Why is British Airways trashing the value of Avios in its own emails?

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• Save East Coast Rewards says:

  31 Dec31 December 04:23

  Presumably the worst time to use Avios to book is during a sale unless the cash and Avios amounts are being reduced too

  • NigelthePensionerr says:

    31 Dec31 December 08:02

    No its the best time for using them for buying WT+ and upgrading to Club….. assuming of course that there are any routes worth booking on with a availability in Club. You then get a few tier points and avios back for the WT+ component of the booking – at your BAEC status level.

    • Save East Coast Rewards says:

      31 Dec31 December 17:09

      I forgot about that option. I need to find out if the GGL jokers can be used with upgrades

  • Harry T says:

    31 Dec31 December 09:10

    BA doesn’t actually have their best prices during a sale though!

• Nick says:

  31 Dec31 December 05:57

  Maybe the BA marketing department is ‘going the same way’ as their IT department?

• Andrew P says:

  31 Dec31 December 06:19

  Currently in vegas, other passengers spent £5k on their flights. There are some terrible redemptions available but there are also some great value ones too.

  • The Savage Squirrel says:

    31 Dec31 December 09:33

    I have nothing useful to add here except to record my envy. Always fancied Vegas over New Yr but then staying on a bit (probably moving to nicer hotel as prices drop in the post new year clearout). I’ve never managed it but you have :D.

    • Gordon says:

      1 Jan1 January 09:40

      Vegas is fantastic over new year, The fireworks are great launched from the hotel roofs, I am returning April this year for a few days for a 3 week drive of the triangle so will not be experiencing the NYE celebrations, But will be using my time wisely to stock up my wardrobe. Las Vegas North outlet is my favourite.

• r* says:

  31 Dec31 December 06:29

  Maybe they are trying to make ppl think they are only worth 0.5 so that becomes the typical calculation used for non frequent fliers?

  • Save East Coast Rewards says:

    31 Dec31 December 16:44

    It worked for Nectar

• DidllyDee says:

  31 Dec31 December 06:35

  They are hoping ill-informed members spend their Avios this way.

• patrick C says:

  31 Dec31 December 07:05

  Conceptually itnis tje old marketing saying where people can barely do mathbwith currency but a lot less with cash.
  The problem is that getting to 160k avios requires planning. So if you can do that you shoukd also be able to see the rip off

• Frankie says:

  31 Dec31 December 07:39

  I don’t understand why they’re calling it the “Original Sale”. What’s original about it?

  • Save East Coast Rewards says:

    31 Dec31 December 08:08

    Their current marketing campaign is called ‘A British Original’

  • Lady London says:

    31 Dec31 December 10:52

    You mean they’ve stopped marketing as “The World’s Favourite Airline” ?

    • AJA says:

      31 Dec31 December 11:28

      To be fair, they dropped that slogan in 2001. The fact people still quote it shows how successful it was.

      BA also used to claim “we fly more people to more countries than any other airline”; a claim that no longer stands the test of time.

      • Magic Mike says:

        31 Dec31 December 12:28

        More recently BA also used the slogan “To fly, to serve”, but they had to drop that as they no longer serve and barely fly…

        (Yes I know it’s on their corporate “crest”, they really should come up with a replacement – “to fleece, to swerve”?!)

        • Chas says:

          31 Dec31 December 18:42

          😂

• Thywillbedone says:

  31 Dec31 December 07:47

  The bigger question is surely why BA can’t update its flight search load screen images …I think I’ve been looking at the same blurry pictures of a purple bedroom/London Eye/ancient Chevrolet for about a decade now …

  • NigelthePensionerr says:

    31 Dec31 December 08:03

    If it aint broke – dont fix it!!

    • Bagoly says:

      31 Dec31 December 11:30

      Testing it now, it seems it is broke – I get three empty boxes!

  • Save East Coast Rewards says:

    31 Dec31 December 08:09

    Looks like a Premier Inn to me, which is odd because I’ve never seen Premier Inn available via BA Holidays

  • Yona says:

    31 Dec31 December 08:49

    Think that everything I click search.

  • Bagoly says:

    31 Dec31 December 11:31

    There’s an Atlantis hotel at some point.
    I wonder whether whoever owns Atlantis paid for that placement?

    • Will says:

      31 Dec31 December 12:17

      I’m looking at Atlantis as I read this from W Palm, it’s very dated in itself compared to the many buildings that have come since.

      Also a week after standing up for Marriotts SNA’ I got truly bonvoy’d.

      My SNA request was approved 5 days before check in. Turned up at 3am to be told I could not have the suite as none available.

      Pulled out phone and checked on app in front of night manager, suites available to book for cash of the type confirmed.

      They would not budge, admitted the day after they would sell them for cash.

      Hotel offered a free dinner and to try and get my SNA’s reinstated and extended.

      Very tempted to test in U.K. court breach of contract as my reservation was cancellable for me 48 hours prior to arrival and I would have cancelled to stay in another option had the SNA not applied. Claim would be based on difference in price of room types.

      Also ultimate reservation guarantee is worth a try, which along with the SNA’s has serious holes in the way its terms are set out from a U.K. advertising perspective. I think there’s contract law that covers confirmed reservations that they are bound by.

      • Magic Mike says:

        31 Dec31 December 12:31

        Marriott will have to reinstate the SNAs, the hotel can’t do it. If they were about to expire they should give you an extra 6 months validity.

        • Will says:

          1 Jan1 January 16:47

          Understood. Having read the terms on the confirmation email, it constitutes the formation of a contract, it’s terms state that the SNA’s are not cancellable by me “ Now that your Suite Night Award(s) request has been confirmed, you cannot cancel it unless you cancel the entire reservation before 2 p.m. local hotel time one day before you arrive”

          There’s no mention of Marriott’s right to cancel, but any right on their behalf wouldn’t be a fair contract in U.K. law. As I’m based in the U.K. paid on points and used SNA’s I think that the contract was formed in the U.K. between myself and Marriott.

          I think marriott has got several issues here.
          1. The terms for the SNA don’t appear to be comprehensive, and even if they were any right to cancel once confirmed by them has questionable legality in contract law, especially so as the members right to cancel is explicitly forbidden
          2. A cancellation on arrival isn’t simply a failure to provide something, the customer has already incurred significant expense to turn up to a hotel with a confirmed reservation, so there is an issue of depravation of the holiday you booked, and quite legitimately you could have booked another hotel in advance of a similar room type (eg 2 room suite for kids to sleep separately)
          3. Marriotts own ultimate reservation guarantee offers 90k per night + room in alternative hotel (I’d argue can’t provide confirmed room so different lower catagory room is example of this) + 200usd per night.

          On that basis let’s go for the 90k points per night and assign a cash value to the court that Marriott sell points at which is $1125.

          So claim could be $1125 + $200 = $1325 per night.

          Also there’s as ASA interest in the way they advertise the SNA’s vs the way they operate them.

          Their terms are clear with respect to how they apply them, up to 5 nights before stay, not guaranteed, I’m ok with that.

          Once confirmed I’m confident is breach of contract should they cancel on arrival.

          Returning the SNA’s to me, all good and well but not very useful if they can be cancelled on arrival. Marriott assign a monetary value to a suite above a standard room, so it’s not acceptable to downgrade and claim there wasn’t a material difference to the experience. It’s quite legitimate that you would not have made the standard room stay, and a cancellation on arrival removes that choice from you.

          I *should* have walked myself, but at 4am on 28th December in Dubai your struggling.

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