge in economy and £848 in business per person using a 2-4-1 so both are like for like fares. To me at least that’s beyond a tipping point.

      I’ll continue to purge excess avios to nectar and keep a relatively modest reserve for peak/one way economy and euro flights at these levels.

      • Will says:

        24 Aug24 August 23:57

        As for the cash rate, blows my mind that someone’s willing to spend £13k of pre tax income for a seat on an aircraft.

        Truly the age of decadence.

        • BuildBackBetter says:

          25 Aug25 August 08:27

          You think everyone going to Maldives is a bargain hunter like us?

        • meandthekids says:

          25 Aug25 August 08:43

          Thanks. I don’t know why it showed £390 for us but must have done something wrong. We don’t use BA much so I’m not too familiar with it all.
          I agree the cash rates in business felt too high for us to consider especially as the kids are very young.
          We haven’t fully committed to the Maldives yet. We will see what hotels are achievable at modest prices and then decide to keep the flights or not.

        • JDB says:

          25 Aug25 August 09:43

          Well, you do have to suspend your disbelief to contemplate going to the Maldives. While we could easily live with the cost, it’s the terrible value that rules it out for us, as well as being trapped on a tiny island with few activities and being fed absurdly expensive hotel food almost all frozen or super chilled; even most of the supposedly ‘local’ seafood is imported. For the price of less than one day’s not that good F&B we can stay in a beach hotel in Mexico – $360/night (inc good breakfast) in a 3 bed/bath 300m2 suite with big plunge pool right on a deserted 9 mile Pacific beach and eat there or go out to loads of local restaurants with incredible shellfish and fish arriving all day in little boats in addition to fresh produce, all very cheap. Dolphins and whales in the sea, incredible wildlife (inc crocodiles) on/around the lagoon, archaeological sites, golf etc. etc. It’s a difficult choice.

        • Will says:

          25 Aug25 August 09:56

          BA clearly know how to price their tickets, I just struggle to understand who the kind of person is spending £13k on a pair of flights and then presumably a similar amount on accommodation for a week or two. That’s essentially £50k of pre tax income.

          Struggle to get my head around there being a demand for 100+ seats per week to one specific destination at that price.

          I’d be genuinely curious to see what a sample of these people do.

        • meandthekids says:

          25 Aug25 August 10:10

          @Will sorry I must have not been clear. The flights are £6.5k for all 5 of us. Not per person. Still, that’s too much for us with small children but wanted to make clear.

        • mynameisjonny says:

          25 Aug25 August 10:34

          Any recommendations for Mexico JDB?

        • Chrisasaurus says:

          25 Aug25 August 12:57

          I’mm no accountant but I have to imagine most people are using post tax income?

      • JDB says:

        25 Aug25 August 10:51

        @mynameisjonny always rather wary of recommending stuff, but in Mexico we go to Zihuatanejo on the Pacific coast, 1 hr flight from MEX. It’s an old low rise old town rather than one of the modern purpose built resorts. It’s where Mexicans go and so priced for them, not foreigners and they are very fussy about good food. There’s a 9 mile beach by the airport – Playa Blanca not very developed as the sea is rough there but very beautiful or nearer Town a huge bay with calm sea and various good beaches with lots of activities and restaurants; wife particularly likes the £12 beach massages, similarly priced lobsters and £3 large margaritas. Also up the road is Troncones which is becoming a major surf destination. Mexico City has good Avios availability and a great holiday place to spend a few days with lots to see/do and serious food at reasonable prices.

        • jj says:

          25 Aug25 August 11:15

          @JDB, I have never been tempted by the glamour of the Maldives or the Middle East, but I have to say that does sound like my kind of trip. I must investigate…

  • Gordon says:

    25 Aug25 August 11:02

    @JDB, I totally agree, I am a frequent visitor to Mexico and Cancun.The problem with Cancun in the last few years is that the drug cartel violence is moving ever closer from Mexico. We stayed in the new Refurbished Hyatt Ziva in Riviera Maya in December last year and a month before in November there were 2 drug dealers shot dead on the beach of that hotel, The capacity was around 10% to 15% after the news which did not bother us, The resort was loverly and quiet, But I am concerned for the future of tourism in cancun and also the safety of tourists,

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10178813/Assassins-seen-video-Mexico-beachfront-hotel-tackling-one-two-rivals-shot-dead.html

    • JDB says:

      25 Aug25 August 11:44

      Cancun was lovely 20 odd years year and before they built the so called Mayan Riviera and even wonderful Tulum already spoiled even before the new airport opening there shortly. The accessibility of Cancun with direct flights from Europe and all over the US has completely ruined the place. The drugs/violence problem has been exacerbated by it becoming the new Magaluf for hordes of young Americans, even in the better hotels, to drink legally, buy drugs and get (first time) lucky in no particular order.

      • Lady London says:

        25 Aug25 August 13:33

        When I first started working in a travel business our Chairman and some pals were being involved in the selection of Cancún for development – appaently it was just a fishing village before international developers and all the circus was going to move in.

        It’s sad that the world works in such a way that in such a short time all that development has landed and it’s come to this.

• Dace says:

  25 Aug25 August 09:13

  Good to see MLE and EZE back, however August isn’t the time I would choose to go to those places.

  • Rob says:

    25 Aug25 August 09:31

    Singapore flights are fully open for Avios but the seats tend to go 355 days in advance by those heading to Sydney.

  • Richard Gordon says:

    26 Aug26 August 21:09

    When would you visit either – months?

• dave says:

  25 Aug25 August 09:21

  When are seats going to return to Asia 🙁
  I’ve been waiting over 2 years to rebook my cancelled redemption to Singapore/Thailand but there hasnt been any 3 seat return flights since

  • Gordon says:

    25 Aug25 August 09:38

    I achieved a redemption booking to SIN CW in June with BA. You should not have any problems as SIN is open, But BKK is a different matter, BA don’t yield enough ton that route….

    • Gordon says:

      25 Aug25 August 09:39

      For*

  • Clayton says:

    25 Aug25 August 10:27

    BKK isn’t returning until at least Q2 2023. The better bet, if you have the avios or 2-4-1’s available is to book SIN in F then fly onwards.

    • Chris says:

      25 Aug25 August 14:01

      Agree. SIN is a wonderful place to stopover for a night or two, see the amazing hawker centres and eat with the locals and then fly on to BKK/HKT.

      • Gordon says:

        25 Aug25 August 16:08

        Burgis markets and Gardens by the bay is a must. The MRT Metro is clean, Cheap and reliable.

• Just Nick says:

  25 Aug25 August 14:47

  Currently in Portland thanks to a BA 241 flight in Club following a tip off that flights were resuming from Rob. Now have 2 tickets to MLE in April next year. Does anyone have recommendations for hotels that are affordable and yet still offer something special.

• Andy says:

  25 Aug25 August 23:48

  £500 fees to LAS? We’re here now and only paid £2.2k J from DUB for 2, well collect TP’s and Avios on top.
  Mind it’s hellish expensive here now, we won’t be coming back again for a while.
  Looks like cruising will get our money for the near future

• ChrisM says:

  26 Aug26 August 09:33

  Thanks! 😊 Managed to grab two Vancouver – Gatwick seats for May. Added bonus of also grabbing connecting flights to Glasgow which are few and far between. Several options wanted us to get to LHR for the Glasgow connection.

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